Crossing the Rhine

Maps[edit]

Rhineland Campaign - 11-21 March 1945
Crossing of the Rhine 22-28 March 1945

British crossing[edit]

Operation Plunder[edit]

The Commander of the 21st Army Group, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery (left), the Commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham (centre) and the Commander of the British 2nd Army, Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey, talking after a conference held in a small German village attended by all Senior Officers of the 21st Army Group and 2nd Tactical Air Force. At the conference Field Marshal Montgomery gave the order for the 2nd Army to begin the assault crossing of the Rhine
Buffaloes of 4th Royal Tank Regiment being transported forward in preparation for crossing the Rhine. 21 March 1945
Diamond T Model 980 tractor towing a trailer loaded with a Churchill tank during preparations for crossing the Rhine. 23 March 1945
British commandos of the 1st Commando Brigade man two Vickers machine guns in the shattered outskirts of Wesel. The 1st Commandos had formed the spearhead of the British assault by making a surprise crossing in assault craft on the night of 23 - 24 March under a barrage of 1500 guns
This German town, in the path of General Montgomery's armies crossing the Rhine, has been torn by the passing battle. Hardly a building stands undamaged. The picture was made by a B-24 Liberator of the U.S. 8th Air Force Second Air Division that flew in at 200 feet to drop supplies to the 1st Allied Airborne Army that landed east of the Rhine from 1500 transports and gliders. March 24, 1945
A lorry-mounted 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun of 15th (Scottish) Division crossing the Rhine near Xanten. 24 March 1945
Men of the 1st Cheshire Regiment crossing the Rhine in Buffaloes at Wesel. 24 March 1945
A Bedford QL truck leaves a raft after crossing the Rhine near Feldwick. 24 March 1945
Men of the 15th Scottish Division leave their assault craft after crossing the Rhine and double up the east bank to their assembly point near Xanten. 24 March 1945
Sherman DD tanks crossing the Rhine. 24 March 1945
General Dempsey crossing the Rhine in a small boat. 24/25 March 1945
Winston Churchill with American generals on a balcony watching Allied vehicles crossing the Rhine. 25 March 1945
British Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, looks over the Rhine from the ruins of the west end of the bridge at Wesel during a visit to the front. 25 March 1945
Churchill on the east bank of the Rhine, south of Wesel. 25 March 1945
Two young German soldiers, one injured, the other dead. As they advanced into Germany, the Allied soldiers were constantly surprised at the extreme youth of the enemy forces. 24 - 31 March 1945
Hundreds of German prisoners of war sitting together in a compound after their units had been overrun in the Allied advance. The large numbers of POWs falling into Allied hands during the final months of the campaign in North-West Europe formed a major administrative problem. 25 March 1945
An Achilles tank destroyer on the east bank of the Rhine moves up to link with airborne forces whose abandoned gliders can be seen in the background. 26 March 1945
Men of the 5th Dorsetshire Regiment crossing the Rhine in a Buffalo. 28 March 1945