March 1945 - Duel at the Cathedral U.S. troops battle for Cologne & the Rhine

Cologne, Germany, the famous Cathedral city. Eight months after D-Day, the U.S. troops are now on the cusp of a long-awaited milestone: the reaching of the Rhine. Cologne is the largest city to be captured by the GIs on any front so far. Nazi propaganda has declared the city will be defended to the last cartridge. The impending battle has dominated the headlines of the world press for days. Some of the photos and film shots taken by the cameramen are still perceived in the USA as the most famous scenes of World War II, in particular pictures and footage of a final, dramatic tank duel at the base of the Cathedral. However, who the people in those scenes were remained unknown for more than 6 decades. It was Rheindorf who was able to identify the American crew members who had been attacked by a German Panther tank, as well as being able to prove the identity of the German crew. Also the fascinating, but sad story about the young civilian Katharina Esser in the crossfire of a German and an American tank is based on Rheindorf's research, like many other incidents, underpinned with significant documents.

With personal contributions by: Andy Rooney (correspondent „The Stars & Stripes"), Clarence Smoyer (3rd Armored Division), Francis Wilber (104th Infantry Division), James Bates (U.S. Signal Corps), Leon Rosenmann (U.S. Signal Corps), Clarence Voight Garrell (U.S. Signal Corps), Tom S. Noble (U.S. Signal Corps) , Allan Jackson (photographer), Larry Riordan (correspondent), Robert Ziller (RAF-cameraman), Engelbert Bockhoff (9.Panzerdivision), Wilhelm Barthelborth (Panzerbrigade 106), Gustav Schäfer (Panzerbrigade 106), Günther Müller (360. Inf.-Division), the families of Karl E. Kellner, Julian Patrick, Kathi Esser and many others.

For more than 20 years, the Cologne based journalist Hermann Rheindorf has been dealing with the film history of Cologne and the Rhineland. He has searched all over the world for film footage from the region and has published around 30 film documentaries. But the images of the end of World War II in Cologne wouldn't let him be. He decided to search systematically for archivals relating to Cologne at the end of the war: in the archives of the Western Allies as well as in the remaining files of the German army. He traveled the world to meet contemporary witnesses who were still alive. He published the first results in highly acclaimed film documentaries in 2005 and 2008, followed by the first English-language version in 2013 and the first edition of this book in 2014.