Aachen 1944

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

1/106

R HIVES

CGSC

FT

LEAVENWO

TH

KtiK4

APR

7 953

r

MONO SSIG

MON OG

PHi~

CCESSION

NO

PO

Ri G iSTRY

THE

GERMANS

OPPOSITE

lI

CORPS

IN

SEPTEMBER

1944

Y

LUCIAN

HEICHLER

DISTRIBL

DE

THIS

MONOGRAPH

MAY

NOT

BE

REPRODUCED

EITHER

IN

WHOLE

OR IN PART

WITHOUT

THE

PERMISSION

OF

THE

CHIEF

OF

MILITARY

HISTORY

The German

opposite

VII

Corps

in Sep

44

hi

of

f s

1 1 t

ib>yB

52

CGSC Form

16

3

Mar

5

Army CGSC P3 1966 20

Mar 53 5M

UNqCL SSIFI[Q

p.

r

AXZ

This Document

IS

A

HOLDING

OF

THE

ARCHIVES

SECTION

LIBRARY SERVICES

FORT LEAVENWORTH

KANSAS

DOCUMENT

NO. R 16436.3oB

COPY

NO.

STORY

Nomp

7,

_ a l

1

a

pt

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

2/106

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

3/106

CHAPTER

III

Tr

GLE1ANS OPPOSITE

VII CORPS

IN SEPTEMBER

1944

Part

of

a

Study

of

the

German

Side Undertaken

in

Support

of

The Siegfried Line by Charles

B MacDonald

OCMH:

In Progress

Based Entirely

on

German Records, This Chapter is Intended

to Complement

Charter of The Siegfried

Line:

VII

Corns

Penetrates

the

Line

by

2VL ~a c~,

Lucian

Heichler

Research Section

Office

of

the Chief

of Military

History

Washington, D

C.

December 952

~~

;SSFED

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

4/106

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

5/106

U abe

A

Sofon

s

Table of Contents

ntroduction

Defense

of Aachen

and

the Stolberg

orridor

The DXXXI

Corps

Situation

in Mid September

1944

LXXXI

Corps: ounterattack

and

Stalemate

LXXIV Corps:

Defense

of the Lammersdorf

Corridor

and

the West

VIall

Page

1

41

S

8

APPENDIX:

Map

of

the West Wall in the LXXXI

and

LXX V

orps

s tors

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

6/106

UNCL SSIF

I

Introduction

n the

early

years of World

War the German

Army

amply

demonstrated

its

ability

to

exploit victory to

the

fullest .

After the tide had turned against the

Germans,

it became ap-

parent

that they also possessed the more outstanding

bility

to quickly recover

from

a defeat before

their

opponents

could

thoroughly

exploit their

success.

The

German Seventh

Army exemplified

this faculty

late

in

the

summer

of 1944

Less than

month

after suffering

an

apparently

decisive

defeat

in which

it

was crushed

and battered

beyond

recognition

Seventh

Army

established

a

coherent

front

line

from

the Maas River

to the

Sohnee

Eifel Range

in September

1944.

Committed

in this

wide

are and supported

by

a

motley

conglomeration

of

last-ditch

reserves the

army s

remaining

elements successfully

defended

the approaches

to the Reich.

During

its

withdrawal

from

Falaise

to

the West

Wall,

Seventh

Army passed

through

three

distinct

phases.

n th e

first stage

the

rout

following

narowly averted

annihilation

in the

Falaise Pocket

Seventh

rmy

ceased to exist

as n

independent

organization.

Its

shattered

remnants were

attached

to Fifth Panzer

Army

until

4 September

1944.

n

that date

Seventh

Army was

apparently

reconstituted

under

the

command

of General

der Panzertruppen

Erich Brandenberger.

The army

then

passed

through the

phase

of delaying

action

while

it

~rsa~

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

7/106

UM

lED

reorganized

its

forces

and re-established

the semblance of

a

front

line. Despite persistent

orders from

above

to defend

every

foot

of ground, General

Brandenberger

realized

that a

fairly rapid

with-

drawal

was

called

for, if his forces

were

to

reach

the West

Wall

ahead

of

American

spearheads.

MS

B-730

(Brandenberger).

The delaying

action

ended

officially on

9

September 1944 when

Seventh

Army was

charged

with the

defense

of the West

Wall in

the

Maastricht

Aachen

Bitburg

sectors. Along

with the

fortifications

the

army took

over

all headquarters

and troops stationed

in this

area.

f

Seventh

Army s three corps,

LXUXI Corps

was assigned the

northern

sector of

the West Wall

from the

Herzogenrath

Dueren

switch

position to

the

Rollesbroich

Huertgen

Forest

sector.

LXXIV Corps

was committed in

the center, from

Roetgen to Ormont,

and

I

SS

Panzer

orps

was

to defend the

West

Wall in the Schnee

Eifel sector,

from

Ormont

to

the

boundary with

First Army

at

Diekirch.

Order,

Seventh Army

to

ll corps,

9

Sep 44,

LXXI Corps

KTB

Anlagen,

Befehle:

Heeresgruppe,

Armee,

usw.

[Orders:

Army

Group,

Army,

etc.],

5.VIII.

21.X.44.

Referred

to hereafter

as LCXXI

Corps

KTB

Befehle:

Heeresgruppe,

Armee, usw.

See

also Appendix,

map

of

the

West

Wall.

With this

transition

from the

second to the

third

phase

of

operations

from

delaying

action

to firm

resistance

based

on

th e

u~~L~s~ INN

~i~e~SYI

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

8/106

fortified cositions

of

the W est Wall

the

withdrawal

from

France

came

to

an end and

the defense

of

Germany began.

When

U.S.

VII

Corps launched its

reconnaissance

in force

on

12

September 1944 Seventh

rmy

was in

the

mi st

of this process

of

transition. While

some

of ts elements had already

occupied

their

assigned

West Wall

so~tors others were

still fighting

a de-

laying action well forward

of the bunker line.

UN L SSIFIED

h

fit i

5/20/2018 Aachen 1944

9/106

Defense of

Aachen

and

the

Stolberg

Corridor

On 12 September 1944 the forces

of

LJ I

Corps,

under the

command

of

Generalleutnant Friedrich-August

Schack, were committed

from Breust

on the Maas River eastward to Hombourg and Moresnet

thence

south along the

West

Wall

to

the boundary with LXXIV Corps

Eupen - Roetgen - Zuelpich

- Bonn).*

Noon

Sitrep,

LXXXI

Corps,

12 Sep

44, LXXX Corps KTB

Anlagen

Tagesmeldungen [Daily

Sitreps], 6.VIII. 21.X.44.

Referred to

hereafter as

LXXXI

Corps

KTB

Tagesmeldungen.

Four

badly

mauled understrength

divisions were committed in

the LXXXI Corps front line.

In the northwestern

sector, between

the

Maas

River

and

the Aachen

area 275th and 49th Infantry Divisions

held

the line against U.S.

XIX

Corps.

In the

southeastern half

For an account

of these two divisions

see

Lucian

Heichler

Chapter IV, The Germans

Facing XIX Corps, OCMH in progress).

the

LUXI Corps

zone, opposite U.S.

VII Corps,

116th

Panzer

Division

and 9th Panzer

Division faced

the

U.S. 1st

Infantry and

3d Armored

Divisions.

The

sector of 116th Panzer

Division

was

defined

in

the northwest

by

the boundary with

49th Infantry Division:

Hombourg Schneeberg

Hill along

the West Wall to Bardenberg.

In

the

southeast

the

boundary with

9th

Panzer

Division extended