No, they did not use DD-Tanks. They used some LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel) to ferry tanks across - this was on the morning of 24 March, following the initial attack by the infantry that took place during the night.
The landing craft are LCM; longer and wider than LCVP. The same British photographer recorded parts of the tank battle in Cologne, most notably getting a picture of tank crews baling out of two M4s knocked out by a Panther tank stopped near the cathedral.
Able Company, 748th Tank Battalion. Baker Company, 191st Tank Battalion. Charlie Company, 736th Tank Battalion.
Hello Ometei, it would be great to read the full account... maybe you could post it here, too? Added later: I found the source - downloadable PDF... Elsewhere I found this: "DDs were used by US units in several river crossing operations in the ETO in 1945. In one example, C Company of the 736th was attached to the 743rd Tank Battalion. Due to his prior experience, William Duncan, now a Lt. Colonel and commanding officer of the 743rd, supervised the crossing of the Rhine by the DDs of C Company on March 24 1945. Based on the experience of the Staffordshire Yeomanry at the Scheldt, it became obvious that DDs required a suitable landing place on the far shore, and one was located near the town of Ork, and improved by engineers about an hour beforehand. The first DD crossed at 0345, and all 17 made it across safely by 0554. They then "marched to the sound of the guns" in support of the 30th Infantry Division, which had preceded them in the assault. It is to be noted that elements of Col. Duncan's 743rd crossed the Rhine near Wallach, ferried by two Bailey rafts, later that same day. Some of the DDs used by US units for the Rhine crossings were British conversions. The space between the roadwheels on the unit pictured above suggests that it was a Sherman V (M4A4) DD. Based on the road sign locations, this DD is thought have been with the 748th Tank Battalion. The battalion had 51 DDs, but only a small number were still "floatable," due to wear and tear. One sank immediately upon entering the water because of a torn screen, but 7 of their DDs managed to swim across the Rhine at Oppenheim on March 23." Source: Duplex drive Sherman tanks
Great pictures - is there any information on the locations? I have seen the last picture of the knocked out DD-tank before in the Rhine crossing context. Regarding the top picture - is this March 1945? The second picture indeed looks like Germany, east of the Rhine, March 1945. I am adding this to my initial post: The top pictre is placed near Braunshorn, 24th March with US Third Army`s Rhine crossing in the south. The knocked out DD-tank is placed near Frankenthal in a caption I found on Reddit - again much further upstream, between Mannheim and Worms, so again Third Army if th ecaption is correct.
Alberk, I don't have the original photo captions and cannot name the location for the Sherman from the 191st. The vintage unit history makes brief statements about the Rhine crossing, with B Company DD tanks in the vanguard: https://191sttankbattalion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/191-tank-bn.pdf My copy of the picture was cropped. This looks to be the uncropped version, with a description dating it to 26 March 1945. Maybe someone else would recognize the buildings. 191st Tank Battalion, WW II | KIA, 23 October 1944 | Facebook
Thank you EKB, according to the story told by the 191st, they crossed the Rhine in the south with US Third Army.
Some info on the totals of ALL Rhine crossings by DD tanks, taken from "The General Board - Armoured Special Equipment, p.18"
Re: the picture in post #170: the BH Website claims the location is on the east bank of the Rhine, at Durkheim. Is there more than one place with this name? 45 Div XV Corps Durkheim 26 March
Rhein-Durkheim and Bad-Durkheim are possibilities of the site/place in question. Maybe other "Durkheim" within Germany, but likely no others on The Rhine. Good luck with your searching. Kind regards, always, Jim.
Many years ago I read a book about a tank team that began with their landing on Normandy in a DD-Tank and ended with the same tank swimming the Rhine. Obviously not a source for that but it may have fed the legends at bit.
Source: Fold3.com Title Page 77 Title War Machine, Volume 10 Type Magazine Publisher Orbis Date Published 1984
