March 24th..Flashes from night-firing Allied artillery brighten German night as guns fire in support of crossing the Rhine River by infantrymen of the 30th Infantry Division. Five miles north of Rheinberg, Germany. (US Signal)
RHINE CROSSING
30th Infantry Division
XVI Corps
Ninth Army
March 24th..Flashes from night-firing Allied artillery brighten German
night as guns fire in support of crossing the Rhine River by infantrymen of the
30th Infantry Division. Five miles north of Rheinberg, Germany. (US
Signal)
(Click to enlarge map)
119th Crossing-Yellow-0200, March 24th-2nd Battalion
117th Crossing-Red-0200, March 24th-1st Battalion
120th Crossing-Blue-0200, March 24th-2nd Battalion
Map of enlarged Wesel area crossing
Series of four aerial photos of the crossing site of the 119th Infantry
Regiment. Starting from the northern most point of the 119th's crossing
zone. The mark in the river of the first photo, I believe, is the northern
end of the 30th's crossing zone. Note the locks of the Lippe Canal in
upper left corner of first photo. My yellow markings of the 119th on first
map should extend further north.
Map Overlay of the 119th crossing and the 117th crossing.
Above: Aerial photos from the National Archives taken one
week before the crossing of the 117th's crossing zone.
Plus a hand drawn map of the same area. Author unknown.
Series of photos of the 120th's crossing site.
Map Overlay of the 120th crossing.
Map with the approximate locations of named objectives found in after action
reports.
National Archives Map with objectives marked. PDF file...Click & use zoom tool.
119th Rhine Crossing After Action Report...Click...PDF file.
117th Rhine Crossing After Action Reports...PDF file.
120th Rhine Crossing
After Action Reports...PDF file
plus 105th and 105th Eng. & Med. reports.
Photo from "Curlew" 117th 1st Battalion history
Map from 117th Official history book
Photo from 119th Official history book
Map from 120th Official history book
117th & 120th Crossing area color map
Archives photo and map with destroyed bridge marked by
RED star on map.
Two Photos of Rhine River but unsure of exact location. Great photos of
the Rhine River dikes.
First photo is from 117th history book...building bridge at
Wallach....second, finished bridge being used for XVI history book.
US Signal Corps Rhine River Crossing Photos
from
National Archives
March 25th...Smoke cloud is generated by 30th Infantry Division to cover
advance of troops across the Rhine.
March 22nd...Combat Engineers clear bomb damage from road in Alpon, Germany,
to permit passage of supply convoys to the Rhine River front. Alpon is
located a few miles west of the Rhine River crossing site of the 30th.
Also found on page 84 of 117th history book.
Today photo
of Alpon location above.
March 24th...Soldiers of the 119th IR file toward a loading point on the bank
of the Rhine River south of Wesel.
March 25th...Nazi prisoners captured by 30th Division check roadside for
anti-tank mines near Haulthausen.
March 25th...Men of the 120th, 3rd Bn, advance through the Staatsforst
about nine miles east of Spellen.
March 25th...120th, 3rd Bn are held up by German machine gun fire in the
Staatsforst.
March 25th...120th troops move toward Vorde, Germany. Note the Nazi
paratroop equipment bundle that hangs in the tree at left.
Correction to above photo from Gunter Gillot of the European Center of Military History:
"Bundle in tree is American not German"
March 25th...120th, 3rd Bn, are being held up by Nazi machine pistol as they
advance past Haulthausen.
March 25th...120th moves beyond Haulthausen. Also found on page 205 in
120th book.
March 26th...120th, 1st Bn troops move through the Wesel Forest in pursuit of
the fleeing 116th Panzer Division.
March 26th...Strange photo...infantrymen of the 1st Bn, 120th advance through
the Wesel Forest photographed through the barrel of a captured German rocket
gun.
March 26th....A M29 Weasel of the 30th Division driving near Bruckehauser
evacuates two wounded soldiers to a loading point on the Rhine.
March 27th...In central supply Lt. Helena Lawrence of McSherrystown, PA sorts
materials for autoclave sterilizer while Lt Jeanne Moore of 3412 Judson St,
Philadelphia, PA readied surgeon's instruments.
March 27th..After making the Rhine crossing a battery of 105mm howitzers of
the 30th Division move up to the front near Spellen, Germany.
March 27th...The pontoon bridge across the Rhine River just west of Spellen
used by the 30th Division.
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March 26th..One of the strangest celebrations of the war took place on March
25th, 1945 near Friedrichsfeld, Germany when Sgt. Robert B Hauser of 317 Oxford
Ave. Los Angeles (Right) and Sgt. William V. Figge of 6216 Maryland Dr., Los
Angeles observed their 26th birthday. They went to school together in Los
Angeles and did not see each other again until six years later when they entered
the service on the same day and by chance were both signed to the 168th Signal
Corp which is attached to the Ninth Army. They are with the 30th Division
here pictured along the Rhine.
MORE ON THE ABOVE PHOTO!!! June 2012:
Hi, my dad William V Figge, was a photographer in the 30th. You actually
show a photo of him. I'm wondering which photos he might have taken, or
I'd there are more of him. Thanks for you help!
Eric Figge
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From the 30th Div. News...written by William Kendricken