Nazi Megastructures "season - 2" (6/6) : Hitler's Siegfried Line
For educational purposes
The campaign to breach Hitler's 400 mile-long Siegfried Line took more than six months and cost the American forces 140,000 casualties.
The campaign to breach Hitler's 400 mile-long Siegfried Line took more than six months and cost the American forces 140,000 casualties.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:0012,000 Nazi bunkers, 400 miles of tank traps and hidden underground fortresses.
00:11It was one of the most formidable defenses ever built in Europe.
00:14Built to intimidate their enemies and protect the sacred soil of the fatherland.
00:20Our forces must fight for every inch of ground.
00:29The sheer scale, the sheer nerve and arrogance of thinking up such a project is quite breathtaking.
00:36The Allies campaigned to crack these defenses raged for six months.
00:42This place is armed to the teeth.
00:45And resulted in some of the biggest and bloodiest battles of World War II.
00:49The enemy must be destroyed.
00:57This is Hitler's Siegfried Line.
01:02The biggest construction projects of World War II, ordered by Hitler to secure world
01:08domination.
01:09Now they survive as dark reminders of the Führer's fanatical military ambition.
01:15These are the secrets of the Nazi megastructures.
01:43November 1944, five months after D-Day.
01:56Germans are battling to stop the Allied advance across Europe.
02:00But they're in retreat and now face an Allied assault on Germany itself.
02:08Twenty-one-year-old German Army private Fritz Tillmans is on the front line, fighting to
02:13defend the fatherland.
02:17His life and the future of Nazi Germany now depends on one of Hitler's most ambitious
02:21megastructures.
02:30Called the Siegfried Line by the Allies, this network of deadly defenses is known to the
02:35Germans as the West Wall.
02:40If the line is breached, the Allies are one step closer to Berlin, and winning the war.
02:52Former Lieutenant and Infantry Commander Patrick Berry is exploring what remains of the fortifications.
02:58The Siegfried Line defenses are some of the most complex defenses ever built.
03:02They're designed in belts and to create defense in depth.
03:05And they consist of concrete bunkers, log line trenches, fortresses, hundreds of miles
03:10of barbed wire, and thousands of mines.
03:15It's stretched all the way from the north of Germany's western border down to the south.
03:19And it was part of Hitler's plan to make the western part of Germany impregnable.
03:25The story of the Siegfried Line starts in 1936, when Hitler makes a decisive move towards
03:32world domination.
03:36In total defiance of World War I's Versailles peace settlement, he stations troops in the
03:41Rhineland.
03:46The Allies had banned the German military from this industrial border zone to prevent further
03:51European conflict.
03:55Hitler's master plan hinges on re-militarizing the Rhineland, and the construction of massive
04:00defenses.
04:04Hitler's very keen to defend his western frontier, because he has big plans.
04:10And those plans involve German expansion.
04:13But he sees that expansion taking place to the east.
04:19What he feels is that it's Germany's manifest destiny to take territory.
04:25And he's going to do that in places like Poland and the Ukraine.
04:28And so defending his western frontier allows him to do that to the east without worrying
04:36about attack from the western powers.
04:41Hitler starts construction on a series of fortifications that will eventually stretch
04:45400 miles across Germany's western border.
04:49It's an interlocking system of tank traps, anti-personnel devices, trenches, pillboxes,
04:56and subterranean command centers.
05:01The Siegfried Line is what is known as a defense in depth.
05:04Defense in depth doesn't rely on a single line of fortification.
05:07It's not a single line of trenches.
05:09Rather it is a series of interlocking defensive zones.
05:13As an enemy advances into a defense in depth, the way that the defensive zones and obstacles
05:18are structured forces to take certain paths into pre-planned killing grounds.
05:23As the attackers are drawn deeper into the maze of defenses, they're stripped of their
05:28supporting armor and artillery.
05:31Exposed and isolated, they can be easily eliminated.
05:39Hitler makes the Siegfried Line a national priority, and in May 1938 brings in engineer
05:44Dr. Fritz Todt to oversee the works.
05:50Modest and unassuming, Todt is not your typical Nazi.
05:57But as the creator of the world-famous Autobahn road system, he's proved that he can think
06:02big, which is just what Hitler wants for the defense of the Third Reich.
06:09Herr Oberleinführer, the fortifications will be complete before the start of winter,
06:16including the extra armor and concrete structures you ordered.
06:23Two hundred eighty-seven thousand workers are now assigned to this project from our
06:29organization alone.
06:33Excellent.
06:35Hitler wants the fortifications ready in just four months, to coincide with plans to invade
06:46Czechoslovakia in October 1938.
06:53Todt is authorized to call upon all the resources that Germany has to offer.
06:59Todt throws everything at the project.
07:00I mean, all other major construction projects, which are underway in the Reich, are canceled.
07:05They're put on hold.
07:06A vast amount of manpower, virtually every single civil engineer in the country, is diverted
07:10to feed this one big project of the Siegfried Line.
07:19With Todt in charge, construction moves forward at a rapid rate.
07:24The Siegfried Line development is a hugely, hugely ambitious project.
07:29I mean, the amount of concrete involved, the amount of manpower involved, the cost involved
07:34is truly phenomenal.
07:37Nothing like this has ever been built in Germany before.
07:45Battlefield archaeologist Dr. Tony Pollard is near the German border with Belgium.
07:51He's searching for evidence of how Fritz Todt engineered Hitler's Siegfried Line.
07:57This looks like a hedge line, the edge of any field, beautiful rolling agricultural
08:01landscape.
08:02But when you get into it, what you find are these huge concrete chunks.
08:09They're known as dragon's teeth, and these are anti-tank defences, and they're one of
08:13the characteristic components of the Siegfried Line.
08:18Tanks roll forward and become trapped on the dragon's teeth.
08:23The hull of the vehicle is exposed, and can then be targeted with explosives.
08:29Here's a broken tooth, but it gives us a great idea of how these things were constructed.
08:34They would take wooden moulds, put in the iron reinforcing rods, and then pour in the
08:39concrete.
08:42This is just one tooth, but there are thousands of them, a massive undertaking.
08:46You're looking at 193 tonnes of this iron per kilometre of dragon's teeth.
08:535,500 cubic metres of concrete for every kilometre.
08:58But dragon's teeth are just the beginning.
09:02Hitler also orders the construction of another 10,000 bunkers.
09:06The Siegfried Line is hugely ambitious.
09:08Its sheer scale, the sheer nerve and arrogance, almost, of thinking up such a project is quite
09:14breathtaking.
09:17The Siegfried Line bunkers range in size and style.
09:21There are simple concrete shelters, machine gun emplacements, and then the enormous and
09:26highly sophisticated underground forts, known as beaver bunkers.
09:33The Siegfried Line is made up of a huge number of installations, and among the most impressive
09:38of those are the subterranean beaver bunkers.
09:43And this is one of them, the cat's head.
09:52Though unassuming at ground level, the Katzenkopf bunker is one of the largest and most complex
09:59fortifications ever built by Nazi engineers.
10:06It's one of 32 command and control centres, placed at key tactical points along the German
10:11border.
10:19Four storeys deep, this sprawling underground lair contains everything an 80-man troop needs
10:25to be self-sufficient for up to 30 days.
10:38There would have been a steel turret here, 30 centimetres thick, and mounted inside it
10:45were a pair of twinned machine guns.
10:48This thing would have been capable of turning 360 degrees, and if you looked out you'd have
10:53an amazing view of the valley, so this could spray machine gun fire across the entire landscape.
10:59But this isn't the only armament that this bunker had.
11:03In another, there's a flamethrower, or a Flammenwerfer, as the Germans describe it, and that could
11:09fire flames for over 80 metres, again around a 360 degree circle.
11:15This place is armed to the teeth.
11:19But not everything in this bunker is high-tech.
11:21Whoa, I know what this is. There would have been a trap door over here, that most of the
11:29time would have been closed, but if the place was under attack, the trap door would have
11:33been lifted, and if the enemy broke through the door, they'd fall straight into this.
11:41Hitler watches closely as the Siegfried Line takes shape.
11:47He carefully stage-manages his frequent visits to the site, and projects an image of Nazi
11:54Germany as an impenetrable fortress.
11:59The Siegfried Line is a very important propaganda tool for Hitler.
12:02It demonstrates Germany's ability to muster manpower, resources, and also represents its
12:09military strength, and it's a warning shot to the West.
12:14Visiting the site once, he said, I am the greatest builder of defences of all time.
12:23March 1939. Hitler annexes Czechoslovakia.
12:29Desperate to avoid another war, and intimidated by Germany's new defences, Britain and France
12:35have agreed not to intervene.
12:45And the Siegfried Line is about to prove even more critical to Hitler's master plan.
12:53With Germany's western border finally secure, behind thousands of bunkers and gun emplacements,
13:06Hitler sets his sights east, on Poland.
13:10By the beginning of September 1939, the Siegfried Line is, to all intents and purposes, completed,
13:18and that's a huge relief for Hitler, because he's itching to get into Poland.
13:22He does invade on the 1st of September 1939.
13:31Poland falls in just four weeks.
13:34The Siegfried Line now becomes the front line for Hitler's expansion west.
13:37Once Poland's under Nazi control, he then turns his attention west, and on the 10th
13:42of May 1940, he invades Belgium, Holland, and France.
13:46France is one of the biggest military countries in the entire world, and all three countries
13:50are completely overrun within six weeks.
13:54By the summer of 1940, Nazi Germany has more than doubled in size.
14:00In the west, the Third Reich reaches the Atlantic Ocean.
14:03With all these victories, the western front is no longer on the borders of Germany, but
14:09actually on the Atlantic coast.
14:12What that means is for the Siegfried Line is, suddenly, it's no longer needed.
14:19Then in December 1941, everything changes, when Hitler declares war on America.
14:29His western border along the French coast is now at risk of Allied invasion.
14:34He orders the Siegfried Line to be dismantled, and used to strengthen the Atlantic wall.
14:42And they take away the doors, they take away the ventilation systems, and look at this.
14:46This huge steel blast door has just been ripped out and recycled.
14:50The gun mounts, anything that's of use, and it's all shipped over to the Atlantic wall
14:55to bolster its defences.
14:57But the problem is, that weakens the Siegfried Line.
15:01The German army abandon the bunkers, dragon's teeth, and trenches of the Siegfried Line.
15:07The once formidable structures fall into disrepair.
15:14With the war now playing out on a global scale, hundreds of thousands of young men are conscripted
15:25into the German army.
15:30Among them, Fritz Tillmanns, who recalls the war in his memoirs.
15:36On the 13th of April 1942, I was drafted into the Wehrmacht.
15:44After just 12 weeks of training, I was sent to the Eastern Front to build defensive positions
15:49and fight the Russians.
15:53I didn't realise at the time, that these experiences would stand me in good stead to
15:57serve on the Siegfried Line.
16:02While the war rages, the Siegfried Line is virtually forgotten about.
16:08Until D-Day.
16:09On the 6th of June 1944, 160,000 Allied troops storm the beaches at Normandy and overrun
16:19the Atlantic wall.
16:24Hitler has made a terrible mistake.
16:26It's all very well taking all this stuff from the Siegfried Line, as long as you don't
16:29ever need it again.
16:30The problem is that the Allies overrun the Atlantic wall, the Germans are in full retreat
16:34from Normandy, and suddenly they're heading back to the Siegfried Line, which is nothing
16:40more than a concrete shell.
16:42And it's made worse by the fact that so many of the things they need are just simply gone
16:45forever.
16:46The Western Front must be strengthened at once.
16:52I want an immediate report on the organisation of labour and the progress of construction.
16:58Our forces must defend every inch of ground from our enemy.
17:06That is an order.
17:11The Nazis race to reinforce the Siegfried Line.
17:17Hitler also brings in his best defensive tactician, Field Marshal Walther Modow.
17:24He is a ruthless and actually not particularly well-loved commander by the officers.
17:29The men like him.
17:30They nickname him the front pig, because he spends a lot of time visiting the soldiers
17:34on the front, and he's very careful to make sure that he's taking risks that his soldiers
17:38take.
17:39On a number of occasions, he actually personally leads defences with pistols in his hand.
17:43Because of this sort of aggression and his lack of finesse, Hitler particularly likes
17:47him.
17:49On the 15th of August 1944, Hitler summons Modow to the Wolf's Lair.
17:56My favourite general, I have something for you.
18:10You are my lion of defence.
18:16For your accomplishments in restoring the front in central Poland.
18:27After decorating Modow, Hitler reveals his plan.
18:31I have a new assignment for you.
18:33Jawohl, mein Führer.
18:35You are to take over the command of Army Group West with immediate effect.
18:41The defence of the fatherland's western border is in your hands, Herr General.
18:49Under Modow's command, the Nazi war effort in the West is now focused on the Siegfried
18:53Line.
19:00After storming the beaches at Normandy, the British and other allies push north along
19:04the coast to liberate Belgium and Holland, while the Americans head straight for the
19:09Siegfried Line, to strike at the heart of Germany.
19:17Modow waits for the Americans at the point most prone to attack.
19:22Everything in order, men?
19:25A zone called the Aachen Gap.
19:32The Aachen Gap is a narrow corridor between the city of Aachen and the densely wooded
19:39Hürtgen Forest.
19:42A historic invasion route, it's the most direct way into Germany's industrial heartland.
19:51Rich in coal, steel and iron resources, the Ruhr Valley is a vital tactical position.
19:57They really need to keep Germany intact, especially the industrial regions of the Ruhr Valley.
20:02If the Americans take those, the war is effectively lost.
20:05So Modow is put in, effectively, to save Germany.
20:09Modow is pleased with what he finds.
20:12Exactly! The position is fantastic!
20:18The combination of bunkers and dense forest around Aachen will cause major problems for
20:23the Americans.
20:28The remains of these fortifications can still be found in the forests of western Germany
20:33today.
20:35In the Hürtgen Forest, Hitler has engineered a nightmare for the Allies.
20:40This bombed out bunker mightn't look like much now, but 70 years ago it was a pretty
20:43formidable position for the Allies to have to take, and it cost them a lot of casualties
20:47in doing so.
20:48It was bunkers and pillboxes like this that formed the heart of the Siegfried Line.
20:52This one would have been complemented by another one, perhaps 200 yards up there, and
20:56another one 200 yards over there, all interlocking with each other so they could support each
21:01other as best as possible.
21:05This is one of almost 3,500 Type 10 bunkers that Modow strengthens in preparation.
21:14So here we've got a gunning portal where they could have put any kind of machine gun or
21:18maybe perhaps a larger calibre weapon here to fire out on the attackers.
21:22We've got the air intake duct here, and we know they're very keen to keep the building
21:26gas tight, because they're very afraid of gas attack.
21:29And then we move in, where you would have had a heavy, thick door, perhaps up to between
21:3320 and 50 mil thick, which would have closed tightly against this to keep the structure
21:40airtight.
21:43Modow's troops dig in, waiting for the American attack.
21:49Among them is Private Fritz Tillmans.
21:51He's already battle-weary from serving on the Eastern Front.
22:00In 1944, they were desperate for experienced soldiers to fight on the Western Front.
22:07I'd fought in Russia, but been injured by shrapnel and admitted to hospital.
22:12As soon as possible, I was discharged and sent straight to the Hürtgen Forest.
22:22Five years after being built, Hitler's mighty Siegfried Line will finally be tested in battle.
22:37On the 2nd of October 1944, American troops launch their attack north of the historic
22:43city of Aachen.
22:46After annihilating the Germans at Normandy, the Americans believe they're fighting a broken
22:51second-rate army.
23:00By this point of the war in Europe, the Allies had numerical advantage over the Germans.
23:04They had air superiority, they had more men on the ground, and importantly, they outnumbered
23:09German tanks by about 10 to 1.
23:13What the Germans had was the Siegfried Line.
23:17It quickly becomes clear that Aachen is a focus of Nazi resistance.
23:23Bypassing it is not an option.
23:25The Americans will have to take the city.
23:30Their strategy is a two-pronged assault on the Siegfried Line from the north and south.
23:37Once they've encircled the city, they can pulverize it with bombs and shells.
23:42If they succeed, Aachen will be the first major German city to fall.
23:49But the Nazis have taken extra care to protect this strategic city.
23:57There are more dragon's teeth, reinforced bunkers, and bigger anti-tank obstacles.
24:11This is an anti-tank wall, part of the defences of the Siegfried Line, and much grander than
24:19the dragon's teeth.
24:22Wow.
24:24I can see, stepping back, that it's at the base of a hill, and what it does, as part
24:30of the original design of the Siegfried Line, what it does at really minimal expense, it
24:35makes this hill theoretically impregnable.
24:42What they've done is use the terrain intelligently.
24:45It's that combination of blocky defences in tactically important locations.
24:51So this is right at the foot of a hill, so it effectively stops any advance upslope.
24:57It's an incredibly impressive structure.
25:05After three weeks of hard fighting, the Americans overwhelm the tank defences.
25:11They're close to encircling Aachen.
25:14Model must act fast to save the city.
25:18We must stop them surrounding Aachen.
25:24The Führer has commanded that we will not give up one inch of ground.
25:31His command is sacred.
25:36Fight to the last man.
25:39If necessary, be buried in the ruins.
25:45In the 116th Panzer and the 3rd Panzer-Grenadier Divisions.
25:52Yes, General Field Marshal.
25:55Nicknamed the Fireman, Model is the man Hitler sends in to rescue the Third Reich from desperate
26:00situations.
26:03But even his tactical expertise is no match for the American firepower.
26:08Model really just doesn't have enough armour to stave off this great American attack.
26:13The Americans have such an advantage in armour and firepower that Model's limited resources
26:18simply can't keep up.
26:21On the 11th of October, the Americans unleash hell.
26:27In a single hour, artillery battalions fire 5,000 shells into the city, while Allied air
26:32forces drop over 62 tonnes of bombs.
26:39They finally blast their way into Aachen.
26:42For the first time in World War II, the Nazis are fighting for a major German city.
26:50The Germans knew this town like the back of their hands and they used it to their advantage.
26:59They used everything it had to offer as a form of defence.
27:03They were in the cellars.
27:04They turned them into bunkers.
27:05If the Americans passed, the Germans would pop out and attack them from the rear.
27:09The Americans were forced to attack them with grenades and flamethrowers.
27:12Imagine what the guys in there suffered during that fight.
27:15They were in the sewers.
27:17The Americans had to block up the manholes to stop them popping up.
27:20They took to the rooftops as snipers.
27:22They even dragged pieces of artillery up to the upper stories to rain fire down onto the
27:26Americans.
27:27They made them pay for every inch of this town.
27:34It's a brutal battle which takes a huge human toll.
27:40More than 10,000 American and German troops killed, wounded or missing in action.
27:4780% of the historic city of Aachen destroyed.
27:56American forces have punched through a small section of the Siegfried Line and captured
28:00their first major German city.
28:03But the fight for the Siegfried Line is far from over.
28:08The Americans do ultimately capture Aachen after a protracted attack and a lot of very
28:12dirty urban fighting.
28:14But that's not the end of it for the Americans.
28:15They now have to go through the Hürtgen Forest.
28:18And the Hürtgen Forest is a very complex defence in which they have no advantage.
28:25The Americans are about to stumble straight into Modell's death trap, the Hürtgen Forest.
28:37On the 2nd of November 1944, American troops are in the forest flanking the city of Aachen.
28:49Modell prepares his men.
28:52After losing Aachen, the situation looks desperate.
28:56But Modell has built his reputation on winning against the odds.
29:04Everyone must understand the gravity of the situation.
29:13This moment will be enough to distinguish the true men from the inept ones.
29:28Every soldier has the same responsibility.
29:37If one falls, another must be ready to take his place.
30:00The battle moving into the Hürtgen Forest feeds into Modell's hands because not only
30:04have you got the fixed defences of the bunkers and the mines and gun positions and all the
30:08rest of it, you've also got the natural defences of the forest.
30:15The two great American strengths in firepower, tanks and close air support aircraft are stripped
30:21away.
30:22They simply can't operate in the Hürtgen Forest.
30:24The trees are too tightly packed, the ground is too close.
30:32The Hürtgen Forest's rugged terrain levels the playing field, giving the Germans a fighting
30:37chance against the superior military might of the Americans.
30:42Get ready, lads.
30:46Hans, are you ready?
30:50Ja.
30:51Fritz Tillmans recalls the start of the battle.
30:56Our troops' mission was to defend the village of Schmidt, a key position on our supply route.
31:03We could see the Americans across the valley were trying to attack with tanks and infantry.
31:09There were so many of them, and we couldn't believe how they just kept coming.
31:16Men like Fritz Tillmans and his units would have been dug in in this area, holding firm.
31:23And here could well have been a fighting position.
31:27If you get down here, you can see that basically this would be a decent enough position for
31:33a machine gun.
31:40You can see over the brow of the hill, it can support the other positions which would
31:44have been over there and down that way, and crucially, there would have been another big
31:48bunker position up in that hill.
31:50So it's all part of an interlocking defensive plan, trying to make it as tough as possible
31:55for the Allies to get into this area.
31:59Conditions are cold and wet.
32:01The fighting is brutal.
32:03Two US regiments are completely wiped out.
32:10GIs call this dense forest the death factory.
32:20Every two weeks, a new wave of American troops is thrown against the Siegfried Line.
32:26But they just can't break through.
32:29It's one, two.
32:33These look like foxholes that were dug by the Americans here.
32:36We've got a few of them.
32:40It's basically a simple prepared position dug by infantry soldiers.
32:43That's all it is.
32:44Compared to the Germans, you've got concrete defences on the Siegfried Line.
32:49All the poor, bloody infantrymen here can do is dig in with their spades, you know,
32:54and their shovels, their small shovels.
33:00Mödl's tactics are working, but he's not content with just holding the Americans back.
33:07He wants to destroy them.
33:09Ensure that troop Wegelein is sent to the Hürtgenfront immediately.
33:15I demand total dedication.
33:18The enemy must be destroyed.
33:22Mödl is considered to be a ruthless commander.
33:25Hitler says to one of his staff officers at one point,
33:28By God, did you see that man?
33:30I trust him, but I wouldn't want to serve under him.
33:48Determined to turn the war for Hitler, Mödl orders his men to drive the Americans out
34:09of the Hürtgen and Germany.
34:29The 8th of November, 1944.
34:33German Army Private Fritz Tillmans has no choice but to leave the safety of the Siegfried
34:36line and enter the fray.
34:44We'd seen a huge number of GIs digging in the day before, and we only had a strength
34:49of about 30 to 40 men, many of whom were not experienced soldiers.
34:55I had serious doubts about our attack.
34:57It seemed like a suicide mission.
35:05The problem now is the shoes on the other foot, and attacking is very different to defending.
35:14Without the protection of the Siegfried line, Tillman's unit becomes vulnerable.
35:19We received orders to push our attack further along the east side of the valley.
35:27The first few hundred yards went fine, but then we came under artillery fire and we had
35:31our first casualties.
35:54One of my best friends was badly wounded.
35:57He died later at the first aid station.
36:06The Germans quickly retreat back through the forest.
36:14Things are getting pretty desperate.
36:15The conditions are horrendous here.
36:16We know that the quality of the troops is declining.
36:19They're losing a lot of senior NCOs, which are non-commissioned officers, basically leaders,
36:24so they're not as well led.
36:26And then supplies are running out, too.
36:27They've got fewer and fewer ammunition, they don't have enough artillery shells to support
36:31them, and crucially, they don't have enough of their kind of personal fighting equipment,
36:35like sleeping systems and also rations.
36:42Field Marshal Model's counterattack may have failed, but the Siegfried line is still holding
36:48firm.
36:49The Hürtgen forest is one of the longest and bloodiest battles the US Army ever fights,
36:55and the truly horrific costs aren't really borne out on the ground.
37:01They haven't advanced that far.
37:03The Siegfried line, where the positions are, and their forest defences, are still largely
37:07intact, so they haven't fulfilled their objectives.
37:12In just under five months, the Allies have liberated over 220,000 square miles of Western
37:17Europe.
37:20But now they've stalled at the Siegfried line.
37:24The battle of the Hürtgen forest ends in a kind of bitter, bloody stalemate, in which
37:30casualties on both sides are absolutely enormous.
37:33About 30,000 men on both sides are killed.
37:37Critically, the stalemate in the Hürtgen forest has bought Hitler time.
37:44He's been secretly planning a major offensive just 20 miles further south, and is moving
37:50troops into position, ready to launch them at the Allies.
37:55The man he puts in touch with is the man who so tenaciously defended the Siegfried line
38:02up to that point, Field Marshal Model.
38:07On the 16th of December, Hitler's miracle worker, Field Marshal Model, puts the Führer's
38:13audacious plan into action.
38:18250,000 German soldiers, 2,000 artillery pieces, and 1,000 tanks, assault a 75-mile stretch
38:30of the American line.
38:39The plan is to surge forward through Belgium and drive the Allies back into the sea.
38:50It would become known as the Battle of the Bulge.
39:01December 1944, the German counterattack across the Siegfried line is Hitler's last roll
39:07of the dice.
39:10Hitler, in all his irrationality, still thinks he can somehow scrape a victory or some advantage
39:16at the end of the war with an offensive.
39:20Catches the Americans by surprise, and actually does gain some initial advantage and some
39:24initial advances.
39:25Really, it's never going to succeed.
39:29The German forces can't sustain their ferocious momentum.
39:34Outside of the defensive advantage offered by the Hürtgen forest and the Siegfried line,
39:38the Germans really don't have the capability to launch an attack.
39:41They don't have sufficient air power, they don't have sufficient artillery, and they're
39:44running out of fuel.
39:49Once American reinforcements arrive, they quickly halt the Nazi advance.
39:59Hitler's desperate gamble to change the course of the war falters in just three weeks.
40:05The great offensive that Hitler's planned, that Models carried out, has proved a busted
40:09flush and they now have no choice but to retreat back away from the Siegfried line, abandon
40:15it and fall back behind the next great obstacle, which is the river Rhine.
40:21The Allies coordinate a massive final push on all fronts.
40:29But with the German troops now in retreat, the Siegfried line falls at a rapid rate.
40:35Model no longer has the ability to counter-attack, to stop those breaches.
40:39When he can't plug the holes, because he doesn't have the tanks, the material and the men to
40:43do it, then the line becomes pointless.
40:46It can't be defended.
40:47It's just a bunch of furniture out in the forest.
40:56For all its technology and weaponry, the concrete fortress that is the Katzenkopf bunker
41:02is overrun in a day, and the reason is simple.
41:08It's all well and good having a really impressive defensive system like the Siegfried line,
41:12but you need the soldiers to man it.
41:14And by the time the Allies are knocking on Germany's front door, their military machine
41:19is pretty much broken, and Hitler just doesn't have the resources to throw at it.
41:24And they can't stave off the inevitable.
41:27Although the Siegfried line was a really strong defensive network, ultimately it was only
41:31as good as the men who occupied it, and when they lost their fighting spirit, it was easily
41:35overcome.
41:39Just six weeks after the Americans break through the final Siegfried line defences, Hitler
41:45commits suicide, and the end of the war swiftly follows.
41:53As the Allies advance towards Berlin, they capture Private Fritz Tillmann's.
42:15Field Marshal Model refuses to surrender to the British.
42:21Upon hearing he could face charges for war crimes, he shoots himself.
42:43Described by one Allied commander as the strongest net of fortifications ever constructed by
42:48the human race, the Siegfried line cost the Americans 140,000 casualties, but ultimately
42:59it was an overly ambitious project that the German forces simply couldn't maintain.
43:05The truth is with the Siegfried line, and it applies to so many of the big Nazi projects,
43:11is that Germany is just resource poor.
43:13They don't have enough of anything, and so they start these huge great projects, but
43:17they just don't have the manpower or the materials to really see it through.
43:23This is certainly the case of the Siegfried line.
43:25It's just too vast, it's too big an obstacle to effectively man.
43:34Many of the structures along the Siegfried line were so solidly built that the Allies
43:38found them impossible to demolish.
43:43to one of the biggest construction projects ever undertaken on German soil, and a reminder
43:49of the men who lost their lives fighting to defend and destroy it.