Monty's Gamble- Allies Cross the Rhine 1945 (WW2 Documentary)

By early 1945, Allied and Soviet armies stood at the borders of the German Reich in the east and in the west. For the Anglo-American forces, the main strategic problem to solve before they could break into the heart of Germany was the crossing of the Rhine River. The Rhine was the last major natural obstacle facing the British, Canadian, and US armies, but even though the Wehrmacht was badly weakened and the Luftwaffe a shell of its former self, the task would not be easy. The Nazi leadership promised fierce resistance, but the Allies planned to attack with overwhelming force, including the biggest single-day airborne assault of the entire war. In February 1945, the Western Allies were suffering from logistical difficulties. The supply lines between their bases in England and the front lines in Holland and Germany were hundreds of kilometers long and made even more complicated since most continental ports were in ruins. Their troops, especially the infantry, were exhausted after a difficult series of battles in the fall and winter, and the British and Canadians were still recovering from a replacement shortage in late 1944. This meant that despite their superiority in numbers, heavy weapons, and virtual air supremacy, the Allies did not feel they had the resources for a major offensive along the entire length of the front. After difficult and sometimes bitter negotiations, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower decided that the main effort to break into Germany would be made by General Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group in the northern Rhineland, where the land was flat and ripe for mobile warfare in the North German plain. American Generals Bradley and Patton were livid, but for the moment, the priority would be elsewhere. 21st Army Group launched its offensive to reach the Rhine River on February 8, 1945. This army group included 2nd British Army, 1st Canadian Army, which was mostly British, and the US 9th Army. The planned breakthrough to seize an intact bridge at Wesel never came, and 1st Canadian Army took weeks of grueling fighting to slowly push back the Germans. Once the floodwaters went down, 9th US Army joined them, and together they forced the Germans back across the river by March 10, but the Germans managed to withdraw and blow the last bridges. Field Marshal Montgomery decided to wait until detailed preparations could be finished before attempting to cross the river. Monty's style of generalship was based on careful planning before any attack, partly since the Brits and Canadians under his command could not afford heavy losses. He's been roundly criticized by contemporaries and historians for being too cautious and slow, ultimately not taking full advantage of opportunities as they presented themselves. Some suggest that he wanted to avoid another failure like the one in Operation Market Garden at Arnhem in fall 1944. US 9th Army Commander General Bill Simpson wanted to continue the momentum and cross the Rhine while the Germans were still attempting to recover from their defeats west of the river, but Monty said no. Meanwhile south of 21st Army Group, US generals who resented being forced to accept limitations on their offensive moves took the initiative anyway. On March 7, 1st US Army troops surprised the Germans defending the Ludendorff Bridge across the Rhine at Rehmarden and captured it in working conditions. On March 22, General George Patton began ferrying his men across the river at Oppenheim and took great pleasure in having beaten his rival Monty to the punch. These American units were across the Rhine, but the rough terrain on the east bank and German reinforcements from the north limited their progress, for now. Montgomery's plan for the main crossing was twofold. On March 23, Operation Plunder would see ground forces cross after a massive artillery bombardment, followed the morning of the 24th by Operation Varsity – 16,000 Allied paratroopers and glider-borne infantry, the largest airborne drop in a single day of the entire war. The paratroopers would secure the area immediately in front of the ground troops who were crossing the river, and once the two linked up, the Allies could dash across the flatlands into the Ruhr industrial area and beyond, perhaps even to Berlin. In Montgomery's words, "...the intention is to cross the Rhine north of the Ruhr and secure a firm bridgehead, with a view to developing operations to isolate the Ruhr and to penetrate deeper into Germany." In all, 1.2 million Allied troops and 5,000 guns were to participate in the crossing and break through into the north German plain. The German 1st Parachute Army defending the northern Rhine had been reduced to a mere 85,000 men, 1,000 guns, and fewer than 120 tanks. As the armies were preparing for battle, in the village of Hamminkeln on the Rhine's east bank, 83-year-old Sophie Becker confided her worries to her diary, We are not defeated. Germany still has the Rhine, and it has always protected us. I pray to God that it protects us now in our hour of need. Perhaps the Americans will fail. Operation Plunder began on the evening of March 23, 1945. Winston Churchill, General Eisenhower, and Field Marshal Allenbrook all gathered on a nearby hill to watch the historic moment unfold in person. Allied troops were understandably anxious, so one British officer found these words to reassure his men, If you happen to hear a few stray bullets, you needn't think they're intended for you. That, gentlemen, is a form of egotism. Following aerial bombing, British, Canadian, and American guns put down a hail of fire on German positions for four hours to destroy as many defensive positions as possible so the vulnerable infantry could cross. Surprised, German artillery officer Oberst von Peller und Ehrenburg sprang into action. We were sitting around a bottle of cognac, which was the only thing that could somewhat calm our nerves. Suddenly there was a crash and then all hell broke loose, and without saying anything, we all knew the time had come. Unbelievably heavy fire was falling on the little town. Even though we had to lay low due to the unrelenting enemy fire, we began firing onto the bank opposite Rees. This success earned us even more enemy shells on my positions, and soon the batteries reported their first losses. The 51st Highland Division crossed opposite the town of Rees, 15th Scottish south of that, and the 1st British Commando Brigade landed just north of Wesel before turning south to take the ruins of the bombed-out town. The US 79th and 30th Divisions made their crossings on the southern end of the line between Wesel and Dinslaken. This initial wave was followed by a Canadian brigade, including my grandfather's unit, more British and American infantry, and the all-important Armoured Divisions. Opposing the Allied forces were two German Infantry Divisions and two Fallschirmjäger Divisions, all badly depleted, and the remnants of the 15th Panzergrenadier and 116th Panzer Divisions in close reserve. Although German Army Group H commander General Johannes Blazkowicz committed his panzers quite early, Allied troops quickly consolidated their bridgeheads. The Highlanders took Rees by the end of March 24, but their commanding general Tom Rennie was killed. After a dramatic crossing near the ruins of a destroyed railway bridge that can still be seen today, the commando secured the wasteland of Wesel. The fighting in Wesel was bitter, and cost the life of German General Alfred Deutsch. There are conflicting stories about the circumstances of Deutsch's death, one of which stems from British commando Philip Pritchard. In the middle of the battle passing through Wesel, we found a commando Lance Corporal digging a grave in a garden. This seemed strange and we asked him why he was doing it. He said his section had been searching a house when they were confronted by a German officer. The Lance Corporal immediately said hands up, but the German replied, I am General Deutsch and will only surrender to an officer of equal rank. The Lance Corporal was fed up with all this and said well, this will equalize you, and fired his tommy gun at the General, with fatal results. Brigadier Mills Roberts was furious, and as a punishment, he ordered the Lance Corporal to bury the General. The two US divisions faced little serious opposition, partly due to German weakness, but also to the 1,000 shells per minute they lobbed onto German positions in the hour before the crossing. The Americans only took 30 casualties on the 24th, including the unfortunate men who died of hypothermia when their boat overturned and plunged them into the frigid Rhine. By the afternoon, the 30th Division was no longer facing organized resistance in its sector. The Rhine defenses had been breached first by the Americans at Remagen, but now the Allies were across in force. Engineers worked feverishly to throw across more and more bridges, and soon Allied tanks, trucks, and artillery began to roll across the Rhine to support the infantry and break through remaining German defenses. By the end of March 24, the Allied bridgehead was 40 km long and 10 km deep. Operation Plunder was going according to plan, and soon Allied armor, supplies, and infantry reinforcements were streaming across the river on freshly laid bridges. Just ahead of them, German troops already had their hands full, with the largest airborne drop of any day in the entire war. Operation Varsity began on March 24 at 10 am. A fleet of British and American aircraft roared over the Rhine, carrying 16,000 British, American, and Canadian troops, 1,700 transport planes, 1,348 gliders, and an escort of 900 fighters to make sure they reached their destination. What the fighters offered little protection from was flak. German anti-aircraft fire poured shells into the air, and the relatively slow-moving transports and gliders suffered very heavy losses in the air. To servicemen sitting in the slow-moving aircraft, like US serviceman Jack Areola, it seemed like they were completely defenseless. The anti-aircraft fire was so thick I believe we could have got out and walked on it. Bullets and flak were coming through the glider, and every time one hit the bottom of the glider and went out through the top, it sounded like the crack of a whip, only 10 times louder. Very demoralizing. German Lieutenant Otto Leitner was in command of a 20mm anti-aircraft battery below. With so many aircraft, it was difficult not to hit something. I ordered my men to keep firing in the hope that by filling the sky with metal, some of it would do some damage. Now before we move on to the action on the ground, if you want to learn more about the aerial component of Operation Varsity, you should check out the Military Aviation History channel where Chris explores the airborne aspects of the operation in much greater detail. We can't recommend his videos enough, and if you're even remotely interested in military aviation, definitely check out his channel. Anyway, back to Operation Varsity. The men of the 6th British and 17th US Airborne Divisions dropped or glided onto 10 landing zones to capture the high ground along the River Isle before linking up with the ground troops advancing from the Rhine. Many of the gliders crash-landed, causing further losses before the men could fire a shot in anger. One of them was 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Jeff Nicklin, whose body was later found hanging from a tree. A major stepped into his place, and the Canadians fought on not knowing Nicklin's fate. Some units, like the US 507th Parachute Regiment near Diersford Forest, dropped in the wrong place and had to first orient themselves before they were able to move on their objectives. The fighting around the village of Hammingen and the nearby Diersford Forest was intense, but once the Allied troops managed to get organized, they overwhelmed the outnumbered German defenders. They didn't have as many heavy weapons as regular ground troops, but the gliders did bring all sorts of heavier kit. Jeeps, trucks, bulldozers, universal carriers, mortars, anti-tank guns, and even the M22 Locust light tank. Hammingen soon fell to the British, but the Ox and Bucks regiment ran into trouble trying to hold a bridge over the River Isle. General Blazkowicz sent in the 116th Panzer Division from the reserve, but it was a division in name only. Still, the few tanks the Germans had caused trouble to the more lightly armed Brits. They had to abandon the bridge and blow it up to prevent further German progress. The Canadians also had a tough fight on their hands. Medical orderly Corporal Frederick Topham saw two other medics killed as they tried to treat a wounded man lying in the open. Topham ran out and began to treat the casualty when he himself was shot through the nose. In spite of severe bleeding and intense pain, he never faltered in his task. Having completed immediate first aid, he carried the wounded man steadily and slowly back through continuous fire to the shelter of a wood. During the next two hours, Corporal Topham worked to bring in wounded, showing complete disregard for the heavy and accurate enemy fire. On his way back to his company, he came across a carrier which had received a direct hit. Enemy mortar bombs were still dropping around, the carrier itself was burning fiercely, and its own mortar ammunition was exploding. Corporal Topham, however, immediately went out alone and rescued the three occupants of the carrier. Although one died almost immediately afterwards, he arranged for the evacuation of the other two, who undoubtedly owe their lives to him. Topham received the Victoria Cross, and he was not the only Allied soldier to win his country's highest decoration that day, as two US servicemen were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in Operation Varsity. In the days following the drop, the Allies pushed east. British and American troops linked up with the paratroopers on March 25, the same day that Winston Churchill insisted on crossing the Rhine himself, even though it was still within range of German guns, who dropped a few shells in the area. As Churchill's visit was recorded for newsreels around the world, a German artillery observer in nearby Emmerich made a brief note in his diary. From yesterday evening until this morning again, heavy barrage. In our area, artillery attacks. Also particularly heavy fighter-bomber activity and aerial observation. Untroubled by man's futile efforts, nature graced this Sunday with glorious spring sunshine. Operations Plunder and Varsity had achieved their objectives of securing a major Rhine crossing for the Allies, but they've been the subject of controversy. Critics have claimed that Varsity was too costly, and the same goals could have been met by the ground forces advancing from the river with fewer losses against the weakened Germans. The drop had taken place in daylight many of the American pilots had never towed gliders before, and the new C-46 transport planes lacked self-sealing fuel tanks, which resulted in them catching fire more easily when they were hit. Others, including General Eisenhower, defended Varsity, noting that the troops were successful, the drops more accurate than previous airborne operations, and German artillery and rear positions were taken out more quickly. In any case, by March 28, German resistance on the east bank of the river facing 21st Army Group was limited to isolated pockets, and Allied soldiers had liberated the notorious forced labor camp at Rees. Further south, the Americans had widened their other bridgeheads, and the remnants of the once-mighty Wehrmacht were on the run all along the western front. The Rhine had been crossed, Allied armor was racing to surround the Ruhr and strike into central Germany, although from now on the main Allied effort would be led by the American armies pushing into central Germany. Churchill remarked at dinner that, quote, the German is whipped. Fighting would go on for another painful and bloody month, but the final set-piece battle of WWII in the west was over. We hope you liked this overview of one of the most important battles of late WWII, which we thought deserved to be covered on our channel since it often gets overlooked. Actually, we made a five-episode, three-and-a-half-hour documentary series about the Rhineland campaign called Rhineland 45, including operations Veritable, Grenade, and Plunder Varsity in far more detail than what we can show you here on YouTube. We even visited the battlefields and interviewed a German veteran, plus we collaborated with experts like David Willey from the Tank Museum and Christopher Berks from Military Aviation History. We didn't pull any punches and showed the war in a way that's not possible on YouTube, so if you want to see Rhineland 45, you can watch it on Nebula. Nebula is a streaming service we built with other creators where we don't have to worry about hard-hitting content getting demonetized. So how do you get Nebula? This episode's sponsor, CuriosityStream, has a great bundle deal for you. Sign up at curiositystream.com and you get two streaming platforms for less than $15 for an entire year. You get Nebula where you can watch Rhineland 45 and content from us and other creators ad-free, and you get access to classic documentaries on the CuriosityStream platform too. That's curiositystream.com slash realtimehistory for a great bundle deal that includes Rhineland 45. I'm Jesse Alexander and this is Real Time History, the only YouTube history channel that will only surrender to a channel of equal rank.