peration Eclipse was an audacious plan for a parachute assault by more than two airborne divisions in an effort to capture Berlin ahead of the Russians. The plan called for the 82nd to seize the airfields at Tempelhof and Rangdor while the 101st would capture two others. The plan was the brainchild of Lewis Brereton's First Allied Army Airborne staff. Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montogomery were avid supporters of the plan while General Eisenhower didn't see it's "military" significance. Irregardless, the 82nd conducted dress rehearsals. peration Eclipse was an audacious plan for a parachute assault by more than two airborne divisions in an effort to capture Berlin ahead of the Russians. The plan called for the 82nd to seize the airfields at Tempelhof and Rangdor while the 101st would capture two others. The plan was the brainchild of Lewis Brereton's First Allied Army Airborne staff. Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montogomery were avid supporters of the plan while General Eisenhower didn't see it's "military" significance. Irregardless, the 82nd conducted dress rehearsals.



Meanwhile, an totally unexpected event occurred on March 7th. In a stunning move the 9th Armored Division seized the railroad bridge over the Rhine at Remagen. Then on March 22nd General George Patton in a similar audacious action propelled the 5th Infantry Division over the Rhine near Mainz. Consequently, Operation Eclipse was scrubbed.



On March 30, 1945, the 82nd already regrouped in Sissone, France in preparation for the cancelled operation, received orders to to move to the area of Bonn, Germany and the Rhine River.



Colonel Tucker and an advance detail of the 504th PIR left Laon, France and traveled by jeep 270 miles to Cologne (Koln), Germany. Three days later the Regiment arrived, mostly in "40 and 8s," and immediately took up positions along the West Bank of the Rhine River. 504th patrols crossed nightly in small boats, engaging in brisk fire-fights almost every patrol. The enemy made a few attempts to cross to the Regiments side of the river, but all efforts were turned back.



On 6 April, A Company of the 504th PIR crossed the Rhine at 0230 hours and immediately made contact with the enemy. Under heavy fire and in a minefield, the first wave of 504th troopers was split into two elements, each of which fought its way independently to the predesignated objective. There they rejoined forces, knocked out several machine gun nests, and established a roadblock. Using similar tactics, succeeding waves infiltrated the enemy and set up a defense in the village of Hitsdorf. For a short time, all was calm.



Then came the enemy counterattacks. The first was broken less than fifty yards from the perimeter, and the second was preceded by heavy artillery preparation. As enemy tanks and infantry closed in, the outnumbered and outgunned A Company fought its way back to the beach. The Regiment sent I Company across to support the withdrawal. The 504th had lost only nine men to the enemys 150, but whether the two companies achieved the higher aim of diverting enemy forces from a more important sector upstream is unknown. For the men involved, it was a small-scale "Dunkirk" with a hollow satisfaction achieved.



A week later the 505th received the surrender of the towns of Lulsdorf, Langel, Zundorf and Niederkassel. The 82nd remained in the Cologne area until the end of April. A week later the 505th received the surrender of the towns of Lulsdorf, Langel, Zundorf and Niederkassel. The 82nd remained in the Cologne area until the end of April.



On April 30th the 505th crossed the Elbe River at Bleckede in an assault using the same type of craft that reminded many of the Waal crossing 7 month previous. The 504th followed them on the next day and the 325th on May 2nd. That same day General Gavin received the surrender of the German 21st Army commanded by General Von Tippelskirch at Ludwigslust, Germany.



The war officially ended in Europe on 5 May 1945. The 504th returned briefly to Nancy, France until the 82nd Airborne Division, the British Eleventh Armored Division and the Russian 5th Cossack Division were called upon to serve as the occupation forces in Berlin. Here the 82nd Airborne Division earned the name, " Americas Guard of Honor ," as a fitting end to hostilities in which the 82nd had chased the German Army some 14,000 miles across the European Theater.





