March 24 to 26, 1945 - Churchill and Eisenhower Visiting the Frontlines
On March 23rd, 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived by plane at a former German military airfield in Herongen near Venlo. Planning to observe the impending major offensive across the Rhine, he spent the night at the Tactical HQ of the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, near Straelen.
of Hotel Wacht am Rhein in Büderich
The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, US General Dwight D. Eisenhower, also arrived on March 23rd in Herongen to visit the frontlines along the river Rhine. He spent the night at the headquarters of US XVI Corps in Kamp-Lintfort. On March 24th, Winston Churchill observed the Allied airborne operation from the Fürstenberg elevation near Xanten. US General Eisenhower watched the activities of his troops from the roof of the so-called "Jugendburg" near Alpen, a recreational facility which had previously been used by the "Hitler Youth”. On the morning of March 25th, Churchill and Montgomery arrived at the US headquarters in Kamp-Lintfort where General Eisenhower welcomed them for lunch in the park of the deserted manager’s villa of the local colliery. In the early afternoon, the three V.IP. visitors were driven to the Hotel Wacht am Rhein in the village of Büderich and observed the activities of American landing craft on the Rhine. After Eisenhower said his goodbyes, Churchill, Montgomery and their entourage, accompanied by a group of journalists, boarded a landing craft and crossed the Rhine. Near Spellen, Churchill took a short walk on the eastern bank of the river. On March 26th, Churchill and Field Marshal Montgomery took a tour of the British frontline along the Rhine. From Xanten, they crossed the newly completed British pontoon bridge. Near the village of Bislich, they caught a ride on the Rhine in a Buffalo amphibious personnel carrier, and finally had their photographs taken during a picnic on the banks of the Rhine in the Vahnum area. The numerous pictures and moving images documenting the three-day visit to the frontlines were of symbolic significance and had considerable propagandistic value: victory over Hitler's Germany was in sight – this was the message to be conveyed by the press and newsreels worldwide.