battle of remagen

The Battle of Remagen was an 18-day battle during the Allied invasion of Germany in the last part of World War II, from 7 to 25 March 1945, when American forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine intact.

The U.S. soldiers were able to succesfully hold it against hard German opposition and build additional temporary crossings. The presence of a bridgehead across the Rhine advanced by three weeks the Western Allies' planned crossing of the Rhine into the German interior and greatly accelerated the fall of The Third Reich and the victory of Allied forces in Europe.