March, 1945

• 1 Mar - Co. A, 53 engineers clear 90 Regal and Teller mines from the road and opens the way to Amern-St. George.
  
  
• 1 Mar - CCR is restricted to use of one road in trying to assist CCA near Lobberich. Request to pass through the 84th Inf. Div. area was denied by them.
  
  
• 2 Mar - CCA captures Lobberich. Moves through the 35th Inf. Div. and secures the town of Wachtendonk on the north bank of the Niers Canal.
  
  
• 2 Mar - CCB attempts to move to the left flank of CCA to aid in the attack but could not find suitable roads.
  
  
• 2 Mar - CCR captures Grefrath. Co. C of the 53rd Engineers worked through the night to bridge the Niers Canal which was holding up the advance on Moers.
  
  
• 3 Mar - CCB moves through CCA area and captures Alderkerk.
  
  
• 3 Mar - CCR captures Saint Hubert, Vinnbruck and Saelhuysen in the advance toward Moers.
  
  
• 3 Mar - The Division receives orders to cease forward movement. It was 'pinched out' by the 35th Inf. on the right and the 84th Inf. on the left.
  
  
• 4 Mar - CCB was detached and assigned to the 35th Inf. Div. so an attack could be mounted in the direction of Rheinberg and Wessel to prevent Germans from crossing the Rhine River.
  
  
• 4 Mar - CCA relieves CCB in the vicinity of Alderkerk so CCB can join up with the 35th Inf.
  
  
• 5 Mar - CCB attacks Lintfort and Rheinberg. Heavy fighting in and around Rheinberg resulted in 199 casualties and the loss of 41 tanks while the Germans suffer 350 men killed and 512 take prisoner.
  
  
• 6 Mar - CCB continues to attack northwest from Rheinberg to Ossenberg. The area (nicknamed '88 Lane') was under direct anti-tank and heavy artillery fire and each house had to be cleared by dismounted infantry.
  
  
• 7 Mar - The attack continues against heavy resistance throughout the day and a foothold is secured in the vicinity of Grunthal that evening.
  
  
• 7 Mar - The 9th Armored Division captures a bridge over the Rhine at Remagen. The 130th Panzer Division was pulled out of the Wesel area and moved south to counterattack.
  
  
• 8 Mar - The Solvay factory on the outskirts of Ossenberg is captured. Fighting continues throughout the day.
  
  
• 9 Mar - The town of Ossenberg is secured and the towns of Borth and Wallach were cleared. CCB is relieved at 2400 and ordered to the Venlo, Holland, rest area, the relief being completed on 10th and 11th of March.
  
  
• 11 Mar - The Division was assigned to cleanup operations in the rear areas of the Rhineland which had been bypassed during the movement to the Rhine River.
  
  
• 11-20 Mar - The Division became the first unit to uncover the existence of a secret 'Werewolf' organization when several cleverly camouflaged bunkers were discovered, each containing 12 to 15 fully equipped German soldiers.
  
  
• 11-20 Mar - The German 180th and 190th Volks Grenadier Divisions and the 116th Panzer Division succeeded in withdrawing across the Rhine from the Wesel area.
  
  
• 11-20 Mar - Cleanup patrols and river crossing training operations continued. Patrols had trouble sometimes moving through convoys of Navy LCVP's and LCM's moving up to the west bank of the Rhine in preparation for crossing.
  
  
• 22 Mar - Division Artillery units moved into firing positions in preparation for the assault on the east bank of the Rhine river.
  
  
• 23 Mar - All artillery units fire over 130,000 rounds preceding the initial crossing of the Rhine River to be made by the 30th Infantry Division.
  
  
• 24 Mar - The 18th Tank Bn was ferried across in support of the 30th prior to the Division's crossing. An 18th tank was the first across the Rhine in the 9th Army area and assisted in the capture of Spellem, the first town to fall east of the Rhine.
  
  
• 26 Mar - The Division is the first armored division to cross the Rhine in the 9th Army area, crossing at bridge sites 'G' and 'H'.
  
  
• 27 Mar - Orders are received to secure the road running from Hamm to Soest.
  
  
• 28 Mar - CCA attacks on the left flank and captures Im Loh and moves on to bypass Dorsten. Heavy house to house fighting slows the attack.
  
  
• 28 Mar - New orders are received late in the day to capture Dorsten so that the Lippe River could be bridged to allow armor to move northward.
  
  
• 28 Mar - CCR, located near Bruckhausen launches an attack on Zweckel and Kirchellen to the south. The 116th Panzer Division is defending both and the approaches have been heavily mined.
  
  
• 28 Mar - CCR captures Zweckel in the afternoon and launches an attack on Kirchellen which was secured by nightfall. An advance unit of the 80th Tank battalion that was surrounded in Kirchellen since early morning is releived.
  
  
• 29 Mar - CCA captures Dorsten early in the morning. CCB moves in to cleanup so CCA can join CCR in the advance to the east toward the town of Marl which was cleared by nightfall.
  
  
• 29 Mar - CCA swings southeast from Dorsten heading for Polsum. CCR attacks and captures the towns of Scholven and Feldhausen.
  
  
• 29 Mar - The German 180th Volks Grenadier Division and the 116th Panzer Division withdraw and set up new defensive lines running through the fortress town of Recklinghausen.
  
  
• 30 Mar - CCR crosses the Rapphotz-Muhlen Canal and captures Buer-Hassel. Co. C, 53 Armored Engineers builds a bridge across the canal in 44 minutes.
  
  
• 31 Mar - CCR captures Kol Berlich. Heading east, it passes through Westerholt and Langenbochum, approximately 2,500 yards from Recklinghausen.
  
  
• 31 Mar - The Division is relieved by units of the 75th Inf. Div., crosses the Lippe River, and assembles at Selm south of Dorsten.