It’s early May, 1945.
The final days of the war.
Captain Jack Lee and his men in the 23rd Tank Battalion, 12th Armored division
are located in the town of Kufstein in the Austrian Tyrol.
Suddenly around a corner a Kübelwagen appears.
Inside are 2 Germans,
but they are flying a white flag!
The Americans immediately train their M3s at the startled Germans.
Many Germans are surrendering
as everyone knows the war is all but over.
But that doesn’t stop many of the SS
who are fighting on to the bitter end.
Forced out of the Kübelwagen at gunpoint,
the decorated German Major Josef Gangl
is forced to kneel and is searched.
But he explains incredibly
that he is also a part of the Austrian resistance
against the Nazis!
He shows Lee a note written in English.
The note explains that Castle Itter
has been holding many French politicians and VIPs during the war
who were to be used as bargaining chips.
Up to now their lives have been in relative comfort,
but with the war’s end,
the SS are on their way to terminate them.
And the resistance are going to try and foil the murderous plot.
A smiling Jack Lee, an adventure lover,
sensed the weight of the moment, he rallied his men
and told them they are going on a Rescue mission!
And so began one of the most incredible episodes of the war.
The journey to Castle Itter isn’t an easy one.
They meet up with Gangl’s men.
German soldiers who are either resistance
or think their best bet is to side with the Americans.
Having to fight through several SS roadblocks and cross bridges
that are too weak for all the tanks.
The party that eventually arrives
is just 1 Sherman tank, Lee’s “Besotten Jenny”,
7 American personnel in total
and around a dozen Wehrmacht and resistance men loyal to Gangl.
At the Castle they are met by the mainly French prisoners
and an SS Captain Kurt-Siegfried Schrader
who has brought his family to the castle
and surprisingly has vowed to defend the French prisoners
even against the SS.
The French VIPs who were expecting a larger contingent of rescuers
were rather unimpressed with the somewhat
underwhelming rescue force of 1 tank,
a handful of Americans and some German soldiers.
Knowing many SS are on the way to assault the castle,
the Americans, the Wehrmacht and the SS Captain
form an unlikely alliance to defend the French VIPs.
Many of the French are elderly politicians.
Lee tells them to head to the cellar
and hide with the women and children,
but the belligerent Frenchmen said: “Non!”
and took up arms to form part of the defense force.
Schrader told Lee that
2 Pak 40 anti tank guns had been seen moving into position
in the woods outside the castle by a group of Waffen SS.
Preparing the defenses,
Lee ordered that the Besotten Jenny be backed up towards the gatehouse,
gun facing outwards.
One of the 30 caliber machine guns was removed from Besotten Jenny
and placed on the roof of the gatehouse.
The 76mm gun was readied with high explosives.
It was unlikely that they would be needed to fight against German armor
and explosive shells would work better against the infantry in an assault.
The “friendly” Germans wore a strip of dark cloth around their left arms
to identify them in the coming battle.
The defensive force took positions in various places around the castle.
They all knew that if a large party of Waffen SS assaulted Castle Itter,
what the inevitable conclusion would be…
If the battle went the wrong way before reinforcements arrived,
everyone was to retreat to the central keep
and fight hand to hand, medieval style, if necessary…
Night falls and some of the men rest.
Around 4 am, an exchange of fire occurs
but after return fire booming from Besotten Jenny’s 50 cal,
it’s silenced.
Around 8 am there’s fire from the Friendly Germans.
One of Gangl’s men has decided his loyalties are elsewhere
and fled the castle into the nearby woods.
This is a disaster.
He would of course tell the SS exactly how many men were in the castle
and where the weaknesses in defenses were.
Lee was also concerned that none of the “friendly Germans”
had actually hit the deserter.
Which had him questioning the loyalty of his new found allies.
But there was no time to worry about that.
Through binoculars, Lee saw the ominous site of over 100 SS troops
arriving in several trucks and melting into the forest
to join the siege.
Shortly after, an 88mm round slammed into the keep
swiftly followed by 20mm cannon
and the battle restarted.
The windows of the castle were shot out
and chunks of masonry fell all around as the assault continued.
Back in front of the gatehouse
a huge clang resounded
and Besotten Jenny lurched.
The old girl was hit by an anti tank round
and she was enveloped in fire.
The crew escaped and got back inside the gatehouse
just in time before the Sherman’s ammunition cooked off.
The French VIPs, mainly older men,
were calmly ignoring Lee’s orders to take cover
and decided that they too would join in the melee.
Gathering behind the parapets they covered the South side
enthusiastically firing all the time.
One of the men, Paul Reynaud, was an ex prime minister of France.
He decided he was best positioned
getting in the thick of the fire with the Americans in the gatehouse.
To the horror of the Americans and friendly Germans,
he was being reckless and exposing himself.
Unwilling to lose a French VIP in the battle,
Gangl, the German major, saw the danger
and jumped up and dashed towards the Frenchman…
a sniper spotted the opportunity and took the shot.
Lee watched as Gangl was fatally hit.
The fire from the 88 intensified
and the SS started to press their advantage.
One of the Prisoners, Jean Borotra, was an ex tennis player.
An athletic man he was known as the bounding basque.
Courageously he stepped forward and told Lee
he would vault the wall and go and get reinforcements.
Lee knew the danger
and that the chances of success were negligible but he agreed.
Disguising himself as an Austrian peasant
Borotra vaulted over the wall and melted into the forest,
immediately stumbling upon 2 SS soldiers manning a machine gun.
To the absolute astonishment of the SS Soldiers,
Borotra committed to his disguise and calmly waved,
pretended to forage for food
and then relieved himself on a nearby tree.
Waving goodbye to the dumbfounded SS
he carried on his way to get help.
The battle raged on.
A Waffen SS soldier readied a panzerfaust
and the entire SS assault force
decided that this was the moment to push forward.
Just as a Sherman the Boche Buster rolled into view
along with truckloads of American troops
and Borotra sporting an American uniform!
The SS knew their mission to terminate the French VIPs was doomed
and retreated back into the forest.
Gangl was honored as a national hero
for his role in the Austrian resistance after his death.
Jack Lee was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
SS Captain Schrader who had protected the prisoners and helped the defense
was imprisoned for 2 years.
A somewhat lesser punishment than he would have otherwise received.
The book “The Last Battle” by Stephen Harding
accurately lays out the details of this incredible battle
We hope you like the story.
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