Ninth U.S. Army troops push into Duisburg. Troops of the Ninth U.S.

Ninth U.S. Army troops push into Duisburg. Troops of the Ninth U.S. Army advance across a bridge on a rubble-strewn road as they enter Duisburg, Germany, the largest inland port in Europe and the center of the Ruhr's heavy industry center March 27, 1945, during a drive eastward from the Rhine River. Two of the Reich's principal east-west land routes go through the city, which is also a key point in a network of thousands of miles of waterways leading to the North Sea.