Hitler's Last Stand (2018) s02e06 Episode Script

By March of 1945,
millions of allied troops
mobilize along the west bank
of the river Rhine
ready to deal a death blow
to Nazi Germany.
Their plans are epic.
Airborne drops, um, river crossings,
engineers building their own bridges.
It's almost analogous
to another amphibious invasion.
But in a surprise
turn of events,
rather than a great general
Caesar or George Patton
or somebody like that.
An unlikely warrior
may be the first allied soldier
to cross the Rhine.
On June 6th, 1944,
Allied forces finally
land troops in Normandy
to open the western front.
But Nazi fanatics and diehards
continue to fight ruthlessly for survival.
D-day was a battle.
The allies still need to win the war.
March 6th, 1945.
Flerzheim, Germany.
American army captain Frederick Kriner
leads 27th armored infantry battalions
Able Company
in a mop up operation.
Kriner orders his men
to sweep for Nazi defenses
and secure the town as quickly as possible
before they move on.
But as they leave
Aaaah!
Kriner is struck down.
At this point in the war,
it proves difficult to know
who the enemy is.
In 1945, the German forces
are a mixed bag.
You've got regular units,
you've got SS units, Hitler youth,
and you've got the Volksstrum,
so the people's army.
So we don't actually know
which unit wounded Captain Kriner.
This confusion does not improve
the odds for allied forces
advancing into Germany.
The casualty rates in the US Army,
in that spring of 1945,
are almost as high as they had been
the previous summer
in the battle of Normandy.
There's still a lot
of ways to get killed and wounded
and even captured,
at this point in the war.
You just know you have
to do more fighting today
and you hope to survive to see next week.
That has not changed.
With Kriner
wounded and evacuated
Platoon leader 2nd
lieutenant Karl Timmermann
takes over Able company.
It is the fourth change
of command in just six days.
The responsibility
of command is with you.
The lives of other
people are in your hands.
When your commander was around
there was always that layer
between you and
that level of responsibility.
Now you see him led away,
things get pretty serious at that point.
OK. Two move forward
Hey!
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Timmermann is an unlikely candidate for leadership.
NARRATOR Despite serving in
the US Army, he speaks German.
Timmermann was born in Frankfurt,
not far from here.
Timmermann's father had served
in the American occupying force
after World War I,
but deserted to marry
Karl's mother who was German.
The family later moves back
to the United States.
Karl and his brothers all enlist to redeem
the family name
after their father's dishonor.
Now as part of the 9th armored division,
Timmermann has returned to Germany.
He is part of the massive
allied advance east,
which is slowed each time they need
to ford another of the rivers,
which criss-cross western Europe.
You've moved through
some German territory,
you've started to breech
the Siegfried line,
which is a belt of fortifications
in Western Germany.
And now the main barrier in front
of you is the actual Rhine itself.
The Rhine
Stretching 765 miles from the Swiss alps
to the north sea.
The Rhine has long served as a moat
to protect German states from the west.
It is the last natural barrier
before advancing
into the heart of Germany.
So, who has got the Rhine,
has got Germany.
Allied planners must now find
a way to move 80 divisions,
about four million soldiers
to the other side.
It's a challenge as big as D-day.
What makes it even more difficult,
is that as the allies rush towards
the 31 bridges
that cross the Rhine deeper into Germany,
they drop into the river,
demolished by retreating German forces
to slow the allied advance.
To compensate, the allies transport
hundreds of boats
and tons of bridge building materials,
to get across in other ways.
But the goal of Timmermann's
9th armored division
is only to occupy the west bank
of the Rhine
to cut off the Nazi retreat.
The 9th Armored division
is not scheduled to cross the Rhine
and they resent it a little bit.
They feel like, they're a first team unit
that ought to get
the first crack at this kind thing.
The next morning,
Karl Timmermann briefs his platoon leaders
on the day's mission
as the commanding officer.
They lead a task force to occupy
the town of Remagen
on the west bank of the Rhine river.
The route will cover about ten miles
and take them through small villages.
They have orders to avoid any skirmishes
and to maintain a speed of about
10 miles per hour.
Timmermann points out a rail bridge
across the river
from Remagen to the east side
that they expect to be destroyed.
By noon, A-Company approaches
a vantage point with a view of Remagen.
Reconnaissance had flown
over earlier in the day.
US artillery battalions
have little Piper Cubs or Stinsons
and they sent them on ahead and they say,
"Guys we've got
a bridge still intact here."
But rumors also fly
and the situation is changing fast.
Timmermann and his platoon leaders
do not know what to expect.
So as A-company looks down over the town,
they are greeted with a big surprise
The Nazis have not blown the bridge.
It is still there.
The allies have an opportunity
to capture an intact bridge
over the Rhine river.
Remagen had never
really figured in a major way
in Allied plans of crossing the Rhine.
The Allies had a major operation plan
of airborne drops,
river crossings,
engineers building their own bridges.
No one really imagined that the Germans
would allow this to happen.
The Ludendorff Bridge
spans more than 1,000 feet
and is wide enough for two trains
to pass side by side.
Four stone towers overlook the ends,
and a deep tunnel is carved into the hill
on the east side.
The bridge was built during World War I
to speed the transport of soldiers
and supplies to the western front.
But it became a corridor of retreat
for the defeated army.
It once again serves German soldiers,
seeking to escape the Allied advance.
Timmermann's men must stifle
their initial impulse.
You see Germans retreating
across the Ludendorff Bridge,
your first inclination
might be to shoot at them,
these were targets of opportunity.
You might pull back
from that because maybe
you don't want to give away your position.
The intact bridge
is a game changer.
The word goes up
the command chain saying,
"You've got a bridge there,
what do you want us to do?"
They tell task force Engamen go for it.
Get in as fast as you can.
If they blow it in your face,
fine, it's knocked down
but maybe we'll get lucky.
But the Germans still control
the Ludendorff Bridge
and could destroy it at any moment,
as they have with every other crossing.
The officers in charge are captain
Will Bratge, combat commander.
He's the average German officer.
Commissioned in 1940.
Fought in France in 1940.
Then fought later in Russia.
Captain Karl Friesenhahn,
commands an engineering battalion
responsible for bridge explosives.
Karl Friesenhahn is an older solider,
a World War I veteran,
member of the Nazi party since 1933.
So he's not called up for frontline
duty during the Second World War,
but only in training
roles and reserve roles.
Months before, Friesenhahn
had been assigned the Remagen Bridge.
So, he's more or less
babysitting the bridge.
The two captains
know the Americans are coming fast
and Friesenhahn readies the bridge
for demolition.
As the men review preparations,
a German army major
named Hans Scheller approaches
and announces he has been placed
in charge of all forces at the bridge.
It is quite symptomatic
for the chaos of these days
that the responsibility
for the Ludendorff Bridge
changes three times within 24 hours.
Both captains urge
Major Scheller
to issue the order for demolition.
Scheller asks the men
about the available forces.
Captain Bratge informs him
they have a convalescent battalion
of 36 wounded soldiers.
Along with scattered groups of armed
Hitler Youth and Volkssturm troops.
Friesenhahn commands
roughly 100 armed engineers.
Bratge asks major Scheller about
the reinforcements he requested
but there are none.
German forces are busy elsewhere.
The main focus during these days
is further up to the north.
It's in the area around Cologne and Bonn.
Remagen is only a side show.
The major hesitates.
Scheller's own
Corps is hastily retreating.
They don't want to get trapped and fall
into Allied hands on the west bank
of the river Rhine.
Scheller orders the engineers
to complete all preparations
for demolition,
but not to blow the bridge yet.
As they get to work, the men hear gunfire
from the western approach.
The Americans have arrived.
March 7th, 1945.
Western Germany.
The American 27th armored infantry
battalion has orders to capture the town
of Remagen on the west bank of the Rhine.
But when 2nd lieutenant Karl Timmermann
and his platoon arrive,
they are amazed to see that a bridge
across the river remains intact.
They expected
all the bridges to be down,
because most of the bridges
were already down.
The Germans rush
to complete preparations
for its destruction.
But major Hans Scheller still hesitates,
he must be careful.
Troops in panic blow up bridges.
That was already the case in autumn, 1944.
After the Mulheim bridge
was blown up by mistake,
Hitler implemented strict protocols.
You don't want the average guy
to blow up the bridge.
It must come from
a higher command authority.
If Scheller decides
to blow up the bridge too early,
it will leave thousands of German soldiers
trapped on the west side
of the river Rhine.
So everything depends that Scheller
finds out the right point in time.
As the work
to destroy the bridge continues,
American lieutenant Karl Timmermann
leads his men into Remagen.
A roadblock has been removed
and white sheets drape from windows
as signs of capitulation.
The town appears deserted.
The lack of resistance
makes the men wary of a trap.
They didn't know
what the reception was going to be
and some cases,
the German villagers simply wanted
to surrender their village.
But in some cases there would be
Nazi diehards
and they would stage ambushes
and so just because it seemed to be quiet
doesn't mean it really was quiet.
They encounter a sign
warning the locals of a mine field.
The Germans
put up signs everywhere, "Achtung Minen",
which translates into "Caution Mines."
And for the Allies, it's totally unclear
whether there are really minefields.
In any case, they have
to stop and search for mines
and that is time consuming
and slows down their advance.
American combat engineers
sweep the road ahead.
German engineers finish
the last steps of the demolition prep,
Friesenhahn checks the circuit
to ensure it is firing properly.
The bridge is ready to blow.
Friesenhahn again asks major Scheller
for the order to detonate
but with the German retreat still steady,
Scheller refuses.
Friesenhahn then takes some men
across the bridge towards the west bank.
At the approach ramp, he observes
the Americans advance with a tank.
Able Company is backed up
by M-26 Pershing tanks.
Equipped with 90 millimeter guns
with a wide tread and a low silhouette,
these beasts are brand new
to the battlefront,
part of a mechanized fighting unit.
The 27th Armored Infantry Battalion
is just one component
of this larger 9th Armor Division,
which would have like tanks,
armored infantry,
self-propelled artillery,
and armored engineers.
That would operate
as like mobile strike forces.
Speed is the key feature.
They're ideal for this point
in the war,
so that you've got firepower
and combat strength
but also you have that kind of
lightening quick mobility too,
as long as your fuel holds out.
With soldiers
on foot around the tank
the Americans begin to rush forward.
Move forward! Let's go!
German captain,
Karl Friesenhahn,
hears the whistle and tank engines
and yells "Feuer!"
Feuer! "Fire."
Before the Americans
even reach the ramp
an explosion rocks
the ground beneath them,
sending rubble flying over their heads.
Get down!
When the dust and smoke clears,
a 30 foot crater in the approach ramp,
blocks any vehicle from the bridge deck
on the western side.
Friesenhahn now joins
the retreating Germans,
racing across the bridge to the east bank.
But as he runs, a shell explodes nearby
and knocks him out.
Friesenhahn is the only officer who has
got the keys to set off the explosives.
And now he's lying unconscious
on the bridge.
March 7th, 1945.
2nd lieutenant, Karl Timmermann,
leads an American task force
to the banks of the Rhine river,
where incredibly,
the Ludendorff Bridge still stands.
Their mission was simply to secure
and hold the town of Remagen,
but now, the Americans have a chance
to capture a bridge across the Rhine,
that could drive a dagger
into the heart of Germany.
- However, as they begin to cross
- Feuer!
there is a massive explosion.
Every bridge over the river Rhine
has got explosives
on its western approaches.
In the case of emergency,
these explosions would be fused first,
and by the explosion you will have
a crater against enemy tanks.
The Germans clearly are aware
of the approaching Americans.
But what Timmermann does not know
is the German officer who has the keys
to detonate the explosives,
has been knocked out
and lies unconscious on the bridge deck.
While they regroup after the blast,
the Americans must also
sort through the intelligence
and other information that is coming in.
As the task force from the 9th
Armored Division got into the town
they started picking up a mixture
of German soldiers
and Volksstrum
militia and local civilians.
And so the rumors started to circulate,
"Oh, yeah,
the bridge is going to be blown up.
It's going to be blown up at 1600.
Or it's going to be blown up
as soon as American troops stand on it."
Despite the risk,
Timmermann and his men have
their orders to seize the bridge.
There were all
these rumors circulating,
but most US soldiers figured
that the last minute
the Germans were
going to blow up the bridge.
But if the Germans are going
to wait until 1600 hours,
that gives Able Company 45 minutes.
Let's move!
Go! Go! Go!
The American infantrymen
make their way around the crater
and start to approach
the bridgehead again.
Once the Americans
are on the bridge,
the remaining Germans on the east bank
fire down on the bridge
and try to stop the Americans
from further advance.
The Americans
take cover in the crater
and return fire
Let 'em have it!
With back up
from the Pershing tank's cannons
It cannot move past the crater,
but it can still provide supporting fire.
Timmermann edges toward the bridge
and waves for his men to follow.
But they hesitate.
Stay low!
Remagen bridge on the east bank
was faced by a very,
very large hill and a tunnel
and so there was suspicion
on the part of the American infantrymen
that the Germans were lying in ambush.
And so that once they got out
and onto the bridge,
that they would receive very, very heavy
fire from the tunnel and from the hill.
And German fire from the stone
towers on the east side
also keeps Timmermann's men
pinned down.
Hey! See that turret?
Roger that!
The American tank gunners
take aim
and knock out large chunks of the tower.
The German machine guns are
silenced for the moment
and Timmermann takes advantage.
He checks his watch.
If the detonation is on schedule,
they have ten minutes.
American engineers from
the armored engineering battalion
also have orders.
They must get on the bridge
and disarm every explosive they can find.
They know what the demolition
charges are apt to look like
and so they're going to go out there
and try to remove the explosives
and try to deal with the cabling
that connects the explosives
to the detonator back in the tunnel.
The Americans deploy
white phosphorous shells as a smoke screen
to shield their advance.
Covering fire!
Now, with some covering fire
Approach!
Timmermann orders
his platoons onto the bridge.
Move it! Move it!
Where the threat seems to be far
greater than ordinary,
the main leadership skill is you have to
lead from the front.
He doesn't order the men,
"You go across the bridge,"
he says, "Follow me".
Keep moving! Keep moving!
Finally, the German captain,
Karl Friesenhahn, regains consciousness
and staggers to the east bank.
Major Scheller is located and the order
is given to blow the bridge.
Friesenhahn turns the key
to set off the detonation.
But there is no explosion.
He tries again, and still nothing.
The circuit has been broken.
Friesenhahn had checked
that everything
was in working order
to blow up the bridge.
And now as he turns the key,
nothing happens.
Must have been quite shocking for him.
He and all the other officers
are totally in panic.
The Germans
have only one option
- ,
- There is an emergency demolition charge 90 yards back on the bridge
but it must be set off by hand.
Friesenhahn asks for a volunteer
from the non-commissioned officers.
Of course, in this situation,
you couldn't find anybody initially
who wants to do this mission,
because it's quite a lethal,
not quite, it's a very lethal mission.
Finally, a young soldier named
Anton Faust steps up.
Friesenhahn gives him instructions
and Faust takes off onto
the bridge under heavy fire.
At almost the same time,
American 2nd lieutenant,
Karl Timmermann, also charges forward,
to lead his men onto the bridge.
Keep moving!
You have got noise everywhere.
You've got the bridge under smoke.
And somewhere on this bridge you've got
Faust trying to detonate the bridge.
The seconds drag by.
Friesehahn cannot wait.
He leaves the tunnel
to catch a glimpse of Faust.
And Friesenhahn can't see him.
And suddenly, he emerges from the smoke
saying, "I've done my job."
As the Americans approach,
the bridge explodes
from charges beneath the pier.
As the roar rings in their ears,
the men brace for impact.
March 7th, 1945.
Western Germany.
American 2nd lieutenant, Karl Timmermann,
of the 27th armored infantry battalion
charges onto the Ludendorff Bridge.
It is an unexpected prize that may unlock
the door to the heart of Germany.
But determined to thwart
the American advance,
German captain, Karl Friesenhahn,
executes emergency procedures,
to blow up the bridge.
When the sheer noise
of the explosion goes off,
the troops think that at any second
the bridge is going to collapse.
The whole bridge shook.
When the Germans
on the east side see the denotation,
or hear the detonation first,
they are jubilant.
They think, oh, well, we just made it
in time to blow up this bridge.
But miraculously,
the Americans raise their heads
to find they are still alive.
They weren't
sure what had happened.
Some charge had obviously gone off.
Had part of the bridge
gone down in the river?
Their part had not gone down
in the river yet.
They cannot see.
Everything is shrouded in dust and smoke.
It starts to clear.
Then suddenly they realized
the bridge is still intact.
The bridge is damaged,
but the bridge is still intact.
So what do you do now?
Well get off that bridge,
as soon as you can.
The Germans also wait anxiously
for the smoke to clear.
But after a couple of seconds,
they just freeze.
The bridge is still standing.
The bridge is ours! Let's move!
Go! Go! Go!
The German attempts
to blow the span have failed.
Timmermann sees that many of his men
are frozen in fear of another blast.
Move it! Don't stop moving! Go! Go! Go! And he urges them forward.
Move through boys! Move through!
The main thing
is get off that bridge,
because maybe the Germans
might hit another plunger
and have another explosion.
Hey! We don't have time to stop!
Get up! Keep going! Get up! Let's go!
Keep moving! Keep moving! We gotta move!
We gotta move!
So in that case the self-interest
of the soldiers really coalesces
with what the higher brass would want too.
Around the same time,
lieutenant Hugh Mott, of the 9th
armored engineering battalion
leads a group of engineers to disarm
the explosives that remain rigged
to the bridge.
No one knows who
or what could set them off.
Because the bridge didn't go down
their assumption
is that there's another charge there.
So the engineers
have this nearly impossible task
of isolating the explosive charges
that are designed to take the bridge down.
One of Mott's men runs
to the far side of the bridge
to cut a thick cable.
But it is encased
and his tools are ineffective.
Stand back boys!
He pulls out his rifle
and fires three rounds into the cable,
severing it completely.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Joseph Delisio
runs past the engineers
to the base of the towers
on the opposite side.
The main source of opposition
is coming from two big stone towers
on the eastern side of the bridge.
Set up, up there inside these slits
are German machine gun teams.
Covering fire!
The tanks
have lobbed shots at the towers,
but they must be captured and cleared.
Delisio muscles his way inside.
As he advances, he hears
the machine gun fire above him
But as he climbs, the firing stops.
Delisio might be headed into a trap.
But without hesitation,
he slams open the door.
And bursts in on German soldiers
huddled over a jammed machine gun.
Delisio fires his rifle as a warning shot
and the Germans surrender.
He then grabs the machine gun
and throws it out the window,
in full view of the American soldiers
on the bridge.
Men from another platoon
clear the second tower.
With the withering machine gun fire
silenced from the towers,
Timmermann again urges his men
to advance towards the east bank.
Sergeant Alex Drabik leads the charge.
Drabik had been a butcher's boy
at home in the US.
His men had provided covering fire
from the rear, and now they surge forward.
Could they be the first allied soldiers
across the Rhine?
March 7th, 1945.
American soldiers from the 27th
armored infantry battalion,
dashed across the Ludendorff Bridge,
under heavy fire from German machine guns
and artillery shells
Keep moving!
In a bid to conquer the Rhine.
Sergeant Alex Drabik,
a squad leader, leads an all-out charge
to get to the other side.
Drabik believes if he can keep moving,
he will avoid the German bullets
trying to stop them.
Amazingly, it works.
When you think about crossing the Rhine,
you think of a great conqueror.
You know, Caesar or George Patton
or somebody like that.
Instead it's just this anonymous
little American soldier,
who no one would have imagined he would be
in this circumstance,
but he ends up as the first guy
across the Rhine.
Drabik's entire squad
makes it safely to the east bank.
A few seconds later, 2nd lieutenant,
Karl Timmermann, joins them,
becoming the first Allied officer
to cross the Rhine.
But the euphoria subsides
with a profound realization.
At that moment they only have
one very understrength
infantry company on the eastern side
of the Rhine River.
So they obviously need troops,
they need lots of them.
They have no idea of what
the Germans have over there.
They're only lucky that the Germans
are even more confused than they are.
Timmermann's men spread out
to capture the hill
overlooking the bridgehead.
German major, Hans Scheller,
watches as the Ludendorff Bridge
falls into enemy hands.
He must send word to his superiors
for reinforcements to counter attack.
But none of his radios work and
they have lost telephone communication.
In desperation, he commandeers a bicycle
to take word personally.
The Americans also know
that speedy reinforcement
is essential to hold the bridgehead.
Once the bridge is captured
by the Americans
and you start to get people across,
the whole thing is a race,
to get as much across
as you can and hold the bridge.
By nightfall,
the road to Remagen
is jammed for miles with Allied tanks
and transport vehicles.
Tanks, in particular, will
be critical for self-defense.
The Germans are going to have
a pretty furious military response.
Perhaps try to destroy
the Ludendorff Bridge
behind the Americans to cut them off.
But even though
the bridge was not destroyed,
it has been badly damaged.
No one is sure if it will support
the weight of tanks.
The engineers work tirelessly to determine
its structural integrity
and make essential repairs.
It's late afternoon, early evening
and so the sun is setting.
It's difficult to get down there
and physically inspect the bridge.
The engineers come under
constant enemy fire.
But with steel resolve and covering fire,
they repair the worst of the damage,
to the bridge itself
and the crater on the west side.
By midnight,
they are ready for vehicle crossings.
The first Sherman makes it
way slowly on to the span.
Over 30 tons of steel
and potential deadweight.
I'm fairly certain
that the first tank that went across
every single tank crewman
had his hatch open.
If that bridge did fall down
because the weight of the tank
they wanted to be able to escape.
Engineers have strung white tape as guides
and roped off damaged sections
of the deck.
Keep moving! Go! Go! Go! Keep moving!
Finally, the tank rolls onto
the solid ground of the east bank.
Allied armor has crossed the Rhine.
Tanks are some
of the heaviest vehicles you have.
So it would have indicated
to you as an average soldier,
uh, that the bridge is structurally,
you know,
well enough that you can be reinforced.
Despite the morale boost,
German counterattacks continue
and the night becomes perilous.
You've got the Rhine at your back.
And there's nowhere to go.
Covering fire!
So it's a very uneasy situation.
Just wanting to hold on
long enough and play for time,
so that others can come across
and reinforce and help you.
German engineers
remain determined
to complete their mission
to destroy the bridge.
Just before dawn,
a group evades Allied lookouts.
Cloaked in darkness, the Germans almost
make it to the bridge with explosives.
Before they are spotted
and captured.
The Americans are relieved
when the night passes.
When the sun comes up,
obviously you haven't been
thrown back into the Rhine.
That, uh, things are better.
And that if the Germans do attack,
you can at least see them, I guess.
That helps, too.
As troops and equipment
pour across the bridge,
they are greeted with a sign which reads,
"Cross the Rhine with dry feet,
courtesy of the 9th Armored Division."
But the battle to hold
the bridge has only just begun.
Hitler's absolutely infuriated
when he learns
that one of the Rhine bridges
has been captured
and so it is something of a matter
of pride just to knock it down.
So for several days the army
starts launching V2 missiles against it,
all sorts of heavy artillery.
It becomes a real hot spot.
Shells start to hit the bridge
area about once every two minutes
and there are several casualties
amongst the engineers.
It is a relentless campaign
to make crossings
and repair work extremely hazardous,
but by the next night,
8,000 American soldiers have a bridgehead
a mile deep
for two miles along
the east bank of the Rhine.
With the constant attacks,
the Americans leave nothing to chance.
Engineers also build pontoon bridges
to create additional crossings
to the east bank.
Those bridges also become targets.
The Luftwaffe flies nearly 400 sorties
against the crossings,
greeted by growing numbers
of American anti-aircraft guns.
Remagen Bridge was one of
the heaviest commitments of US army
anti-aircraft battalions
during World War II.
It was realized how important it was
and it was realized that the Germans
were going to try to destroy it,
and the most likely means was air attack.
The anti-aircraft batteries
have a single goal.
Not how many aircraft they shot down
but the fact that they
prevented the Luftwaffe
from ever hitting the bridge.
Their determination pays off.
In less than a week,
more than three allied divisions
occupy 14 miles
along the east bank of the river Rhine.
But on March 17th,
ten days after the capture
of Ludendorff Bridge,
tragedy strike
when the weakened crossing
suddenly gives way.
March 17th, 1945.
Remagen, Germany.
American forces have
protected Ludendorff Bridge.
Covering fire!
Despite countless
German attempts to destroy it.
The survival
of the Ludendorff Bridge
for 10 days is absolutely vital.
It gives the army the opportunity
to move more troops
and equipment across the bridge.
But at the same time ,
it gives that interlude that they need
to assemble the new bridges.
The bridgehead on the east side
provides protection for the Allies
to construct the first tactical bridges
across the Rhine,
which permit a steady stream
of men and equipment
to continue crossing
even when engineers close
the Ludendorff Bridge itself for repairs.
But with a shocking twist
the Ludendorff unexpectedly, collapses.
The bridge has simply
suffered so much damage,
it finally just gives up the ghost
and falls into the river.
Engineers are thrown into the icy water,
with many men pinned
by the falling wreckage.
Rescuers enter the river itself,
to save their comrades
and pull them to safety on shore.
For others it is too late.
As many as 28 men are killed,
with 63 more injured.
A great sacrifice for the cause of peace.
The action which begins
with just two battalions
grows rapidly to
a four-division operation.
The Allies have got now a crossing,
a secure crossing over the river Rhine.
For the first time,
since almost 150 years,
since the time of Napoleon,
a foreign army
has crossed the river Rhine in war
and now the gate to Berlin
and the Ruhr area is open.
Tens of thousands of vehicles
cross the Ludendorff
and the floating bridges
and by mid-March,
the Allies reach the autobahn
and begin cutting off
the industrial Ruhr pocket.
Hitler orders a court martial for the men
responsible for the bridge's capture.
Major Hans Scheller shares the fate
of thousands of German soldiers
in the last months of the war.
He's been court martialed
and sentenced to death,
and subsequently shot by a firing squad.
Captain Will Bratge
is also sentenced to death.
But he's lucky that he had been
taken prisoner by the Americans
and so he survived the war.
Captain Karl Friesenhahn
is cleared by the same Court Martial,
but and has been taken prisoner
by the Americans.
Second lieutenant,
Karl Timmermann,
Sergeant Alex Drabik,
Sergeant Joseph Delisio,
Lieutenant Hugh Mott,
all receive
the distinguished service cross
for their actions at Ludendorff Bridge.
The story is front page news stateside
and they become household names.
It's what many American soldiers
dreamed of, in World War II.
That your name would be in headlines
and everybody back home would read it.
So, this definitely captured
the imagination
and of course it would foster hopes
to among the home front, uh,
that the war was about to be over.
But even
with the Allies across the Rhine,
the horrors of the Nazi campaign
have not yet been revealed,
and the war in Europe will still continue
for nearly two more months.
Captioned by
Visual Data Media Services