America's Stalingrad: Battle of Aachen | Animated History

[Music] the shadows have just begun to lengthen in the streets of aachen and an american rifle team creeps cautiously along an ancient street backs to imposing gothic architecture though scarred by artillery fire the giant stone monuments still retain the grandeur of a former capital city behind the team an m4 sherman slowly crawls into the open and the street behind the tank erupts in flame one gi snaps toward the source of the misdirected rocket and instead of a fanatic ss grenadier his eyes meet the terrified gaze of a trembling old man a motley crew of elders and boys fire down at the americans with a hodgepodge of antique firearms the gi's view is obscured by smoke and debris as the sherman's main gun fires into the ground floor of the closest building bringing it crashing down with a roar of falling masonry the gis come to a grim realization even in their chaotic desperation the germans intend to make them pay for every inch of achen in blood [Music] hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian as chill autumn winds began blowing across the battlefields of europe over 230 000 allied soldiers crept toward the ancient city of achen strategically achen was of minimal significance a stop along one of the four main roads leading to germany's industrial heartland hardly a natural fortress this city sat in a depression surrounded by hills and most of its defenses were provided by two parallel belts of the west wall yet in addition to being the very first ethnically german city besieged by the allies achen had once been the capital city of adolf hitler's beloved first reich known by more rational historians as the holy roman empire naturally any threat to this symbolic city called for a fanatical response and hitler was ready to commit all available forces to its defense during the second world war the information war was fought just as fiercely for territory and resources agencies on both sides sought to crack codes sabotage operations and spread misinformation at every opportunity but thanks to the sponsor of today's video nordvpn internet users can be protected from security threats malware and phishing attempts using military-grade encryption technology that the allied and axis powers could only dream of nordvpn allows you to change your virtual location with the click of a button to bypass region locking and content restrictions letting you view documentaries and historical material anywhere at any time nord has also just launched its new app feature threat protection for no additional cost threat protection offers an additional layer of security for your web browsing by blocking malicious files websites malware and trackers even when you're not connected to a vpn server support our channel and get an exclusive discount plus free anti-malware by signing up to nordvpn today using the link in the description or by visiting nordvpn.com history vpn unfortunately for adolf hitler the nazi governors of achen had taken one look at the onrushing allied armies and promptly abandoned the civilian population to its fate infuriated by this display of cowardice hitler had the officials arrested by the ss and shipped off to the eastern front by the time general gerhart von schwarin dragged the shattered remnants of his 116th panzer division through the city he found it full of thousands of terrified civilians and a ragtag collection of volksderm militia knowing a lost cause when he saw one von schwerin paused just long enough to leave a letter at the post office designating achen as an open city for the incoming allied forces the deeply unlucky general then ran head first into orders coming the other direction telling him to turn his division around and return to the city for a last stand naturally he had been gone just long enough for a sharp-eyed shustoffel to have found the letter and he was promptly relieved of command defense of the sector now fell on the shoulders of lieutenant general friedrich j cockling's 81st corps consisting mainly of two volks grenadier and two infantry divisions while the germans scrambled to put together a viable strategy the three army corps of the american first army under general courtney h hodges crept closer and closer despite the apparently tenuous nature of the german defenses nobody was under any illusions about the meat grinder that lay ahead sergeant harley reynolds of the bloody first division described the mood thusly i can remember the talk and comments about the city of akhen that no way would the germans give up this city without a fight to the last german standing we talked about this among the ranks i felt there was a good chance that they would possibly drive us back with a big counter-attack we were a finger sticking out in front of the us line a very dangerous position surprisingly enough the initial skirmishes that took place as the first army moved to breach the west wall around achen in early september proceeded with minimal casualties while three infantry regiments pushed through the forest to the west side of the city two armored regiments began a flanking attack towards the town of stolberg at first the attackers were daunted by the sheer scale of the defensive works they encountered hundreds of pill boxes and dozens of bunkers with overlapping fields of fire overlooking extensive minefields and concrete anti-tank obstacles yet resistance was light as the eastern front was still occupying the majority of german manpower leaving only a scattering of exhausted veterans and walking wounded to man a network of defenses originally intended to be garrisoned by entire armies unfortunately general courtney's swift progress was ground to an abrupt halt by factors beyond his control granting the germans the critical break they needed to get their act together the allied supply situation had been shaky at best since the enormity landings and it would not improve for the boys near achen as september rolled in the planners of operation market garden which occurred at about the same time seemingly did their best to waste as much fuel ammunition and manpower as possible in their abortive attempt to breach german lines in the netherlands having been bumped far down the priority list the men of the first army trudged onwards trying to make best use of the good weather whilst their supplies dwindled on the 22nd of september the same day operation market garden ended the 16th infantry regiment was on the verge of capturing the town of islanddorf just south of achen when they abruptly came under massive artillery fire as the smoke cleared the german 12th infantry division arrived to politely inform the allies that the good times were over and the real fight had just begun though few in number the professional soldiers of the 12th had been supplemented by a swarm of volksderm militia and traumatized americans later recalled the sight of women and children fighting with pistols knives and even panzerfaust anti-tank weapons one commander reported that the germans had simply gone mad and are bent on destroying themselves the americans were able to hold their positions during the savage engagement but were prevented from advancing just long enough for heavy cloud cover to descend over the region eliminating the possibility of close air support now experiencing major shortages of fuel heavy munitions and spare parts for armored vehicles the frustrated men of the first army were forced to halt all offensive operations until the first week of october during this critical period lieutenant general cockling's 81st corps was heavily reinforced the exact number of german soldiers committed to the battle is impossible to determine but by the 2nd of october around 24 000 raw recruits traumatized veterans ss fanatics and terrified volksterm stood ready to give their lives to defend the capital of the actual thousand-year reich together they huddled in their bunkers and pillboxes as the allies saturated the region with artillery fire and bombing raids between september 27th and october 2nd after which the ground offensive resumed having now partially enveloped achen the first army sought to break through german lines in the north to encircle the old capital completely sadly for the americans the west wall absorbed the bombardment with barely a scratch forcing the infantry to begin the incredible laborious process of dislodging the defenders one fortification at a time in the town of uba palenburg gis engaged in brutal urban warfare with the german defenders which often devolved into both sides flinging grenades at each other until entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble with most of the bridges in the region having been destroyed american armored forces were constantly delayed by river crossings and were unable to provide support for the infantry by the end of just the first day of fighting the leading american 117th infantry battalion had lost 146 men another battalion had 58 wounded and 12 dead over 50 pillboxes had been destroyed or captured but hundreds still lay between the first army and victory in the sector over the next few days the vicious urban warfare intensified and gis quickly learned to approach enemy pillboxes only if flamethrowers or demolition charges were available defenders were roasted in their concrete shells or blasted into ruin by tanks and self-propelled guns but rarely chose to surrender all the wild german reinforcements raced into the sector including the elite first ss panzer division by the 7th of october the allies had successfully secured the area around ubach palembeg and pushed southwards as far as alsdorf but had yet to enter achen itself which was now home to about 000 enemy troops instead fighting was concentrated around the suburbs with the 26th infantry division led by lieutenant colonel daryl m daniel slowly clawing a foothold out of the ratha erda district once this area was secured plans were made for the regiment to push north into the heart of the city [Music] in an effort to avert a bloodbath lieutenant general clarence r heubner of the first infantry division sent an ultimatum to the commander of german forces in achen colonel gerhart vilk on october 10th in his letter hubner demanded the city surrender or be bombed to oblivion but achen was now fully in the grip of the ss who were quite ready to execute any soldier who showed even a hint of cowardice beyond this fear of capital punishment the soldiers defending the aachen section of the west wall knew that they were now fighting to protect the very heartland of germany as a result the offer was rejected and colonel vilk assumed full responsibility for the defense after establishing his headquarters in the north side of the city the 11th of october saw a shift in ally tactics with their supply situation stabilizing mass artillery bombardment commenced on achen and the surrounding german-held townships tired of the bloody street fighting the americans were ready to simply level every building that could feasibly hold enemy combatants this forced the germans onto the offensive but their efforts to reclaim the high ground surrounding achen all ended in failure by this point the picturesque city had been subjected to an on and off bombardment for weeks as well as numerous air raids but the gothic architecture had proven surprisingly resilient with the majority of the first infantry division holding off german counter-attacks two battalions of the 26th infantry regiment began to move through the industrial district between rafaela and the suburb of hagen their objectives were three hills dominating aachen's northern quarter which contained the bulk of the 246th volks grenadiers and colonel villex headquarters by the 12th the 2nd and 3rd battalions had managed to clear out the industrial district and were ready to enter the narrow twisted maze of streets that made up the inner city knowing that massing his troops would lead to a slaughter colonel daniel split up his men into assault platoons assigning a single m4 sherman or self-propelled gun to each unit upon seeing the massive stone structures at the heart of the city daniels issued simple instructions knock them all down despite letting their artillery rain fire over ten thousand shells prior to the main assault the first american soldiers to set foot in achen were still breeded with a hail of machine gun fire forcing them to scramble for cover in the imposing stone buildings that lined the narrow streets here they were ambushed by wild-eyed volkster who sprung from hidden basements and cellars to engage the gis in hand-to-hand combat the tanks fared little better being at the mercy of hidden anti-tank guns and lone german soldiers armed with panzerfausts or sticky grenades once again the attackers were forced to go room by room checking for germans waiting to ambush them the instant their backs were turned as they crawled closer to their objectives 2nd battalion was confronted by increasingly tough fortifications including hardened air raid shelters improvising colonel john t corley ordered an m12 155 millimeter gun mortar carriage to lumber through the streets the exposed crew no doubt ducking at every shadow as they wheeled into position to blast holes in enemy strongholds at point-blank range delighted with the results of the attack corley rewarded the m12's crew by informing them they would be staying with his men as they advanced deeper into the city the rest of the day was spent advancing towards observatory hill so named for the observation tower built upon its nearly 900-foot tall crescent by the end of the 13th 3rd battalion had managed to reach the base of one of these three hills they had been assigned to capture prompting colonel vilk to request reinforcements from the german divisions still counter-attacking to the east thanks to the dense urban terrain several hundred troops and at least a half dozen assault guns slipped through the tenuous allied line the next day they were just in time to engage colonel corley's men as they attacked vilk's headquarters at farwick park where an intense battle raged until the early evening but as corley prepared to renew his advance he was countermanded by colonel huebner the forces outside achen had launched another attack tying up all available reserves for over 24 hours general kochling's 81st corps battered the beleaguered first division until both sides were utterly exhausted but aided by artillery and air support the americans were able to dig in and weather the assault then strike back at the collapsing german line with a decisive blow finally the jaws of the allied pincer movement were able to slam shut completely encircling achen and leaving colonel vilk isolated from further reinforcements their eastern flank now secure the first army was able to take its time mopping up the remaining germans in achen on the 18th 2nd battalion resumed its attack on farwick park driving the defenders into the basement with an artillery barrage before sending assault squads in to secure the kvelenhof hotel though colonel vilk had already left the hotel the defenders put up a tremendous fight hurling grenades from every entrance and forcing gis back in the end colonel corley had to threaten to demolish the entire structure before the germans finally agreed to surrender the loss of farwick park was a death blow to the german resistance in achen and not even a written order from colonel vilk encouraging his troops to fight to the last man inspired much determination with huge swathes of the city now under american control the survivors of the 246th volks grenadiers were hemmed in on their remaining hilltops with observatory hill falling to the 2nd battalion on the 19th by now achen was little more than a mound of rebel as the americans systematically demolished any building that could even potentially harbor enemy combatants with essentially no ground left to go colonel vilk was finally cornered in an air raid shelter on the 20th as corley wheeled his favorite 155 millimeter gun into position outside the fortress vilk realized the game was up and dispatched several american pows to carry a message of surrender to the besiegers [Music] the battle of achen represented one of the worst periods of urban fighting in american history with the first army sustaining as many as 8 000 casualties during its breach of the west wall and battle for the city compared to the 2400 suffered during the landing on omaha beach popularly considered the bloodiest fight for the us in europe german losses amounted to roughly six thousand dead and over five thousand prisoners taken perhaps the saddest aspect of the fighting was its overall futility in trying to defend a precious symbol of nazi ideology adolf hitler had squandered thousands of lives and caused the utter destruction of charlemagne's ancient capital meanwhile the americans would ultimately fail to exploit their victory in any meaningful way instead turning south to try and cut through the hercenvald this gigantic forest would prove every bit the defender's paradise as had ahen's narrow streets and stone architecture stalling the first army until february of 1945. historians now remember the battle of achen as just one more example of how germany's stubborn refusal to surrender resulted in a pointless waste of life and the destruction of a beautiful city that had stood intact for well over a thousand years [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

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Id: ZlP44QWdh5I

Length: 20min 15sec (1215 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 31 2022