Wife Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 The strangest battle of WW2? In my opinion, it's probably the battle of Castle Itter, fought just few days before the unconditional surrender of the Hitler's germany. Castle Itter, located in the village of Itter in Austria was fought on 5th of May 1945. The Castle was seized from it's owners by Waffen-SS General Pohl under the order from Himmler. Castle was soon transformed into a prison camp for high profile prisoners of war, whom were deemed as valuable for the Germans postwar, containing sportsmen, politicians, military high-command etc. After it was clear for Germans, that they have lost the war, Major Gangl of the German Heer wanted to free the castle of its prisoners, but was unwilling to sacrifice the few troops he had, especially in a suicidal attack on a heavily defended fortress held by the SS. He's plan was to wait for Americans to reich Wörgl and surrender to them. He soon found the American recon unit, part of the 23rd Tank Battalion under the command of Captain Lee. Gangl decided to ask Lee for help, who did not hesitate and volunteering to lead the rescue mission. They managed to set the prisoners free, but soon found out that the castle was surrendered by an Waffen SS Panzergrenadier division, who were sent there to execute German soldiers for treason. They held the castle with handful of soldiers from American army, German army, the remains of the ex. Waffen-SS prison guards and the prisoners of War until received backup from American 142nd Infantry . Major Gangl died during the battle while escorting the ex french prime minister to safety. Yeye, this is part of my course at uni (History in English) were we currently discuss about WW2. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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