In March 1945, the 9th Armored Division found themselves racing faster than expected across Germany. As they approached the Rhine, they couldn't believe their luck: The retreating Nazi forces hadn’t blown the last bridge over the Rhine yet.
Suspecting the bridge was wired but not yet triggered, 22-year-old Commander Karl Timmerman (promoted just the evening before) was ordered to take his company across the bridge.
"What if the bridge blows up in my face?" he asked.
The Battalion Commander did not respond.
"What if the bridge blows up in my face?" he asked.
The Battalion Commander did not respond.
As the American company approached, Nazis tried to blow the bridge. When the smoke cleared, the shoddy explosives had barely dented the iron bridge. Timmerman’s company advanced and took the bridgehead.
The allies had opened the floodgates to the heart of Germany.
The allies had opened the floodgates to the heart of Germany.
Hitler, realizing he was fucked, ordered the bridge destroyed at any cost. The Luftwaffe tried everything: the cutting edge Ar 234 and Me 262 jet bombers...even the now easily outmatched Stuka dive bombers.
In a spat of desperation, Hitler fired 11x V2 rockets at the bridge from the Netherlands - their first and only tactical use in the war. (One came within 300m of the bridge)
To hold the bridge, the US brought nearly 700 anti-aircraft guns to the front in a matter of days. They were met by 300+ Luftwaffe aircraft in a matter of days.
One commander called the anti-aircraft defenses at Ludendorff Bridge the "million dollar show," because "it cost the American taxpayers a million dollars in antiaircraft ammunition."
After 10 days of shelling, bombing, and abuse by heavy equipment, the Ludendorff Bridge collapsed. Meanwhile, the allies had moved 25,000 troops across the Rhine, building 2 additional crossings upriver. The heavy AAA held the crossing, shooting down 100+ enemy planes.
Today, historians credit the capture and holding of the Ludendorff Bridge with significantly accelerating the allied advance through Germany…all thanks to one of the densest canopies of anti aircraft fire ever assembled at the time.
Oh, and for his heroism and rhetorical questioning of his superiors, Cmdr. 2nd Lt. Karl Timmerman would earn an Army Distinguished Service Cross.
