What happened when soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division, 7th Army crossed the Rhine River in 1945?

Answer 1

The events leading up to the crossing of the Rhine have particular significance in my live. As a slight shift in the wind of war would have put my father in a grave on an obscure hilside in the Ardennes.
The capture of the bridge:

US Military crosses the Ludendorff BridgeThe Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen—the last standing span over the Rhine—was captured by American soldiers of the U.S. 9th Armored Division on 7 March 1945, during Operation Lumberjack. Although the bridge was mined by German engineers prior to the approach of the Allies, the fuses were cut by two Polish engineers from Silesia, forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht.

On 7 March 1945, men of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, led by Lieutenant Karl H. Timmermann approached the bridge to find it still standing. From U.S. Airforce Oral History Interview K239.0512-1648 of Helmut A. Kuerschner by Dr. James C. Hasdorff : ..."in March 1945, the U.S. Army crossed the Rhine River at Remagen. That's the famous bridge which was intentionally not destroyed by the German military. As a matter of fact, as it has been documented, they disobeyed orders to destroy it because they knew it was senseless". The first soldier across the bridge was Sergeant Alex Drabik; Timmermann was the first officer across.

The capture of the bridge is referred to in U.S. histories as the "Miracle of Remagen". General Eisenhower stated that "the bridge is worth its weight in gold". A small number of U.S. formations were able to operate east of the Rhine in advance of the main crossings to the south under Patton and Bradley, and to the north under Montgomery (Operation Plunder.) The strategic importance of the bridge has been debated by historians since its capture. However, the psychological advantage of having crossed the Rhine in force, and in pursuit of fleeing Wehrmacht troops, bolstered the morale of the Allied forces while having a disastrous effect on the Germans.

In the days immediately following the bridge's capture, the German High Command made desperate attempts to destroy the bridge by bombing and even employing frogmen. Hitler ordered "flying" courts-martial which condemned five officers to death, one in absentia, and four of whom were executed in the Westerwald Forest. Attempts were made to repair the damage to the bridge, and pontoon bridges were laid alongside. Despite the best efforts of U.S. engineers, on 17 March 1945 the bridge collapsed, killing twenty-eight American soldiers. However, due to the pontoon bridges and the secure crossing point, the loss of the bridge was, by now, neither tactically nor strategically significant.

Answer 2

Well, This was a victory for General Patton. 9th armored division and U.S. 3rd Army. However the German 3rd and seventh armies were eliminated and 140,000 germans were captured and 100,000 were killed. I Guess that's what you mean isn't it. It was total anihilation for them. And working together with numerous other US soldiers and etc. captured many cities including Munich and Frankfort. I was in Cassablanca waiting for exit visas. Ilsa left with Victor Lazlo and Me and Louie became friends.

Answer 3

Oh goody I get a chance to copy paste my last answer....soooo....here you go....
You want someone to do your homework for you? Ummm...yeah I agree with the other 2....google it. My husband is standing right here and he can answer every single one of your questions because he had to study 3rd ID history for the board.....buuuut not gonna give you answers to your homework. And EVEN IF it isnt for homework, and you need the info for some other odd reason, get off of Y!A and try to find the information some other way. You use the internet you dont even have to leave the comfort of your chair. Orrrr...go to the library? Orrrr....order a book from Amazon?? Geeesh.....how passive has the world gotten that you can just list a bunch of questions and expect someone to spoon feed you the answers? Puuhleeeeez