Hitler's Last Stand (2018) s04e01 Episode Script

1
(dramatic music)
NARRATOR:
October 1944. Western Germany.
(distant gunfire)
An American captain watches,
as a German soldier returns to
a bunker loaded with ammunition.
BAUMER: Bobbie was stalking. He didn't
realize it, but Bobbie was right there.
(thud)
NARRATOR: The captain pulls the fuse
and deposits an explosive charge,
before the soldier can react.
(explosion)
On June 6th, 1944,
allied forces finally land troops
in Normandy to open the western front.
(speaking in German)
But Nazi fanatics and diehards continue
to fight ferociously for survival.
(rapid gunfire)
D-Day was a battle.
They still need to win the war.
(dramatic music)
NARRATOR: October 8th, 1944.
Near Aachen, Germany.
Soldiers from the American 18th infantry
regiment advance under the cover of smoke.
They must move quickly and quietly
towards their attack positions
before the Germans know they’re there.
Captain Bobbie Brown commands C Company.
At 41, Brown is older than most other
officers and likely many of his superiors.
He has served most of his life.
BAUMER: Bobbie didn't want to
be a burden on his family.
So, he decided to go down to Columbus,
Georgia and attempt to enlist in the army.
He told the recruiting sergeant he was 18,
he was big for his age,
but he was only 15.
The army needed big kids like
him in 1922 so they took him.
NARRATOR: Brown trained with all the
infantry weapons in peacetime,
and became a recognized leader after
the war broke out.
BAUMER: When Bobbie went ashore on
D-Day, he was with the first division.
By August there needed to be a
new captain named for Company C.
His battalion commander had lots of
choices, including West Point graduates,
but he favored Bobbie because
Bobbie was a scrapper,
he had an uncanny sense of
timing, his men revered him.
(distant gun fire)
NARRATOR: Brown and his men
prepare for battle once more.
(gusting winds)
Suddenly, the wind picks up and
their smoke cover blows away.
C Company is exposed.
(suspenseful music)
It doesn’t take long for the
German guns to find their targets.
(explosion)
BROWN (yells):
Incoming!
(explosions)
BROWN (yells):
Get down, keep your heads up!
(gunfire)
(explosions)
BROWN (yells):
Go, go!
Up you get!
(explosions)
NARRATOR: After the
rapid advance over the summer,
Supreme Allied Commander,
General Dwight D. Eisenhower,
identifies an objective
that promises to end the war:
The Ruhr Valley.
ZALOGA: The Ruhr was the most important
strategic objective of the allied armies
in 1944 and 1945. It was
Germany’s industrial heartland.
It contained most of
their major steel mills,
their tank plants and
their weapons factories.
NARRATOR:
After the D-Day landings,
the race across Europe brings the allies
up to the German border in September 1944.
To clear the way to the
Ruhr Valley to the northeast,
Eisenhower orders parts
of four American divisions
to secure the ancient
German city of Aachen.
The stakes are high on both sides.
LIEB: What is a propaganda dream for
Eisenhower is a nightmare for Hitler.
If the Americans take Aachen, they
are not only fighting on German soil,
they capture the first major German city.
(rapid gunfire and explosions)
NARRATOR: After the violent
greeting from the German guns,
Bobbie Brown and his men gather on
their start line at the base of a hill.
(rapid gunfire)
BAUMER: The men knew they were
taking on a very, very difficult mission.
(rapid gunfire)
They knew the Germans had these prepared
pillbox locations all over Crucifix Hill.
(rapid gunfire)
They knew they had their firing ports and
angles of fire aimed at their approach.
(explosions)
NARRATOR:
Brown’s objective is clear:
he is to neutralize all
enemy activity on the hill
and then prepare for counterattacks.
He scours the slope to plot
a path to the closest bunker,
and looks to the sky for
friendly allied aircraft.
BAUMER:
The air support that Brown expected
was two flight of P-47 thunderbolts which
were actually just eight planes.
He had been relying on
continuing air missions
but the air liaison, who was on his
way up to Crucifix Hill earlier,
his tank was busted up,
so he never got up there.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR:
Brown can’t wait any longer.
BROWN (yells, muted):
Go, go, go, go!
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR:
As he and his men jump up,
the Germans unleash a
barrage of artillery fire.
(explosions)
BAUMER: The Germans had the avenue of
approach that was chosen by the Americans,
zeroed in and pre-plotted
before they even attacked.
There were 84 separate artillery pieces
that rained down on Brown’s men.
(explosions)
NARRATOR: As they try to approach, machine
guns also open up with deadly accuracy.
(rapid gunfire)
(screams)
(grenade pin click)
NARRATOR: Allied artillery shells pound
the bunkers on the hillside in support,
but fail to disrupt the German fire.
(somber music)
Brown and his men attack Crucifix Hill.
Named for the large
stone cross on its summit,
its fortifications protect
Aachen from the northeast.
It also called hill 2-3-9,
for its height in meters.
It bristles with pillboxes and bunkers.
LIEB:
Despite being somewhat outdated,
the bunkers on Crucifix Hill
give a good opportunity to fire
from the heights down on
the Americans in the valley.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR:
With his men pinned at the start line,
Captain Bobbie Brown and his command unit,
which includes a radio operator
and runner, make a move.
BAUMER: Bobbie Brown had
trained his men to understand
that so long as
one person wasn’t pinned down,
do the job of the man ahead of you,
so that everybody could start moving.
But at this moment, Bobbie Brown knew that
his entire company was pinned down,
and he was gonna
have to do something about it.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: Brown heads
towards a dip in the terrain.
His team throw themselves over the edge.
BAUMER: Brown and his command
group were able to jump into
a dug-out depression at
the foot of Crucifix Hill
because he had had the wisdom the night
before to go out and dig that hole
and bring canvas with him so that
he could drag the dirt away
so when the daylight came, the Germans
wouldn’t even know anyone had been there.
(dramatic music)
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: They find a little protection,
just below the enemy’s fire.
(explosions)
The radio operator makes contact with
the platoon leaders.
The news is not good.
One of his platoon leaders is injured
and both of the assault
platoons remain pinned down.
BROWN (muted):
Binoculars.
NARRATOR: Brown looks up the
hill and observes the gunfire
coming from the bunker above him.
BAUMER: He’s trying to take
in the totality of this situation.
The radio operator looks at him and says,
“Are we gonna send
some engineers up first?”
Bobbie looks back at him and says,
“I wouldn’t ask a man to commit suicide.”
(explosion)
NARRATOR: In a split second,
Brown makes a decision.
He will take out the bunker himself.
(dramatic music)
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: The American captain Bobbie
Brown prepares a plan to put into action.
BAUMER:
Bobbie Brown decides at that moment
that he's gonna have to lead by
example and do what his men can’t do.
He wasn’t pinned down.
So, he turns to his radioman and says,
“What we’re gonna need is a pole charge
and a satchel charge.”
- And the radioman, he’s incredulous.
- Sir?
NARRATOR: Brown needs more firepower
than the weapons he has at hand.
He believes that
explosives are the answer.
The bunkers on Crucifix Hill
make up a dense sector of the Westwall,
or Siegfried Line.
ZALOGA: The Siegfried Line was
created in the 1930s
so that the German army
could fight a two-front war.
And what happened in 1939 is
the German army threw all of its strength
against Poland and conquered
Poland in September.
But at the same time,
they didn't have to have a large military
force on their western border,
facing the French and British Army,
because they had the Siegfried Line there.
It required a minimal force, a so-called
economy of force maneuver.
NARRATOR: This is considered
especially important around Aachen,
which boasts a
double line of fortifications.
ZALOGA: The Westwall in the
Aachen sector was extremely thick,
especially as compared to other
sections of the Westwall further away.
The reason was mainly because of
the strategic importance
of some relatively flat terrain
immediately south of the city of Aachen,
that allows tank forces
access further east
towards the Ruhr River and
towards the Rhine River.
NARRATOR: Often built into the landscape
and camouflaged by grass and brush,
the bunkers have narrow openings,
or apertures, to allow just
enough room to fire weapons.
These fortifications vary in size, but can
be up to 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep.
They are designed to Standard B.
ZALOGA:
Standard B means is that
they are two meters thick
of steel reinforced concrete.
Now, two meters thick of
steel-reinforced concrete
will defend up to an
eight-inch artillery projectile,
or a 1,000-pound aircraft bomb.
So, it's a very, very
substantial military structure.
NARRATOR: Bobbie Brown needs to
find a way to attack the structure.
BAUMER: He's not sure exactly
what he's going to do.
What he does see is a
crater that had been left by,
in all likelihood, one of the P-47's.
It's about half the distance
between where he is
and where the pillbox is located
that he wants to go after.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: Brown signals second platoon
commander, Lieutenant Charles Marvain,
- to deliver the explosives he requires.
- Okay!
BAUMER: The German fire was just coming
down repeatedly at Marvain's location,
so Marvain may have been happy
to leave where he was.
NARRATOR: He heaves a
satchel charge to Brown.
(rapid gunfire)
ZALOGA: A satchel charge is a type of
an engineered demolition charge.
And it's called a satchel charge
because the explosives are
contained inside a satchel bag.
And they're typically
used to blow up obstructions.
So, it might be an anti-tank wall,
it might be a bunker.
NARRATOR:
In this case,
the satchel charge is loaded with 60
quarter pound blocks of TNT,
to be detonated by a three second fuse.
With the charge ready, Brown crawls out
of his ditch, with 15 pounds of TNT.
It’s an unusual job for a man of his rank.
BAUMER: A company captain was
responsible for being in a position
where he could communicate with
his battalion commander
so that he could get change orders,
including "reinforcements are on the way"
or "we want you to withdraw."
It was very unusual for a captain to be
the tip of the spear during World War II.
NARRATOR: Brown inches up Crucifix Hill
toward the bunker that targets his men.
(rapid gunfire)
BAUMER: Crawling as best he can to
stay under the trajectory of the fire.
All he has to do is stick his head
up and he's going to get shot.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: The only
sign of the enemy inside
are the gun barrels
firing through the aperture.
Soldiers from the 352nd grenadier regiment
are among those manning the bunkers.
LIEB: A grenadier regiment is
basically an infantry regiment.
In 1942, the Germans renamed all the
infantry units as grenadier regiments,
reminding of the old Prussian grenadier
regiments from the 18th and 19th Century.
NARRATOR:
They have been handpicked,
and moved quickly into defensive
positions on Crucifix Hill,
as the Americans closed in on Aachen.
LIEB: Despite the fact that these bunkers
were outdated, to a certain degree,
it gave the German soldiers
a sense of security.
You've got German documents,
when they retreated from France
in early autumn 1944,
that these bunkers were extremely
important for their morale
because for the first time, they've
got a clearly defined line of defense.
NARRATOR: The regiment’s commander is
Oberstleutnant Josef Eggerstorfer.
LIEB: Lieutenant Colonel Eggerstorfer
is a 35-year-old officer.
A former NCO, but who has seen a huge and
quick career during the second World War.
He's a veteran from the eastern front,
and got promoted thanks to
a preferential promotion.
This means he was promoted
quicker than normal
due to his performance on the battlefield.
NARRATOR: Eggerstorfer has orders to
defend the ancient German city,
no matter what the cost.
Aachen has great historical significance
to the German people.
The city served as the coronation site for
the Holy Roman Empire for over 700 years.
Its majesty aligns with
Hitler’s imperial aspirations.
LIEB: Aachen has got a mythical
and symbolic value for the Nazis
because it is the old
imperial capital of Charlemagne,
who was the founder of the first Reich.
And the Nazis consider
to have the third Reich,
so there is a link, a historic
link in the Nazi mindset,
between the first Reich
and the third Reich.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: The bunkers on Crucifix Hill
defend the city from the northeast.
As the fighting builds, the
conditions within deteriorate.
LIEB: It's cramped,
it's smelly, smoke everywhere.
(yells, in German) Shoot! Shoot!
Keep shooting! Shoot! Fire!
(rapid gunfire)
When you fire a machine gun,
the noise reverberates.
So, psychologically, it's extremely
demanding for an ordinary soldier.
(rapid gunfire)
(explosion)
NARRATOR: On the
slope below the bunker,
Brown must decide the best way to
neutralize it using the satchel charge.
ZALOGA: It's usually something where
you're not under enemy fire,
so you take it up to a wall
and you position it very carefully,
and you might
use multiple satchel charges.
When a satchel charge
is used in close combat,
it's usually used in
an improvised fashion.
NARRATOR: Brown works out a plan.
The explosives have a three second fuse.
It doesn’t give him much time to
take cover before the charge explodes.
BAUMER: If he were to crawl to the flank
of that box and come in from behind it,
he might be in a position to see if the
back door was a way he could get into it,
or close enough so he could throw his
satchel charge through it.
(explosion)
NARRATOR: But, if Brown can throw the
charge through the aperture,
the bunker should
protect him from the blast.
Brown picks up speed.
As he runs up the slope towards the
opening, he encounters a German soldier.
(dramatic music)
(tense music)
NARRATOR: Before American captain Bobbie
Brown can make his move to the aperture,
the startled soldier dashes
back into the bunker.
Brown leaps to pull the door closed,
to trap him inside.
But it won’t shut.
BAUMER: So as the German turned, his
rifle, which was slung over his shoulder,
slipped off his shoulder, down
his elbow, and into the door jam.
NARRATOR: Brown sees the rifle.
He opens the door to kick it in.
With the fuse pulled
on the satchel charge,
he drops it inside and slams the door.
(suspenseful music)
(dramatic music)
(explosion)
Brown jumps back as the
bunker explodes behind him.
BAUMER: From down the hill,
what Bobbie Brown’s men saw
was a bunker where smoke was
pouring out of the apertures,
the air vent on top of it.
Flames were licking the sky,
and there were nothing but loud
explosions, one following another.
(explosion)
NARRATOR:
The destruction is total.
ZALOGA: A satchel charge of that size
inside a bunker is going to be devastating
because it contains the
blast within the bunker.
BAUMER:
No German survived that blast.
The biggest body part
they found later was a thigh.
NARRATOR: C Company’s
command and control group,
of the American 18th infantry regiment,
would be happy to see their captain return
safely to the ditch after the explosion.
Brown immediately asks
for a progress report.
Despite knocking out the bunker,
the men of C and A Companies
remain pinned by the heavy German fire
from across Crucifix Hill.
Brown has taken out the first bunker,
but the others continue to operate.
Because they are so high,
they can see the approach
and direct their fire with accuracy
on the attacking Americans.
(rapid gunfire)
When Brown looks further up the hill,
he identifies another bunker beyond
the one he’s just destroyed.
BAUMER:
The job's not finished.
He believes he got a command bunker
with the first one he took
and he wants to go get more
of what he believes are
the command-and-control
bunkers for the German firing.
He had a volunteer that wanted to go,
and Bobbie just turned to him and said,
“That's bad crap shooting soldier.
I don't quit while the dice are hot.”
(muted) Satchel charge.
NARRATOR: This time,
Brown grabs both a satchel
and a pole charge and
prepares for his ascent.
ZALOGA: A pole charge
consists of a length of wood
with a small demolition charge at the end.
And it differs from a satchel charge
in that a pole charge can be placed very
precisely next to the embrasure
to try to destroy it.
NARRATOR: It has improvised,
do-it-yourself qualities.
The quantity of
explosives can be adjusted.
An engineer unit attached to the infantry
unit will bring up some satchel charges.
The engineers will make
the pole charges in the field.
NARRATOR: Brown has his next target.
But as his men try to move up the hill,
allied artillery also pounds the
sector to support their advance.
It would be dangerous to get too close.
(rapid gunfire)
(muted) Put some smoke in the pillbox!
NARRATOR: Brown orders his runner to
fire a yellow smoke grenade
on the bunker’s south side.
This will signal the American 155
millimeter gun to lift its fire,
so he can approach the bunker safely.
From within the bunker, the Germans may
not be able to see the yellow smoke.
The thick concrete and rebar mean bunkers
can withstand heavy fire power,
but limit visibility
of their immediate surroundings.
(dramatic music)
Each bunker has a field of
fire that their guns can reach.
As a system, the bunkers are
designed to support each other
by providing overlapping fire.
Even if one bunker is taken out,
the ones around it should be able to
continue to cover the hillside.
(rapid gunfire)
Brown creeps up.
BAUMER: His plan was to go
for the back door again.
But as he crawled up
closer to that bunker,
the German fires were so strong that he
was convinced that they had spotted him.
NARRATOR:
Brown must reduce his profile.
BAUMER:
They could only aim so low.
If he could crawl underneath that,
he could get closer to the pillbox.
NARRATOR: The machine gun
fire above him stops.
BAUMER: Bobbie keeps going
and he realizes this time
that his best approach is
going to be frontally.
So, this time he crawls close
enough the aperture to reach out
and put his pole charge through it.
(suspenseful music)
NARRATOR: With very little distance
between him and the detonation,
once he pulls the fuse he has just
three seconds until it explodes.
(dramatic sting)
(dramatic sting)
(explosion)
NARRATOR:
The blast is powerful.
However, the pole charge deployed by
American captain Bobbie Brown
fails to destroy the bunker.
But the explosion does widen the aperture
and distracts the soldiers inside.
Surveying the situation,
he decides he's not finished yet.
So, he grabs his satchel charge,
and he heads right for the opening that he
had created with his pole charge.
NARRATOR: Brown pulls the fuse and
throws a satchel charge into the bunker.
He ducks away in the short seconds
before the explosives detonate.
(explosion)
With the bunker in blazes behind him,
Brown returns to his command group.
ZALOGA:
What was remarkable about this instance
is that it was a captain
performing this mission.
It's not the job of infantry captains to
go running around with satchel charges
blowing up bunkers.
He's supposed to leave that to the
enlisted men and to his sergeants.
But by the fall of 1944,
the First infantry division
had suffered so many casualties.
He may not have had someone to turn to,
and he might have just felt, "Nobody's
there to do it. I'm going to go do it."
NARRATOR: Brown asks for a report on
their company’s advance up the hill.
The radio operator notices that
Brown’s canteen has bullet holes in it,
and that his captain is bleeding.
(muted) Sir! You’re wounded!
BAUMER: Brown was,
you know, as we say today,
just absolutely pumped up on adrenaline.
In fact, his canteen having three holes
in it was the least of his problems.
His men had noticed
that he had a bloody knee.
But to Bobbie that was only a scratch.
(muted) Don’t worry about it!
NARRATOR: Brushing off the injuries,
Brown demands the report.
He learns men from second platoon
have finally started up Crucifix Hill.
But they have
suffered multiple casualties,
including the death
of their platoon leader.
The Germans continue the fight,
in defiance of the American attack.
(rapid gunfire)
(somber music)
(airplane drone)
But one month earlier, the commander
of the garrison at Aachen,
Generalleutnant Gerhard Graf von Schwerin
appealed to American
military leadership for mercy.
Aachen was the first major
German city under direct threat.
Much of its prewar population
of 165,000 was desperate to flee
and it created chaos for
soldiers and civilians alike.
Concerned that there would not be enough
time for remaining residents to escape,
Schwerin calls off the order to
evacuate, and people return home.
He then drafted a letter asking
the American commander
to care for his civilians,
a request which at least implied
that the city was to be
surrendered to U.S. Control.
LIEB: For Schwerin,
it's an extremely risky thing,
because Hitler had ordered,
that on German soil, every city,
every bunker must
be defended to the last man.
The Nazi media writes about Aachen must
be defended like a German Stalingrad.
And in this context,
it just doesn't match
the picture of a determined fight.
NARRATOR: Before the letter could be
delivered to the Americans,
it fell into Nazi hands. Hitler had
Schwerin relieved from duty and arrested.
He is replaced with commanders
ready to fight to the death.
(dramatic music)
(rapid gunfire)
Now weeks later, as his
men start their advance,
American captain Bobbie Brown
orders them to complete
the capture of their assigned bunkers
on the lower part of the hill.
But as he surveys the slope, he can see
a particularly large bunker at the top.
(rapid gunfire)
(suspenseful music)
It is heavily armed, and
continues to fire at his men.
(muted) Satchel charge!
NARRATOR: Brown decides
once more, to launch an attack.
(dramatic music)
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: As the U.S. Captain Bobbie
Brown nears the crest of Crucifix Hill,
on the afternoon of October 8th, 1944,
the 60-foot cross that gave the peak
its name is now in ruins.
The Crucifix had provided an excellent
outpost for German artillery observers
to direct fire at the advancing Americans.
BAUMER: Some witnesses to the
action said that it fell
during the P-47 thunderbolt strikes,
before the attack began.
The other account was the German side.
They claimed they shot it down.
Because they didn't want
the Americans climbing up on the Crucifix
and using it as an observation post as
they had been doing.
NARRATOR: Brown’s goal is to
clear the German defenses
that protect the city of Aachen.
He’s already knocked out two bunkers.
Now, he targets a third.
ZALOGA: There's another type of a bunker,
which is sometimes used
both as an observation bunker
and a machine gun bunker.
And this is the most formidable of them.
It typically has an armored cupola,
and the armored cupola would have vision
slits all around it on six or eight sides.
And it might also have a
machine gun mantlet
that was completely protected
against outside attack.
That's what I think he attacked.
NARRATOR: Based on the sources,
this bunker appears to be a panzerturm.
Although often associated with tanks,
in German, “panzer” means armored,
and refers to the
three-inch steel plating.
ZALOGA: They're sometimes mistranslated
as a tank turret. They don't traverse.
They're not made from tank turret parts.
They're an armored cupola.
NARRATOR: The cupola may sometimes
be the most visible element.
The rest of the bunker, is very large and
dug into the earth.
It contains everything needed to sustain
45 soldiers and their officers.
Panzerturm were built in places
that were critical to defend.
ZALOGA: The Germans have very
specific terms for them.
But because the U.S. Army would
sometimes mistranslate the name,
they are sometimes called tank turrets.
NARRATOR:
The panzerturm is Brown’s target.
Based on the imposing
nature of this big bunker,
its location, the turret on top of it,
in Bobbie Brown’s mind that was where the
Germans central command and control was.
That's why he wanted to go get it.
NARRATOR: Inside the bunker,
the Germans pour fire on the slopes below
to thwart the American advance.
Their specific actions are unknown.
LIEB: We don't know for sure because the
documents haven't survived.
But generally speaking, the communication
between the bunkers was relatively good.
I think it always
depends on the situation,
whether you are still have
your communication lines
with their neighboring bunkers
or with your superiors.
Whether the bunker next to
you is still holding out
or whether it has already surrendered.
And this makes it, for a commander, quite
complicated, quite difficult to decide
whether it's time to give up or
whether it's time to fight on.
(tense music)
- (muted) Schnell! Schnell! Ammo! Now! Go!
- NARRATOR: In the meantime,
the German defenders will need all the
fire power they can get their hands on.
Bobbie Brown approaches the bunker.
He comes in from the side.
He can get close to the exterior walls,
but they are so thick,
it would take hundreds of
pounds of explosives to penetrate.
He has 15 pounds of TN
in his satchel charge.
(dramatic music)
TNT, or trinitrotoluene,
remains one of the most widely
used explosives in the world
and is still found in
many military weapons.
During the war, one factory alone
could produce 720,000 pounds of TNT a day.
It’s considered a very stable explosive,
which is why it’s safely handled and
widely used, by World War II soldiers.
But unless Brown gets the satchel charge
inside, the damage will be insignificant.
He also notices a second bunker.
BAUMER:
He surmised that the second,
that was on top the concrete
slab, was likely an ammo bunker.
So to him it seemed logical that if anyone
came out of the back of the big bunker,
the back of the big bunker they'd
likely be going to the back bunker
to get some ammo.
- (muted) Ammunition!
- (in German, muted)
NARRATOR:
As Brown watches,
an enemy soldier emerges from a
door to the rear of the main bunker.
It’s exactly the opportunity
he’s been waiting for.
(tense music)
(dramatic music)
NARRATOR: American captain Bobbie Brown
observes a German soldier,
who leaves a large bunker then
returns with a load of ammunition shells.
BAUMER: Bobbie was stalking. He didn't
realize it but Bobbie was right there.
NARRATOR:
Brown closes in.
BAUMER: The soldier enters the
bunker with his arms full of ammo.
(thud)
So he puts the load down so
that he can close the door,
only to be looking into the
eyes of an American captain.
NARRATOR: Before the German can react,
Brown deposits his satchel charge,
with the fuse pulled, on the
floor beside the ammunition.
(explosion)
BAUMER:
When the charges went off
Bobbie Brown was not able to turn
as quickly as he had before,
and he went head over heels backwards
into the crater he'd hidden
in before the attack.
NARRATOR:
By waiting for the soldier to return,
the explosion of Brown’s
satchel charge also sets off
the ordnance the man had brought into
the bunker, amplifying the impact.
His patience paid off.
BAUMER: Brown’s attack on the third
bunker was everything he had trained for.
Bobbie lived for moments like this.
He was fearless.
The least concern he had was for himself.
He was so mission centric.
He simply was going
to do what he had to do.
NARRATOR: With the
destruction of the third bunker,
the southern slope of Crucifix Hill falls
under American control.
BAUMER: Because the command bunkers that
Bobbie Brown had gone after had fallen,
his men had been able to start to move.
They were now able to take bigger leaps,
and take the surrender of more Germans
from the different pillboxes
all over Crucifix Hill.
NARRATOR: Brown has been wounded
but his work is not complete.
BAUMER: Bobbie Brown’s mission,
in his mind, wasn't accomplished.
He had only increased the chances
that Crucifix Hill would be taken.
The other half of his mission was to
reconnoiter the back side of the hill
so he could prepare his company
for the inevitable counterattack
that would come from the Germans.
So, he stayed on the hill to do that.
NARRATOR: As Brown
crosses to the north side
(rapid gunfire)
Machine gun fire rips into the ground
around him. He dives into the dirt.
Exposed again to the enemy, even the
smallest divot provides some protection.
Brown waits for a moment
and then lifts his head.
(rapid gunfire)
The reaction from the
Germans is immediate.
Machine gun bullets whistle past.
BAUMER: He wanted to understand
what the direction of that fire was,
so he could best position his forces
to know where the counterattacks
were likely to come from.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: Brown drops his
head and removes his helmet.
BAUMER: This time what he decides is take
and put his helmet on his finger
and wave it around. To taunt the
Germans, and that obviously draws fire.
NARRATOR: Brown has his answer. The
Germans are positioned to counterattack,
but he can’t do anything from here.
(rapid gunfire)
(rapid gunfire)
Brown makes his way
back to his command group.
(silence)
NARRATOR: He reports the
position of the German guns.
BROWN (muted): We need a full barrage!
NARRATOR: And orders an
artillery strike to the south.
(muted) Don't let up!
Scatter for effect!
NARRATOR: He also
informs his commanding officers
they have made it to
the top of Crucifix Hill.
It’s only been 40 minutes from
the start of Brown’s assault.
He will not let the hill be taken back.
(explosion)
(explosions)
Brown’s regiment needs
to consolidate its gains.
(explosions)
Clear the remaining pillboxes and move
units up to hold the captured positions.
Only when this important work is complete,
does he allow his wounds to be treated.
Later that night, Brown proves right.
The Germans launch a
significant counterattack,
which he and his men fight off.
And in the morning, the 18th infantry
regiment still holds Crucifix Hill.
For his bravery and fearless leadership,
Bobbie Brown earns the
highest military award
a soldier can
receive for actions in combat:
the Congressional Medal
Of Honor, after the war.
The meeting was held in the
east room at the White House.
President Harry Truman was going to bestow
the honor upon Bobbie Brown,
and as the story went, when he put the
medal around Bobbie Brown's neck,
the President said to him, “I’d give up
being President to be awarded this medal,”
and Bobbie Brown took that in stride,
still being the straight shooter that
he was, said to the President,
“You know you're lying Mr. President.”
NARRATOR:
In later years,
his injuries kept him in constant
pain and led to depression.
In 1971, Brown died by suicide.
The capture of Crucifix Hill
led to the encirclement,
and finally, the surrender, of
Aachen on October 21st, 1944.
Generalleutnant Gerhard Graf von Schwerin,
the commander of the Aachen
garrison in September, is blamed.
LIEB: Schwerin is held responsible
for the disaster at Aachen,
and Hitler probably
wants to court-martial him.
But Schwerin is protected by
all his military superiors,
so that Hitler, more or less,
forgets this story,
and Schwerin is later posted
to the Italian front,
out of sight, out of mind for Hitler.
NARRATOR: Aachen is the
first major German city to fall.
LIEB: The fall of Aachen is a major blow
for the Nazis and for the German people,
because now, you have got the Americans
standing on German soil in the west.
And at the same time, you've got the
Soviets capturing parts of east Prussia.
So, war has now come onto German soil.
NARRATOR: But as the Autumn sets
in and the weather gets worse
LIEB: German morale improves
again because in the east, the Soviets,
and in the west, the Allies,
both their advance stalls.
NARRATOR: And the war in Europe would
still rage for six more months.