Remagen 1945 - The Race for the Bridge

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  • Опубліковано 8 жов 2019
  • Discover the thrilling story of the first crossing of the Rhine - the daring capture of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen in March 1945.
    Video sources:
    American First Army - Aachen to the Roer, Dept. of Defense, 1948
    The Bridge at Remagen, Parts 1 & 2, Dept. of Defense, 1965
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    Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 818

  • @stevehansen5389
    @stevehansen5389 4 роки тому +366

    In the summer of 1968 I was an mech infantry company commander with the US 8th Infantry Division stationed at Baumholder. I had just read the book about the capture of the bridge as had another officer in the battalion. Together we decided to drive up to Remagen following the route taken by the 9th Armored Division. When we reached the towers on the West side of the Rhine I was amazed by the width of the river and the thought of making an infantry assault across the bridge was chilling. I think Lt Timerman received the DSC for his effective leadership crossing the bridge. There were many that thought he should have received the MoH. We tried to get in but the doors on both of the towers were locked. We then drove up the river and crossed at the first bridge that we encountered and drove back down the east side of the river to Remagen. We wanted to see the bridge from the defender's perspective. We found one of the towers unlocked and made our way up to the firing ports. The field of fire was clear to the high ground/rail embankment leading to the western approach to the bridge. Any vehicle approaching the bridge on the rail embankment would be in clear sight of the machine gunners in the eastern towers. Before we left I scraped around in the debris on the floor and found a couple of German shell casings. The tunnel was sealed up and had a locked walk door that we were told led to a mushroom garden inside. It was easy to see how a fortification built in the mouth of the tunnel would have a clear field of fire right down the center of the bridge. Fortunately for the attacking Americans, tanks had positioned themselves on the rail embankment and maintained a continuous barrage across the bridge and into the tunnel defenses. It is speculated that a round from one of these tanks severed the blasting wires. In any case, having a opportunity to read the book and then trace the route of approach and reconorder the actual site of the battle was an experience to remember.

    • @davidjose9808
      @davidjose9808 4 роки тому +32

      Steve Hansen. .splendid narrative! Ads a real contemporary sense of time and place to Dr. Felton’s excellent historical presentation

  • @Wallyworld30
    @Wallyworld30 4 роки тому +1236

    The German man had a hell of a story to tell about his surrender at the bridge. You can tell it was very emotional for him.

    • @lupus67remus7
      @lupus67remus7 4 роки тому +101

      In his own words: the most difficult décision of his life!

    • @screamingnutbag7955
      @screamingnutbag7955 4 роки тому +116

      Good man. Can't be easy being on the wrong side.

    • @Simonsvids
      @Simonsvids 4 роки тому +51

      Like many old soldiers I have spoken to, he deserves a bloody Oscar!

    • @jedimindtrix2142
      @jedimindtrix2142 4 роки тому +119

      Yea that really struck me. Hearing stories told first hand from the people who were there is something else. I interviewed a US Paratrooper in a Vets nursing home when i was in elementary school. He told me all about how he dropped way ahead of the front and had to live in the loft of a barn for 2 weeks with Germans coming in and out of the barn all the time until the US lines caught up to him. Crazy stuff man.

    • @damanifesto
      @damanifesto 4 роки тому +44

      You could tell he was reliving the moment as he told the story.

  • @Dragon.7722
    @Dragon.7722 4 роки тому +320

    If i look out of my window, i can see the bridge towers still standing.
    My grandfather lived in Erpel, his house was bombed and get was strafed by attacker planes in early 1945 as a 14 year old boy. He told me that he was playing with explosives and fished with it after the war, whatever 14 year old boys do.
    Thanks for making this video about my home area and greetings from Erpel.

  • @Finkeren
    @Finkeren 4 роки тому +275

    "The strategic situation in early March 1945 was in favor of the Allies" - Understatement of the year.

    • @trashpanda314
      @trashpanda314 4 роки тому +25

      True, but that doesn't mean the tactical situation on the ground was any less dangerous for the men that were fighting.

  • @neil7994
    @neil7994 4 роки тому +2138

    Why do we love Mark Felton's videos so much?
    1) Utterly perfect narration. Never too much information, always the perfect amount.
    2) Captivating content that sucks you in, often with stories you've never heard about
    3) Original imagery
    4) I love the artistic style thumbnails
    5) Impartial and accurate

    • @Dominaition
      @Dominaition 4 роки тому +48

      And a nice narration voice

    • @bdphotog6785
      @bdphotog6785 4 роки тому +53

      Uhhh..YOU MISSED THE MUSIC! Without that, I wouldn't get sucked in...He could be selling used cars and I'd still watch for that heart-pumping/soul-stirring intro! It makes me want to do something memorable! Like march on Paris!

    • @rap4trains
      @rap4trains 4 роки тому +35

      Mark is a great story teller. I'd listen to him if gave a traffic report.

    • @Skyprince27
      @Skyprince27 4 роки тому +7

      @Neil
      My heart was pounding through the whole thing! Whew!

    • @Charlesputnam-bn9zy
      @Charlesputnam-bn9zy 4 роки тому +10

      And unassuming personality too.

  • @Whitelightnin76
    @Whitelightnin76 4 роки тому +1351

    13:41 “Hitler was Führerious”

    • @trashman7906
      @trashman7906 4 роки тому +10

      Lol

    • @jorgealdridge6665
      @jorgealdridge6665 4 роки тому +15

      Ryan sir I will always remember you and that joke😆

    • @forbiddencrisis4149
      @forbiddencrisis4149 4 роки тому +10

      Excellent comment

    • @elixir4487
      @elixir4487 4 роки тому +38

      The Fast and the Führerious II: Blitzkrieg edition.

    • @cheng3580
      @cheng3580 4 роки тому +7

      I hate this, take your like and get out.

  • @HughesEnterprises
    @HughesEnterprises 4 роки тому +768

    Always surprised the bridge stood as long as it did after being blown.

    • @karllosikarlstadt5214
      @karllosikarlstadt5214 4 роки тому +61

      German engineering, more often then not it cant be destroyed even if one trys.

    • @MegaEvoluzione
      @MegaEvoluzione 4 роки тому +21

      German engineering...

    • @AnhTrieu90
      @AnhTrieu90 4 роки тому +34

      Haha, German engineering backfired.

    • @spiralwhirlpool2366
      @spiralwhirlpool2366 4 роки тому +16

      Miracles, man. Stupidly huge amount of coincidences that eventually ended the war

    • @yankee1376
      @yankee1376 4 роки тому +21

      They over engineered things before CAD.

  • @TheReckoningBeginsToday
    @TheReckoningBeginsToday 4 роки тому +858

    German engineers almost designed and built the bridge too good.

    • @HunterKillerSub
      @HunterKillerSub 4 роки тому +41

      Yes, but if it was a tank then it would easily breakdown.

    • @RandomDudeOne
      @RandomDudeOne 4 роки тому +30

      Not really. This happened just a few weeks before the war ended. The krauts would have had trouble blowing up a bridge if it would have been made of toothpicks.

    • @bdphotog6785
      @bdphotog6785 4 роки тому +8

      Wasn't there a bridge that German engineers TRIED to blow up but couldn't? I vaguely remember something like that..Their first attempt failed, but they didn't get a second attempt as they had to flee from advancing forces...DUH! I watched the rest of this video and of course, it was the Bridge at Remagen that the Germans weren't able to blow in time...

    • @patavinity1262
      @patavinity1262 4 роки тому +15

      *too well

    • @scunthorpe5513
      @scunthorpe5513 4 роки тому +8

      They ran out of good explosives by the end of that war.

  • @fuferito
    @fuferito 4 роки тому +562

    Fascinating how oftentimes, in that conflict theatre, the names of the advancing Americans are indistinguishable from those of the retreating Germans.

    • @RapidAssaultEuro
      @RapidAssaultEuro 4 роки тому +50

      At least now there won't be any more brother wars in Europe.

    • @andersonsroad5161
      @andersonsroad5161 4 роки тому +59

      The large numbers of German immigrants to the United States was one reason why the US was unwilling to declare war on Nazi Germany until Germany did so first. They were happy to sit back and let their Hun brothers in Europe commit mass murder and wage a criminal war of aggression. It's also probably why the Soviets/Russians regarded ( and still do) the Americans as such a pack of hypocrites/shit talkers who weren't much different from the Germans because to a degree they were Germans.

    • @mardiffv.8775
      @mardiffv.8775 4 роки тому +83

      The Americans are a meltingpot of many different people, the largest group being.....German immigrants. And 5% of the immigrants were Dutchmen. That explains the very German sounding names.

    • @conveyor2
      @conveyor2 4 роки тому +23

      @@andersonsroad5161 The Scandinavians, Dutch, French (Franks) and Anglo Saxons were pretty much all Germans too, along with all of their ex colonials. Not much left of the west is there?

    • @selfdo
      @selfdo 4 роки тому +26

      The Germans had a policy of admitting the Eastern "Volksdeustche", many whom didn't speak German at all, and some had quite "swarthy" features, but nevertheless allowed them to immigrate as the Wehrmacht advanced eastwards into the Soviet Union. These types, of course, were subject to retribution as the Soviets reclaimed their territory. Heinrich Himmler noted the quandry, remarking that the "Germans" coming in peacefully from the East were less the racial ideal than the "Germans", in American and British uniforms, entering by force of arms from the West.

  • @kimchipig
    @kimchipig 4 роки тому +393

    Mark, thank you for never failing to mention Canada.

  • @W1se0ldg33zer
    @W1se0ldg33zer 4 роки тому +221

    "Cross the Rhine with dry feet-courtesy of the 9th Armored Division." ~ sign posted on Ludendorff bridge.

    • @nunyabznss5866
      @nunyabznss5866 4 роки тому +5

      That's amazing.

    • @leonardusrakapradayan2253
      @leonardusrakapradayan2253 4 роки тому

      W1se0ldg33zer until it collapsed

    • @Redmow51
      @Redmow51 4 роки тому +11

      @@leonardusrakapradayan2253 By then the Engineers already had their pontoon bridges up and running.

  • @piobmhor8529
    @piobmhor8529 4 роки тому +54

    I had the opportunity to visit Remagen a couple of years ago. Today, it’s a beautiful peaceful German town with friendly helpful residents. Although the original bridge is long gone, as mentioned in the video the four brick towers still stand. On the Remagen side of the Rhein, it is now an interesting museum, complete with original architectural drawings of the Ludendorff bridge as it was known then. What really impressed me were the photos of the German defenders, mostly children. The place is definitely worth visiting.

  • @tomfitzgerald8150
    @tomfitzgerald8150 4 роки тому +605

    9th ENGINEERS NEVER FORGETS, I have a piece of that bridge sitting in my room..

    • @sharonkeith601
      @sharonkeith601 4 роки тому +36

      Tom Fitzgerald / Thank you, Tom!

    • @lupus67remus7
      @lupus67remus7 4 роки тому +7

      Lucky you!

    • @cmr2153
      @cmr2153 4 роки тому +40

      Thanks to your family for liberating us. I live less than half an hour from the bridge and i can't tell you Americans enough how thankful my grandparents tell me they where when the Nazis where gone.

    • @jamesdoermann233
      @jamesdoermann233 4 роки тому +14

      God has always had a hand on your life like my Father who served WW2 Korea and Vietnam! Real patriot men

    • @karlk9316
      @karlk9316 4 роки тому +13

      Many young engineers, recent university graduates, died tried to fix that bridge as it collapsed. The number might have been higher than is stated in this Mark Felton video.

  • @JayM409
    @JayM409 4 роки тому +24

    Lt Timmerman's Mother was from Remagen. He spoke fluent German as well.

  • @kevinlarrabee3284
    @kevinlarrabee3284 4 роки тому +132

    Great job Mark! My Dad was there... commanded two M16 Halftracks with Quad 50s anti-aircraft guns... part of that anti-aircraft defense you mentioned.

    • @markfryer9880
      @markfryer9880 4 роки тому +8

      I have seen video of those things firing, the biggest problem is keeping ammunition upto each gun as it tracks and fires at aircraft. Empties ammo cans very quickly and noisily.

  • @79366813arizona
    @79366813arizona 4 роки тому +27

    I had a neighbor in Phoenix "Joe Coska " that was one of the combat engineers that were cutting the charge cables. He said that they were using hack saws to cut the cables, expecting the bridge to be blown up at any time. I felt privileged to have had known a man that had landed at D day and made it across Europe.

  • @tomjustis7237
    @tomjustis7237 4 роки тому +317

    Great job! I loved the way you also gave the German view of the battle which is normally ignored by most historians. The interview with the German officer was fascinating! How ANYONE can give a thumbs down to something so informative and high quality as this just boggles my mind!

    • @druss69harad61
      @druss69harad61 4 роки тому +1

      Perhaps

    • @brendanhere.6400
      @brendanhere.6400 4 роки тому +32

      Agreed. Watching and listening to Willi Bratge recount was indeed fascinating. What boggles my mind is how Dr. Felton is able to continually present us with such amazing footage that I, for one, have never seen before. And I must say, nothing makes my day more than hearing the opening of a new Mark Felton production.

    • @davidjose9808
      @davidjose9808 4 роки тому +9

      Dr. Felton is a natural educator. His subject matter and delivery are compelling and “accessible” to so many followers.

  • @sdw2is
    @sdw2is 4 роки тому +9

    My father was wounded at Remagen (amputee). He was a Marksman supporting the Corp of Engineers. He was wounded on the last day of the battle as the US was putting up the last pontoon bridge just south of the Ludendorff Bridge.

  • @tommyblackwell3760
    @tommyblackwell3760 4 роки тому +10

    My grandfather was gun chief of a 155mm towed howitzer firing in support of the crossing. While in college I had a German music professor who spoke one day of having been a Luftwaffe antiaircraft gunner defending at Remagen. After class, I told him about my grandfather....he replied, "The American artillery were very good, they killed and wounded a lot of us." Small world. RIP, MSG T.E. Dunnington & Dr Harald Rohlig.

  • @gj1234567899999
    @gj1234567899999 4 роки тому +279

    LT Timmerman was not briefly a national hero. He Still is a national hero. 🙂

    • @d1agram4
      @d1agram4 4 роки тому +11

      G J Resa well, Robert Redford played him in a movie.. that’s pretty cool for back then.

  • @johnhargreaves3620
    @johnhargreaves3620 4 роки тому +248

    My father (Royal Engineers) after landing at D Day and helping to complete Mulberry advance with the allied forces and was at Arnhem and later crossed the Rhine in command of boats crossing the Rhine with the Coldstream guards; his boat was blown up by a mine and he floated down the Rhine being picked up by the US forces at Remagen bridge. He was unconscious and had lost his dog tags, he was reported as MIA, my mother was not informed any different for 3 months as he had amnesia from the explosion. My mother went to see a medium and she said he was alive and would be in the UK but she would not know it. After being picked up by the US at Remagen he was taken to a field hospital and then shipped out on a Dakota to Brussels which first flew to Norfolk for the seriously wounded US soldiers and then to Brussels where in hospital his memory gradually returned and the MIA was changed and my mother was informed. He was sent back to the front and went finally to Bielefeld. The generation that fought the wars have much to be thank for even those who survived and just did their duty.

    • @dikkekutgekut4582
      @dikkekutgekut4582 4 роки тому +17

      The rhine flows downstream...if your man falls in the rhine at the monty crossing ..he d flow AWAY from remagen towards arnhem..

    • @davidjose9808
      @davidjose9808 4 роки тому +11

      Just being there for the sake of democracy and freedom makes him an eternal hero to us. Bless his memory always!

    • @johnknapp952
      @johnknapp952 4 роки тому +2

      @@dikkekutgekut4582 I noticed that too. Must of been a really powerful mine to throw him that far up river.

    • @johnhargreaves3620
      @johnhargreaves3620 4 роки тому +17

      @@dikkekutgekut4582 My Dad was confused about the period, after the war he started a successful engineering business but was affected by his war service and only recounted when he was maudlin after drinking too much. He was a skilled and sought after engineer in his army life and spent much of it attached to military units of the various allied units. The story seems to be accurate apart from where he was deposited in the Rhine. I did do some research and he was fished out at Remagen bridge after its collapse being stopped by the girder work in the river; your note has made me think that he must have been attached to forces south of the bridge. The thing about ordinary people being involved in extraordinary events and continuing on being affected in their subsequent lives should always be remembered in the debt we owe those generations which stood against evil intentions. There is not a day that goes by when I think of the dead and living sacrifices that were made on our behalf.
      Kind regards

    • @kesmarn
      @kesmarn 4 роки тому +11

      Wow... what your father experienced! And then to be sent back to the front after all that! And his poor mum -- months of worry and the agony of not knowing. Amazing.

  • @zzz987654321
    @zzz987654321 4 роки тому +15

    My Dad was at this bridge - told the story to us many times - thanks for posting this.

  • @frankryan2505
    @frankryan2505 4 роки тому +7

    My grandfather dropped into the Rhine as a pioneer,he and a friend ended up beings sheltered by a Dutch family until the Allies rolled in.
    He passed away in the late 70's,but before then he told my uncle (his son) about his experiences during the war, about the familiy that sheltered him and how they probably saved his life.
    Not long after my grandfather passed my uncle tracked down that family,he visited them in NL and even thought the parents had passed away the kids remembered my grandfather and his mate quite well.
    Not a amazingly story,but I loved that my uncle could go over and find a connection to his dad that he never knew existed.
    As for my grandfather,I never had a chance to meet him,but by all accounts he did good for himself for "some paddy from Roscommon"

  • @sdolman79
    @sdolman79 4 роки тому +65

    Bridge at Remagen, good rainy Sunday afternoon movie

  • @jerryumfress9030
    @jerryumfress9030 4 роки тому +22

    I heard about the bridge at Remagen in the 1960s from a GI who was a corpsman in that area. I was a teen back then and was fascinated by the stories he shared

  • @judgeboony2695
    @judgeboony2695 3 роки тому +13

    This was also the last mission in _Call of Duty: Finest Hour_

  • @johnwhite9760
    @johnwhite9760 4 роки тому +124

    " It's a mother beautiful bridge and it's gonna be there."

  • @JAMESBOND-jm2lj
    @JAMESBOND-jm2lj 4 роки тому +19

    You have done an amazing job with this one Mark. The part with German commander describing how they ended up surrendering the tunnel and the dramatic translation by a very talented unseen actor made me feel as if I were there when it happened. Thanks so much for your hard work!

  • @wtfistonicwater1120
    @wtfistonicwater1120 4 роки тому +421

    People just be liking the video before they finish it
    that’s not a bad thing :)

  • @cmonkey63
    @cmonkey63 4 роки тому +4

    I've been watching (and supporting) this channel for a while, and still I am amazed that, in the heat of battle, there was someone filming the action for us to view later. It really brings the history alive.

  • @dandare2586
    @dandare2586 4 роки тому +33

    Have visited there on my travels, there is as I remember a small museum in one of the towers.

  • @MrGeoffHilton
    @MrGeoffHilton 4 роки тому +6

    This channel is far more compelling and compulsive viewing than TV Documentaries, champion.

  • @knightowl3577
    @knightowl3577 4 роки тому +38

    The captain certainly told a dramatic tale, it's a great pity that more men died while trying to repair the bridge when it finally collapsed.

  • @stephenn1056
    @stephenn1056 4 роки тому +6

    I absolutely love that you included footage of commanders recounting their experiences

  • @blasphemertheseventh
    @blasphemertheseventh 4 роки тому +5

    An amazing and compelling story. Thank you for the work you do for us. Much appreciated.

  • @Roller_Ghoster
    @Roller_Ghoster 4 роки тому +6

    Ace! I visited Remagen in 2008 with Ledger Battlefield Tours. Our tour guide was a Falklands veteran. We watched the Bridge to Far (as we had already visited Arnhem) and the Bridge at Remagen on the way there. Locals use one of the remaining tunnels of the bridge to grow mushrooms and stage plays and community events in them. I think they were put up for sale earlier this summer.

  • @haraldschevik5213
    @haraldschevik5213 4 роки тому +70

    The history of strategy over the Rhine is one of my favorite topics, thank you Mark for this awesome content!!
    -Harald

  • @MushroomFromMars
    @MushroomFromMars 4 роки тому +5

    I'ts so enjoyable that I forgive you for showing footage of the capture of Aachen for the town of Remagen. Great intricate storytelling Mark!

  • @harmonysinger8077
    @harmonysinger8077 3 роки тому +11

    Here's a story I'm really familiar with
    Yet Mark Felton fills in so many details including the strategic significance of distracting from Monty's and Patton's advance. So Remagen serves as a decoy and gives the allies a significant boost
    Great stuff. Love it

  • @volvo1354
    @volvo1354 4 роки тому +143

    own the movie. the uniforms on both sides were smart, the actors impeccable. not much in the way of special effects, but the portrayals were outstanding. a bye gone era of film making to be sure.

    • @michaelwoods3462
      @michaelwoods3462 4 роки тому +22

      Great film. I wasn't expecting too much but I found its portrayal of ordinary Germans quite moving.

    • @ArenBerberian
      @ArenBerberian 4 роки тому +3

      What movie?

    • @firstcynic92
      @firstcynic92 4 роки тому +4

      And the musical score was OUTSTANDING!
      ua-cam.com/video/A8OJd7v31Xk/v-deo.html

    • @firstcynic92
      @firstcynic92 4 роки тому +3

      It had 1 great special effect.
      The attempt to blow up the bridge.
      ua-cam.com/video/_4ZNQTearE8/v-deo.html

    • @therealuncleowen2588
      @therealuncleowen2588 4 роки тому +8

      @@ArenBerberian The Bridge at Remagen, released in 1969. m.imdb.com/title/tt0064110/

  • @bionicman6969
    @bionicman6969 4 роки тому +1

    Can not tell you how much i love and appreciate your brilliant work at putting these fantastic stories of the real war fought by brave and noble men from the entire conflict, thank you Markj

  • @TheKulu42
    @TheKulu42 4 роки тому +16

    Years ago I spoke with Ken Heckler, the author of "The Bridge at Remagen." He was among the officers who interviewed Hermann Goring after the war. Goring knew the Ludendorff Bridge had gone down, but he insisted that Luftwaffe bombing was responsible. Heckler said Goring was "incredibly arrogant" and refused to believe the bridge had simply collapsed.

  • @anthonycesena6300
    @anthonycesena6300 4 роки тому +1

    These are the best historical videos on UA-cam I get so pumped when I see a new video in my subscription feed

  • @MrHenning3000
    @MrHenning3000 4 роки тому +22

    I live closeby of Remagen and anytime when i pass by the twin towers still standing, with shots still visible in the walls, i think of all the drama which has happened here. In the tunnel of the erpeler lay, there is a theatre acting a reenactment of the history of which has happened there, at the original place. Everyone should visit it.

  • @nickmadigan2824
    @nickmadigan2824 4 роки тому +4

    Great video. Just watched Bridge at Remagen movie a month ago. Amazing that the bridge was never rebuilt since the war. Would love to visit and see the towers some day. Thanks, Mark!

  • @MI519
    @MI519 4 роки тому +2

    Another fantastic Mark Felton production. Thank you sir for your incredible work and fantastic content.

  • @Jonathan-ku5jj
    @Jonathan-ku5jj 4 роки тому +6

    I saw the remaining structure, the towers, in 1987 while on trip to W. Germany with my family. Just parked the car and walked down the hill to the water. It was deserted, I believe there was a plaque of some sort. I think it was my Dad's idea - he was a 14 year boy in the U.S. when it happened and probably excited to get the chance to see the location. Fun to do.

  • @crafter170
    @crafter170 4 роки тому +40

    Brave German saved lots of civilians from dying unnecessary...ps the Americans suffered over 7000 casualties in this small area alone .Terrible waste on both sides.Timmerman was of German descent and ironically was right up front ignoring machine gun bullets and ripping demolition charges off the bridge with his bare hands .What a guy. Tough as old boots.

    • @cinjonsmythe6318
      @cinjonsmythe6318 4 роки тому +5

      And it blew me away he was worried about the Geneva convention. It must have been just SS troops and Gestapo types that ignored it

    • @iLuvBillGates
      @iLuvBillGates 4 роки тому +1

      @@cinjonsmythe6318 Or the winner writes the history books....

    • @farticlesofconflatulation
      @farticlesofconflatulation 4 роки тому +4

      That’s because shooting back after the white flag was waved would mean complete annihilation for them.

    • @Redmow51
      @Redmow51 4 роки тому +3

      @@cinjonsmythe6318 Don't believe everything you hear. He was wanting to pass the position of commander on to someone else. Sounds cowardly to me. He should have just surrendered instead of throwing it into someone elses lap.

  • @bicualexandru246
    @bicualexandru246 4 роки тому +1

    Less than 1 hour and almost 10k views. Glad your channel has picked up so much, excellent content! This is by far the best recommendation youtube has ever given me, hit the nail on the head!

  • @markracer3281
    @markracer3281 4 роки тому +3

    Mark Felton's videos are truly a work of art and dedication!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @manuheber9011
    @manuheber9011 4 роки тому +28

    Watch the movie "The Bridge Of Remagen" with Robert Vaughn, George Segal, Ben Gazerra... (1968).

  • @TB-zf7we
    @TB-zf7we 4 роки тому +9

    Listening to this episode I kept seeing George Segal in the classic 1969 film, The Bridge at Remagen.

  • @robertm4735
    @robertm4735 4 роки тому +4

    I love your short but concise videos gets to point with nice video clips, nice work.

  • @Ozgipsy
    @Ozgipsy 4 роки тому +6

    Mate, you're bloody amazing. I've learned more from you than any other source.

  • @pinetree013
    @pinetree013 4 роки тому +1

    Great job Mark...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this longer format!!!

  • @rickmcguire9930
    @rickmcguire9930 4 роки тому +1

    Thanks again Mr Felton for a different perspective that I've never seen . Anxiously awaiting the next video

  • @lynnwood7205
    @lynnwood7205 4 роки тому +8

    One of the neighbors on the block of my boyhood home was one of the infantryman who stormed that bridge. Will have to ask my sister if she remembers his name. Thank You Mark.

  • @mcm95403
    @mcm95403 4 роки тому +4

    Stunning historical footage - you're amazing Mark!

  • @Eireann.
    @Eireann. 4 роки тому +3

    This is one of my favourite mark felton production.

  • @oliversmith9200
    @oliversmith9200 4 роки тому +4

    What valuable film clip interviews you've included!

  • @emersonglasgow948
    @emersonglasgow948 4 роки тому +3

    I was in the 1/52nd inf. Battalion from 1988 to 1990 which was one of the units that helped secure the bridge. It's great to see some of the history that these men made, great documentary and very informational.

  • @andreaskatris1969
    @andreaskatris1969 4 роки тому +4

    We are simple men. We see Mark Felton post a 16 minute video and we watch it straight away.

  • @user-mm4nd4gp8p
    @user-mm4nd4gp8p 4 роки тому +9

    That german's testimony gave me goosebumps, excellent video as always 👍❤

  • @barryolaith
    @barryolaith 4 роки тому +36

    The towers on the West bank in the town of Remagen are now a small museum and well worth a visit. The bridge was never rebuilt because unlike other Rhine bridges it served no peacetime purpose having been solely a railway bridge on a line purpose-built solely to take troops to the front in WWI as Mark said. The main railway lines are parallel to both river banks. About 5 years ago the Rhine was extremely low during the summer and a wide stony shoreline normally under water could be explored at Remagen. I found...nothing! Not one cartridge case. How is that?

    • @lupus67remus7
      @lupus67remus7 4 роки тому +4

      Did you use a metal detector? Strange, but not impossible...

    • @screamingnutbag7955
      @screamingnutbag7955 4 роки тому +7

      Should have tried downstream. The Rhine carries a lot of water and sometimes runs very strong.

    • @alexbowman7582
      @alexbowman7582 4 роки тому +5

      barryolaith the river flow would have washed away anything.

    • @kaletovhangar
      @kaletovhangar 4 роки тому +5

      Probably because there wasn't too much combat around the bridge, and stony shore doesn't holds those well after 70 years.

    • @Skyprince27
      @Skyprince27 4 роки тому +3

      @barryolaith
      Because no submarines used by either side.

  • @steveluepke9654
    @steveluepke9654 4 роки тому +1

    My father in law told me years ago the he was at this bridge in his D8 cat and that he was one of the first ti cross and a few days later he pushed the pontoon bridge sections across the river. He told me that he was on his 3rd D8 when the war ended. Those D8s had a steel enclosed cab with slits on 4 sides to see out of. He said it was amazing how many times your helmet could go around inside that cab when you ran over a land mine. Explains why his hearing was not so good. I believe there is a picture of him somewhere burying the dead at a concentration camp. Amazing what these guys went through and then came home and carried on with their lives. Very good video Dr. Felton. Always interested in that bridge. Thanks

  • @TheHeartlessFour
    @TheHeartlessFour 4 роки тому

    I've been really fascinated with this pivotal battle, these last few weeks. Great timing!

  • @-jk-2580
    @-jk-2580 4 роки тому +6

    Went to Remagen couple years ago. Cool museum out there. Thanks for the vid!

  • @rudolfabelin383
    @rudolfabelin383 4 роки тому +1

    This was so good!!! The interviews are gold!

  • @FaithfulObjectivist
    @FaithfulObjectivist 4 роки тому +1

    Mark. Great work on this one. Use of interviews great addition. Happy to be patreon supporter. Looking forward to more.

  • @neverletyoufall
    @neverletyoufall 4 роки тому +7

    Thank you for being unbiased. As always. I appreciate your time. Keep teaching world war history!

  • @Jtizz111
    @Jtizz111 4 роки тому

    Always happy to see a new video of yours to pop up on my screen !

  • @darknes123781
    @darknes123781 4 роки тому +4

    The non-Hollywood version. Still amazing. 2006 to 2008 I had some business trips to Dusseldorf, another place along the Rhine. All of its bridges had been destroyed. Now you have modern cable stay bridges, which you can walk across. You can also walk both sides of the river, seeing where the bombed out areas were replaced with modern structures.

  • @user-propositionjoe
    @user-propositionjoe 4 роки тому +3

    I've driven past this bridge a few times, it's very interesting to learn about the history of what happened there.

  • @j1st633
    @j1st633 4 роки тому

    Fantastic narative having the actual personnel speak of their experiences was terrific

  • @Appalling68
    @Appalling68 4 роки тому +2

    Good work, Mark. Freakin EXCELLENT video.

  • @moteq1985
    @moteq1985 4 роки тому

    Glad to see your videos getting longer and more detailed. Waiting for the new ones.

  • @OFGW
    @OFGW 4 роки тому +5

    I met a man in our town who was one of the US soldiers that helped secure the bridge. His story is amazing. He tells of furious fighting back and forth as everyone was trying to cut any wire they saw.

  • @johntechwriter
    @johntechwriter 3 роки тому +4

    Regarding Mark's kindly mentioning the contribution of Canadian forces in this campaign . . . While the Americans didn't go to war with Germany until after Pearl Harbor (and who can blame them?), the Canadians, being British subjects, were committed when Britain declared war on the Germans some two years earlier.
    My Dad and all my uncles, third-generation Canadians, signed up for the Canadian armed forces in the fall of 1939. Throughout WWII, Canadian and Australian forces played outsized roles, relative to their countries' population, in the eventual Allied victory. When as a teenager I cycled around Normandy and also Holland in 1971, some of the citizens there, upon finding put I was Canadian, were very welcoming -- because Canadian forces played a large role in the liberation of those places. By a miracle, because they all saw action, my Dad and all my uncles made it home unscathed.

  • @hihosilveraway59
    @hihosilveraway59 4 роки тому +3

    Thank you Dr. Felton, very interesting and well produced. The towns and villages mentioned are strikingly familiar living upstream along the Rhein not far from Remagen.

  • @happycamper897
    @happycamper897 4 роки тому +2

    Mark Felton.... I class myself as a lay military historian, but your movies on youtube leave me to shame. You seem to have an amazing access and knowledge that far exceeds my own.

  • @Panj0
    @Panj0 4 роки тому +1

    Very entertaining, as ever. Thanks again Mark.

  • @cramcrud
    @cramcrud 4 роки тому

    towards the end of the war, the allies had such quality cameras and cameramen. some of the coolest footage of the war. excellent job aggregating it, Doctor.

  • @TheChadWork2001
    @TheChadWork2001 4 роки тому +4

    Having Bratge's testimony and watching his face made this a great-watch.

  • @LowescC
    @LowescC 4 роки тому +69

    incredible...1945 and the Germans could still fly "400 sorties a day", and their only problem was AA- not Allied fighters..??

    • @cinjonsmythe6318
      @cinjonsmythe6318 4 роки тому +5

      Glad you mentioned this. I was wondering this myself...

    • @shooter2055
      @shooter2055 4 роки тому +28

      No American pilot would fly into the flak storm around the bridge. Post Bulge, US AA guns had the radar proximity fuse. That's why 1/3 of attackers were brought down.

    • @Alvi410
      @Alvi410 4 роки тому +21

      A top of 400 sorties. Meaning they at the maximum istance put only 400 planes in the air during 24h against the only target worthy of them. Impressive for germany in 1945.
      Abysmal in general terms.
      And they did face Allied fighters and several got shoot down. Probably one of the last times allied fighters engaged groups of german planes and not very small groups.
      But not around the bridge. Probably to avoid friendly AA fire allied planes stayed clear of the bridge. But there was an air umbrella around it, that forced the germans to use jets to fly past it.

    • @lupus67remus7
      @lupus67remus7 4 роки тому +6

      It takes more time to get a plane ready and up to combat altitude than it does to get an AA ready and fire, so most defence was inévitably going to be by AA, because your enemy isn't exactly going to give an early warning.
      There were, however, air patrols that intercepted a few enemy planes, just not as many...

    • @christopherconard2831
      @christopherconard2831 4 роки тому +3

      Possibly the density of allied AA made putting anything in the air dangerous. Group troops likely opened up on whatever they could see before they could clearly distinguish friend from foe.

  • @eamo106
    @eamo106 4 роки тому +1

    One of the most bizarre and solemn posts you have made. Amazing American heroes. RIP

  • @richhh9000
    @richhh9000 4 роки тому +14

    Great Mark!

  • @Blyskawica1
    @Blyskawica1 4 роки тому +1

    Best video I have seen so far imho, thank you.

  • @yellowjackboots2624
    @yellowjackboots2624 4 роки тому +2

    A 16 minute video? Oooh, Dr Felton you are spoiling us!

  • @garymckee8857
    @garymckee8857 4 роки тому +1

    Another great production thanks.

  • @christianboscarino2105
    @christianboscarino2105 4 роки тому +19

    People people, three quarters of the comments say "FIRST", instead of "Thank you Mark for your research and stable quality through your video releases!". The truth being, nobody gives a bloody s*** if you are first or last.

    • @Dan-n-Duke-jr2ic
      @Dan-n-Duke-jr2ic 4 роки тому +1

      @Han Lockhart nahh, he's just stating what we all feel, perfectly

  • @jamesbednar8625
    @jamesbednar8625 4 роки тому +1

    Great video!!! While in the US Army and stationed in West Germany, had the opportunity to visit Remagen from 1981-1983 & 1985-1988. At the time, there was a museum in the town pertaining to the local history and focusing on this battle. Unfortunately, the museum was closed day of my visit. Got to visit the towers on the east bank of Rhine River, but had to go all the way north to Bonn just to find a bridge to cross the river and make the drive back south to Remagen. The railroad tunnel was sealed closed, but could explore the top of the hill and still see the German fighting positions. Would love to go back to Germany and do more exploring.

  • @sliverbullet7973
    @sliverbullet7973 4 роки тому +140

    This should be a short movie._.

    • @shaunwild8797
      @shaunwild8797 4 роки тому +8

      There is a movie about this. ua-cam.com/video/4eKxa_oa6D8/v-deo.html

    • @JJ-su7re
      @JJ-su7re 4 роки тому +12

      There is a movie called "Remagen Bridge"

    • @_Dogberry_
      @_Dogberry_ 4 роки тому +17

      The Bismarck there is a movie about this.... it’s called “The Bridge at Remagen”

    • @HughesEnterprises
      @HughesEnterprises 4 роки тому +12

      It’s almost like I’ve seen a feature length film of this subject before...

    • @allnations31
      @allnations31 4 роки тому +6

      There is a fairly old movie about this exact subject aptly named "The Bridge at Remagen".

  • @petej222
    @petej222 4 роки тому +1

    Love the videos mate. The untold stories are amazing, well researched, keep up good work love to see a video on kakoda trail if havent done one yet. I havent got through all your videos, yet!

  • @trentweston8306
    @trentweston8306 3 роки тому +4

    11:00 sincerity like this is in short supply today

  • @marinefirstsarge509
    @marinefirstsarge509 4 роки тому

    Mark your videos remind me of the original history channel, that is before they stopped doing history. Thank you !

  • @hunterventures2101
    @hunterventures2101 4 роки тому +1

    Great episode Mark, I like the interview footage.

  • @stenbak88
    @stenbak88 4 роки тому +2

    As a history addict you are my drug of choice, great information and video yet again

  • @jonsmith8582
    @jonsmith8582 4 роки тому

    This channel just gets better and better !

  • @pjeverly
    @pjeverly 4 роки тому

    Really good episode. Signed up with Patreon. Keep up the great work.

  • @Tsukiko.97
    @Tsukiko.97 4 роки тому

    This is channel is a golden nugget for youtube.