Gerhard Wilck (17 June 1898 – 5 April 1985) was the German commander who defended the German city of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

in the

Battle of Aachen The Battle of Aachen was a battle of World War II, fought by American and German forces in and around Aachen, Germany, between 12 September and 21 October 1944. The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network ...

. He surrendered on 21 October 1944 against the orders of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, after a stubborn defence and bitter

urban warfare Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the p ...

References

* Ambrose, S. E. (1997). '' Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945''. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. * Dear, I., Foot, M. R. D., & Dear, I. (2005). ''The Oxford companion to World War II''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1898 births 1985 deaths People from Lubawa German Army officers of World War II Military personnel from West Prussia German Army personnel of World War I {{Germany-mil-bio-stub