Nearby, there was also wreckage from two boats, likely to have been parts of the American pontoon bridge over the Rhine. Kessler, who is digging deeply into the events of early March 1945, suspects that he has found the remains of a German plane that was shot down on March 8, 1945 near Unkel. Both airmen were recorded as missing after that date. Kessler used both historical materials and the internet to do his research.

Since one of the airmen was a private, and one a corporal, they were likely both very young. Kessler wants to make his findings available to the historical preservation authorities in Koblenz. He has also contacted the German Red Cross to provide information about the possible fate of the two soldiers.

He is certain that the bones are human remains, coated with melted aluminum from the burning plane. His past work as an archaeologist took him to lignite mines, where he was frequently confronted with human remains during excavations.

"There, we always had to deal with findings from tank battles that took place during the Second World War," he says. He is also certain about the Junker aircraft, which is recognizable by the type of ventilation for the engine. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to old automobiles and airplane models.

At the time, the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) deployed their single-engine dive bombers (Stukas) with a pilot and a radio operator, who was also responsible for precision bombing during tactical missions. The goal in this case was to destroy the bridge at Remagen, called the Ludendorff Bridge (to prevent American troops from crossing the Rhine). There had been an attempt to blow up the bridge on March 7, but it was not destroyed. American soldiers crossed the bridge shortly after that, even getting tanks over the bridge, and within a week, 25,000 soldiers.

Just downstream, American troops at that time worked day and night to build a pontoon bridge across the Rhine. Kessler believes that some of the wreckage he found is from this pontoon bridge. It only became visible because of the low water level of the river.

The archaeologist found an article in the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit" from December 26, 1957 with the headline „Noch hütet der Rhein sein Geheimnis“ ("The Rhine is still keeping its secret"). It told the story of two ships which had passed through that area of the Rhine in 1953 and 1955, and had encountered obstacles at low water. The French ship “Caillac” looked as if a huge knife has slashed it.

Remagen resident Albert Krahe reported being an eyewitness on the afternoon of March 8, 1945, seeing two aircraft crash into the Rhine, one a Ju 87 and the other a Ju 88. They were hit by American anti-aircraft fire coming from the Remagen side of the Rhine. Since a plane engine could have ripped open the belly of a ship, the French called for a search of the Rhine in that area but nothing was found.

On the internet, there are reports that stukas, fighter-bombers and jet fighters constantly attacked the bridge at Remagen from March 8 to 17. Of the 367 attack aircraft, 106 were shot down. On March 17, the bridge collapsed, killing 32 American soldiers. Only ten bodies were recovered.

American troops built a total of five pontoon bridges across the Rhine between Bad Hönningen and Unkel. They were dismantled at the end of 1945. Only the bridge piers at Remagen were preserved and today, one houses a peace museum open to the public. Information about the museum can be found online (in English): http://www.bruecke-remagen.de/index_en.htm

(Orig. text: Hansjürgen Melzer / Translation: ck)