Remagen bridge

Remagen bridge, the Ludendorff railway bridge which spanned the Rhine at Remagen near Bonn. On 7 March 1945, during the battle for Germany, it was captured by an armoured patrol of Hodges's First US Army, when the Germans failed to destroy it. This gave the Allies a great psychological, as well as military, advantage for it enabled more than 8,000 troops, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns, to cross in under 24 hours. However, the Americans found it difficult to hold their bridgehead and the corps commander was dismissed for his timidity while trying to exploit it.

Hitler was furious at the bridge's capture and replaced Rundstedt with Kesselring. The German officer charged with destroying it was, along with four others, summarily shot and V-2 rockets (see V-weapons) were even fired at it, the first and only time they were used tactically. Model, Kesselring's immediate subordinate, tried, unsuccessfully, to dislodge the Allied bridgehead around it. After five divisions had crossed, the bridge collapsed on 17 March, killing 26, but by then engineers had built pontoon bridges.