Wesel Railway Bridge

On 10 March 1945 the Rhine and Lippe bridges, among others, were blown up by the Wehrmacht in compliance with Hitler's scorched earth policy that became known as the Nero Decree.

Operation Plunder, tasked with establishing Rhine-crossings at Rees in the north, Xanten in the center, and Wesel in the south, started on 23 March, with four thousand Allied guns firing for four hours during the opening bombardment.

The Ninth and British 2nd were pushing east at a fast pace, so the engineering companies began working 12-hour shifts of 10 days on, 2 off, on the Rhine River Bridge project.

The bridge was a high-level type, approximately 23 metres (75 ft) above high water, and of steel construction to support heavy transport trains.

The following morning, 50 car supply trains began crossing the bridge, keeping to a 8 km/h (5.0 mph) speed limit and traveling one at a time to avoid unnecessary vibration.