AACHEN: The US Army's Battle for Charlemagne's City in World War II

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By September 1944, the Allied advance across France and Belgium had turned into a war of attrition along the German frontier. Standing between the Allies and the Third Reich's industrial heartland was the city of Aachen, once the ancient seat of Charlemagne's empire and now firmly entrenched within Germany's Siegfried Line fortifications. The last time a major German city had been lost to the enemy was over a century earlier during the Napoleonic Wars, and Hitler wasn't about to let that happen again. He ordered Aachen defended to the last man and bullet. Thanks to hard fighting by some of the U.S. Army's finest units, including the 1st Infantry Division ('Big Red One'), the 30th Infantry Division ('Roosevelt's SS'), the 2nd Armored Division ('Hell on Wheels'), and the 3rd Armored Division ('Spearhead'), the Americans gradually encircled Aachen. Contains 38 black and white photos and 6 maps.