Reich's onetime second largest steel works.

Reich's onetime second largest steel works. The great Thyssen steel works at Hamborn, reputed to be the second largest of Germany's war plants next to Krupps, is a jumble of twisted girders, sagging walls, torn-up rail tracks and debris as a result of Allied bombing. When Ninth U.S. Army troops captured Hamborn, adjacent to Duisburg, March 23, 1945, the mammoth steel works fell to the American soldiers without a single casualty. Only a small force of Volkssturmers (home guard) defended the factory, which was surrendered after a 20-minute battle.