Crossing the Rhine, 1945

[Lysimachus]

If an opening hadn't been discovered at Remagen, would it have really screwed the Allies over and made an advance in to Germany impossible until later on?

[Danny_K_1]

Not totally famaliar with the Rhine crossing but wasn't it a case of Monty planning a big huge co-ordinated assualt and Patton just said it and went over with row boats?

[Visna]

Not totally famaliar with the Rhine crossing but wasn't it a case of Monty planning a big huge co-ordinated assualt and Patton just said it and went over with row boats?

Yeah, he was desperate to beat Montgomery, so against orders he sent some soldiers across, who then established a bridgehead, captured some 19,000 German soldiers, and built a bridge for Patton to use as a platform when he urinated in the river.
Ah, nothing like a bit of sportsmanship.

[Azog 150]

Yeah, my knowledge is pretty hazy about the final phase of the war.


But didn't Operation Plunder have a bridge set up by the second day? Also, Pattons advance was almost unopposed and I am not sure that would have changed regardless of Remagen.

Remagen was a lucky break for the Allies, but I am not sure that had it not happened, things would have been drastically different (Maybe heavier casualties in Operation Plunder)

[Sphere]

If an opening hadn't been discovered at Remagen, would it have really screwed the Allies over and made an advance in to Germany impossible until later on?

Berlin still falls to the Red Army, Germany still surrenders. The failure in fall of '44 of Operation Market Garden and Eisenhower's switch to a "Broad Front" approach meant that the Western Allies were not going to beat the Soviets to Berlin. Having a intact bridge across the Rhine certainly helped keep the offensive going at a reasonable rate, but by this point the German army was broken on both fronts and post-war borders had already been decided so it was not of too much importance were the final battle lines ended up.