The German troops defending the area in and around the city of Wesel were
bravely fighting to protect the fatherland, but their tenacity would not be enough.
By late March of 1945, the German army was exhausted, fighting a hopeless last stand
on both fronts. Still, the weary soldiers on the Western side had one cover left: the Rhine River.
If the Allies were to cross the last major obstacle leading to the heart of Germany,
the Third Reich would be over.
Thus, the German resistance kept fighting to the last man while the Allied armies made
their way across the Rhine, trying to gain another foothold on their way to Berlin.
But while the Germans engaged the enemy on their side of the river,
they suddenly realized something odd: there was movement on the downed bridge.
Without hesitation, they started shooting at the incoming enemy,
but little did they know that the group included British Prime Minister Winston Churchill…
Beginning Of The End
The Rhine River was the last major natural obstacle for the
Allied advance on their way to the German capital.
In late March of 1945, the invaders put together a massive operation that
involved about a million soldiers from three different countries.
The objective was to coordinate several crossings along the river.
To support Operation Plunder, the Allies gathered over 4,000 pieces of artillery on the West bank,
not to mention a quarter-million tons of supplies.
But an undertaking of such scale would not go unnoticed, and thus the Allies created
the largest smoke screen ever laid to obscure their plans from the Germans.
Moreover, the advance would be supported by Operation Varsity, the largest airborne
mission executed in a single day. In it, no less than 14,000 paratroopers landed behind
enemy lines east of the Rhine to knock out German artillery defending the water barrier.
The assault on the ground consisted of crossing the river south of Wesel and
advancing inland through a 5,000-yard stretch along a two-mile front. It was
crucial that as many troops crossed the river as quickly as possible so
that the enemy didn't have much time to recover from the initial artillery blow.
Indeed, the vast artillery support was conceived not only to neutralize
their defenses near the river but all possible routes used for reinforcements.
As the preparations continued and the downed bridges were
restored after being destroyed by the Germans,
the Allied troops would have to rely on pontoon rafts and Buffaloes for ferrying essentials.
By March 21, the Allies were finally ready, and the brigade moved from the Netherlands into
Germany. This included British Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself.
On The Frontlines
Winston Churchill joined the Royal Army as early as 1895 and fought in several
conflicts even before World War 1 broke out. As a young man, he was deployed to India and
Sudan and became a somewhat successful war correspondent in the Second Boer War.
During the Gallipoli Campaign, Churchill oversaw the operations as First Lord of the Admiralty,
but after the appalling defeat, he was demoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
He then joined the war effort in the trenches for six months as a battalion commander.
Churchill remained an officer in the Army Reserve during the interwar period,
and when he became Prime Minister, he would often showcase his collection of uniforms and
medals while on military visits, aware of the propaganda value of his presence at the front.
However, it is said that his staff often regarded Churchill as a reckless man,
putting the nation’s leadership at risk.
Churchill even demanded to be part of the first wave of British troops advancing in
the Normandy landings, an initiative that was promptly vetoed by King George VI.
Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower also had to appease the Prime Minister's avid wishes.
While Churchill's presence on the frontlines could have strategically helped, his biographers
also note that the Prime Minister had a romanticized idea of a war leader.
As such, when Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery left his headquarters near Venlo for the final
advance toward Berlin in the spring of 1945, Churchill did not hesitate to join him.
Clockwork
Large numbers of vehicles prepared to penetrate the enemy lines while
waiting behind the smoke screen in the Rhine.
The numerous troops were also briefed in detail about the crucial operation under brigade command.
On the afternoon of March 23, the brigade headquarters were established a mere 400
yards from the river bank. Soon after, a preliminary bombardment started.
After two and half hours, the Buffalo amphibious assault vehicles loaded with two whole battalions
began their approach from the assembly areas to the river, reaching it at 9:00pm sharp.
The headquarters learned that both battalions had landed successfully within six minutes,
and the next stage was put into motion.
Before midnight, the 7th Black Watch and the 7th Argylls had taken most of their objectives. Then
the 1st Black watch passed them through, and by the early morning, they had captured their first
objective. However, their left-forward company was still engaged in fierce fighting at KI Esserden.
The Germans then counterattacked on Speldrop before dawn. KI Esslerden was
captured, but all communications with the company in Speldrop were lost,
and the situation deteriorated significantly.
Still, it took the 7th Black Watch less than two hours to firmly establish their positions.
At the same time, the Duplex Drive tanks were having difficulties landing on the beach,
as the terrain proved unsuitable. By 8:00am, only six vehicles had been
able to get out of the river, and three were committed with 1st Black Watch.
The brigade headquarters were then moved to the far side of the river,
and the Brigade Commander ordered the 1st Black Watch to launch another attack on Speldrop.
At 10:30am, they met strenuous resistance and held on for several
hours, but without the help of more tanks, the Allies were pushed back.
In the retreat, confusion caused many elements to be cut off from the main formation and left
behind. However, when Speldrop was retaken that evening, the remaining survivors were
still fighting and even prevented any enemy reinforcements from passing.
In Wesel, the British 1st Commando Brigade finally entered the city,
while the US 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions landed to the south with minimal casualties.
The local resistance had been smothered by aerial bombardments and artillery,
and before the end of the day, the Allies had a bridge across the river.
It had taken the engineers of the 9th US Army merely nine hours to build.
First Row
On March 25, the British Prime Minister and the Field Marshal paid a visit to
General Eisenhower at his headquarters. The General then enticed Churchill,
telling him of a house across the river from Wesel where the main action was taking place.
The stronghold had been sandbagged by American troops and was an excellent observation point.
The three leaders then traveled 10 miles to the town of Büderich. From the balcony,
Churchill rejoiced in watching Royal Air Force aircraft pummeling German positions.
Still, he could not look closely at the battle even with his binoculars.
As Eisenhower left his visitors to look into other matters,
Churchill saw an American raft coming ashore just below the house. Without hesitating,
he told Montgomery to come with him to the other side and get a closer look at the ongoing fight.
They then crossed the Rhine on the craft, landing on the far bank. US 9th Army Commander General
William Simpson and Chief of the Imperial General Staff Sir Alan Brook also came along for the ride,
and Churchill then walked along the shore with a cigar between his lips.
For about half an hour, the party moved freely through enemy territory without any resistance.
Still, the group wanted to have a better view, but the fighting was still a mile away. They
then decided to get closer to the action, but the city was surrounded by mines and it
was highly dangerous to travel by water. Without more options, the party returned to the West bank.
As they came back, they decided to approach the fighting by land, which was much more manageable.
They then drove up to the railway bridge, which had been destroyed
by the Germans but still offered a first-row perspective of the battle.
Churchill and a handful of others then climbed the ruins to get a better look from the other side,
but as the Allied commanders clambered, the enemy noticed suspicious activity across the river.
Close Enough
From his vantage point, the Prime Minister could finally witness some of the action,
with heavy German artillery raining on his troops a mile away.
Still, Churchill appeared to have revealed his position, as the Germans quickly adjusted
their battery and pointed directly at the British Commander and his group.
The first few shells fell a hundred yards from their standpoint and sank in the river,
spraying up liters of water. Despite his staff's best advice, Churchill stubbornly
refused to get off the bridge, and he seemed to be enjoying the experience.
After continuous requests, the party stepped down just as a second salvo hit close to
their parking spot. Accompanied by a mere handful of American soldiers to protect them,
the leaders went back to the cars and rushed to safety.
Still, the British leader would not yield. Determined to cross the Rhine,
he managed to get British Second Army Group Commander Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey
to drive him to the town of Xanten west of Wesel the following day.
The British engineers had crafted a pontoon bridge over the river there.
The Prime Minister was finally able to cross the Rhine just in time to see the lines of
German prisoners awaiting their sentence. Operation Plunder had gone like clockwork,
and German resistance was absolutely smashed by the Allied artillery.
The episode was the closest the Prime Minister had ever been to getting hit during World War 2,
and he would eventually reminisce about it in his memoirs with glee.
Countdown
The war was not over yet, and there was more land to cover to get to Berlin.
The 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade then relieved the Black Watch and
engaged what was left of the German resistance north of Rees.
As for the defenders, their front was incomplete, and they had no reserves.
Their artillery was feeble, they had no air support and only a few
tanks in operation. Besides, their communications were weak.
They lacked so much strength that the Generals decided against using the troops to avoid needless
casualties. Against strict orders from the Supreme Command to hold the positions and fight,
General Günther Blumentritt decided to withdraw what was left of his forces.
In a single week, the invaders had taken 30,000 prisoners of war.
The Allies had a clear advantage in both numbers and equipment,
and they soon established a bridgehead, which was 35 miles wide and 20 miles deep.
Even Nazi politician Joseph Goebbels wrote about the circumstances in his diary:
(QUOTE) "The situation in the West has entered an extraordinarily critical,
ostensibly almost deadly, phase."
When Churchill returned to the western side of the Rhine, he didn't know it had been his
last incursion of World War 2. At last, the conflict was in its final stage – when the
Allied troops crossed the Rhine, the days of Hitler's reign of terror were numbered.
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