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Tank battle of cologne1/22/2024 However, by the time of the shootout, that bridge had been bombed into ruins as seen in this picture, and its use would have been removed by demolition before the Allies approached.Cologne goes back to the Roman days and straddles the Rhine, with roughly half on either side. Reaching the Rhine, though, was a lot different than crossing the Rhine.Īs can be seen, behind the cathedral is a railroad bridge, which ostensibly needed to be kept out of Allied hands because river lines typically formed German defensive perimeters. The British and the Americans then closed up upon the Rhine River. This had led to a delaying action by the Germans along the German border throughout January and February 1945, during which they were slowly pried out of the Rhineland with great difficulty. To understand what was really going on there, it is necessary to take a look at the strategic situation and Cologne Cathedral itself.Ī view from the east side of the river, showing the blown bridges.The Germans had been chased out of France and had expended their reserves in the Battle of the Bulge aka the Ardennes Offensive aka the Von Rundstedt Offensive. After advancing a mere eight miles, the German attack ground to a halt.Cologne 1945.The brief tank battle at Cologne Cathedral is perhaps the single most famous tank duel of all time. To make matters worse, the Germans were now coming under fire from ground-attack aircraft. He had survived arrest, torture and imprisonment during Stalin’s purge of army officers in 1937. Soviet Commander of the northern sector of the Kursk salient. He was mortally wounded in an attack by Ukrainian nationalists in February 1944. Soviet Commander of the southern sector of the Kursk salient. He committed suicide at the end of the war. Nicknamed the Führer’s Fireman, Hitler considered Model one of his best generals. He had been key in the defeat of France in 1940 and, earlier in 1943, had stabilised the front after German failure at Stalingrad.Ĭommander of the northern German pincer. Between them, these four men commanded around 2.8 million men, 8,000 tanks and 4,200 aircraft…Ĭommander of the southern German pincer.
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