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There's an Airport Express shuttle which runs regularly to and from the main Aachen bus station. In the face of contemptible, despicable treason committed by certain individuals, I expect each and every defender of the venerable Imperial City of Aachen to do his duty to the end, in fulfillment of our Oath to the Flag. Surrounding the castle was a moat covered by thick woods.
Therefore, this article is devoted to nanoparticle collection issue and improvements which have been performed to increase collection efficiency. To the end of his life, Eisenhower believed that Market Garden was a risk that the Allies had to take even though it was a disastrous failure.
Gözde Alkan - In the event that any serious resistance was encountered, a self-propelled 155mm howitzer was added to the mix. Lignite coke was the selected reductant and CaO was used for fluxing achieving low operating temperatures 1500 — 1550 °C and good slag-metal separation.
To enter Germany, the U. Two army groups, the 21st, commanded by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, metal aachen the 12th, under the command ofhad galloped across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Holland at an unexpected pace, overcoming whatever sporadic opposition the retreating German forces could throw in their paths. The many plots to assassinate the madman responsible for the death of millions. The door to the heart of Germany seemed to be wide open and beckoning. Only the ancient city of Aachen, near the junction of Germany, Holland, and Belgium, created a concern for the advancing armies. The chief concern was with the city of Aachen itself, along with its many suburbs. Attacking armies traditionally hate urban warfare; the advantages are all to the defenders, with almost none for the attackers. Buildings provide unlimited opportunities for cover and concealment, requiring the attackers to treat each building as a bunker that must be knocked out before they proceed to the metal aachen one. Streets become natural channels that a handful of defenders can turn into killing zones. Armored vehicles are virtually blind and thus vulnerable to close-quarter attacks. Fields of fire are restricted, as is the ability to maneuver, and the team on offense is usually reduced to attacking with small, decentralized units. Plus, civilians are inevitably caught in the cross fire. The city was not the only obstacle. Aachen lay within bands of fortifications that looked to be even more formidable than those encountered along the coast of Normandy. The fortifications were known to the Germans as the West Wall and to the Metal aachen as the Siegfried Line. By August 1944, the 12th Army Group was the largest body of American soldiers ever to serve under one field commander. It consisted of four field armies, over 39 infantry and airborne divisions, and 15 armored divisions. One of the four field armies was the U. The white-haired, 57-year-old Hodges had, as a youth, attended a year at West Point, dropped out, enlisted in the Army in 1906 as a private, and worked his way up through the ranks. At the time of World War I, he was a lieutenant colonel serving with the 5th Division. During a November 1918 battle along the Meuse River, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism and leadership under fire. Not a flamboyant character in the Patton mold, Hodges was a solid, steady, dependable officer. None of the commanders of the American units charged with taking Aachen thought the job would be cheap or easy. Nor did the average soldier. It was very unnerving and mystifying that they let us get as close to the city as we did. We were aware of the importance of this ancient city to the Germans and would have given good odds that they would never give it up. We talked about this among the ranks. I felt that there was a good chance that they would possibly drive us back with a big counterattack. We were a finger sticking out in front of the U. Hitler did not take this restriction lying down. In 1934, he ordered the construction of a string of forts east of the exclusion zone in order to gauge French reaction. When there was no reaction, in March 1936 he ordered his troops to violate the Versailles Treaty by reoccupying the Rhineland. Although France and Britain complained to the League of Nations, nothing was done, and Hitler had his first victory. Special attention was paid to protecting Aachen and Saarbrücken. The Führer wanted everything completed by October 1938, as he was planning to invade Czechoslovakia, and he assumed France would declare war on Germany if he did so. Under the direction of its founder, Dr. Beginning with the autobahn system in 1933, O. In October 1944, a German Schutzenpanzer half-track moves toward the fighting on the Western Front in company with a light tank. After being given the contract for the West Wall on May 28, 1938, O. In July, construction began with 35,000 civilians starting work; by October some 342,000 men were employed, supported by 50,000 engineers from the Wehrmacht and nearly 200,000 additional men from the Reich Labor Service and Fortification Engineer Staff. All along the construction zones, 100 trains a day brought thousands of tons of concrete, rebar, tools, heavy equipment, and wooden panels for concrete molds. The West Wall project, however, was too big for even O. Although not completely finished, it was not needed—at least not immediately. By then the fortifications were as finished as they would ever be. Only a small number at the time, however, were either armed or manned. With the Aim of Berlin During the four months from June 6 through September 1944, the Germans were reeling and retreating. They had lost at least 400,000 troops in the west, half of whom had been taken prisoner. Losses on the Eastern Front were equally bad or even worse. Every effort by Hitler to stem the tide of eventual defeat had failed. The city of Aachen and its environs were protected by two lines of West Wall fortifications —one to the west, the Scharnhorst Line, and another, even thicker one, behind it to the east known as the Würselen Line. Even Winston Churchill saw the West Wall as being an economy-of-force ploy to free up large numbers of soldiers that could be used in more offensive operations. That situation would change in the fall of 1944. Therefore, the Allied forces continued to advance on a broad front to seize the Ruhr, the major industrial area along the Rhine, and then toward the German capital. Aachen would then be surrounded, isolated, and ripe for reduction while the rest of First Army proceeded eastward. Not only did the operation fail to take its objectives, but it also caused thousands of unnecessary casualties and the loss of momentum while it used up considerable supplies that might have been better employed against the Germans at Aachen. The delay gave the defenders time to beef up their defenses. While some American units were preparing to assault Aachen, others were beginning another operation just to the south—the battle of the Hürtgen Forest. But it was Aachen that now captured the attention of Eisenhower, Bradley, and all the rest. Building Up the Aachen Gap The responsibility for defending Aachen, located 40 miles southwest of Cologne, fell to Maj. The 116th was still far below strength, possessing only 1,600 men, three tanks, a few assault guns, and two Luftwaffe fortress battalions. When von Schwerin arrived, he found about 7,000 panic-stricken civilians still there, afraid to leave. Because there was no way to transport the civilians out of town, the general told them to stay put and then wrote a letter to the Americans offering to surrender Aachen to them. German tanks and panzergrenadiers assemble in the town square of Aachen prior to mounting a counterattack against advancing American troops. A Volkssturm panzergrenadier is seen sprinting past a Sturmschutze assault gun with a Panzerfaust antitank weapon in hand. Unfortunately, the letter fell into German hands before it could be delivered. Taking his place was Colonel Gerhard Wilck, commander of the 246th Volksgrenadier Division. Hitler, meanwhile, was rapidly transferring as many units as he could spare from the Eastern Front to buttress the Aachen Gap, and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt was recalled from retirement to stiffen the crumbling defenses in the West. Surprisingly, as they approached the thick lines of bunkers and obstacles to the west and south of Aachen, the probing forces initially faced little resistance. Although the antitank barriers presented some difficulties for armor, many of the guns in the fortifications had been removed years earlier to guard the coast of France, and the troops manning the defensive positions were too thinly spread to offer much resistance. Harley Reynolds recalled metal aachen his unit was the spearhead entering Germany. While going into Stolberg, a few miles east of Aachen, we were fired on from our flanks. To me it was a big chance, but we got away with it. The steel door opened and out came nine very badly shaken German soldiers. The Offensive Grinds Down Not all Germans would give up that easily. Any thought that taking Aachen would be a cakewalk was quickly dispelled. None of the attacks succeeded in dislodging any of the American units, but the ferocity of the attacks told the Yanks one thing: now that the war was on German soil, the Germans would defend their homeland with everything they had. The 3rd Armored Division, authorized to have 232 medium tanks, reported on September 18 that only 75 were fit for combat. There were additional supply problems and, to add the final straw, the fine fall weather deteriorated. Then, just when it seemed that the 12th Army Group, poised on the threshold of Germany, was about to plunge en masse into the country via the Aachen Gap, the growing shortage of artillery shells and fuel reached crisis proportions, forcing General Bradley on September 22 to shut down offensive operations. On September 24, Staff Sergeant Joseph E. Schaefer of Company I, 18th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, was part of a platoon defending a crossroads south of Aachen when it was attacked by a superior enemy force. German fire became so intense that Schaefer ordered his men to take up positions in a nearby house. He then went out looking for the enemy, captured 10 of them, and even metal aachen the squad that had earlier been taken prisoner. For his courageous deeds, he was awarded the first of seven Medals of Honor that would be earned by American soldiers during the siege of Aachen. Most metal aachen, he and his squad prevented the enemy from taking the crossroads. Resuming the Attack At last sufficient supplies of ammo and fuel began to reach American forces at the metal aachen, and the drive to capture Aachen and push eastward was ordered to resume. General Hodges went ahead with his decision to assault the city with a pincer movement. Ernest Harmon, would strike from the north. It was a solid plan but, like many military plans throughout the ages, it would go awry once the first shot was fired. The artillery kept it up for four days, evoking memories of the massive barrages of the First World War and nearly exhausting the precious stocks of ammunition. An intense aerial bombardment was also scheduled to take place prior to H-hour but was scaled back at the last minute because of heavy overcast—much to the relief of the old-timers in the 30th; they still recalled the heavy casualties suffered during the breakout metal aachen Normandy when American aircraft accidentally bombed 30th Division positions. The artillery and mortar fire provided a rolling barrage for the foot soldiers as they trudged forward carrying duckboards, makeshift bridges, to throw across the Wurm River, which divides part of Germany from Holland between Rimburg and Herzogenrath. In less than an hour, one company of the 1st Battalion, 117th Infantry, lost 87 men, seven of them killed. By the end of the day, the 30th Division had made small but significant penetrations into the German defensive line. Pillbox by Pillbox With the 29th Division conducting a diversionary attack northwest of Geilenkirchen, the 30th Division managed to breach the West Wall fortifications in the area between Rimburg and Übach-Palenberg. Tragically, one group of medium bombers, owing to poor navigation and inadequate target identification, even flew off course and accidentally bombed a Belgian town 28 miles west of Aachen, killing 34 metal aachen. Meanwhile, the ground battle wore on. While crossing an open field devoid of cover, the soldiers of Company B, 117th Infantry, 30th Division, were forced to shelter behind the torn carcasses of cows that had been killed by the barrages. When Company B finally reached the enemy pillboxes, they put them out of action with flamethrowers. In the close quarters of metal aachen rubble-strewn street in Aachen, American soldiers fire a 57mm antitank weapon against a distant German target. Urban warfare became a new concept for Allied armies, and they adapted during the advance into Germany. During the especially tough battle for Palenberg, a hand grenade duel between opposing forces took place. Kiner, a 20-year-old rifleman with Company F, 117th Regiment, was trying to dislodge enemy troops from their position when a German potato-masher grenade landed between him and two other soldiers. Without hesitation, he threw himself on the grenade, smothering the blast and saving his comrades at the cost of his own life. Surrounding the castle was a moat covered by thick woods. A bridgehead over the Wurm between Rimburg and the castle became the scene of intense fighting. The Germans tried to mount a series of counter- attacks during the night to stop the inrush of American troops and tanks, but their efforts were thrown back with heavy losses. The enemy was not about to abandon the area without putting up a fight, however, metal aachen fought back with artillery. American tanks had no easier going than the infantry. The heavy rains had turned the banks of the Wurm into deep bogs. One tank after another got stuck in the soft, wet earth and could not move. Engineers brought up bridging material and began constructing a treadway bridge under enemy fire. And so it went all day, with small, determined bands of attackers taking out pillboxes one by metal aachen. The only problem was that there were several hundred of these concrete fortifications all the way to Aachen and beyond. At the end of the first day of fighting, the leading battalion of the 117th Infantry had lost 146 men, including 12 killed; another battalion had 58 wounded and 12 dead. Aachen was still 10 miles away. But the Germans were dug in strongly at Übach and put up a stubborn resistance. The bridgehead over the Wurm was still not secured, however, and the American commanders risked having a disaster on their hands. Luck was with the tankers, and soon they were traveling south toward Übach. Heavy German shelling kept the tanks pinned down outside the town, while infantrymen who had penetrated into Übach took cover from the flying metal in shattered buildings. Advancing further was out of the question. The German corps commander, meanwhile, was rushing reinforcements into the area, seeking to destroy the column of American armor that was strung out from the bridgehead several miles back. Well before dawn on October 4, the German counterattack, as disorganized as it was, struck the American tanks and half-tracks. Only a timely artillery barrage prevented the destruction of the armored relief force. A few hours later, the Germans attacked again, this time hitting the 119th Infantry Regiment. One battalion of the German 49th Division, supported by two assault-gun brigades, caused great consternation in the American ranks, even forcing one company to retreat in fear and confusion. Short rounds from their own artillery, however, broke up the German attack. By the time they were ready to attack again, the 119th had regained its composure and was waiting. Three Key Hills Now it was time for the American armored troops of Task Force 2 to resume the offensive. By late afternoon on October 4, it took the high metal aachen near Hoverhof. Two days later, the American advance was halted once more after the Germans brought up infantry and heavy guns to block the way. The battle north of Aachen was in metal aachen of becoming a stalemate. Fortunately, we were in an abandoned German pillbox and no direct hits occurred. The German observation posts on Crucifix Hill and Verlautenheide Ridge, and a third hill, called the Ravelsberg, would need to be taken out. Holding these features were the 246th Division plus an understrength battalion of the 275th Division, a battalion of Luftwaffe ground troops, a machine-gun fortress battalion, and a Landesschützen battalion. The 18th Infantry Regiment was given the daunting assignment. An hour-long saturation bombardment by 11 battalions of artillery and a company of 4. It was a different story at Crucifix Hill. Brown personally thrust a satchel charge into the firing aperture of a particularly troublesome pillbox and knocked it out. He then crawled to another fortification and destroyed it, too. Another pillbox had his men pinned down, and he crawled through intense fire to silence it. Soon Crucifix Hill was in American hands. For his courageous actions Brown was awarded the Medal of Honor. In the darkness of the following night, American infiltrators slipped into German positions atop the nearby Ravelsberg and won the summit without firing a shot. Unaware that the Yanks were in control of the peaks, German supply teams were captured while bringing hot food for their comrades—hot food that was quickly consumed by the grateful Americans. On October 5, 1944, wounded German prisoners are marched westward through the now quiet streets metal aachen Aachen. The German counterattacks began almost as soon as the enemy learned that the Americans were now in control of the three hills. The German 12th Division launched a series of infantry attacks accompanied by artillery that plastered American positions. On October 10, the advance elements of two more German divisions arrived and began hammering away at the 18th Infantry, trying without success to dislodge the troops from metal aachen positions. A two-day bombardment of the city then commenced. On October 9, the 1st Battalion, 120th Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, was ordered to take metal aachen in an afternoon attack on the fortified village of Birk, three miles north of Aachen. Pulver, commander of Company B, 120th Infantry Regiment, was in his usual place—the thick of the fighting. His unit, along with Company A and six tanks, attacked abreast across 400 yards of open ground. The attacking force had hardly gone halfway when the field was raked by artillery, rifle, and machine-gun fire. The six tanks were knocked out within minutes of leaving the line of departure. Ordered to pull back, A and B Companies were then directed to resume the attack at dusk by hitting Birk on the flank through the village of Bardenberg. We immediately ran smack into a metal aachen by the enemy, directed at Bardenburgh. After a savage firefight with German tanks and infantry, we were ordered to back off and resume our former positions. We were saved from extinction by the darkness. It had been a poorly planned and executed attack, and many brave soldiers never returned to their former positions. Although metal aachen worn out from their earlier ordeal, A and B Companies were again ordered into the attack, this time through a thick, early morning fog. About 50 prisoners were taken; the rest of the defenders escaped to the south. But the position was tenuous at best, and soon the company was subjected to attacks by every German unit coming to break the siege of Aachen. In recognition of their bravery, the metal aachen Battalion later received a Presidential Unit Citation. Metal aachen October 12, a battalion of tanks from the 2nd Armored Division and the 116th Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division were attached to the 30th. In Bardenberg on October 12, the fourth Medal of Honor of the battle was earned posthumously by Staff Sergeant Jack Pendleton. A member of Company Metal aachen, 120th Infantry, 30th Metal aachen, Pendleton and his men had advanced approximately two-thirds of the way through Bardenberg when they came under fire from a nest of enemy machine guns. The elimination of this protecting machine gun was imperative in order that the stronger position it protected could be neutralized. Pendleton volunteered to lead his squad in an attempt to neutralize this strongpoint. Pendleton started his squad slowly forward, crawling about 10 yards in front of his men in the advance toward the enemy gun. Pendleton was seriously wounded in the leg by a burst from the gun he was assaulting. Disregarding his grievous wound, he ordered his men to remain where they were, and with a supply of hand grenades, he slowly and painfully worked his way forward alone. With no hope of surviving the veritable hail of machine-gun fire which he deliberately drew onto himself, he succeeded in advancing to within 10 yards of the enemy position when he was instantly killed by a burst from the enemy gun. The defenders were barely touched. With German soldiers fighting on German soil, German opposition continued to be stiff and studded with fierce counterattacks. After metal aachen days of nonstop fighting, the 30th had captured or destroyed 200 bunkers and pillboxes, but the possibility of overcoming the ever-increasing opposition any time soon seemed remote at best. Seitz, to penetrate into the heart of the city. Elite German metal aachen, or fallschirmjager, were among the defenders of Aachen. Here, three of these soldiers are seen scrambling through the rubble of a destroyed building in the city as they move to new defensive positions. The plan was to have the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 26th, reinforced with tanks, tank destroyers, artillery units, flamethrowers, bazookas, and additional machine guns, circle around to the east and southeast of Aachen and enter from that direction. In the event that any serious resistance was encountered, a self-propelled 155mm howitzer was added to the mix. The Germans answered with mortars, machine guns, and 88mm artillery fire. The going was, in a word, tough. Lieutenant Karl Wolf recalled that the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, took heavy casualties during the drive. We repulsed counterattack after counterattack by the Germans for this prize. The ammo shortage really hit us. If the Germans could have sustained their counterattacks, they could have run us out of ammo. This was one of the few times the Germans used their air force to try and dislodge us. They were able to dive-bomb us every night for the whole time we were there. But we took the main valves and cut off the water supply and held this objective until Aachen surrendered. The 155mm howitzer was especially effective. When the infantry discovered that trying to advance down the streets was too unhealthy, the big gun was brought up, aimed at a block of buildings, and then fired. The projectiles tore perfect holes through multiple walls, allowing the foot soldiers to advance from one building to the next without ever stepping outside and exposing themselves to the bullets flying down the streets. From his vantage point on a hill in Stolberg, Sergeant Harley Reynolds watched the battle for the city evolve. At one point, a combat engineer unit filled an Aachen streetcar with explosives, lit a time fuse, then sent it careening down the tracks into the city. Burt, commanding a tank company in the 2nd Armored Division, earned for himself the Medal of Honor during the battle for Würselen. Although he was wounded early that morning and escaped from two Shermans that had been destroyed by German fire, he forgot about his injuries and personally reconned enemy territory, directed artillery fire from exposed positions, and rescued several wounded men. Near the base of the hill stood a sizable hotel and spa, the Quellenhof. As their perimeter continued to shrink, Wilck and his staff took up residence in the hotel and made it their command post. The battle for the heart of Aachen turned into a real slugfest. As members of the 26th Infantry moved slowly and cautiously through the city, they were sometimes surprised by German defenders popping up from manholes behind them. A few grenades into the sewers and the piling of debris on top of the manhole covers took care of that problem. Well-hidden antitank guns continued to take their toll on American Shermans, and every street corner turned into a shooting gallery and the tanks into sitting ducks. On October 14, the 30th Infantry Division pushed off before dawn in an attempt to close the gap between the 30th and the 1st Infantry Division, but again little progress was made against determined opposition. The sticking point seemed to be concentrated around Würselen. Metal aachen Aachen on Metal aachen 14, 1944, open-turreted American M-10 tank destroyers fire on German observation posts in preparation for an assault and to prevent the ranging of German artillery. Frank Moody, a platoon sergeant with Company F, 120th Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, was leading his platoon across a beet field near Würselen when an artillery barrage tore into them; he told his men to run and take cover in a sunken railroad cut. On the other side of the tracks was a German King Tiger tank along with two smaller tanks. A machine gun raked the area from a nearby water tower. Moody crawled atop a knocked-out panzer and called for his 30 men to join him. Luckily, they managed to get back to the company command post. Then my men stopped me. We went on to capture 15 more prisoners. The shell, which is steel, is burst into a lot of pieces by the explosion inside of it. For a short distance the pieces travel very fast. Happily, the three that hit me did not strike anything vital. The casualty lists mounted on both sides, but still the Germans gave no sign of wanting to surrender. These were thrown into a counterattack in an effort to break the American ring that was forming around the Hotel Quellenhof. Wilck and his staff managed to slip out of the hotel, however, and set up a new command post in a huge air raid shelter, leaving behind a well-armed contingent in the Quellenhof ready to fight to the last bullet. Meanwhile, elements of the 120th and the attached 116th Regiment from the 29th Division continued to assault Würselen. The 117th and 120th would stage diversionary attacks near Alsdorf. Before dawn on October 16, the new operation was set into motion. By noon Kohlscheid was in American hands, but fighting farther to the east did not go as well. Pinned down by intense fire from a series of pillboxes, the 2nd Battalion, 119th Infantry, could make no headway until a sergeant named Holycross and a handful of Shermans led a platoon against the emplacements and systematically knocked out seven of them and captured 50 prisoners. Heavy German fire, along with a heavy rain, prevented the tanks from going any farther. It seemed that once again the American drive would bog down and tally nothing but metal aachen casualties. However, the diversionary attack around Alsdorf by the 117th and 120th Regiments and the pressure exerted by the 116th at Würselen began to pay dividends. Shifting their attention from the 2nd Battalion, 119th Infantry to the new threat, the Germans enabled the 2nd Battalion to make progress and take its objective, Hill 194, but not before it lost a number of men in the process. Horner Wins a Medal of Honor October 16 saw an intensification of the fighting as the Germans continued to pour reinforcements into the battle. Another Medal of Honor was earned that same day at Würselen by Staff Sergeant Freeman V. Horner, Company K, 119th Regiment, 30th Division. Machine-gun fire from houses on the edge of the town pinned the attackers in flat, open terrain 100 yards from their objective. As they lay exposed in the field, enemy artillery observers directed fire upon them, causing heavy casualties. Realizing that the machine guns had to be eliminated metal aachen allow the company to advance out of the killing zone, Horner stood up with his Thompson submachine gun and charged toward the machine-gun nest. Just as he reached a position of seeming safety, he was fired on by another machine gun that had metal aachen silent until that time. He coolly wheeled in his fully exposed position while bullets whizzed past him, and he killed two German gunners with a single, devastating burst. He turned to face the fire of two other machine guns and, dodging bullets as he ran, rushed the enemy positions 50 yards away. The Germans abandoned their weapons and took cover in the cellar of the house they occupied. Horner burst into the building, dropped two grenades into the cellar, and yelled for the Germans to surrender. After the blasts, four stunned men came out with their hands up. The city was now completely encircled and the Aachen Gap was at last closed. But the fighting was not yet over—not by a long shot. On October 18, on a hill near the town of Haaren, between Aachen and Verlautenheide, Sergeant Max Thompson was with Company K, 18th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, when it came under an hour-long enemy artillery barrage. When the shelling stopped, and while helping to move some of his wounded men to the rear, Thompson saw emerging from the woods a battalion of German troops and a number of tanks heading straight for him. That night, Thompson and his squad were given the mission of retaking the hill, including the pillboxes that were now back in German hands. Under cover of darkness, Thompson, at the head of his squad, crawled forward and fired rifle grenades through the embrasure of a pillbox. The Germans fought back and wounded the sergeant, but he kept up until his one-man assault inspired his men and sent the enemy fleeing. For his courage, Max Thompson was awarded the Medal of Honor. Also on October 18, it came time for the Americans inside the city, Lt. Ratchford led his platoon, charging into the lobby of the opulent hotel, then proceeding to clear it out floor by floor, room by room. By now the American encirclement metal aachen Aachen had become impenetrable, and the Germans gave up their efforts to metal aachen the siege. In the face of contemptible, despicable treason committed by certain individuals, I expect each and every defender of the venerable Imperial City of Aachen to do his duty to the end, in fulfillment of our Oath to the Flag. I expect courage and determination to hold out. Long live the Führer and our beloved Fatherland. While the shells only chipped large chunks of concrete from the exterior, the tremendous noise reverberated inside. The first major German city to fall into Allied hands was at last secured. The High Cost of Aachen The casualty toll on both sides for the battle of Aachen and its suburbs was heavy. The 30th Division had lost some 3,000 men killed and wounded since its assault on the Siegfried Line began on October 2, but the division had captured 6,000 of the enemy. In turn, the Big Red One had taken 5,637 prisoners. Figures for Germans, both military and civilian, who died in the fighting are unknown. Approximately 6,000 of the 7,000 civilians who remained in the city had been removed by U. Army Military Government units during the fighting and placed in protective custody in the suburb of Brand. German officers, surrounded by their American captors, appear despondent after the fall of Aachen. metal aachen Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall had once expressed his desire to General Eisenhower that the U. Army Band should play a concert in the first major German city captured by the Americans. If the Germans heard the music, there would be a refrain of artillery, and not only members of the band, but General Hodges might be killed. Consequently, he disapproved the idea. The Battle of Aachen was at last over. The first chill of winter was in the air. Yet, the bloody battle of the nearby Hürtgen Forest was already heating up; the Germans would fight as tenaciously for the Hürtgen as they had for Aachen. Through the grace of God, they did not have to find out.
AMERICAN 1st ARMY
The attack was disrupted by artillery fire and well-placed antitank defenses. In turn, the Big Red One had taken 5,637 prisoners. An M12 was a self-propelled gun that consisted of a French World War I-era 155mm field gun mounted atop an M4 tank chassis. About 50 prisoners were taken; the rest of the defenders escaped to the south. American tanks and artillery began firing on the hotel at short range. Therefore, the Allied forces continued to advance on a broad front to seize the Ruhr, the major industrial area along the Rhine, and then toward the German capital.
