Video: 'Battle For Aachen (1944)'

(Saturday, October 21, 1944, 12:06 p.m. local time; during the Battle of Aachen, part of World War II) — The last despairing opposition in the desert of death and strewn ruins that used to be the prosperous city of Aachen, Germany, broke down suddenly today as the German commander signed an unconditional surrender order and handed himself, his staff and about 1,000 surviving German soldiers. It was the first city on German soil to be captured by the Allies.