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The 244th Engineer Combat Battalion and 552nd
Heavy Pontoon Battalion kept lengthening the bridge, and it was
opened to traffic at 2000 hours, only thirteen hours after it was
started. T/5 Kaufman said, "We built that bridge in only thirteen
hours, which was quite an accomplishment. It was the longest
reinforced floating pontoon bridge built during the war, around 1180
feet long. I think the engineering guidebooks said it was a 36-hour
job. It was a Type 40 reinforced, which meant it was a two-way
bridge. We named it the Harry S Truman Bridge. Lt. Col. Thomas
Bowen, our battalion commanding officer, received a Bronze Star, and
other officers received the medals that officers usually did. The
battalion received a letter of commendation from Ridgeway, who
turned out to be the officer that I saw go out onto the bridge".
(10) The U.S. 121st Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division
also took part in the main assault across the Elbe River. T/5 Nick
Mangiaracina, an assistant squad leader, remembered crossing the
bridge because, "It was my 21st birthday. I had been a combat
infantryman since November, 1944, and had seen a lot of action since
then. I had just returned to my unit on April 14, after having been
wounded in February. I was now able to buy a drink, something I had
not legally been able to do". (11) On May 1st, the U.S. 121st
Infantry Regiment, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, and 505th
Parachute Infantry regiment all conducted the main assault, east
into Germany. By the end of the day, the three units were nine miles
into Germany, and were handling thousands of surrendering Germans.
When the 740th Tank Battalion crossed the river, the tankers were
surprised to see infantryman ahead of them.
Click for Large Photo
Sign commemorating
Pres. Harry S. Truman bridge (author’s collection)
The tankers were used to
infantry moving up behind them. Later, the tankers were even more
amazed to see the paratroopers riding bicycles, spearheading the
tanks, and eventually, the paratroopers were seen mounted on horses,
still ahead of the tanks, rounding up prisoners. By May 2nd, word of
Hitler's death had been announced, and wholesale German surrender
was the result. In the next few days, the U.S. 8th Infantry Division
captured over 244,000 prisoners. Also on May 2, the surrender of the
entire German 21st Army Group, consisting of more than 150,000 men,
to Major General James M. Gavin became effective. T/5 Kaufman said,
"I didn't do any translating, so I recall we didn't handle any POWs,
and I didn't treat any German wounded – not that I would have. We
crossed the bridge either the next day or two days later, and we
made it about 12-15 kilometers east until we were told to return to
the Elbe River. You see, we weren't supposed to cross the Elbe. No
one told us that before we built the bridge. We saw thousands of
Germans, surrendering as units, to whatever U.S. troops they saw".
(12) None of the former U.S. Army soldiers interviewed for this
article had heard that they were not supposed to cross the Elbe
River, or that they could do so within a corridor of 5 miles. In the
far north, the U.S. 8th Infantry Division, along with the British
5th and 11th Armored Divisions, raced across Schwerin to Wismar,
with little opposition. The 8th stopped its charge at Schwerin,
liberating a concentration camp and an Allied P.O.W. camp. The
British armored divisions linked up with the British 6th Airborne
Division and captured Wismar two hours ahead of the Russians, thus
cutting the Russians off from Denmark. The Russians managed to
capture Berlin on May 2, 1945, at a cost of over 300,000 casualties.
On May 6, the 9th Army bridgeheads were turned over to the Russians.
On May 7, Admiral Carl Doenitz, acting Commander-In-Chief of all
German military forces, announced all hostilities were to stop at
midnight that day. Two months later, the Russians turned over half
of Berlin to the U.S. and England. The bridge over the Elbe, an
engineering feat in its time, was a unique Allied contribution to
the effort in the European Theater of Operations. Ridgeway's
decisiveness in making the early start in crossing the Elbe had the
additional effect of insuring Montgomery's efforts were sped along,
resulting in Eisenhower's Denmark goal being met. Allied casualties
were less than expected, and the element of surprise along with the
weather conditions, as well as superior numbers of Allied equipment,
all worked in the Allies' favor.
T-5 Emanuel A.
Kaufman with his personal captured vehicle. Note U.S. marking on
hood. (author’s collection)
FOOTNOTES
1. Conquer: The Story of the 9th Army, Infantry Journal Press,
Washington, D.C. 1947, page 318
2. Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945-The Decision
to Stop at the Elbe, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, 1967 Page
84
3. Beck, Alfred et al, Corps of Engineers: The War Against
Germany, Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington,
D.C., 1985, page 540
4. Interview with author
5. Correspondence with author
6. ibid.
7. Interview with author
8. ibid.
9. ibid.
10. ibid.
11. Correspondence with author
12. Interview with author
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945-The Decision to
Stop at the Elbe, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, 1967
Beck, Alfred et al, Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany,
Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.,
1985
Conquer: Story of the 9th Army, Infantry Journal Press,
Washington, D.C. 1947
Hagerty, Edward D., Sergeant. Old Company B, 244th Engineer
Combat Battalion, U.S. Army publication, ca. 1946
Langdon, Allen "Ready" The History of the 505th Parachute
Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, World War II
MacDonald, Charles B. "The Last Offensive." In United States Army
in World War II Series. Washington, D.C. Center of Military History,
1973
Pogue, Forrest C. "Command Decisions" In United States Army in
World War II Series. Washington, D.C. Center of Military History,
1973 Chapter 22
Rubel, George K., Colonel. Daredevil Tankers: The Story of the
740th Tank Battalion United States Army. Gottingen, Germany,
September, 1945
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