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to the Rhine Main Page | About March 17, 1945, Syl and I (Bob Pearl) were on a Recon where
we cover as much area as we could, in front of the troops at times
and off on side roads at times. We wanted to see the Rhine and so we
went into the town near where we later built the bridge. It was
quiet and the town didn't have any white flags in it. This was
probably four or five days before the assault crossing. We went
through the small town where we could see the water but there were
no troops around that we could see. When we came back out, there
were white flags in and out the windows but no people showed. The
next day or two, Capt. Christiansen, Syl, and some of
the Line companies went in to complete the necessary plans for
building the bridge. During the planning Capt. Christiansen suggested that in the bayou next to the River where they had decided to build the pontoon bridge, there was enough room to build the entire bridge. Then they could tow it out and have it done in a very few hours. This idea was considered but eliminated. However the building of the 12 ft sections in the bayou began nearly as soon as the assault crossing began and once the river was in control the sections were put together in ones twos and threes. The bridge 972 ft long was accepting crossings in ten hours. |