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Remagen 1945 (Campaign)

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Veteran military historian Stephen J Zaloga turns in another fine chapter in Second World War history in Osprey's Campaign series #175, Remagen 1945. In this volume, Zaloga does not only describe the dramatic US capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River on 7 March 1945, but the sequence of events preceding it that led to this coup and the subsequent results once the Third Reich's last line of defense in the west was breached. Although the Remagen operation has been described before - most famously by Ken Hechler's classic 1953 account - Zaloga still manages to bring fresh perspective and insight to this narrative account.

The opening sections in this volume outline the strategic situation on the western front in late winter 1945, with the Wehrmacht on the point of collapse. As usual, the author does not spend much time discussing the opposing commanders but dives straight into the opposing armies section, which is quite good. Zaloga notes that the Wehrmacht was virtually out of infantry and fuel by this point in the war, but still had quite a lot of artillery and flak left, which gave the Allies trouble as they approached German urban areas. Due to the proximity to the Ruhr's industrial base, there were also a number of heavy panzer units forming in the area that tended to appear out of nowhere to mount last-ditch counterattacks. On the other side, the author notes that the US Army was reaching its pinnacle of wartime efficiency and its units were nearly at full-strength and full-supplied, giving them an enormous edge over depleted German units. In the plans section, the author notes that Hitler's demand to maintain the 15th Army on the Westwall defenses rather than fall back to the Rhine precluded an effective defense at Remagen, while American plans were made in the anticipation that no bridges would be left standing when they reached the Rhine. The result was that the Germans were forced to extemporize a defense at Remagen from odds and ends when the Westwall defenses were overrun, while the Americans had to extemporize the exploitation of a river crossing when fortune handed them a bridge. How armies handle the unexpected in war is an excellent measure of their innate effectiveness and this volume provides much fodder on that question.

Remagen 1945 includes five 2-D maps (closing on the Rhine, 8 Feb - 10 March 1945; bouncing the Rhine, 24-28 March 1945; breakout from Remagen, 24-28 March 1945; encircling the Ruhr, 24 March - 4 April 1945' aftermath of Remagen, 4-18 April 1945) and three 3-D maps (Operation Lumberjack, 1-7 March 1945; Remagen, 7/8 March 1945; Operation Voyage, 29 March - 1 April 1945). The map of Remagen is one of the best 3-D maps that Osprey has made in a long time and clearly shows the value of this type of graphic depiction for small unit actions. Two excellent battle scenes by artist Peter Dennis (Arado 234 jet bomber attack on the Ludendorff Bridge, 9 March 1945; King Tigers vs. Task Force Wellborn near Paderborn, 30 March 1945) are also included. The B/W photographs throughout the volume are good, although many are part of the NARA collection and have appeared frequently in other books.

After covering the US advance to the Rhine and the 9th Armored Division's capture of the Ludendorff Bridge, the author then spends time discussing the rapid expansion of the bridgehead and the final breakout in late March 1945. German efforts to attack the bridge and seal off the foothold are also discussed in detail. The final section of the narrative covers the US advance toward Paderborn (inc. the death of Major General Rose) and the encirclement of the Ruhr. Overall, this volume provides a smooth synthesis of the US official histories, German accounts and other secondary accounts, plus the author's insight, to render a solid and reliable assessment of this critical operation.

Remagen was always of interest to me, even as a child, as my father had crossed near there. Many years later I the opportunity to correspond with fellow Tennessean Hugh Mott, a hero of Remagen, who disarmed the German charges and earned a place into the U.S. Army Engineer Hall of Fame. Despite reading a number of other books on Remagen, this one remains my favorite. Super informative, accurate, easy reading and well illustrated. Like the other reviewers, I give this one the top rating. Lots of information in a small book!

Many WW2 history buffs are familiar with how the US 9th Armored Division found an undestroyed bridge over the Rhine River, staged a daring attack and how the last physical barrier into the heart of Hitler's Germany was crossed. Mr. Zaloga looks not only at the actions around the small town of Remagen itself, but how this event changed Allied strategy in the final weeks of the war. For the history trivia fan there is good information presented about the terrain around Remagen, about the various units from both sides that were involved in the fighting and about the efforts to protect the bridgehead. By grabbing a foothold on the far side and steadily building up and widening it, the Americans were able to coordinate with the large British crossing operation later and create a huge encirclement of the major German forces protecting their industrial heart. To quote a tag line from a 1969 movie "the Germans lost a bridge, thirty days later they lost a war". Very readable and organized text with good illustrations. An excellent addition to your collection.

Brings back lots of memories, Reminded me of our crossings, and a few days later coming back across on the pontoon bridge in an Ambulance for Air Evacuation to England. A must for all that was there or is interested in accurate history.

I bought this book for my father, who was at Remagen. He was one of the last to cross this bridge. He has really enjoyed reading it and has learned some new things about it as a result. He recently went back to Europe to retrace his footsteps from when he fought there and visited the Remagen sight. The book has given him some new insights, confirmed things that he knew and has been good reading for him.

In his introduction, Mr Zaloga describes the events of February that will lead to the capture of a major bridge over the Rhine that marks the coming end of the Third Reich. Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade are explained that brings the Allied northern sector close to the Rhine River. As March grows near, Bradley gives 1st Army their chance to approach the river and in Operation Lumberjack 9th AD approaches the river and finds the Remagen bridge still standing and lightly defended. It was quickly captured and a small bridgehead established on the east side.

The one page Chronology covers from Feb 8th with the launch of Operation Veritable to April 18th when the Ruhr pocket collapses. The next chapter discusses the German Army commanders and the American Corps commanders plus Bradley. This chapter is adequate while Opposing Armies is excellent. The author devotes 10 pages to the description and disposition of the forces on both sides. He ends the chapter with a brief Order of Battle.
The Opposing Plans is what you'd expect; it tells how the Germans tried to prevent the Allied crossing of the Rhine while at the same time showing the efforts of 1st Army and in particular the III and VII Corps in finding a crossing site. In advancing toward the Rhine, 1st Army also had Simpson's right flank covered during Operation Grenade and beyond. It was completely unexpected to see the Remagen bridge still standing with the relatively easy capture by 9th AD. The author spends a lot of time discussing the many attempts by the Germans at destroying the bridge. Attempts were made by land sea and air. Afterwards, the pace picks up and Operation Voyage, the assault at Paderborn and the closing of the Ruhr pocket are discussed.

In Aftermath, Mr Zaloga gives high praise for Eisenhower's broad front strategy while critical of Montgomery's timid, elephantine extravaganza of Operation Plunder and his continued insistence of a narrow front strategy with 21st AG in the lead.

There are five 2-D maps and three 3-D maps and they are all very good. (One minor criticism: the first two 2-D maps don't drill down to Corps level which would have been helpful.) The usual color illustrations were also very good. There were many excellent photos including many tank shots. There were a few photos of the latest Shermans which was nice. The author closes with a useful reading list and an Index. This was an excellent campaign describing the Allies' struggles to find a way across the historic barrier of the Rhine River as well as the closing days of the war in the west.

This book provides an excellent introduction to this battle in a very succinct manner (94 pages in length, about a third of which are illustrations) for those interested in getting themselves up to speed in only about an hour and a half of reading. The book starts out with a brief introduction to the larger military picture with an emphasis on how this battle fit into each sides scheme (i.e., for the allies its capture would shorten the war by a few months and for the axis the corollary). Then there is a good discussion of the top military leadership on both sides along with the condition of the armies of the opposing sides which is quite good. In a nutshell, the U.S. army was at the peak of its fighting efficiency in terms of leadership, morale, equipment, doctrine, logistics and supply while the German army being the opposite. But the discussion of the German force goes into more than the fact that it was pretty much chewed up by this time in the war in terms of troop quality, lack of equipment and fuel, mobility, etc. It delves into, specificaly, the main reason for the debacle. That stemmed from two aspects of command and control. One was that the two major forces in the area, the Volkssturm and the Wehrmacht suffered from a lack of command and control sturcture and the second was that, at the time of the battle, the local German command staffs were in the midst of changing locations and were out of communication with the local area. These two factors were, by far, the most responsible for a too long delayed command to destroy the bridge.

The book then provides a good description of the actual battle, German efforts to dislogde the U.S. bridgehead with land forces and the desperate German attacks to destroy the bridge after its capture with frogmen, air and artillery attack. Then the breakout is discussed along with the ramifications of the battle on the Western Front.

If a reader is interested in the above and only has an hour to an hour and a half to invest in the topic, this is the book to read.

In March 1945 the U.S. Army, through an almost comical set of circumstances, managed to get to one of the Rhine bridges before the Germans could destroy it. The fight to take control of it and defend it against everything the Germans could throw at it (jet bombers, frogmen, SS V-2s, etc.) is a testament to the American fighting man. Mr. Zaloga has done an excellent job of telling the story and setting the circumstances. The photos, maps and other illustrations make this a great introduction to this closing chapter of WWII in Europe.

Good reference book! Lots of detail about locations, conflicts and generals on either side.

Steven J. Zaloga's REMAGEN 1945: ENDGAME AGAINST THE THIRD REICH tells of the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge, surveying the final battle, its outcome and strategies, and how it influenced the overall defeat of Germans in the West. All are outstanding coverages in-depth military holdings will welcome.