Captain John McMahon of the U.S. Ninth Army (most likely the 102nd Infantry Division) carries a little girl across the destroyed combination railroad-vehicle bridge over the River Elbe at Tangermünde, Germany, May 1, 1945, six days before the German surrender. Other civilians can be seen at left, crossing with their meager possessions, using the twisted railroad tracks as a catwalk. The bridge had been blown by the Germans on April 12 to deny it to the advancing Red Army. Remnants of the German 12th Army were holding an ever-shrinking perimeter on the East bank of the river, and had begun retreating piecemeal across it to surrender to the Americans approaching from the West, which was preferable to surrendering to the Russians. The Ninth Army commander, General William Simpson, initially forbade civilians to cross, only accepting unarmed soldiers (but no SS). Once the civilians began panicking as the Red Army closed in, they began to cross anyway (including by swimming), and Simpson relented. (McMahon has a captured German Mauser C96 pistol tucked into his belt.) Photograph by Fred Ramage, Keystone News.
