The Battle of Aachen was a battle in Aachen, Germany, which occurred between 2–21 October 1944. By September 1944, the Wehrmacht had been pushed into Germany proper, after being defeated in France by the Western Allies. During the campaigning in France, German commanders estimated that their total strength only amounted to that of 25 full strength divisions; at the time, the Wehrmacht operated 74 divisions in France. Despite these losses, the Germans were able to retreat to the Siegfried Line and partially rebuild their strength; they were able to bring the total number of combat personnel along the Western Front to roughly 230,000 troops. Although not necessarily well trained, nor well armed, these German defenders were substantially aided by the fortifications which composed the Siegfried Line. During the month of September the first fighting sprung up around Aachen and the city's commander offered to surrender it to the advancing Americans. However, his letter of surrender was discovered by the SS during a raid in Aachen while the civilians were evacuating. Adolf Hitler ordered his immediate arrest and replaced him and his division with Gerhard Wilck's 246th Volksgrenadier Division. The United States' First Army would have to take the city by force.
American commanders decided to envelop the city using the 1st and 30th Infantry divisions, aided by elements of others, and then take the city when it was fully encircled. The city's defense was composed of the German LXXXI Corps, which included four infantry divisions and two understrength German tank formations. During the battle, German defenders would receive another 24,000 reinforcements in the form of a panzer division and a panzergrenadier division, as well as elements of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Although outnumbered by American forces, the defenders were able to make use of dozens of pillboxes and fortifications arrayed around the city.
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Otto Ernst Lindemann (28 March 1894–27 May 1941) was a German naval captain. He was the only commander of the battleship Bismarck during its eight months of service in World War II.
Lindemann joined the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) in 1913, and after his basic military training, served on a number of warships during World War I as a wireless telegraphy officer. On board SMS Bayern, he participated in Operation Albion in 1917. After World War I, he served in various staff and naval gunnery training positions. One year after the outbreak of World War II, he was appointed commander of the battleship Bismarck, at the time the largest warship in commission anywhere in the world and the pride of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine).
In May 1941, Lindemann commanded Bismarck during Operation Rheinübung. Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen—under the command of Admiral Günther Lütjens—were to break out of their base in German occupied Poland and attack British merchant shipping lanes in the Atlantic Ocean. The task force's first major engagement was the Battle of the Denmark Strait which resulted in the sinking of HMS Hood. Less than a week later, on 27 May, Lindemann and most of his crew lost their lives during Bismarck's last battle.
He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ([Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), an honour that recognised extreme bravery on the battlefield or outstanding military leadership. The medal was presented to his widow, Hildegard, on 6 January 1942. (Read more)
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