MovieChat Forums > The Bridge at Remagen (1969) Discussion > Why not grab some of the men who were re...

Why not grab some of the men who were retreating?

posted 11 years ago by jgroub
7 replies | jump to latest

Okay, so he's promised 1600 men, and he's only got something over 200. He's a major; at some point he says to commandeer every man they can. There are supposedly hundreds of men retreating over the bridge; why not commandeer them immediately, or at least a helluva lot sooner?

75,000 soldiers - or any portion of them - would be crossing with not just the rifles slung across their backs, but lots of equipment too. They showed that there were armored cars and such crossing over that bridge. Since Kreuger wanted to fight it out, why not take those men and vehicles and fight it out?

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] graham-167 11 years ago

Remember his official orders were to blow up the bridge immediately. He just might get away with telling units who have orders to retreat deeper into Germany that he is reassigning them on his own authority if he could show them mission orders to defend the bridge from high up, but there's no way he'd be able to commandeer units to join him in what was effectively a mutiny. He'd get himself shot.

[–] jgroub 11 years ago

Yeah, but he eventually gives this order anyway. Why not grab them much sooner?

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] earthman34 11 years ago

Military command structures don't work that way. He was in command of the bridge detachment, not the 15th army, so while he could issue local orders to subordinates, he could not assume command of army units that were under another command, especially since those commanders would be much higher ranked. There is also the fact that the 15th army, or most of it, never made it across the bridge.

[–] earthman34 11 years ago

[–] jgroub 11 years ago

Oh, I get that. But how about pulling aside a Captain and saying, "Captain, we are going to lose this bridge and the rest of your army will be trapped and captured unless we have more men defending this bridge to keep it open to allow them to escape. I need your company to take up positions here, here, and here."

Yes, I am saying that he should appeal to a fellow officer to disobey the orders of his commanding officer. I understand it's outside the chain of command. But why not try that? Plenty of Captains must have been retreating. An appeal to reason and logic would have eventually worked on somebody, no? If they held a courtmartial over this, couldn't they say, "But sir, our actions kept the bridge open for 2 additional hours, allowing an additional 10,000 men to escape!"

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] stevekaczynski 9 years ago

They were probably too hide-bound by bureaucracy, often a curse in any army, not just the German.
Germans in retreat sometimes did cut through the red tape. Stephen Ambrose cites a German interviewee telling him that he had commanded troops who came to a German supply dump while retreating through France. His troops needed food and fuel but the supply officer would not give it without written authorisation. The interviewee said he and his men ended up taking what they needed at gunpoint.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

[–] jimprideaux2 9 years ago

"Captain, we are going to lose this bridge and the rest of your army will be trapped and captured unless we have more men defending this bridge to keep it open to allow them to escape.

The Captain would just reply: "I will not be stuck on the wrong side if I don't pay attention to you and move now."

Also Captains don't command armies. Doesn't sound like you've had military experience.

Armies work more efficiently when everyone obeys orders. Taking the initiative and going against orders works only when the risks and rewards are immediately evident.

The Captain in your scenario would have no way of knowing this. Also he and his troops may be necessary for a position further down the road.