Stuka attack on remagen March 8th 1945

[CJLowery]

anyone got any further details on these Stuka attacks? which unit and pilot names?

thanks

At 1645 hours (March 8th) , the Luftwaffe finally arrived. Three Stuka dive bombers and one ME109 fighter made a low-level attack against the bridge.

Thirty minutes later, a string of eight Stukas began their passes, one by one, over the bridge. These isolated attacks would last for 45 minutes. The American antiaircraft artillerymen were amazed to see the old dive bombers. Many of them had been in combat for over nine months against the Germans, but none had seen a Stuka, except in pictures. The JU-87 was the perfect aircraft to attack the bridge at Remagen. It could approach the defenses at high altitude and dive on the bridge. This almost perpendicular dive bombing tactic, or the more shallow approach used to support the infantry, promised the hope of a hit on the bridge.

The eight Stukas approached from the south along the river at 3,000 feet. MacGrain's radars easily acquired them at that altitude, and his 90mm fired away. Despite the AAA fire, the bombers took no evasive action. Some jettisoned their bombs before reaching the bridge, and one bomb did fall on the western approach to the bridge. That would be as close as the Luftwaffe would come to the bridge.

[Brian Bines]

See the thread Victims of the Remagen Bridge by Daniel Kempf dated 27-11-18 on this Forum,

Regards
Brian Bines

[CJLowery]

thanks Brian
Colm