And he apologized for it, said it was badly located at Remagen. The unexpected availability of a bridgehead on the eastern side of the Rhine more than two weeks in advance of Operation Plunder allowed Allied high commander Dwight Eisenhower to alter his plans to end the war. [125] The 9th Military Police Platoon was recognized with the Meritorious Unit Citation, the Belgian Fourragère, and the Presidential Unit Citation for its performance at the Ludendorff Bridge. Timmermann asked, but Deevers did not answer. On 15 March, they destroyed 256 motor transports and damaged 35 tanks and 12 armored vehicles.[69]. Summary: Hans Scheller is 60 years old and was born on 08/24/1960. 14 Mar 1945 (aged 31) Birnbach, Landkreis Altenkirchen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. [10], By 6 March, the 9th Armored was already just 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) from the Rhine. "While we were running across the bridge—and, man, it may have been only 250 yards but it seemed like 250 miles to us—I spotted this lieutenant, standing out there completely exposed to the machine gun fire that was pretty heavy by this time. [111], Eisenhower described capturing the bridge as "one of those rare and fleeting opportunities which occasionally arise in war and which, if grasped, have incalculable effects on determining future success". [21], After pushing the Germans back during the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies quickly advanced into western Germany. They discovered that one of the steel pipes containing the wires connecting to the main charge had been severed, possibly by artillery. On 9 and 10 March, nine Fw 190G-1 fighter-bombers from 11 Staffel./KG 200 were dispatched from Twente to Frankfurt to operate against the bridge by night. Directed by forward artillery observers positioned on the steep hills overlooking the river, the Germans continually pounded the engineers, soldiers, and vehicles on the bridges and the roads leading to them. After the occupation of Poland, the Oberkommando des Heeres wished to introduce a system which allowed speedy trials to be performed, as it was believed that a fast process would be a more effective deterrent. Scheller had only arrived at 11:15 am, two hours before the Americans attacked the bridge. The task force, part of Combat Command B, consisted of C Troop of the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron manning M8 Light Armored Cars and M3 Half-tracks; Company A of 27th Armored Infantry Battalion (27th AIB) equipped with M3 Half-tracks, commanded by Major Murray Deevers; one platoon of Company B, 9th Armored Engineer Battalion (9th AEB) led by Lt. Hugh Mott; and three companies of the 14th Tank Battalion (14th TB): Company A (led by 22-year-old Lt. Karl H. Timmermann); Company B (led by Lt. Jack Liedke); and Company C (led by Lt. William E. The German divisions on the Rhine's west bank were cut to pieces. During one barrage, seventeen engineers were killed or wounded and 19 pontoon floats were destroyed. [119] He directed him to court-martial and execute the officers who failed to destroy the bridge. [23]:88, Major General John W. Leonard, commanding officer of the 9th Armored Division, later recalled that on 6 March, III Corps commander Major General John Millikin, referring to the Ludendorff Bridge, told him over the phone, "You see that black line on the map. Timmermann had been promoted only the night before to commander of Company A, and Engemann ordered him and his company of dismounted infantry into Remagen supported by A Company/14th Tank Battalion. "[26]:183, U.S. Army Air Forces fighter aircraft from the 404th Fighter-Bomber Group and 359th Fighter Group maintained a strong defensive umbrella over the bridge to try to stop Luftwaffe attacks. After the failed plot to assassinate Hitler in July 1944, General Friedrich Fromm, after capturing the conspirators, hosted an impromptu court martial sentencing the lead conspirators to death by firing squad. Birnbach Ehrenfriedhof. [54], Sergeant Joe DeLisio ran through the intense German gunfire and Lt. Karl H. Timmermann and the others followed him. On 21 March 1945 Hoge was transferred to assume command of the Fourth Infantry Division under General Patton. Whitepages people search is the most trusted directory. On 12 September 1991, veterans of the American and German units were added to the "Golden Book" of the community of Erpel during a commemorative ceremony. He quickly found them guilty and sentenced them to be executed immediately. Gerd Scheller, whose father Hans Scheller had been executed by a drumhead court-martial, told attendees, "In the name of two postwar generations, I want to thank the Americans for acting as resolutely as they did on 7 March 1945. [2] On the same day, Botsch was so quickly transferred that he did not have time to brief his replacement, Generalmajor Richard von Bothmer. The sentence was executed against three majors and one lieutenant. The first was between Cologne and Bonn in the north, and the other was between Andernach and Koblenz in the south. The decision of a drumhead trial could be executed immediately. Please tell all ranks how proud I am of them." Then we just sat and waited for others to come. [10], On Monday, 19 March, Eisenhower ordered nine First Army divisions already across the river to prepare to join General George Patton's Third Army after it crossed the Rhine. Hitler was angered by this incident and ordered those "responsible" for the destruction of the Mulheim Bridge to be court-martialed. "[133], In interviews after the war, Captain Karl Friesenhahn, who had been in charge of the demolition charges on the bridge, stated that he had successfully tested the electrical circuits controlling the charges shortly before the Americans attacked. Who is your father’s sports idol?. or your mothers rockstar?. The blast damaged or destroyed buildings in a 300 metres (980 ft) radius, killing three soldiers and wounding 30 more. The Americans fired machine guns and threw hand grenades into the tunnel, killing a young boy and wounding several civilians. Each battalion was equipped with four batteries of M3 halftracks, each armed with a M45 Quadmount anti-aircraft weapon system, each utilizing a quartet of Browning M2HB machine guns,[8] with a total of upwards of eighty Browning machine guns[citation needed] defending the captured Ludendorff Bridge. A floating Bailey typically replaced a treadway or pontoon bridges and required substantially more time to build. Maiden, Lorelei. Rust, battalion commander of the 276th ECB, was on the bridge when it collapsed. The troops and tanks arrived at about the same time and advanced quickly through Remagen against light resistance. There weren't any reserves readily available and most of the essential combat units that were in the area were still on the west bank, trying to get across the Rhine. He was promised a heavy anti-aircraft battalion, but it never arrived. [10], Bratge commanded only 36 convalescing soldiers, some of whom could not even fire a weapon. Traffic was still moving across the Ludendorff Bridge. [32] First Army commander Courtney Hodges confirmed Millikin's decision to continue to enlarge the bridgehead. Thirty minutes later, Engemann led the 17 tanks of A/14/9 AIB forward. Hans Scheller’s full report may contain information on how to contact them such as phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. Zac Klassen, Actor: Wait What. Units that were threatened with the possibility of being overrun or surrounded could not fall back to a more defensible position. [131][139], The sign that C/9th AIB placed on the north tower of the bridge is permanently displayed at the George Patton Museum at Fort Knox, Kentucky, above an M26 Pershing tank like that used to capture the bridge. The 148th ECB were assigned extra help from Company C, 291st Engineer Combat Battalion, and sixty men from the 501st Light Pontoon Company. [63] The Chief of Staff of the 9th ID, William Westmoreland later commented that, "So irresolute was the III Corps Commander, so lacking in confidence, that I feared for the safety of the bridgehead. [2], During 6 March, the III Flak Korps anti-aircraft gun crews emplaced on top of the 180-meter-high (590 ft) Erpeler Ley, strategically overlooking the Ludendorff Bridge, had been ordered by the Luftwaffe to help defend Koblenz. Once the Ludendorff Bridge was captured, the Americans needed additional bridges as backups to the structurally weakened Ludendorff Bridge, and to get more troops and armor across the Rhine so they could expand and defend the bridgehead. [136] An M-26 Pershing Tank used by Company A's second platoon is also permanently displayed on the fort. [63] The Germans had more than 100 artillery pieces in the area around the bridge, including 50 105 mm light howitzers, 50 150 mm heavy howitzers and 12 210 mm heavy howitzers. [24], Montgomery's ground assault plan included the British 21st Army Group, consisting of the British Second Army, First Canadian Army and the attached US 9th Army. On 9 October 1944, a raid by 33 bombers damaged the bridge and it was reported as destroyed, but the bridge was back in use again on 9 November. Had the Americans not found a weak spot enabling them to cross the Rhine they probably would have swung forthwith against the Moselle. It broke the front along the Rhine." Drabik was the first American soldier to cross this bridge, and the first enemy since the Napoleonic Wars to cross the Rhine and capture German territory. It may well be, therefore, that the bridgehead will not be all joy for the Americans. Scheller, Johannes Stefan Anton “Hans”, born 09-07-1913, in Cologne, married with Lisel Gottschalk and father of one daughter and two sons, was the last commander of the Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen. Bradley, who also disliked Montgomery, gladly tweaked him and his Operation Plunder when he announced Patton's success, being sure to tell the press that Patton had crossed the Rhine without aerial bombardment, airborne assault, or even artillery fire. [22] On the morning of 9 March, the first ferry was crossing the Rhine carrying troops and vehicles. [37][42] The only defense that slowed the Americans down was a machine gun manned by infantry over the town square, which two of the Pershings quickly dispatched. Generalleutnant Kurt von Berg, in charge of Combat Area XII North, ordered him to gather every man available and counterattack. [8] The aircraft also attacked the many vehicles and troops crowding the roads around the bridge with some success. To the south, Montgomery would be supported by Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley's 12th Army Group, including the First Army under the command of Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodges. [2] The rest of A/27 AIB followed them, and after the eastern shore was initially secured, Lt. Mott led B Company, 9th Engineers, in finding and eliminating more live demolition charges on the bridge. John Reynolds, who climbed under the bridge and began cutting the wires leading to the remaining demolition charges. It was "... a bold advance, characterized by a willingness to chance great risks for great rewards". A German forward artillery observer had infiltrated Remagen, enhancing their artillery's accuracy. The heavy U.S. anti-aircraft defenses required the German pilots to take violent evasive action, reducing their accuracy. [83] Tracked vehicles were limited to 5 mph (8.0 km/h) and wheeled vehicles to 15 mph (24 km/h). [103], Another tactical bridge was constructed by the 254th Engineer Combat Battalion on 22 March, 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) upstream at Honningen. General Dwight D. Eisenhower described the First Army's success: "The whole Allied force is delighted to cheer the First Army whose speed and boldness have won the race to establish the first bridgehead over the Rhine. [6]:228, Between 7–14 March, while under attack by 11 weakened German divisions, the five U.S. divisions of the U.S. V and VII Corps captured 11,200 German prisoners of war and lost only 863 soldiers. "[7], The bridge was not rebuilt after the war but the standing towers were preserved. The war is moving plenty fast and furious; my hands have been literally steeped in the blood from the wounded. MAJ Johannes Stefan Anton Scheller. [10], On 6 March, General of the Cavalry Edwin Rothkirch, commanding officer of LIII Armeekorps with responsibility for the Remagen area, wandered into U.S. lines and was captured. Patton demanded to be let through, and when Hyde refused, Patton asked for Hyde's name. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, accused of association with the assassination plot, was similarly tried and executed. [3] The term sometimes has connotations of summary justice, with an implied lack of judicial impartiality, as noted in the transcripts of the trial at Nuremberg of Josef Bühler.[4]. Allied journalists called the capture of this bridge the "Miracle of Remagen". For the formal application of military law and justice, see. The few defensive obstacles that had been constructed were too weak to block tanks or had been placed in open terrain, and the roadblocks they had built usually allowed plenty of room for vehicles to pass. [17] Both the Germans and the Americans watched the smoke and haze clear from the explosion and were shocked to see the bridge was still standing. When the 9th and 11th Panzer finally attacked the American 311th Regiment at Bad Honnef 4 miles (6.4 km) downstream from Remagen on 11 March, they were ineffective and consumed dwindling supplies of gasoline without result.[6][74]. To maximize effective command and control, Milliken decided to initially attach all units as they crossed the river to Combat Command B, 9th Armored Division. He returned after the war twice to interview Germans who took part in the battle. On 11 March, the 9th AIB captured Linz and at 7:00 pm, 27 hours after beginning construction, the engineers completed the second bridge, the fastest built floating bridge ever completed by the engineers while under fire. [55] Leonard also awarded 13 soldiers Distinguished Service Crosses and 152 Silver Star medals for their success in capturing the bridge and related action. If his gamble failed, Hoge risked a court-martial. Alexander A. Drabik, a tall, lanky former butcher from Holland, Ohio, was the first American across the Rhine, the first invader to reach its east bank since the time of Napoleon. [citation needed], Model gave Bayerlein 24 hours to come up with a plan. While extremely fast for their time, they were not accurate and dropped their 1,000-kilogram (2,200 lb) bombs without success. [2] Both Friesenhahn and Bratge knew the dire consequences to them personally and to the German defensive situation if they failed to destroy the bridge. Lt. Timmermann, who had been born in Frankfurt am Main about 160 kilometres (99 mi) from their position, was the first American officer to cross the bridge. He died on 22-05-1964, age 71 in Casablanca, Morocco In September 1992 the urn with his ashes was transferred from Brompton Cemetery in London to Poland and buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw. [120] Hitler replaced him with Field Marshal Albert Kesselring from the Italian Front. [34], The commanding officer of 7th Armored Division, Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck, was instructed to immediately move a combat command, reinforced by one battalion of infantry, to an area near Remagen where it would relieve the 60th Infantry Regiment/9th Infantry Division.
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