Battle of Aachen

Battle of Aachen
Part of the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine during the Western Front of World War II
American M1919 machine gun crew in action against German defenders in the streets of Aachen on 15 October 1944
Date 12 September – 21 October 1944 (1 month, 1 week and 2 days) Location Aachen, Germany 50°46′35″N 06°05′00″E / 50.77639°N 6.08333°E / 50.77639; 6.08333 Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Courtney Hodges Clarence R. Huebner Leland S. Hobbs	Gerd von Rundstedt[a] Walter Model Friedrich Köchling Gerhard von Schwerin[b] Gerhard Wilck
Units involved
First Army 1st Infantry Division 9th Infantry Division[1] 29th Infantry Division[1] 30th Infantry Division 2nd armored division[1] 3rd armored division[1] 28th Infantry Division[1]	LXXXI Army Corps 116th Panzer Division 183rd Volksgrenadier Division 246th Volksgrenadier Division 12th Volksgrenadier Division 49th Infantry Division
Strength
100,000 soldiers	13,000 soldiers 5,000 Volkssturm
Casualties and losses
7,000+ casualties[2] including 2,000 killed[3]	5,000+ killed or wounded, 5,600 captured[2]

The Battle of Aachen was a battle of World War II, fought by American and German forces in and around Aachen, Germany, between 12 September and 21 October 1944.^[4][5] The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network on Germany's western border; the Allies had hoped to capture it quickly and advance into the industrialized Ruhr Basin. Although most of Aachen's civilian population was evacuated before the battle began, much of the city was destroyed and both sides suffered heavy losses.

It was one of the largest urban battles fought by U.S. forces in World War II, and is considered one of the toughest urban encounters in the entire war.^[5][6] As a result, Aachen became the first city on internationally recognized German soil to be captured by the Allies (several cities in German annexed territory in the East had already been liberated earlier that year during Operation Bagration). Despite the battle ending with a German surrender, their tenacious defense significantly disrupted Allied plans for the advance into Germany.^[7]

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