Crossing the Rhine
The Rhine River was the final line that Hitler drew. He ordered his armies to defend it to the death.
The Germans destroyed the bridges across the Rhine BUT Americans found the bridge at Ramagen was still being used to evacuate German troops.
 
The Americans captured the bridge and were able to cross in force until the bridge finally collapsed. Once beyond the Rhine, the allies surrounded and captured a quarter of a million German troops. Now it was a race to Berlin.
The Question of Berlin
Every commander on the Western front wanted to be the first to take Berlin. The Soviets were determined that they should take it first.
The German Luftwaffe was practically non-existent so the allies raced across central Germany.
The only problem was that Berlin and the surrounding areas were included in the Soviet Zone of occupation. Eisenhower made the decision that his armies should halt where they were on the Elbe River-the last natural defense line and the separation between the Allies and the Soviets. This was not a popular decision with his subordinates but Ike did not want to waste American, British, and French lives to take territory that would be turned over to the Soviets anyway.
Hitler’s Death
FDR died unexpectedly on April 12, 1945. This was a shock to the American troops but not a deterrent to their fighting morale; they had seen enough of their friends die up to this point.
In the final weeks of April, U.S. and Soviet troops met along the Elbe. These were cordial meetings but not altogether friendly in the upper ranks.
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