This article appears in: April By the time of the waning of the summer of in western Europe, General Dwight D. Her very borders were now threatened and her army was on the brink of collapseβthe Germans faced a catastrophe that no amount of propaganda could disguise.
As August gave way to September, the 1st U. Army, commanded by Lt. Courtney H. Hodges, stood poised for the drive into Germany itself. Looming directly in the path of 1st Army lay the ancient German city of Aachen, nestled between two heavily fortified belts of the Siegfried Line near the Dutch and Belgian borders. Although of little military importance to either side, it was nonetheless a town of immense psychological value to the Germans.
Aside from being the first major city in the Reich threatened by Allied ground troops, it was also the birthplace of Emperor Charlemagne and the seat of his Frankish Empire, which Hitler considered to have been the First Reich.
Its importance to Hodges, however, lay in its significant historical role as the western gateway to greater Germany, a role he expected it to play once again. But lacking supplies and potency, they chose to withdraw when confronted with surprisingly stiff German resistance, little realizing how vulnerable the city really was.
With the 1st U. Army expected to return in strength any day, Koechling wasted no time deploying his forces in a defensive ring around the city. The rd Volksgrenadier and 49th Infantry Divisions took up positions in the north, the veteran 12th Infantry Division was placed along the southeastern outskirts, and the remains of the battered th Volksgrenadier Division would defend the city limits of Aachen itself.
