Over the next 10 days, after its capture on 7 March 1945 and until its failure on 17 March, the Germans used virtually every weapon at their disposal to try to destroy the bridge. The battle for control of the Ludendorff Bridge caused both the American and German forces to employ new weapons and tactics in combat for the first time. The GIs' actions prevented the Germans from regrouping east of the Rhine and consolidating their positions. forces captured the bridge and rapidly expanded their first bridgehead across the Rhine, two weeks before Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's meticulously planned Operation Plunder. When they tried to blow it up, only a portion of the explosives detonated. : 263–264 The Germans had wired the bridge with about 2,800 kilograms (6,200 lb) of demolition charges.
They were very surprised to see one of the last bridges across the Rhine still standing. First Army had advanced unexpectedly quickly towards the Rhine. The presence of a bridgehead across the Rhine advanced by three weeks the Western Allies' planned crossing of the Rhine into the German interior.Īfter capturing the Siegfried Line, the 9th Armored Division of the U.S. They were able to hold it against German opposition and build additional temporary crossings. The Battle of Remagen was an 18-day battle during the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II from 7 to 25 March 1945 when American forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine intact.
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