"Today in WW2 history 3/5/45 The 1st US Army reaches Köln (what's left of it).   ""The German is now licked. It is merely a question of when he chooses to quit."" So said British Field Marshall 1st Viscount Alan Brooke to Eisenhower. The gamble in the Ardennes had failed. When American soldiers reached Cologne (Köln) they completely surprised the hastily trained German defenders. The city fell under American control in only two days."
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