| United States M4 Sherman tanks cross the Ludendorff Bridge. The bridge was prepared for demolition but was still intact when the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion arrived. Recognizing the importance of the bridge, battalion leaders acted on their own initiative to change their mission and seized it 10 minutes before it was scheduled to be blown up by retreating Nazi German forces, ultimately enabling 6 divisions to cross the Rhine and establish a bridgehead before it collapsed on March 17. Capturing the Ludendorff railroad bridge before it was destroyed seemed like a miracle of miracles. It was the only Rhine bridge the Germans failed to blow up. On March 7 — the same day that the United States 1st and 3rd Armies’ spearheads closed the pincer jaws of Operation Lumberjack around the Roer plain — a 9th Armored Division task force from 1st Army captured the only standing bridge across the Rhine, the Ludendorff railroad bridge at Remagen. The M18 Hellcats from C Company, 656th Tank Destroyer Battalion formed part of the column that reached Remagen at 0330 hours. Company Commanding Officer Captain Richard H. Tuggle (September 13, 1920 – June 18, 1976) was ordered to push his destroyers across the Rhine to support the 14th Tank Battalion. The Tank Destroyers rolled through the streets of Remagen, following the Shermans under constant artillery fire. The 1st Tank Destroyer, commanded by Sergeant John J. Jaroscak (October 18, 1925 – June 26, 1999), had made it 2/3 of the way across the bridge when the vehicle broke through the wooden planks covering a shell hole and was stuck. The crew and engineers worked furiously to get the destroyer, which had blocked the entire United States Army advance across the Rhine, moving again under fire. By 0600 hours, Jaroscak was on the east bank of the river. When Major General Courtney H. Hodges (January 5, 1887 – January 16, 1966), Commander, 1st Army, called General Omar Bradley (February 12, 1893 – April 9, 1981), Commander, 12th Army Group, with the news of the bridge’s capture, Bradley responded, “Hot dog, Courtney, this will bust him wide open…Shove everything you can across it.” Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) Operations Chief of Staff, Major General Harold R. “Pinky” Bull (January 6, 1893 – November 1, 1976) happened to be at Bradley’s Headquarters and was less enthusiastic because the crossing did not conform to the plan. “What in the hell do you want us to do,” asked an irritated Bradley, “pull back and blow it up?” Although still committed to making the main effort in the north, General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), Supreme Commander, SHAEF, authorized Bradley to push 5 divisions into the bridgehead. The 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion arrived at the bridgehead that afternoon with the 9th Infantry Division. The North Africa veterans from the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion — the 1st Tank Destroyers ashore at Normandy — crossed the Rhine the next day. C Company of the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion crossed on March 8, with the 47th Infantry Regiment. The battalion remained on the west bank in Remagen until March 10. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0866.jpg |
| Image Size | 777.23 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3852 x 2677 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 7, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Remagen |
| State or Province | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | Marshall University Library |
| Record Number | 1973.06.0010.58.29.02 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database