First Across the Rhine: The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion in France, Belgium, and Germany

In what quickly came to be called the Battle of the Bulge, the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion found itself directly in the path of the German spearhead. With heart-stopping suspense, Colonel David Pergrin describes one of the European theater's critical delaying actions as his unit destroyed bridges, planted mines, and defended roadblocks in the face of oncoming tank columns. Here, in gritty detail, is the story of how ""those damned Engineers"" ruined Hitler's winter offensive, and how the 291st, with a reputation almost as big as its accomplishments, went on to build a 1100-foot pontoon bridge across the Rhine at Remagen in 32 hours-in the face of fierce opposition and near-impossible odds. Pergrin follows the battalion from its formation and training through the campaigns in France, Belgium, and Germany, making us witness the genuine heroics, skill, and spirit that lifted the 291st to the realm of legend.

Colonel David E. Pergrin was a civil engineering student at Penn State University. Upon his graduation in 1940 he received a reserve commission in the U.S. Army through Penn State's ROTC program. He was called to active duty in April 1941. Colonel Pergrin now resides in the Philadelphia area.

Eric Hammel is a military historian and author of thirty critically acclaimed books. He lives in northern California.