THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 бер 2023
- The Bridge At Remagen was captured intact in March 1945 by the US 9th Armored Division but its defence would be a story of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery of the US III Corp against the might of the Luftwaffe.
V2 Rockets would also be launched against the bridge - the first time they would be fired at a target on German soil.
This is the full story of the assault on the bridge at Remagen and its subsequent defence. This is the first video on UA-cam to capture all the aspects of the fight for the Rhine Crossing filmed entirely on location so sit back and enjoy!
#ww2 #usarmy #ww2documentary #historydocumentary
Help support the work of Warbird Owners, restorers and Aviation Museums with great, fresh roasted coffee from The Warbird Coffee Company (only available in the UK)
www.warbirdcoffeecompany.co.uk
Please consider supporting the channel at:
Patreon: www.patreon.com/WW2Wayfinder?...
Buy Me A Coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/ww2wayfi...
Follow WW2 Wayfinder On:
Facebook: / ww2wayfinder
Instagram: / ww2wayfinder
Buy Me A Coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/ww2wayfi...
Music: www.epidemicsound.com - Розваги
If you’ve been to Remagen and seen the remains of the Ludendorff Bridge or watched the movie and always wanted to see what the real Remagen looked like let me know in the comments below👇
I went there mid-winter 2004, but somehow failed to find it. I expected to see a bridge-span, but there was none. I was staying in Bastogne for a few days - and it was very cold . . . !
Seen the film, many years ago. Would love to go and seev the location, both for having been to the real place, and to pay Respects to The Heroes of both sides
Never seen the film, but as a long-time player of Call Of Duty: Finest Hour, I'm well aware that it lacks the geographical accuracy of many of its contemporaries. Would love to see the real deal.
I tried to see it, but it was late on a gloomy winter's day and I missed it - pleasant part of Germany though. @@darthmong7196
Very good program. Would love to see it myself someday. Thankyou
The man being pulled out on a rope at 14:13 was my FATHER! He was inside a tank when the bridge fell. My dad passed away on 1/1/94. He is my hero and one of the greatest men who ever lived! Very few people can honestly say that.
Oh wow!!!! That’s incredible!!! Amazing to think those events were capture on film and I used that footage! Amazing!
Thank you for watching and I hope it gave you an idea of the area your Father served in while in the Remagen bridgehead area.
your father was a hero. God bless
Just incredible.
Amazing! As a retired Cdn. Armed Forces artilleryman our family lost many relatives overseas during the war in Normandy and Omaha beach - I salute and thank your father for his service. Sounds like he was a helluva guy. Quite the footage here of him being rescued by fellow troops. Cheers from Canada.
My dad was in the 187th Engineer Combat Battalion which followed shortly after the bridge failed.
My grandfather, Staff Sergeant Billy P. Isaacs, and a fellow named Hagstrom were the first to scout the bridge. My grandfather was first scout of Company B 27th armored infantry. He saw the bridge and sent Hagstrom to relay that the bridge was still intact. He was the bravest man I’ve ever known and he was my hero.
Oh wow! That’s incredible! I hope it gave you a good idea of the area he was fighting in during that time.
@@WW2Wayfinder absolutely. This is the best analysis/story telling of the battle I’ve seen yet. The visit to the German graves was incredible. My fiancé and I will be going there I. The next few years. We will visit those men as well. I believe my grandfather would have also. Thank you for this.
@WW2 Wayfinder As a German, I can only express my respect for your comment about the Germans' remembrance of their own fallen soldiers. It is shameful how the German state remembers its own fallen soldiers. It is rather conveyed that the young soldiers were all Nazis. What madness. And so it is passed on to the youth by the ruling left here. And anyone who supports the German soldiers of the time and the fallen soldiers is suspected of being a Nazi. Fortunately, there is the German War Graves Commission, which does a good job. And there are many Germans, especially in rural areas, who remember their fallen soldiers in silence.
I know it’s a difficult subject but they were all soles ones son, brother or father. 80 years on its time we collectively remember that. They were all caught up in something far bigger than the average person can comprehend.
American here. Not all the world thinks that All German Soldiers were Nazis. They were just young guys forced into a bad situation by bad men and suffered a horrible outcome. They were just soldiers and nothing else.
✌️😁
Germans are raised to be anti-militaristic. And Militarism and Fascism are seen as one and the same. Of course history is a lot more nuanced than that, but those distinctions are drowned out by the anti-miltaristic, anti-fascist sentiment.
agreed. its heartbreaking how many hundreds of thousands of young men, kids really were forced to kill each other. expended like animals. So many families torn apart and for what reason???? to see them forgotten is difficult. Most people see a mossy crumbling tombstone but I can’t help but see the life that was never lived and the young mans family that was never allowed to be created… war is a terrible thing and still today it goes on.
Well, but what about the atrocity committed by German soldiers during the occupation of France? My uncle was a young colonial soldier in the French army who was locked up, regularly beaten up and abused daily by German soldiers in the St Florentin Frontstalag. Even after 5 decades, he would get up from his chair and angrily shout at the tv screen whenever there was an image of a German soldier.
One of the stuka dive bombers that attacked the bridge was shot down crashed into the Rhein north of Remagen, near Bonn. The wreckage was discovered in 2021 when the drought saw the river level at its lowest for 200 years. The pilot’s remains were buried with full honours and family informed.
Oh wow thank you for that! I’ll have a look online for that as I wasn’t aware! Incredible what still remains out there from the war years!
@@WW2Wayfinder I live 20 minutes from the bridge in the first are on the east side of the river to be liberated! The iron harvest still bares fruit all these years later. If you check on maps from that time, North East of the bridge was a machine gun and machine pistol factory, so it was a very ‘hot zone’. If I can find our local paper, I’ll send you the links.
My dad was with the 99th ID, H Company, 393rd Regiment. They were rushed to the bridge to cross it before it was blown up. He spoke about being ordered to cross the bridge while under fire. He was an ammo bearer of 80mm mortars. He refused until the officer threatened to shoot him. So, he ran across zigzagging like he was taught in basic. He remembered jumping over holes and seeing the river below. He thought he was going to die on that bridge. He made it across and survived the war. He later was part of the liberation of Mooseburg pow camp in late April 1945. Thank you for sharing this and all the information. Great work! I hope to go there someday in the near future. I also liked your visit and comment on the German cemetery. It was touching. I always wondered why theirs seemed to be somewhat neglected.
Oh wow! Thank you for sharing that about your father! I don’t blame him for not want ting to cross it, I wouldn’t have been able to!
I’ve also done two episodes at Moosburg POW camp if you have time to take a look. It’ll give you a really good idea of where your Father was in that part of Germany.
I’m an avid amateur WWII historian. I love your videos and the way you present them. Thank you.
You’re most welcome! Thank you for taking the time to watch!
I am touched by your stuggle to find the right words at the warcemetery. This is exactly the struglle I always have when I visit German warcemetaries. I have been in Studentenfriedhof in Langemark (Flanders) as in many other cemeteries around the world (Europe, Asia) and it is always somebody’s son who is commemoretad there. And at the end it doesn’t matter on which side they were on. The grief is similar. That motivates me to visit more cemeteries as someone has to do it.
I do appriciate the series and the very punctial history told around the subject. Thank you for that!
It’s a difficult aspect to cover and something I’m always mindful of. As you say they were all someone’s son.
Thank you for taking the time to watch as I really appreciate it!
There are memorials all over France to their war dead, most from WW1 of course.
Many are in village churches, all under-used these days, and the standard of care is sometimes low. It's down to elderly ladies for the most part.
it's significant that in these places some names appear four and five times, fathers, brothers, sons from the same families all 'mort pour la Patrie'.
German cemeteries on the western front are numerous, but not as imposing as those of Britain or France.
if you decide to visit, Verdun is a must, needing the best part of a day to even scratch the surface. The ossuary is overpowering.
@@EllieMaes-Grandad thanks for your feedback. I am planning to visit all Dutch warcemeteries of the Dutch and Commonwealth in Indonesia. Those stories have to stay alive as well.
Would be a great project; we hear so little about them. Kohima is remembered. I presume you've been to Madingley, Cambridge UK; it's most impressive, rightly so.
Yeah, would you say the same about the Russians, Invading and butchering Ukrainians today?
These same troops were responsible for rounding up our Jewish families shooting them in the head, dumping them in a ditch, or as was done with my grandfather’s whole family to send them off to Auschwitz to die from typhus, the gas chambers or be worked to death.
I have no respect for anyone that defended the Nazi regime (Yimach Shemam) and may they their kids & kids, and great great great grandkids forever be cursed. On this world & the next.
Never Again
Am Yisroel Chai 🇮🇱
That is one of the most interesting stories I’ve heard about WW2. I knew the bridge collapsed later but not that the Germans tried V2s to destroy it. Great work
Incredible isn’t it that they fired V2’s effectively into their own lines almost! Thanks for watching
@@WW2Wayfinder I'd never heard about them trying to destroy the bridge with V-2 rockets ( not exactly a precision-targeting weapon) I always understood what finished it were attacks br Arado AR234 jet bombers.
A sober, and very moving look at an action most scholars have heard of, but very few know about or understand. Fine work. You hit all the right notes.
Thank you! It’s a fascinating action and one that doesn’t get enough coverage as it falls outside of the Normandy, Market Garden, Bulge time frames but a vitally important action that had a genuine result in helping to shorten the war! Thank you for taking the time to watch!
I didn’t realise how many times the Germans tried to destroy the bridge ,another Great episode …incredible Research well Done 👏🏻
Thanks Paul. They really went after it and incredible to think what they threw at it to prevent the Americans holding on to the bridgehead there!
That was very interesting. Like a few others, I never knew that there was so many attempts by the Germans to try and destroy the bridge.
I visited the Remagen bridge and toured the museum in June 2007. My father was positioned here during March 1945 with the 134th AAA gun Battalion-mobile. It was probably the largest AAA protected site during the war. Every available AAA Battalion was quickly moved to the area. My father commented that when any German plane got into range, a multitude of 50 cal machine guns would open fire on the target. He commented how it would rain 50 cal bullets, making it extremely dangerous not to take cover. He mentioned the German ME262's trying to knockout the bridge, They had to enter the river valley at a very high speed to prevent being hit by the intense AA fire, but this was too fast for them to get any good aim on the bridge.
Excellent research and very well presented!
Oh wow! Thank you for sharing that about your Father and great point about the raining 50 cal rounds! Hard to imagine what it must have looked and sounded like!!!
I hope the video was able to give you a good idea of the area and what your Father would have served in during his time in the bridgehead area
Hi John
Hey if you’re not very careful, you may just knock Mark Felton off his perch!
Fantastic piece of work mate, accurate details, stock footage and more interesting than most documentaries I’ve ever seen!
Thanks for sharing your great narrative ❤😊
Thank you!!! I certainly wouldn’t mind having the channel grow to be as big as Mark Felton’s!
And thank you for taking the time to watch and comment as I genuinely appreciate it. The battle for the Remagen Bridge has fascinated me since I saw the movie as a youngster so it was great to be able actually visit the place and document what happened there!
Nice presentation. Good that you shared the movie info with the actual characters.
Almost identical incidental music, careful about copyright infringement against mr Felton
My grandfather was there with the 276th Combat Engineers. I have his company book documenting the 276th’s history from initial training in the U.S. to their Atlantic crossing and finally to Remagen. 11 of the 24 lost when the bridge collapsed were from the 276th.
The footage of the bridge collapse is horrific to watch. Incredible though that some men actually survived it!
Another thoroughly absorbing video. I like the way you add the personal touch for both sides. As you say, they were all someone’s son, brother, father etc. Glad I subscribed.
Thank you. It’s a difficult area to address but an important one to understand that bad people existed on both sides (if we didn’t have bad guys in the forces we wouldn’t need Military Prison etc!), and good guys existed even though they fought for an evil regime (because they had very little choice - something in 2023 people struggle to understand).
Thank you for taking the time to watch as I really appreciate it!
@@WW2Wayfinder absolutely, people don’t realise that if these men didn’t fight then it was Dachau or worse etc for them and their families.
What a gem of a channel. What you are doing here is incredible.
Thank you so much and apologies for only just seeing your comment!
No matter the nationality....the one constant that can be felt by no other human is the deep felt angst and pain, the mothers of the fallen sons went through.
Today, I helped move the original Remagan sign to its new home on Ft. Moore. (Benning) at the US Armor and Cavalry collection. It was a great honor and reaked of the history and spirits of those who lost their lives. We have an open house July 15th for the public to come see the collection. Perhaps it will be staged to show at that time. It's an amazing artifact!
Oh wow!!! Thank you for taking such good care of it. It would be great to get over there and see it one day. Remagen is one of those incredible actions that doesn’t get the attention it deserves sadly.
I truly enjoyed this.. my grandfather was part of the capture of this bridge.. unfortunately he lost his good friend during the battle. I have always wanted to visit this location. Thank you for sharing.
Oh wow, I hope it provided a good understanding of where your Father fought and the views of the area he would have seen during his time there. Thank you for watching!
My mother's fiancé died in the battle for this bridge in a tank destroyer. She was a Navy WAVE stationed in Cleveland, and in her off hours, she began volunteering at Ward #27 (head wounds) at Crile Military Hospital. She met my father, who had been wounded a few weeks earlier and 130 miles south at the Battle of Spicheren Heights overlooking Saarbrucken, Germany.
Thank you for sharing that.
By the way, I am happy I found your channel, it has to be the best on WW2 that I have ever seen. You have done so much research for each video including the most amazing footage and you are so concise in your presentation! Thank you so much for all your work!
Thank you! I’m just grateful I can tell these stories and share them with like minded people!
I was stationed at RAF Bruggen in the late eighties early nineties, The golden Mile camp site just south of the bridge was a regular stopover place, in or motor caravan, so we visited the site and the peace museum often, and visited the town. We also stopped off on the way home if we had been to a stopover further south, we would vacate our campsite and drive up to the swimming pool close to the campsite for an afternoon swim on the way home. About ten years ago we did a Rhine cruise and picked up the boat at Remagen, giving us our first view of the bridge from the river. it was watching the film as a teenager that put a visit to the bridge in my mind,
This was an incredible effort and brought the battle to life. The scenes from the cemetery were very moving and reminded us of the terrible cost of the war.
Thank you Chip. When I found the graveyard was so close I had to include it as I always felt the scene in the 60’s movie at the end with Robert Vaughan was very poignant so to see the real life resting places for those officers and men was an important addition I think.
The Grenade range at Ft. Jackson was named Remagen. A piece of the Ludendorf bridge is there.
That’s so cool! Nice that it’s remembered and there is a piece of the original bridge there! Thanks for sharing that!
Good work Sir!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Remagen is a such an interesting battle that I hope this did it some justice and highlighted how crazy the fight got after the bridge was captured!
I just came to your video channel thanks to J.D. at The History Underground You Tube channel and I'm glad I did. This was an excellent recap of the battle at the Remagen bridge. Thank you very much. I just subscribed.
Thank you Alan! I’ve got lots more content planned for the rest of the year, from Normandy to the Netherlands and some other places too so I hope you enjoy that!
JD is a great guy and it’s very kind of him to recommend channels!
Very interesting and informative video on the events at this bridge in March 1945. You are wrong though at 15:50. The quote "peace without freedom is not peace" on the commerative plaque is indeed from Konrad Adenauer. He was the first chancellor (prime minister) of West Germany from 1949 to 1963 and died in 1967.
However it is the other person mentioned on the plaque, Heinz Schwarz, who was the Luftwaffenhelfer at the bridge in 1945 and later on became Minister of the Interior of Rheinland-Palz, the German state in which Remagen is located. He also donated this plaque.
Thank you.
And I don’t speak German so if the quote is wrong that’s a Google Translate issue 😉
Thanks for uploading this very compelling documentary on one of the lesser known but crucial battles of WWII. I watched the Bridge at Remagen a few times but this filled in many gaps left by the movie. One day I hope to visit this site myself.
You’re most welcome Adrian. Like you I’d seen the film numerous times but wanted to better understand the battle there. Glad you enjoyed it and if you ever want any travel advice for the Remagen area let me know as it’s quite spread out and the nearest bridge is 14km away for crossing the Rhine!
Another beautiful and meticulously researched and executed episode. The music score from epidemic sound is epic, truly moving and befitting to the heroic subject matter.
Thank you so much!!
My Grandpa Pinter fought at Remagen. 9th Armored/16th Field Artillery. I got to visit two years ago but it was closed for Covid.
Thank you for your grandpa’s service! 9th Armored was a great unit!
I hope you’re able to make it back there soon.
Thanks for watching.
@@WW2Wayfinder maybe in a few years, gotta save up. Unless my youtube channel suddenly gets incredibly popular. haha
My dad, Staff Sgt Raymond Wright, was also in CCB of the 9th Armored, 16th Field Artillery
Wow! Thanks for sharing so many different locations and perspectives from the area. Well done!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
I'm spending a Sunday working my way through your videos. I can't say enough good things about the production. The camera work, drone footage and all the old footage you found. Thanks Mate for your hard work !
Glad you’re enjoying them! I really appreciate it and it’s great to be able to share my passion with likeminded people as these stories are so important we have to keep telling them!
There were two pontoon bridges being used at the time that Engineers were working to save the bridge and when it collapsed some 26 engineers died.
Of interest regarding the movie The Bridge at Remagen, it was filmed in Yugoslavia when Yugoslavia was a Mecca for WW2 movies. The bridge and the location was almost identical and except for a few military vehicles most were right for the time period. The United States had sold Yugoslavia tens of thousands of post war vehicles to help then in case the Soviet Union attacked. Also, Kelly's Heros was filmed there as well.What was technically incorrect for the American tanks was that the Yugoslavians were using the M4 series of tanks which had been designed to use the 75mm main gun, but between the end of the war and the filming, advances had been made that allowed the old M4s to be outfitted with the much more potent 76mm guns. Just some facts in case you get the urge to watch Kelly[s Heros again, assuming you haven't. If you have not, it is a ridiculously funny movie that even includes a short minute of action where Clint Eastwood and two others walk down the street like western gun fighters while music from some of his early "spaghetti westerns", The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fist Full of Dollars and A Few Dollars More is being played. An Italian music writer wrote the themes to all of those and what is in Kelly's Heros has a lot of cacophonous, weird sounds and grunt sounds!
Kelly’s Hero’s is a firm favourite of mine! In fact a friend of mine visited the village where the ‘bank’ was located last year and it hasn’t changed too much!
I would love to make it there one day to see it for myself.
I’m a big fan of Clint Eastwood and from my point of view his best movie was Where Eagles Dare alongside Richard Burton. It’s everything I could want from a war movie (so much so I can make allowances for the helicopter!)
all the engineers that died on the bridge belonged to the 276 Engr. combat Batt. & 1058 Bridge construction & Repair Group.
@@joevicmeneses8918 Thanks for that information! It adds to what the rest of us know now!
The film was made in Czechaslovkia, not Yugoslavia .
13:56 in may i met a ww2 vet that fought in cologne and the rhine, he was telling me his time over there and his encounter with german soliders who didn't want to surrender and some that wanted too, he did come across 4 german soliders walking with a white flag and they spoke to him in mixed english and german and spoke back to them saying "keep going straight then hang a left you will see american troops with a tank, surrender to them" His name was Sgt Anthony of the 4th Burts Knights and today he turned 100
Thank you for that! I hope Sgt Anthony has a wonderful day celebrating his 100th!!!!
This was a truly inspiring and well done video. Award worthy!
Thank you! That’s very kind of you to say so! It was a great day filming there (in and out of the rain storms!)
So many details which are new to me. Thanks for an excellent description of those battles around the Ludendorf Bridge. My father cross the bridge shortly after it was found intact. I wish I could have visited Remagen with him and ask of his experiences. Now I live only a few miles north of Remagen (in Bonn) and bike along the Rhine often, always stopping at the bridge with a prayer to my father.
Oh wow! I know there's the museum there but have never been when it's open annoyingly (all my own fault for visiting early in the year).
What an outstanding presentation. Especially presenting the narration from the various surrounding locations It gives the viewer a good understanding of the topography involved.
Thank you!
The Germans also tried to destroy the bridge with Sturmtigers. The Sturmtiger was a German assault gun built on the Tiger I chassis and armed with a 380mm rocket-propelled mortar. Its primary task was to provide heavy fire support for infantry units fighting in urban areas. It was designed to survive the brutal conditions of urban warfare while demolishing city structures.
Oh wow I wasn’t aware of that! Storm tigers were a beast! Thank you for that!
Very good documentary.
I love it, that the bridgetowers are there today. The route of the tunnel tracks is untouched today. This big old historical structures.
In the Geoportal you can look at free historical topo maps and aerial images after the war.
I'm from Rüdesheim am Rhein. There was a bridge too which was blown up before a fight could start and was never rebuilt. There is not much to talk about it but the remains of the Forshore bridges on both sides are there in place today.
Every car which enters Rüdesheim drives through an old arch of that bridge.
On aerial images you can clearly see the routes of the railways still to this day.
Thank you and I’ll take a look at Rüdesheim am Rhein as it’s one I’ve not heard of before so thank you for that!
With the Marsden mount on the back of the M3 halftrack, it became the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (MGMC).
An incredible piece of equipment!
This was excellent. Great work. New subscriber.
Thank you so much! Welcome to the channel 😃
My great great uncle Sgt Alexander Drabik was the 1st man across the bridge, he was given the Distinguished Service Cross for it.
My dad, Staff Sargeant Raymond Wright, of the 9th Armored Division, Combat Command B, crossed the bridge behind your great great uncle. Dad visited him at his home many years after the war to honor him, as he always considered Lt. Drabik a true hero.
That was a great video. I probably watched that movie a hundred times. It puts you so close. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
Brilliant presentation! I’ll have to watch the movie again. For the 10th time.
Thank you! It's a great film isn't it. The first time I watched it as a youngster I was hooked when the huge coloumn of armour is on the move at the start.
Amazing footage - much of which I have never seen before. Great job! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it Kevin! Remagen is a really interesting battle and crazy how the Germans were prepared to fire V2’s into their own town to try and retake the bridge! Really shows just how desperate they were at that stage of the war.
content and production top notch mate.
Thank you so much!
Excellent excellent video. I didn't even know this battle took place. Thank you so much for an excellent video. I look forward to watching many more!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. It’s one of the major events of WW2 that gets overlooked sadly so hopefully it helps to keep the memory of the men who took the bridge and fought there alive for the next generation!
Yeoman's work, Wayfinder. Your knowledge and expertise in telling the stories are outstanding.
Thank you! It’s a lot of fun and the Bridge at Remagen has fascinated me ever since I saw the movie as a youngster. Was great to be able to film there and document it properly!
Very interesting. Didn’t know much about the Bridge. Really like the new camera work. 👍
The story behind it is fascinating but often overlooked because it was so late in the war but it was great to visit all the locations and get a proper understanding of what took place there!
My Uncle Clint Garrett was on that bridge fighting all night once they made it across. He was in the 9th.
Oh wow thank you for sharing that. I hope it gave you a reasonable idea of the area he was fighting in when the bridge was captured. Thank you for watching.
@@WW2Wayfinder It did, and my cousin Dorothea ... his daughter has now seen it as I had forwarded it to her. Years ago, she got some recordings from him before he passed away and finally talk about it. He had many a bad times and nights after the war. In the book "The Last Bridge" He hadn't known until he read that which was on my coffee table when he visited me around the mid 90''s I think... and in that book how his Company Commander in the 9th Div, 7th Armored ... had died. That was about the mid 90's I think. He had been driving Halftracks during the war and had 2 shot out from underneath him in the Ardens Forest at one time as I remember. When the Germans broke thru ... he was overrun ... and made good his escape. He hid by climbing up in the tall trees ... he had learned that by being a logging climber before he went in the war. Talk about luck... two times he got away. His story is really interesting ... From Normandy landing, St Lo ... Belgium ... not to mention he was one of the first to reach a Concentration Camp as well, which one I'm not sure... Wow...
Well done. Honest, not overly polished, etc. The German cemetery visit was a great idea. Yes, there were some evil Germans, but same for the Allies. It is good to step back and recognise the pain, suffering, and dedication of the foot soldier. I am thoroughly impressed with your work. Thanks.
Thank you! It was quite something to visit the German cemetery. Raises a lot of interesting and difficult questions.
I would like to have seen where the pilots who were shot down were buried - they must have been brave to fly through the amount of flack.
My favorite subject is HISTORY- watching these documentaries made me realize how researchers strive to give factual details of world events.
Thank you!! Takes a fair bit of time to ensure its correct (to the best of my abilities) but hopefully it’s all worth it!
I just now found your channel. What an awesome piece of work this video is… well researched, beautifully produced. Whilst I was well aware of the Bridge’s story, you gave me a much fuller appreciation of the battle’s landscape. Thank you! #subscribed
Thank you and welcome to the channel!
The Remagen story is incredible isn’t it!way more to it than meets the eye!
Very well done. The 1969 "Bridge at Remagen" was over-dramatized, BUT they got a lot right on the rhythm of events. It was also one of the earlier movies to show the German point of view (without them being slobbering monsters). I appreciated your information on the defense of the bridging site after the actual crossing. One can find many references to the day of the capture, but not as much on the defense of the prize. It is also interesting to read about the exploitation of the bridgehead. As you mentioned, the drive ran up against hills that limited the advance, but the bridgehead allowed for advances that put the US forces in a better position to advance further into Germany. The movie had a tagline "the Germans lost a bridge, six weeks later they lost a war".
Glad you enjoyed it. The film has long been a favourite of mine and Robert Vaughans portrail was excellent (as was all the other cast to be fair).
Thought robert vaugn did great acting job.
Amazing Documentary and the music in the middle captured the Nostalgia and Sacrifices from both sides.
I consider myself a ww2 Buff and for the love of me i had no idea that the Germans Fired V2 rockets on it. Wow...Subscribed..
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. The Remagen bridge story is one that keeps getting more incredible from its assault and capture to the attempts made by the Germans to retake it! It’s the sort of story that deserves way more coverage than in it gets! Thank you for subscribing!
@@WW2Wayfinder Indeed..
My father was there he’s the one who’s running with the stretcher he’s in front he was a combat engineer
Excellent video, really enjoying the history and the information, incredible story and facts....keep it up, ty.
Thank you!
Video Masterpiece, thankyou, just subscribed 👍
Thank you and welcome to the channel! I became fascinated with Remagen and the capture of the bridge after watching the 60’s film so was amazing to be there and document the various places!
All I ever knew about this bridge is what I saw from the movie, so this was very educational. It was very interesting to see that parts of the bridge were still intact and preserved after all these years. I am curious though to know why they sealed off the entrance to the tunnel. Can you provide any further information in that regard? Great Job!
I’m not sure why the tunnel is sealed unless to stop vandals getting it. I think the local history group has access though from what I’ve seen on Facebook but it’s with special permission only rather than it being publicly available.
wow great video thank you for all the attention to detail just subscribed
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it and welcome to the channel!
Another location as seen from the past and present. Thank you for making another excellent video.
Thank you!
Given all the effort the American's want to protecting the bridge from being destroyed, you'd think they'd have checked the bridge wasn't about to collapse!
Well they knew the bridge was in danger of collapse but were able to get a major bridge head and had already built pontoon bridge across which would be very difficult without the bridge head. When it collapsed it was being worked on and these were the guys killed but during war it’s safety last the mission is the only important thing and that was accomplished.
Really nice work, very much enjoyed the thoughtful reflections and obviously carefully researched history. The photography/drone work was great and makes me want to take a trip back to Europe as in previous tour around Normandy and the Somme.
I concur with other comments and comparisons to Mark Felton's work.....
Well done and thanks!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it and hope it showed the Remagen story from a slightly different aspect. Its one of those aspects of the war that is covered but never in much detail and having been a big fan of the film I always wanted to visit the location and dig deeper into the events that happened there.
I hope you’re able to get back to Normandy and the First World War sites soon!
Excellent Video and really informative . looking forward to your next video.
Thank you!
Great doc and a great movie about the Bridge at Remagen 1945 (crossing the Rhine with dry feet)
Brilliant video, very informative, thanks mate.
Thanks mate, it’s a great area to visit and crazy the amount of firepower the Germans threw at the bridge trying to destroy it!
Excellent photos and reporting. I never knew about the eminence amount of firepower and methods of deployment Germany used to attempt the bridges destruction.
Thank you for this excellent video.
No worries! Remagen was incredible. The capture of the bridge although tough was just the beginning. The real fight was holding on to it despite everything being thrown at it by the Germans!
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!
Youre doing a wonderful job of telling its history well done Pall ❤❤🎉
Thank you!
I've seen the movie so many times, and I've always loved to go. My later grandad was going to take me to see it but never got round to it. 😢😢
I hope you’re able to visit there one day. It’s impressive to see the size of the bridge or what remains of it! And the movie despite being filmed elsewhere really captured the feel of Remagen
Thank you for your reply it was very nice of you to reply to me. I'll keep watching your UA-cam videos.
Great Presentation! Thank you. I've watched the movie a couple of times and really liked it. Now hearing the actual facts that occurred really makes it clear.
Thank you! Like you I saw the movie a few times so when the chance came up to visit there I leapt at it!
Thanks for watching!
My Dad was there and received a battle star, and also won a Bronze star in the battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes for laying telegraph wires behind enemy lines
Great videos, glad I subscribed.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for subscribing, I really do appreciate it. I hope you enjoy my other videos if you have time to watch. Thanks again!
This is a great short documentary mate, glad it popped up in my feed
Thank you!
I met a man who was an officer at the bridge. He was talking to a soldier with his back to the bridge when it collapsed. The collapsed part was only 2 feet behind him. I was there in 1994 with a man from the 28th division who crossed on a pontoon bridge.
Gosh that must have sent him running! I can’t imagine what it must have sounded like.
I bet it was great to go back with a veteran who served there and was able to retell his experiences of crossing the river there!
Good job on this video. I was researching my grandfather Samuel Resta Sr. who got a bronze star for doing something stupid at this bridge to save a buddy as he said. I retrieved all the medals before he attempted to throw them away as he was just documenting for medical insurance. He always said medals only remind him of friends he lost.
Oh wow, thank you for sharing that. Do you know which unit your Grandfather was serving with?
Fabulous documentary - I found it fascinating and very well put-together. Stunning how much effort and sacrifice the Germans put in to destroy the bridge - and to imagine it fell ten days later anyways. I was visualizing what the anti-aircraft firepower must've been like during the defense to take down that many aircraft. Million dollar show was aptly named.
Thank you! It’s always fascinated me ever since watching the 1960’s film with Robert Vaughan. To actually be there and see the various locations was quite something. Thank you for watching!
Thank you for a very interesting and informative video.!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Another great Video, I especially like your comments about the graves of the German soldiers. On a completely different note as a keen player of Hell Let Loose their Remagen map is so accurate I knew and could picture exactly where you were in and around the bridge and surrounding areas including that view from the hill. Same for many of your other walks around various french towns.
I’m also a big HLL fan! Just haven’t had much time to play recently and not familiar with the Remagen map. I always seem to spawn on the Utah or Carentan maps when I have time to play! Definitely need to check that out!
@@WW2Wayfinder maybe you could do a HLL maps comparison from time to time?
Gee a lot of planes lost, very well put together video really interesting and well done, nice to see soldiers on both sides are treated with respect. great job.
Thank you! The fight for the bridge was quite the battle but then the efforts by the Germans to retake it were staggering! Thanks for taking the time to watch.
I visited this site in the 70s. The bridge supports were still there at the time. I remember a huge crater on the German side of the bridge with a factory? building inside.
I bet it was good to see in the 70’s as it looks like a lot of new builds have sprung up on the western bank around the bridge approach.
Thanks for watching
Did anyone else catch the Easter egg at 3:45? It totally blew my mind!
The Quote at 15:30 is not made by Konrad Adenauer (who was the first German Chancellor after war), it was made by Heinz Schwarz. He was Auxillery at Remagen Bridge and the former minister of interior of Rhinelande Palatine. Best wishes from my hometown, 3 km away from Remagen bridge ;)
I never thought about the significance that the bridge at remagen was the Ludendorf(sp) bridge. That bridge really opened Germany to the allied forces but it also held the history of Germany's great World War II hero. It wasn't the only way across the River but it was the best way across especially for armor.
It definitely served its purpose for long enough to establish a bridgehead on the eastern bank and incredible to think it was essentially just good luck that they captured it when and how they did!
Outstanding video and presentation.
Thank you!
Great video
Thank you!
Visited in 1970, after seeing the movie.. After that we travelled to many WWI and WW2 locations... First location....Monte Cassino... Most complex to reach...Volubilis, located in Morocco...don't know if it was authentic as far as reality, but goosy bumpy time when taking in the view........Most moving.......... The remains of a canal and tunnel in Belgium where my Great Uncle was killed....
Oh wow that’s sounds like a fantastic trip! Monte Cassino is on my list to visit as I’ve never been but it looks incredible!
G'day from Canada my friend. History is so important to us because it's what we did yesterday that guides us to what we do today. A most meaningful Thank You for your efforts and time. If there were an award for best informative and visual in a documentry then l'm sure your name would be in that envelope. I had to chuckle though, it's not that big an area but getting to and setting up in the many locations must have been one frustrating and time consuming ordeal. After all.......a river runs through it. Well done and great attention to detail in describing the many ( and forms ) of attempts the Wehrmacht made to carry out their orders, land air and water. Outstanding work. History should be told, not hinted at.
Good luck to you sir and be safe.
Thank you that’s very kind of you to say so!
Remagen is a great but with no bridge to cross it’s nearly an hour from bank to bank! But I can’t complain as I only had to deal with the traffic and it enemy fire!
Thanks again for watching and really glad you enjoyed it!
These are fantastic! Love the format! - I can see how paying respect or glorifying their war dead would be hard to reconcile in one way, but quite proper in another. Not all acted with evil intention.
Thank you!
It’s a very fine line to tread but I thought it was important to show their graves and how their own side turned on them for merely carrying out their orders. I always thought the final scene in the Bridge at Remagen film with Robert Vaughan captured it perfectly.
Excellent video. Well researched.
Thank you!
Love your videos you do a great job 👍
Thank you!
Amazing video, a real credit to you! Danny Rees
Thanks Danny! Still learning but enjoying it!
Never thought I’d be doing when we were at KAF all those years ago!!!
i will be visiting germany ww2 sites next year and this site really gives me a better idea of where i should be going thanks man loving this channel
Oh cool! Remagen is a great place to visit, just be warned that the closest bridge to cross from the West to East bank is at Bonn (there’s one south of Remagen too but it’s a bit further away!)
If you want any specific info drop me an email and I’ll see if I can help out!
I can also recommend some good German beers!🍻
@@WW2Wayfinder thank you will do 👍
Great drone footage, gives a good overview
Thank you!
Great Video Thanks for that.
No worries! All inspired after watching Bridge at Remagen as a youngster and wanting to see the real locations! Thanks for watching!
Loved it! Until I get the opportunity to visit these sites myself, your videos make for an excellent alternative!
Amazing episode,
Thank you!!
I loved the movie as a kid, still do :)
It’s a classic isn’t it! Did you know when they filmed it they had to stop production and relocate as it was close to the border with a Warsaw Pact country and they thought the armour for the film was an invasion force!
@@WW2Wayfinder thats crazy!!....interesting though :)
Fantastic video. I learned much more than I have in the past. I knew that ack ack had claimed a few Luftwaffe aircraft but not in the dozens. Five star ***** vid. Thanks for your work providing this video.
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for taking the time to watch!
Fascinating history lesson really enjoyable.....only came to UA-cam to fix my garage door!!
Haha, glad you enjoyed the episode and hope the garage door got fixed too 😉
I’ve recently discovered your channel and I’m well and truly hooked. I’ve visited a lot of WW1&2 locations over the past couple of decades as far as Volgograd in Russia.
I’m now going to have to revisit some of these places because you’ve pointed out so much detail I’ve never noticed before.
And on that note I’m struggling to locate the Friedhoff you mention in this video and would be grateful of an address or Google maps link.
Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you Chris! Welcome to the channel!
Volgograd is a place I would love to visit but may have to wait a while for that now!
The friedhof is in Birnbach about 40 minutes away from Remagen
@@WW2Wayfinder . Yes not so easy to get too these days but hopefully that’ll change. We hired a tour guide who introduced us to a veteran of the battle who fought his way all the way to Berlin.
Thanks for the town name as I was spelling it incorrectly!