Storming The Rhine in WW2 Caught on Film! (WW2 Documentary)

when on the 8th of March 1945 Hitler learned that American troops had unexpectedly captured a vital bridge over the river rine he flew into a rage and demanded it be destroyed at all costs infantry artillery jet aircraft and even V2 Rockets will be relentlessly thrown at the Target the events caught on film by combat cameramen on the ground but what was the result why was it so important and just how had it been captured this is the story of the bridge at Ray margan by March of 1945 General Eisenhower's broad front strategy was well underway stretching the hardpressed Germans ever more as they backpedal eastwards Ike's plan looked something like this in the north his 21st Army group under Field Marshal Montgomery was the main effort and driving hard through Holland for the industrial rural region in the center General Omar Bradley's 12th Army group was forcing the remain reing Germans of army Group B back across the rine and in the South General Diva's sixth Army group had cleared the voge and was pressing the German first Army it was a dire situation for the Defenders let's move in and take a look at the situation on Bradley's front the two major formations under his command were General Hodges us first Army and General Patton's third attacking side by side Bradley's plan was to launch a huge pins movement with Hodges attacking towards cologne and paton's TR group driving northeastwards along the Mosel River to coblence encircling and destroying any German forces left west of the rine in truth these troops are not intended to push on beyond the rine at that stage that would be left to Monty in the north but if an opportunity presented itself it would no doubt be taken that opportunity and for the Germans at least Lifeline lay right here at the little known town of Ray margan by blending this fascinating J January 1945 aeriel onto the modern map we can explore the area in more detail visible here a numerous shell Hol from aerial bombing around Ray margan and also limited trench lines and German defensive Works dug to protect the approaches to this the ludendorf rail Bridge originally conceived in 1912 it had been completed at the end of the first world war and was a vital heavy Goods Crossing for military supplies coming from Germany into occupied France from 194 onwards by 1945 though its purpose had changed now with most major Bridges Over the Rind destroyed ahead of the American Advance it was one of the few places remaining German forces west of the rine could use to withdraw to something like safety at 400 m in length and supported by four stone peers adorned with massive symmetrical arches it was guarded on each Bank of the river by two imposing Black Stone Towers in the event that the bridge needed to be defended crucially it could support the passage of vast numbers of troops and the heaviest of German armor a major reason the bridge wasn't on the US radar at this time was its location situated in a challenging landscape of heavily wooded and steep hilly terrain and without any major road eastwards it offered limited opportunities for exploitation the bridge itself AB butted the era l a massive Cliff face that reached 200 M high and dominated ated the East Bank while the small town of Ray margan lay on the western side of the river although certainly a prize it didn't feature on us strategic AIMS in early March as surely as soon as the advancing Americans got anywhere near it it would be blown to pieces like so many others the actual defense of Ray margan at that time fell under the jurisdiction of the German 53rd Army Corps and its Commander General wter botch who during a tour of the bridge on the 1st of March was outraged to find that it was guarded by a mere 36 men mostly convalescent soldiers led by halman vly Brader he could if necessary attempt to summon an additional 180 members of the local folk storm to bolster his defense also in the vicinity was a Detachment of 120 Engineers carrying out repairs on the bridge under a captain KL fenan and a LT faffer anti-aircraft unit equipped with the new henchel HS 297 surfac to rocket launcher system both were operating under their own distinct chain of command under Hitler's direct orders Bridges like the ludendorf which for some time had been prepared for demolition had been ordered stripped of their explosive due to fears of them being detonated by sabots or Allied air strikes instead those explosives were kept several kilometers away only to be brought forward once the American arrival was imminent General Butch assured RKA the bridge Commander that he would send a battalion of reinforcements to Ray margan but they never arrived shortly after he was transferred to another command and the new Commander General hitzfeld had never received the message hardpressed himself he sent an officer major Hans sheller to assess and report on the situation assuming overall command of the bridge defense at the same time on the western approaches to the Rind the US ninth armor division's combat command B were on the move leading those forces were company a of Lieutenant Colonel Leonard inman's 27th armored infantry battalion with the task of clearing the Western approaches and the town of Ray margan commanding a company was this man 22-year-old Lieutenant Carl Timmerman from Aurora Colorado Timmerman had only taken over company command the day before when his original Commander Captain Kina had been wounded in a skirmish at approximately 1 p.m. on the 7th of March the leading elements of combat command B's Northern column reached this ground Northwest of Ray margan and could finally look down to the river Beyond to their utter astonishment they saw the ludendorf bridge still standing with German soldiers and civilians flooding eastwards across it understanding the implications the news flew up the chain of command eventually arriving with Brigadier General William Hogue commanding CCB he in his own words had a tough choice if his men crossed the bridge before the Germans blew it he could lose a battalion trapped on the other side if the Germans destroyed it while his men were in the act of Crossing he could probably lose a platoon but if that bridge over the Ryme was captured it could significantly shorten the war he recalled I got up to the Rind and stood there on the bank and looked down and there it was the bridge was there right above the town I couldn't believe it was true I issued an order right away to go down down and grab that bridge down below the German Defenders were well informed about the advancing Allied troops as a continuous flow of civilians and military personnel rushed across the bridge warning of approaching American Vehicles it was now that major sheller having assumed command just hours before urgently requested the bridge explosives to be brought forward as Engineers under hman freezen Han's command rushed forward to prepare the bridge for Destruction the situation became much more perilous when some time later the explosives arrived and were found to be only half the requested amount and those of substandard quality with the Americans rapidly closing in their only option was to rig the explosives to the weakest point of the bridge and hope for enough damage to drop the structure into the Rind desperately needing to buy time for the engineers to carry out their work shella still on the western side of the bridge at Ray margan attempted to Hope withdrawing units to set up some sort of Defense it was to no avail the stream continued across the bridge to the safety of the Eastern Bank descending now into Ray margan with Brigadier General Hog's orders to grab that bridge echoing in his ears Lieutenant timberman's a company with C company to their rear began their approach into the streets of Ray margan and were met by silence Timmerman recalled the moment many people had white flags out already and some stood in the street waving White flags none of the civilians appeared happy or cheered many of them wept with the approaching Rumble of American armor growing louder and no gunfire to be heard shella realized his time was up and crossed back to the Eastern Bank leaving behind fenan and two Engineers using the last of their explosives they placed and blew a charge in the western ramp to the bridge to prevent Vehicles accessing it then raced back across just as the leading American American infantry came into view and opened fire breathless but unwounded freezen Han met halman Brader who implored him to immediately blow the bridge however with shella now in overall command and likely fearing for his own safy a protocol wasn't observed without a written order freezen Han refused it took precious minutes for brka to secure this from shella who was busy organizing a defensive position in the tunnel at the end of the bridge finally order in hand and with Americans in sight at the other end of the bridge freezen Han connected the firing cables to his Detonator and cranked it clockwise nothing again and again he tried but no explosion shouting out in near Panic for a volunteer F Vel Anton fa step forward and receiving his orders rushed alone onto the bridge dodging enemy fire the whole way F reached the main charges manually ignited the backup fuse and sprinted back to the Eastern side of the bridge at almost exactly the same moment Lieutenant Timberman was issuing his final orders to his men to begin their own hell for leather Sprint through the enemy fire as he and his men stood to begin their Advance an enormous explosion rent the air knocking them to the ground stunned the men looked up at where the bridge had been now just a pool of dust and smoke completely enveloping the river and the bridge itself watching on for what seemed like an eternity finally the smoke began to clear and Incredibly the bridge still stood in fact and Timmerman didn't know it at that moment but the entire Bridge had been thrown bodily up into the air and slammed Back Down Still upright minus a large section of decking 2/3 of the way across but that was enough and calling his men back to his feet as American artillery began hammering the far bank with phosphorus shells to Blind The Defenders a company charged at the very head of that assault was Sergeant Alexander drabik a 34-year-old butcher from Holland Ohio despite being one of the oldest men in the company he sprinted the entire length of the bridge under intense enemy fire his helmet loosening and falling off during the 398 M Dash to the other side in his typically understated way drabic recalled what happened we ran down the middle of the bridge shouting as we went I didn't stopped because I knew that if I kept moving they couldn't hit me my men were in Squad column and not one of them was hit we took cover in some bomb craters then we just sat and waited for others to come that's the way it was having braved the oncoming fire of two mg 42s drabic stepped onto the opposite side of the river becoming the first American infantryman to set foot on the far side of the Rind in the minutes that followed drabic formed a make shift defensive line at the base of the eray returning fire into the tunnel where the Germans had taken cover behind him other GIS emulated his lead rushing the bridge to join drabic and his men hot on the heels of the leading infantry were engineers who discovered a further 1,000 lb of undetonated explosives strapped to the bridge climbing to them and cutting the charges away they watched as they fell into the Rind far below back in the rail tunnel at the East end of the bridge the remaining German Garrison were cornered seeing the failure major shella had gone cycling as fast as he could towards the rear leaving captain braa and fenhe once again in command it would be a short one with American fire pouring into the tunnel and grenades now joining them after a few return shots the remaining Defenders had no choice but to hoist a white flag and surrender the bridge at Ray margan had fallen the news of the ludendorf bridge capture swiftly made its way up the chain of command at each level American commanders recognized the unique opportunity and units began to flood into the area by 6:15 p.m. Bradley's headquarters issued the order to exploit the situation and put as many units across as possible the entire us 12th Army group immediately shifted Focus to prioritize the bridge at Ray margan when the news reached Eisenhower he left his formal dinner to take a call from General Bradley Upon returning he said to his guests that was Brad he's got a bridge across the Rind and he apologized for it said it was badly located at Ragan badly located though it undoubtedly was it was still a bridge and it was still crossing the rine just throughout that night the bridge head was reinforced with the remaining German Defenders hunted down and killed or captured as they took pot shots from nearby buildings by midnight on the 7th the roads leading to rayar and were clogged with units attempting to cross this presented a real challenge for the hardworking Engineers striving to keep the badly damaged Bridge upright incredibly within 24 hours over 8,000 US troops including two armored infantry battalions one tank Battalion one tank destroyer Battalion and nine infantry battalions had successfully crossed the rine amongst considerable trepidation early on the 8th of March in Berlin genal orust yodo informed Hitler that the Americans had seized the bridge at Ray marget and were crossing the rine in force his response was immediate and apoplectic amidst Furious outbursts Hitler ordered the bridge must be destroyed immediately and at all costs the bridge might have been captured but keeping it would be a far Stern attest for the Americans as the unexpected news of the capture of an intact Bridge spread like wildfire through Allied headquarters it soon reached the ears of the men of the hundred 65th signal photographic company not far away who had been capturing some of the most iconic shots of World War II in Cologne immediately recognizing the significance of the event the combat cameraman like so many others began rushing to the bridge amongst those on Route with camera in hand were 29-year-old Texas native Roy aters Jr and Sergeant Bernard Newman from Los Angeles thanks to their efforts we now have remarkable scenes of the bridge and activity grounding it over the vital course of the next few days in response to Hitler's Furious order any and all German artillery in the surrounding area in total more than 100 individual artillery pieces began unleashing a hail of high explosive fire on the bridge aided by a lone German Ford Observer who had remained hidden in Ray margan artillery shells struck the bridge no less than 24 times over the coming days but still it didn't fall and the seemingly Unstoppable flood of Allied Manpower kept coming increasingly desperate the Germans attempted again this time with a new jet powered me262 flying low and it speeds faster than any aircraft in history but hindered an approach Direction by the High Hill surrounding the rine they made nine separate attempts to bring the bridge down each one failed it was about this time on the 9th of March that those camera teams from the 165th arrived in the area filming the endless Columns of vehicles moving to towards the bridge like here in basa at this time the Germans were still fully committed in their attempts to bring the bridge down destroying it could turn disaster to Victory as isolated units would be trapped and vulnerable in The Far Side of the r in response the Americans rushed pontoon bridge building equipment to the area Sergeant heson captured these scenes on the 10th of March as Engineers hurried to construct a new bridge slightly up River all all the time under heavy enemy shell fire with men seen running for cover in this shot and a few moments later the Pontoon Bridge crane burning after receiving a direct hit despite the dangers they pressed on and by midnight on the 10th of March a second route across the ride had almost been completed for those men who had already crossed the bridge the fight went on by the 10th of March the leading armor and infantry had reached the nearby town of unul and were fighting through the picturesque Street with them was Roy heson who captured this destroyed German 20 mm flat gun its precise location still identifiable to this day in fact from Hon's footage we can see that the Historical Center of the village hasn't changed much at all in the following years and it was from a location close to Uncle that he captured this film reel of wounded GIS being conveyed by a boat back across the rine a testament to the bitter fighting still going on in the area by the 11th of March 4 days after the Bridge's capture it was still being used to carry troops over the rine however by now the Pontoon Treadway Bridge was open as was a second heavy pontoon Bridge opposite the village of lince AMR with the prospect of the flow of enemy troops increasing over the rine the German military redoubled their efforts to slow the Americans but it was becoming evident that a miracle was required that morning a 60 cm German Siege mortar was moved within range and let loose 14 Mass massive rounds but even this had no effect and the flow of men and Hardware continued unchecked the ludendorf bridge its purpose serve an in worsening state of repair was finally closed on the 13th with all men and vehicles diverted to the pontoon bridges still a valuable asset Engineers set about the incredibly dangerous job of repairing the straining bridge but investigation showed that it had begun to Sag quite significantly 30 cm in the last few days alone it had been through a lot demolition charges artillery strikes air strikes and massively increased usage but amazingly still stood even though the bridge was closed the Relentless attacks continued on the 14th alone Allied anti-aircraft batteries brought into the area surrounding the bridge shot down 21 enemy aircraft the majority being ju 87d stooker dive bombers again the men of the 165th were on the scene to record these events and what a spectacle they made the Americans had surrounded the whole area with 672 anti-aircraft weapons ranging from gun batteries to automatic weapons the single largest concentration of anti-aircraft Firepower during World War II it's believed that over the course of 10 days the bridge head was attacked by over 360 enemy aircraft and the Americans shot down 109 almost 30% of the already highly scarce force all this Firepower going into the air also had an unexpected consequence what goes up must come down and over 200 friendly casualties were caused by anti-aircraft shells falling back to Earth in the area around Ray margan again it was apparent that the shelling and air attacks were proving inadequate and so another new weapon was introduced the V2 rocket capable of carrying a 1,000 kg Warhead if one of them could successfully hit the bridge it would be completely obliterated on the 17th March from a site in the Netherlands 11 V2s were launched towards the ludendorf bridge it proved an unmitigated disaster they were wildly inaccurate with one actually Landing in Cologne 50 km away the closest they got to the bridge was a single rocket that came down 270 M from its Target striking the command post of the 284th engineer combat Battalion killing three and wounding 30 more shortly after 3 p.m. that day a long rumbling groan Was Heard Around Ray margan it stopped everyone in their tracks soldiers craned their necks to the sky looking to trace the source of the noise drivers hung out of truck Windows looking around as the low groan was replaced by the shrieking of tearing steel 200 Engineers working on the bridge at the time knew instantly where the sound was coming from they felt it Buckle under their feet as the ludendorf bridge tore itself apart and slammed into the cold Waters of the Ry Lieutenant Colonel Clayton rust commanding the 276th engineer combat Battalion was on the bridge when it collapsed he like many others plunged into the rine and was briefly pinned underwater and then floated Downstream to the Pontoon bridge where finally he was rescued others were saved by strong swimmers on the River Bank who volunteered to go in and pull out those Engineers desperately clinging to pieces of wreckage the moment caught on cam camera by Sergeant Newman who kept filming as the freezing victims were driven away from medical attention tragically 28 Army Engineers were killed in the collapse while a further 63 were injured and had to be rescued from the bridge structure many winched down on stretches of those who died 18 were never recovered it being presumed that they drowned in the Swift Current of the rine once again the cameras of the 165th were present and filmed the scene as men scrambled across the Twisted super structure and raced to pull survivors from the water and certain death although the bridge was finally gone what its and the engineers who had fallen with it had achieved was remarkable in 10 days over 25,000 troops and thousands of vehicles had crossed the bridge at Ray margan and the two pontoon bridges as stride it they would be the first steps in a drive which would ultimately end the war in Europe in the the aftermath of Ray margan Hitler was determined to use the debark as an example for any German Soldier failing to do their Duty a few days later five officers were sentenced to death major H shella was convicted for failing to blow up the bridge in absentia halman vly bratka who had surrendered to the Americans though the other four met a German firing squad and are today buried in bernbach some 35 km from rayar but what of the others whose lives crossed at the bridge at Ray margan hman fenan who was taken prisoner by the Americans was also prosecuted in absenta by Court Marshal but acquitted he too survived the war and returned to Ray margan more than once Lieutenant Timmerman went back to America at the end of the war but never returned to Ray margan shortly after reenlisting in 1950 for service in Korea he was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1951 he was 29 Sergeant drabik the first man across the bridge was awarded the distinguished service cross for his actions and returned several times to raygan being captured in this Photograph on his final visit in 1991 he was killed 2 years later in a road accident on Route to a reunion with his old comrads as for the bridge it was never rebuilt its beams broken up and used to help rebuild a war ravaged Germany and today only those black stone towers still stand a silent reminder of what happened one March day in 1945 when the Americans came to Ray margan thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video why not check out our documentary on the US Army's assault on cologne and the famous tank jewel in the shadow of its Cathedral we love making videos like these and we simply couldn't do so without the support we received from our great community of YouTube members and on patreon if you'd like to support us in what we do please check them out at the link below that's all this time thanks again and we'll see you soon

Channel: Battle Guide

Views: 596,618

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Id: 6e18-xrLYKY

Length: 25min 18sec (1518 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 19 2024