John Hartman/Cook @ Remagen Bridge

My dad, John Hartman, a cook at his time of separation, was supposidly in the last batch of troops to cross the Remagen Bridge before it fell. Just watched the movie about the last days of the bridge. Don't know much about the group dad was in, but have to suspect he was in the 9th armored division. We have a copy of his separation papers & it doesn't provide much. He served in Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium and Germany. He served from May 14, 1942 & his date of seperation was Sept. 22, 1945. Dad also first served for a couple years as a field lineman, stringing wire for field telephones. Just looking for anything I can learn.

 

There was a lot of activity at the Ludendorf Bridge once it was captured and the span was crossed by a fair amount of units, not all of these would have been the 9th Armored. Your father's campaigns seem to indicate that he may have been part of another division as the 9th Armored did not participate in the African or Italian campaigns.

I'll have to do some digging but I should be able to provide a decent list of units that did made it across the bridge before it's collapse. With any luck, we can narrow those down to ones that were active in Africa and/or Italy.

 

(edit - sorry wrong topic)

 

I'm not sure how comprehensive this is but my information indicates that in addition to the 9th Armored Division, there were 4 infantry divisions that crossed the Ludendorff Bridge. Most of these crossed in their entirety but not all.

The 78th Infantry Division was the first non-9th Armored Division to cross. Campaign history: Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe.

The 9th Infantry Division followed behind the 78th ID. Their campaign history: Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, North France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.

The 99th Infantry Division also crossed. Their campaign history: Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe.

The 1st Infantry Division was physically the last division to use the bridge before it's collapse. I'm not sure whether the whole division made it across the span or not. Their campaign history: Algeria-French Morocco, Sicily, Normandy, North France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.

Based on the info above and what you have stated, I would think that your father was in the 1st Infantry Division. They were in all of the campaigns you mentioned and were indeed the last folks to cross the Ludendorff Bridge. You might want to do some research on them and see if anything else sounds familiar. They have a rich history and there is a lot of info available but I would start with their wikipedia entry.

 

Thanks for the info!! I'll do some reading.