Eight decades ago, on March 7, American soldiers saw the most unexpected sight. A bridge, just more than 1,000-feet-long, was intact over the Rhine River. It shouldn’t have been. The Nazis had been busy blowing up every crossing over the river in an attempt to slow down the surging Allied advance and invasion into Germany. But there it was.
The Ludendorff Bridge spanned across the Rhine River. In a day, it would be in American hands, starting an 18-day-long battle to hold onto it, with Nazi Germany throwing planes, artillery and even V-2 rockets at the town of Remagen to deny Americans an advance. The bridge had been built for German transport during the First World War, and in fact Americans had crossed it more than two decades earlier while fighting in Europe. Somehow it was still standing. But there was a major problem ahead of the Americans.
Elements of the 9th Armored Division of the First U.S. Army reached Remagen on March 7, intending to capture it while heading south to meet up with the Third Army. In the early afternoon, scouts were surprised to see the Ludendorff Bridge intact. It was one of only three that the Nazis had not blown up. Germans were pulling back across the bridge and the Americans dispatched a combined infantry and armor force led by Lt. Karl Timmerman. The number of Germans defending the bridge was unknown, even after scouting. They charged forward, seizing the western ramp of the bridge and then the Germans set off charges on the bridge.
