German troops captured by the US 102nd Division

The prisoners are all young men some of them just boys from the German 59th Division. The German Division had suffered dreadful casualties in the previous fighting around Aachen and at one point was down to around 1000 men. As with all German units replacements were often just young boys or old men conscripted into service with little equipment or training. They were often put into the line to help absorb an nitial attack before the more seasoned troops could be brought up to counter attack any lodgement