LIBERATORS OVER THE RHINE shortly before they dropped supplies to the airborne troops which landed east of the Rhine. Immediately after the glider landings, a resupply mission was flown in very low by 250 Liberators of the Eighth U. S. Air Force. It met heavy flak and fourteen planes were shot down, but 85 percent of the supplies were accurately dropped.] [Illustration: GERMANY MEMBERS OF FIRST ALLIED AIRBORNE ARMY after landing near Wesel. On the ground the airborne forces met with varying resistance. Bridges over the Issel were seized and 3,500 prisoners were taken. This airborne operation was the most successful carried out to this time. The attack had achieved surprise and the airborne troops reorganized quickly after landing. Ninth Army troops held a bridgehead nine miles wide and three miles deep by the end of the day (24 March).] [Illustration] [Illustration: GERMANY A NINTH ARMY CONVOY on the highway leading to Muenster, Germany.] [Illustration: GERMANY SIGNALMEN ROLL A REEL ASHORE on the east bank of the Rhine after laying a submarine cable on the bottom of the river from a DUKW (top). Destroyed equipment left behind by the retreating enemy (bottom). On 25 March the First Army broke out of their Remagen bridgehead, the Third Army reached the Main River, and contact was made between the British Second Army and the Canadian First Army.] [Illustration] [Illustration: GERMANY WHITE FLAGS OF SURRENDER hang from buildings in a deserted street of a German town (top). As infantry troops march through a town, an old woman looks at a demolished building (bottom). During the advance into Germany many towns surrendered to the Allied troops and the buildings remained undamaged. However, in some towns enemy troops offered resistance and fighting and shelling ensued. In one week five Allied armies were on the east bank of the Rhine and twenty-four bridges had been constructed to replace those which were knocked out. During this period the Allied casualties were much lighter than had been expected. The last German line of defense had been shattered.] [Illustration] [Illustration: GERMANY TWO KNOCKED-OUT GERMAN SELF-PROPELLED GUNS (Pz. Jaeg. Tiger with 12.8-cm. PJK 44). This vehicle, called a Jaegdtiger, was the most formidable self-propelled antitank gun used by the Germans during the war. It consisted of a 12.8-cm. PJK 44 (L/55) (less muzzle brake) mounted on a Tiger B chassis. The gun could penetrate 6 to 8 inches of armor at 1,000 yards. Weight of the vehicle was 77 tons.] [Illustration: GERMANY MEDIUM TANKS M26 moving through Wesel on the way to the front.] [Illustration: GERMANY P-47 FORCED DOWN OVER GERMANY (top). B-24 which crash-landed in Germany (bottom).] [Illustration] [Illustration: GERMANY