Throughout the Second World War, there were a number of acts of espionage in which spies
conducted undercover work to get one up over their enemies.
One of the most daring German commnando’s was Otto Skorzeny who during the conflict
even managed to help free Benito Mussolini from captivity, with Hitler ordering the secret
mission to raid his prison.
Skorzeny had many different roles during the war, and he was tasked with Adolf Hitler to
capture a number of bridges over the Meuser River during the Battle of the Bulge, which
was considered Hitler’s last roll of the dice.
During this mission, German soldiers wearing captured enemy uniforms were supposed to inflict
confusion with the allies, and this mission was supposed to cause chaos with the Allies.
However following this there were a number of executions, and these were carried out
by the allied armies such as the US army.
But Skorzeny escaped execution, but what is the story of operation Greif and the executions
that sought to punish those German soldiers involved in it?
Join us today as we find out and to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Otto Skorzeny was one of Hitler’s favourite and most trusted commando’s and special
officers.
He had kidnapped the son of Hungary’s Regent, and when he got back to Germany he then met
with Hitler inside of the Wolf’s Lair on the 22nd October 1944.
Hitler was in a bouyant mood despite the fact the war had at this point turned against him.
He then said that he had intelligence saying that the Americans had captured German tanks,
and that these with German markings on were then being used in the Battle of Aachen, and
Hitler wanted Skorzeny to establish his own unit using captured Allied vehicles to confuse.
He was given additional instruction to form a special brigade, Panzer Brigade 150, and
their job was to capture one of more of the bridges over the Meuse River, before they
were blown up.
Hitler said that this needed to be accomplished very quickly with as few losses as possible,
and he said this would be done more efficiently if Skorzeny’s men were dressed in American
Army uniforms.
He said that the use of disguise could help fool the enemy, and he said, ‘I want you
to command a group of American and British troops and get them across the Meuse and seize
one of the bridges.
Not, my dear Skorzeny, real Americans or British.
I want you to create special units wearing American and British uniforms.
They will travel in captured Allied tanks.
Think of the confusion you could cause!
I envisage a whole string of false orders which will upset communications and attack
morale.’
But Skorzeny knew that under The Hague convention, that those of his men who were captured using
enemy uniforms could be executed as spies, and he had discussions with his superiors
about this.
Skorzeny had only 6 weeks to recruit and train the brand new unit for Hitler’s Operation
Greif.
He quickly sent his plans, and asked for 3300 soldiers, and he was then given the go ahead.
The Wehrmacht wanted to use soldiers who had a good knowledge of the English language,
and who knew American dialect, and this information then was passed to the Allies and they found
out about this secret group who were aimed in disrupting.
The Panzer Brigade 150 needed American vehicles weapons and uniforms, and despite wanting
15 tanks, 20 armoured vehicles, 100 jeeps, 40 motorcycles, 120 trucks and many British
and American uniforms, the Germans fell short of these targets.
The equipment was not sufficient, and two Shermans were delivered but these were in
poor condition and Skorzeny had to use Panther tanks instead and his own armoured cars.
They were given foreign equipment from the wrong armies, with Russian weapons being given
to the unit, and Skorzeny only had 10 men who spoke good English, and more of them were
clueless with the language of the allies.
It was not a good start, and Skorzeny then reduced the numbers, and he gathered the 150
best English speakers into a commando unit he named Einheit Stielau.
Eventually 2500 men were gathered, and the equipment and vehicles that were given were
painted up in American markings as best as they could.
The Panther tanks were disguised as M10 tank destroyers with modifications taking place.
There were rumours that they were to relieve besieged French towns, and they were given
three missions.
That demolition squads of 5 or 6 men were to destroy bridges ammo dumps and fuel stores,
that Recon patrols were to work on both sides of the Meuse River and pass on rubbish orders
to the Americans they met, and they were also asked to remove minefield warnings and reverse
road signs, causing minor havoc.
The final mission was that lead units would work closely with attacking units to destroy
American telephone wires and radio stations, and to issue false orders.
Skorzeny would later recount the activities of the unit, and he said that during the first
few days of attack, 4 recon units and 2 demolition groups were sent out along with three units
that accompanied the 1st SS Panzer Division, 12th SS Panzer Division and the 12th Volksgrenadier
Division.
One commando team entered malmedy, and another persuaded an American unit to withdraw from
Poteau in Belgium.
Further teams switched road signs and sent the Americans in the wrong direction.
But the Americans then began to suspect sabotage, and they then suspected most people.
They began to ask Americans they came across questions they would only know the answers
to, for example questions about baseball and other trivia.
The suspicion led to one man being held at gunpoint for saying that the Chicago Cubs
were in the America.
One captain also spent a week in a lock up as he was caught wearing boots that were German.
The Skorzeny group caused paranoia and hysteria within the Americans, and in total 44 German
soldiers in American uniforms were sent through American territory.
All of them but 8 came back and returned, but the element of surprise had gone, and
they then went back to wearing German uniforms and stealth.
The confusion caused by the mission was that the Americans began to treat anyone with suspicion,
and a German commando team was captured.
The germans were caught when they gave an incorrect password, and there was a rumour
going around that the Germans and Skorzeny had intended to take Dwight Eisenhower captive.
But those who were captured faced a very harsh death sentence with the executions being the
Americans.
The fact that the Germans were captured wearing the enemy uniform meant that they were treated
in the same way as spies.
German General Anton Dostler ordered the execution of some American soldiers who had been caught
wearing enemy uniforms, but this was not actually the case.
Dostler had them executed based on this premise.
But these were shot on the basis that they were accused of being enemy spies.
But three members of Operation Greif, named Pernass, Billing and Schmidt were taken to
a military trial and Henri-Chapelle on the 21st December 1944.
They were then sentenced to death for their sabotage and spy work.
There were a further three Germans who were tried and were sentenced to death 2 days later,
and 7 more were tried on the 26th December.
The final three captured were tried on the 31st December, and all of those members of
Skorzeny’s group who were captured were sentenced to death and were to be executed.
The spies and soldiers were all to be executed in the same way, and they were to be shot
by a firing squad with the executioners’ being the US First Army.
Firing Squads were organised and in different areas the Americans made firing ranges which
were created to execute the saboteurs.
In one execution of 3 German officers, there were three wooden stakes which were made against
a small concrete building.
The three men were led to their stake and their execution post, and they were then tied
by their feet and their arms, being tied behind their backs before they were secured to the
post by a rope.
They were dressed in the clothes they had been arrested in, and a marker was then secured
to their chests to show where the firing squad were to shoot and aim.
The men were then blindfolded, and the American military policemen then stood back, as around
20 metres away there was the firing squad armed with their rifles.
They were told to ready themselves, and the signal was then given by a commander, and
they shot straight into their targets with accuracy, killing the German soldiers who
were involved in Skorzeny’s units.
All of those arrested and found in American uniform were executed in the same way by firing
squads like this.
One of the leaders of Operation Greif Gunther Schulz was later executed on the 14th June
1945 by a firing squad made up of the US 9th Army.
Skorzeny would be tried as a war criminal and was accused of war crimes relating to
his crimes during the Battle of the Bulge and this operation.
He and 9 other members of the group were charged with improperly using US Uniforms, ‘by entering
into combat disguised therewith and treacherously firing upon and killing members of the armed
forced of the United States.’
But the defendants were acquitted, and Skorzeny managed to escape any form of punishment.
He would later escape from a prison camp, and he became a military advisor to Argentinanian
President Peron, who let many former Nazis settle inside of his lands.
But the executions of the men of Operation Greif were swift and were swift and brutal,
with firing squads firing straight into the saboteurs.
Thanks for watching
To support our channel please make sure to subscribe
Thanks for watching