The railway bridge at Remagen called the Ludendorff Bridge was planned in 1912 and built during the First World War to bring troops to the Western Front.
In World War II on March 7, 1945, a surprised Lieutenant Timmermann of the 9th U.S. Armored Division first saw the intact bridge at Remagen.
When this unexpected gift was discovered, all US troops headed as fast as they could to secure and cross this bridge over the Rhine and continue deep into the heart of Germany aka Berlin.
My father Stewart Boone billeted before his crossing in Remagan at a castle: Schloss Ahrenthal.
As well as keeping the bridge open for passage of tanks and equipment, engineers were constructing pontoon bridges for the additional troops as well.
Stewart crossed on a pontoon bridge on March 13, 1944. Of course, there were many attempts by the Germans to destroy the bridge. Enemy fire, fast current, and potential bombing were always on their minds.
The Germans kept bombing the bridge from the air and with explosives set on the bridge. I guess it was a well-built German bridge to withstand all that fire power. Stewart said that the Germans had better built equipment. One could say that this time, it came back to haunt them!
On March 17, 1945 the damaged bridge suddenly collapsed and took 30 American soldiers to their deaths.
However, the fact that the Allies were able to cross the bridge shortened the war by many months, saving the lives of innumerable people.
After crossing the Rhine, Stewart noted that he stayed in a brewery in Dattenburg, Germany. We spent the night in Dattenburg … but not in a brewery.
Ludendorff’s book, The Total War, argued that a nation’s entire physical and moral resources should remain forever poised for mobilization because peace was merely an interval in a never-ending chain of wars.
After traveling much of the world, Rob and I sadly agree with this statement. We often feel that we are on a war travel trip sometimes called dark tourism. Rob summed it up: History is war!
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