Frogmen Attack on the Elbe, 1945
As the Second World War came to a close, one of the two American bridges on the Elbe was attacked by German frogmen.
A view from an Army truck during the advance through Germany (Photo by Walter C. Kegel, 234th Engineer Combat Battalion)
As the Second World War was nearing its end in Western Europe, to US divisions had engaged in a race to the River Elbe, which represented the agreed upon demarcation line with the advancing Soviets. In the north, the 2nd Armored Division had pushed as far as Magdeburg, and had effected a crossing at Barby, although they were heavily opposed by the forces of the German 12th Army on the eastern bank. Farther south, the 83rd Infantry Division had managed to arrive on the river just behind the tankers, thanks to the use of a large number of captured enemy vehicles, giving rise to the nickname for their columns “the Rag Tag Circus”.
The 83rd had arrived on the Elbe on April 13th, and a bridge had been built across the river at Barby by the end of the day. A crossing had been made in assault boats, and the Germans had not been able to offer any resistance. The pontoon span was named the Truman Bridge, in honor of the new President who had just taken office the previous day. To the south, the 234th Engineer Combat Battalion had been moving up on the flank, erecting a bridge at Werkleitz and then doing the same on the Elbe, using an existing ferry crossing point at Breitenhagen. This bridge was named in honor of the recently deceased President Roosevelt, and elements of the battalion began to probe the opposite side in the direction of Zerbst and Coswig.
The Franklin Roosevelt Bridge on the Elbe (Image from ETOHistory.com)
As the Americans probed into the German territory on the eastern bank, and as the 2nd Armored continued to face resistance at Magdeburg, the preparations for an advance into Berlin, only 50 miles away, continued despite the orders of higher command to hold on the river, as most of the frontline officers expected an order to that effect to be imminent. The Germans, for their part, did not have the forces available to contain both bridgeheads, especially as the Eastern Front along the Seelow Heights began to collapse, necessitating General Walther Wenck to redeploy his 12th Army to respond to the rapid closing of the Western and Eastern Fronts. By Hitler’s birthday on April 20, 1945 the line had collapsed, and the Soviets were moving to encircle the capitol.
German 12th Army troops on the eastern bank of the Elbe
Lacking sufficient armor and infantry to launch a conventional attack, the Germans elected to resort to more inventive means of eliminating the American bridge at Breitenhagen. Three members of the German Merchant Marine (Reichshandelsflotte) were enlisted to serve as frogmen, planting charges underwater to destroy the span. This operation was set to commence on April 20, 1945.
On the evening of April 19th a German civilian was arrested loitering near the bridge, although it remains unknown if he was involved in the operation. At 0420 on the morning of April 20th a man from the 234th ECB witnessed a man climbing up the western bank of the river about 200 yards upstream from the Roosevelt Bridge. He was quickly captured, wearing a rubberized canvas suit and equipped with a breathing apparatus, as well as explosive charges equipped with a three hour fuse. He had been been in the river for three hours, but had been forced to leave due to severe cramps. A second man was captured hours later sleeping on a boat three quarters of a mile upriver. he had dispensed with his gear and refused to talk.
A captured German frogman under guard beside the Roosevelt Bridge at Breitenhagen (Image from ETOHistory.com)
At 0735 a large explosion occurred underwater 50 feet downriver of the bridge, sending spray over the swaying pontoons but not otherwise damaging it. Not long after the third frogman was captured by US infantry several miles downriver. In the early afternoon, at 1315, a lone FW190 fighter-bomber of the Luftwaffe attempted an attack on the bridge, but was shot down, crashing in a nearby field without damaging the span. Following these attacks the 234th increased security around the bridge, erecting concertina wire and increasing the troops strength to an entire platoon, with another in reserve nearby. Orders were also issued to bar access to the bridge by any civilians. A sign was posted to that effect.
Walter Kegel of the 234th Engineer Combat Battalion stands beside the Roosevelt Bridge after the incident
The war would soon be over. American and Soviet forces met at Torgau on April 25th, and elements of the 234th ECB met Russian patrols at Coswig on the morning of May 2. That same day General Helmuth Weidling surrendered Berlin to the Soviets, and the 12th Army, mainly concerned with holding an evacuation route from the doomed capitol, collapsed shortly thereafter. The final surrender of Germany would come days later on May 5, 1945.
Sources
ETO History, Bill Warnock https://www.etohistory.com/ - The information presented here is primarily due to the reports on this website. The two photographs accompanied scans of the original reports filed by the 234th Engineer Combat Battalion regarding the incident, as well as operations reports regarding the Battalion in the last week of April, 1945.
The author’s maternal grandfather, Walter C. Kegel, was a member of the 234th ECB, and the author is in possession of his original photographs from the period, two of which are depicted above.