Storming Hitler's Rhine: The Allied Assault, February-March 1945

by William B. Breuer

Book Overview

Storming Hitler's Rhine: The Allied Assault : February-March 1945 This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031276250X
• ISBN13: 9780312762506
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Interesting Account of the Western Allies breaching the German frontier

This is a well-written account of the invasion of Germany proper by American and British troops (along with some Canadians and others) at the end of World War II. The book primarily covers the period in February and March 1945 when Allied troops reached, and then breached, the Rhine River, the traditional western boundary of Germany, and crossed it in several places. The first crossing (Mar. 7, 1945) occurred due to blind luck when the U.S. 1st Army came upon the Ludendorff Bridge (the now famous bridge at Remagen) and found it still standing. The second (Mar. 22-23) happened because of Ultra, the Allies' breaking of the Germans' Enigma code, enabling Patton's U.S. 3rd Army to known where German troops were and to thus attack at the weakest point. The third (Mar. 23-24) came about through Operation Plunder, which was Montgomery's combined land and airborne operation, comprised of overwhelming manpower, precise planning, and an abundance of materiel. (Two other major crossings occurred shortly thereafter, by the U.S. 7th Army (Mar. 26) and the French First Army (Apr. 1), but these are not covered in the book.) The story is told from the perspective of everyone involved on the side of the Allies, from leaders like Ike, Bradley, Simpson, and Patton, on down to the lowliest of privates. There is some perspective given from the German side as well but the emphasis is on the Allies' experiences. The author does a good job of weaving in the interplay of the politics involved in the crossings with stories about those actually involved in the fighting. A large number of interesting ground-level anecdotes about the crossings are included. Although large numbers of Germans seemed to surrender, not all were taken prisoner. One seargent candidly admits he told two German soldiers who tried to surrender that he was not taking any prisoners and had them shot. The author recounts numerous instances where the Allies overcame German resistance and forced groups of Germans to surrender. The surrendering Germans were often holding Allied soldiers as their own prisoners. The book suffers somewhat in that the author's writing style does not have the pizazz of Cornelius Ryan or John Toland, but it is still an interesting account. Notably, the author was involved in some of these operations and used his own wartime diary to help write this account. Several well-drawn maps are included as well as a brief photo section.

Storming Hitler's Rhine

I am a veteran of World War II, and I am currently writing a book about the life and times of my old outfit, the 740th Tank Battalion. I came across "Storming Hitler's Rhine" in my research and found it very enlightening and helpful to me personally, since the 740th was engaged in some of the action detailed so descriptively in Breuer's story. I would recommend the book highly to anyone interested in this era of our American history. My hat's off to William Breuer.