CHAPTER TEN
Battle for Honnef
By 11 March, 311th Infantry Regiment had been in action for three days. Colonel Willingham’s men were reaching the limits of endurance, yet General Craig expected him to hold his positions around Honnef, Mezenberg and Rheinbreitbach. The 11th PanzerDivision was beginning to arrive in the area after three days and nights on the road and Willingham had been warned to expect to be counterattacked anytime. Roadblocks supported by armour and anti-tank guns covered the main roads through the town while infantry patrolled the streets in between. Colonel Willingham did not have to wait long. At first light the Germans struck 1st Battalion’s positions near the river;
An enemy counterattack in the Company C sector began at 06:50, when five enemy tanks accompanied by infantry drove down from Rhondorf to the northeast. Company C repulsed the attack and with the aid of artillery the enemy was quickly dispersed and knocked out. Again at 09:45 Company C received another counterattack coming south along the Rhine River. This attack consisted of four enemy tanks and infantry, but it too was smashed.
Further attacks continued throughout the afternoon and evening, but the 311th Infantry Regiment held its positions.
Supply trucks and ambulances head back across the river to Remagen. National Archives 111-SC-235652
The advance towards Kretzhaus and Notscheid
By 11 March, Major-General Craig was confident that the bridgehead, was wide enough and turned his attentions to his next objective, cutting the highway running north to south through Kretzhaus and Notscheid. As long as the road remained in enemy hands the Germans would be able to distribute their reserves around the bridgehead. Kretzhaus crossroads was the key to the German position and as long as they held the road junction their armour could use the Bruchhausen and Ohlenberg roads to get to the river.
Unfortunately for General Craig, the terrain leading up to Kretzhaus and Notscheid was far from ideal. Wooded mountain sides and deep ravines prevented armour from leaving the two roads and the Germans could easily block the way forward with anti-tank guns. The rugged terrain would make it difficult to coordinate attacks and artillery support would find it hard to keep track of the infantry. Meanwhile, the Germans could wait on the high ground while their artillery and mortars shelled the valleys indiscriminately. One thing was becoming apparent, the fighting would be slow and costly. For once the Americans would not be able to bring their overwhelming numbers to bear in the cramped bridgehead.
At first light the 2nd Battalion of the 310th Infantry Regiment left their foxholes and began to climb through the woods to the summit of Minderberg, overlooking Kretzhaus. As the troops advanced down the forward slope towards Kretzhaus mortars and self-propelled guns opened fire, pinning the battalion down. The tanks and tank destroyers that were supposed to support the attack ran into a strong anti-tank gun position and they were forced to retire back down the Ohlenberg road.
A Tiger tank emerges from cover. Private William Lambert discouraged an attack by two of these monsters by the use of a bazooka.
Lifting the first pontoons into place on the Linz bridge. National Archives 111 - SC-227274
Before long the Germans retaliated driving Lieutenant-Colonel Culbreth’s men back to the crest of Minderberg. Having dealt with 2nd Battalion’s attack, the Germans turned their attentions on the Regiment’s 3rd Battalion covering the Ohlenberg road. During the early afternoon seven tanks and several companies of infantry advanced down the road towards Company L and Company I. As the panzers crawled forward Private William F Lambert waited alongside the road with his bazooka. At a range of forty metres he opened fire hitting the lead Tiger tank. The panzer MkVI ground to a halt and, despite the fact that his bazooka shells were unable to penetrate the tank’s armour, Lambert persisted. A second shot smacked into the stationary Tiger and then when Lambert had scored two more hits on a second Tiger, the column withdrew towards Kretzhaus.
Overnight all three battalions of the 47th Infantry Regiment had gathered in the vicinity of Ohlenberg ready to advance towards Notscheid. They faced a difficult task; the ground fell rapidly to the east of Ohlenberg and the twin peaks, Rennenberg I and Rennenberg II, towered over the Losbach valley. 1st Battalion advanced into the valley at 08:30 heading towards Rennenberg I but as soon as Company C began to descend into the valley it came under heavy fire. Company A A’s attempts to outflank the German defensive positions also failed to make any headway. The 3rd Battalion advanced half an hour later with tank destroyers in close support and although it captured a number of strongpoints in Orbrunt, the Germans were determined to regain their positions,
The enemy continued a determined resistance with small arms, artillery and tanks and it was not until 15:00 hours that the objective including the houses at 690215 [Orbrunt] were cleared out. Forty-four prisoners were taken in the engagement and two enemy tanks were destroyed by our Tank Destroyers.
2nd Battalion’s advance north of Ohlenberg was also checked, stifling 47th Infantry Regiment’s hopes for a rapid advance towards Notscheid.
Air attacks
While the battle raged on in the hills east of the river, the Luftwaffe continued to carry sorties against the Ludendorff Bridge. The raid on 7 March started at 07:30 when three planes, one He111, a Me109 and a FW190 were shot down as they swooped low over the river. During the afternoon five more planes flew down the valley through a curtain of anti-aircraft fire. Two FW190s were shot down and the rest were forced to abort their mission, pulling away in the face of intense flak. Later on two FW190s and an Me109 appeared in the skies over Remagen and after circling 12,000 feet to study their target dived in low on their bombing run, but again the flak was too intense. The pilots were forced to take evasive action as they came under fire, and all three bombs that they released missed their target. 413 Automatic Anti-aircraft Battery’s daily summary details the tactics used by the Luftwaffe;
The crew of the first halftrack mounted AA gun to cross the Rhine keep a lookout for German planes. National Archives 111-SC-361065
The enemy operated seventeen raiders, singly and in pairs, over the REMAGEN Bridge and bridgehead through the daylight hours. Heeding the lesson learned the previous day, the enemy aircraft took more evasive action and did more manoeuvring prior to bombing runs and flew at lower altitudes. The desperation of the Luftwaffe was again indicated in the variety of aircraft used – FW190’s Me109’s, Me210’s, He111’s, Me262’s and one AR234 were reported during this period. The highlight of the day was when one 90mm gun section of the 413 AAA Gun Battalion engaged an Me210 with a single pre-cut round of ammunition and claimed the aircraft destroyed.
However, some pilots appeared to be under orders to reach the bridge at all costs. At 17:00 the crews of 413 Automatic Anti-aircraft Battery watched in amazement as eight Stukas flew down the valley at 3,000 feet, refusing to take evasive action they came under fire; none of them survived.
Completing the Linz Pontoon Bridge
General Millikin was pleased to hear that the treadway bridge at Erpel had been opened for traffic at dawn on 11 March. Meanwhile, work had progressed steadily overnight on the pontoon bridge at Linz:
The night of the 10th was the night that some of our boys really went through hell for the first time. Our Battalion was working near the Remagen Bridge trying to put in a Bailey Bridge and was forced to stop due to heavy artillery by the enemy. Some of our boys from the section whose job it was to be on the bridge at that time helped the wounded and evacuated them under fire. None of those men of this company suffered any injuries. The company was proud of each and everyone who helped.
Traffic files across the Linz bridge, the Kaiserberg overshadows the town. National Archives 111-SC-203738
Although Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey Fraser was confident that he would have the bridge finished on time, during the morning disaster struck. A landing craft broached in the fast current and it was swept into the bridge, completely wrecking a span near the east bank; it took seven hours to repair the damage. Finally at 22:00 Fraser was able to report that the pontoon bridge was open for traffic. Now that troops could now cross at Linz, it relieved the bottleneck south of the Ludendorff Bridge. General Millikin was now confident that he could keep the bridgehead supplied with men and equipment and overnight Colonel Lyons was allowed to close the railway bridge for repairs.