On 7 March 1945, during Operation Lumberjack, to clear the area west of the Rhine of German troops, Combat Command B of the 9th Armored Division arrived at the town of Remagen. They were surprised to discover that the Ludendorff railroad bridge over the Rhine river was intact. A three-man detachment from 2nd Platoon, B Company—Lieutenant Hugh Mott, Staff Sergeant John Reynolds, and Sergeant Eugene Dorland—accompanied the first squad of A/27th AIB to reduce the remaining explosives after the German's unsuccessful attempt to destroy the bridge. Crossing with lead elements, Dorland destroyed the main demolition switch box on the far shore. The remainder of B Company, 9th Engineers followed with the rest of A/27th AIB, finding and neutralizing more explosives on the bridge. After the crossing was initially secured, Lt. Mott led B Company in the hasty bridge repairs that allowed the first nine Sherman tanks to gingerly creep across the bridge at 2200 and begin securing the bridgehead.