The Bridge at Remagen
New York: Ballantine Books, 1969. First published edition [stated]. Seventh printing [stated]. Mass market paperback. Pocket paperback. xvi, 238, [2] pages, Wraps. Illustrations. Maps. Preface. Foreword by Brig. Gen. S. L. A. Marshall. XXII chapters. Postscript. Appendix. Kenneth William Hechler (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1977 and was West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001. He earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in history and government. Hechler served on the faculty of Columbia University, Princeton University, and Barnard College in the years leading up to World War ll. Hechler helped chronicle the liberation of France, the 1944 Normandy invasion, Battle of the Bulge, and entrance into Nazi Germany. He was attached to the 9th Armored Division when an armored and infantry task force, part of Combat Command B, unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge spanning the Rhine river during the Battle of Remagen. He interviewed both U.S. and German soldiers involved at the time. He was awarded a Bronze Star and 5 battle stars. He returned after the war twice to interview Germans who took part in the battle. He found Captain Willi Bratge, one of two officers who had not been executed at Hitler's orders because he had been captured, and spent a week with him in the Remagen area learning about details of the battle. In 1957 he published the book The Bridge at Remagen: The Amazing Story of March 7, 1945 which was adapted into a film in 1969. From that victory sprang momentous consequences. It was a stunning strategic victory of World War II–and one of the most fantastic breaks for the Allies. On March 7, 1945, a small group of American infantrymen, engineers, and tank crews secured the Ludendorff Bridge that crossed the Rhine. The successful mission saved thousands of American lives and spearheaded the invasion of Nazi Germany. The Bridge at Remagen is the detailed narrative of this surprising but crucial military action, one that stunned the German army. It is also the moving story of men who did not consider themselves heroes, but who performed magnificently under fire. In this amazing true story, Ken Hechler gives you the hour-by-hour account of brilliant military daring, human courage, and almost incredible luck that profoundly changed the course of the war. The Ludendorff Bridge (sometimes referred to as the Bridge at Remagen) was in early March 1945 a critical remaining bridge across the river Rhine in Germany when it was captured during the Battle of Remagen by United States Army forces during the closing weeks of World War II. Built in World War I to help deliver reinforcements and supplies to the German troops on the Western Front, it connected Remagen on the west bank and the village of Erpel on the eastern side between two hills flanking the river. Midway through Operation Lumberjack, on 7 March 1945, the troops of the 1st U.S. Army approached Remagen and were surprised to find that the bridge was still standing. Its capture, two weeks before Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's meticulously planned Operation Plunder, enabled the U.S. Army to establish a bridgehead on the eastern side of the Rhine. After the U.S. forces captured the bridge, German forces tried to destroy it multiple times. It finally collapsed on 17 March 1945, ten days after it was captured. 28 Army Engineers were killed in the collapse while a further 63 were injured. Of those who died, 18 were actually missing but it was presumed they had drowned in the swift current of the Rhine River. While it stood, the bridge and newly established pontoon bridges enabled the U.S. Army to establish a bridgehead of six divisions, about 125,000 troops, with accompanying tanks, artillery pieces, and trucks, across the Rhine. Capturing the bridge shortened the war, and V-E Day came on May 8. After the war, the bridge was not rebuilt; the towers on the west bank were converted into a museum and the towers on the east bank are a performing arts space. Condition: Good.
Keywords: WWII, Rhine River, Bridgehead, Ninth Armored Division, Karl Timmermann, 9th Armored Division, Demolition, Remagen, Ludendorff Bridge
[Book #82043]
Price: $25.00