Figure 1.--

Both the Germans and the Wesrern Allies, especially Field Marshall Montgomery, saw the Rhine as a major barrier. For the Germans there was a virtual mythology about the Rgine barrier. Hitler based his last desperate hopes on holding the Rhine barrier. The Rhine is a wide river and could have been an important barrier--if the Germans had a well arned, mobile force. Hitler had, however, used his last mobile reserves in the Bulge offensive. And like the Atlantic Wall, the Allies could chose where and when to attack. In addition, by this point the Germans were basically immobile and unable to move quickly and in force to oppose Allied crosings. There was little fuel available for mechanized forces and Allied airshot up anything that moved. Up and down the Rhine as Allied units approached the Rhine, the Germns began blowing the many bridges crossing the Rhine. The German defense of the Rhine, however, began disaterously at Remagen near Cologne on the western bank. The American First Army took Cologne after a climatic tank duel (March 6). And to their surprise when other units reached Remagen they not only saw an intact bridge--the Ludendorff Bridge (March 7). The German commander had delayed demolition to allow retreating Germans and a final trin to cross Ironically, the Bridge was built during World War I as a means of rpidly moving troops and supplies west over the Rhine to reinforce the Western Front. The idea of Allied forces using the Bridge to pour east into Germany was unfathomable. The bridge was, however, designed to be defended by troops with towers on each bank with machine gun slits. To the horror of the defending troop, demolition attempts no only failed, but a quick thinking American commander rushed men and tanks across under heavy German fire. The Briage was weakened, but intact and most imprtantly in American hands. They managed to seized a tiny bridhehead on the eastern bank and withstand a German counterattack. The Americans and British had not yet began their planned crossing. The Remagen Bridge was not decisive, but made the crossing a lot easier. American units poured accross the Rhine the Bridge as well as laid pontoon bridges thrown up to support the expanding bridgehead. Other Allied armies were not yet ready, however, to cross the Rhine in force. The Remagen bridgeheadhead forced the German to focus on that area. To prevent the German from concentrating on the Remagen bridgehead, the American Third and Seventh Armies launched coordinated attacks along the southern reaches of the Rhine. But in facr, the German focus on Remagen greatly assisted the overall crossing effort. Here the German capability was limited because Allied air superority significantly reduced their mobility. Allied armies by mid-March were ready for the massive assault on he Rhine envisioned by Eisenhower. The Third Army made major assault crossings of the Rhine (March 22 and 25). Mainz was the last German held city on the west bank. It fell against uneven resistance (March 22). This occurred as the Americans began the southern crossing which Patton began a day before Montgomery--presumably to upstage his British rival (March 22). The next day, the British Second Army and the attached U.S. Ninth Army in the north crossed the Rhine in strength around Rees-Wesel-Dinslaken (March 23). The British crossing under Montgomery, Operation Plunder, was meticulosly planned, some Amerians saw it to a point of absurdity. In part this was a part of Monty's military mindset, but he was also apparently still planning for a drive to Berlin. [Chalfont, p. 269.] Montgomery's crossing proved to be the most cumbersome of all the Allied Rhine crossings. The assault accross the Rhine was supported by Operation Varsity a massive paratroop drop on the German side of the Rhine (March 24). Varsity was the largest parartoop drop in history. The American Seventh Army crossed the Rhine Worms (March 26).

Created: 8:09 PM 9/17/2016
Last updated: 8:10 PM 9/17/2016