March 1945
First Crossings of the Rhine
Although by early March the Allies had succeeded in driving the Germans back across the Rhine, they had no way of crossing the river, as the retreating enemy had managed to destroy nearly all the bridges. However, on March 7 the Americans found a bridge that the Germans had missed—at the town of Remagen—and U.S. forces immediately began crossing. Over the next several days the Germans tried again and again to destroy the bridge, using aerial bombardment, rockets, and even scuba divers, but only managed to weaken its structure. Finally, on March 17 the bridge collapsed, but by this time American troops had succeeded in building two more bridges upriver, so that troops and supplies would continue to cross the river. Meanwhile, farther north the British built several bridges of their own around the town of Wesel, thus opening up the Ruhr Valley to invasion from north and south.

History:
Rhineland

Campaign Maps:
The Rhineland Campaign, 11-21 March 1945
Crossing of the Rhine, 22-28 March 1945

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archive: Interview with Edwin Kolodziej
Rutgers Oral History Archive: Interview with Robert Kennedy
Rutgers Oral History Archive: Interview with Solomon Leader

Photographs:
First U.S. Army men and equipment pour across the Remagen Bridge; two knocked out jeeps in foreground, March 11, 1945
Crossing the Rhine under enemy fire at St. Goar, March 1945