The Last Battle: When U.S. And German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe
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Resistance (Austrian)
forms after Anschluss, 10, 73
centers in Tyrol, 10, 74–75
gathers intelligence for OSS, 74
with Austrian-born military personnel, 74–77, 87–88
initially avoids guerilla warfare, 73
in Wörgl, led by Mayr, 76–77, 86–90
Gangl joins, leads, 1–2, 109–112
given responsibility for Wörgl by Allies, 122
Resistance (French)
activities prior to Allied invasion, 84
of CGT, 38–40, 49
activities increase as Allied invasion approaches, 84
de la Rocque gathers intelligence for Britain, 57, 59
of Cailliaus (Michel, Alfred, Marie-Agnès), 60–62, 168
Granger’s cell, 52
guerilla warfare, 73
Reynaud, Paul
background, 27, 43–44
in Vichy’s custody, 29
at Sachsenhausen, 45, 48
antagonism toward Weygand, 53–54, 63
hostilities with Daladier, 28, 63, 162, 163, 167
Schloss Itter radio, 64
reports on Weiter’s suicide, 96
observes retreating Germans, 107
defies Lee’s orders, 146, 148
fires on enemy, 148–151
postwar life and death, 166–167
Rhinehotel Dreesen, Bonn, 61
Riom Trial, 29–31, 35–36
Roman Catholicism, 5–7, 10, 16, 46, 54, 60, 113
Royal Norfolk Regiment (British army 2nd Battalion), 20
Rushford, William T.
as Lee’s driver Technician Fourth Grade, 123
drives, shoots from, Besotten Jenny, 125–127, 130–132, 137, 139
under attack from Waffen-SS, 147–148
postwar death, 171
Russia. See Red Army; Soviet Union
Saarbrücken, defense of, 85
Sachsenhausen concentration camp, 45, 48, 50
Saint-Cyr military academy, 33, 54, 57
Saturday Evening Post magazine, 172
Scheffold, Hans, 89
Schirwoski Battle Group, 72
Schloss Eisenberg in Czechoslovakia, 56–57, 59
Schloss Garlitz, 55
Schloss Itter
background, 5–13
as Dachau satellite, converted to VIP prison, 11–17
with Wimmer as commandant, 22–23, 40–42, 92–96
enmity among prisoners, 62–63
conditions worsen as German military deteriorates, 91
guards and Wimmer flee, 107
becomes Lynch’s command post, 164–165
Schloss Itter battle
defenses organized by Lee, 127–133
German corporal defects to Waffen-SS, 143–144
under attack from Waffen-SS, 146–152, 158–160
gatehouse defense, 136–137
Great Hall defense, 132–139
Gangl killed by sniper, 150
ammunition runs low, 151–152, 157
relief arrives, 160
aftermath, 163–165
Schrader, Annaliese Patales, 98–100, 128, 146, 148
Schrader, Kurt-Siegfried
background, 96–97
as Waffen-SS, 98–99
becomes anti-Nazi, friends with Krobot, 100–101
leads Giehl to surrender to Allies, 102
ensures VIP prisoners’ safety, 108–109, 122
as Lee’s lieutenant at Schloss Itter, 128–130
defends Great Hall, Schloss Itter, 138–139, 152
hands over VIP prisoners to Lynch, 161
postwar life and death, 170
Schwab, Eric
accompanies Kramers to Schloss Itter, 143, 153
aftermath of battle, 161
French war photographer, 121
2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment
attempts to relieve Lee, 123–124
advance to Itter delayed around Wörgl, 140–141
Seigfried, bishop of Regensburg, 6
Seiner, Edward J.
as Lee’s loader Technician Fifth Grade, 123
defends Schloss Itter, 127, 130, 150
postwar life, 171
Servir (Gamelin), 166
753rd Tank Battalion, 123–124, 140, 152–154
Sherman, Glenn E., 123
Sitzkrieg, 79
Socialists/Socialist Party, 26, 39, 73
Souvenirs personnels (Cailliau, M.-A.), 168–169
Soviet Union
invaded by Germany (1941), 81–82
overcomes Germany’s advance, 83
recaptures Nazi-taken territories, 68
victory at Stalingrad, 67
See also Red Army
Speer, Albert, 13
Spiess, Paul, 7
SS-TV troops
as Dachau guards, 52–53
convert castle to prison, 13–17
Wimmer as officer at Dachau, Schloss Itter, 18, 22, 92–93
last Dachau commander Weiter, 95–96
flee the advancing Allies, 95–96, 107
Stalingrad victory by Soviet Union (1943), 67, 150
Sudetenland annexation, 19, 26–27, 97. See also Czechoslovakia
Sûreté Nationale, 35, 39, 44
Sutton, William
in Lee’s rescue group, 125
defends Schloss Itter, 130, 132, 136
aftermath of battle, 164
postwar death, 171
Szymczyk, Edward J. “Stinky”
accompanies Lee for recon, battle, 121, 123
postwar death, 171
Tardieu, André, 33
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich, 8
Telephone system
in Schloss Itter commander’s suite, 15
in Schloss Itter orderly room, 145, 152
of Wörgl town hall, 153
line severed, 157
36th Infantry Division, 1
Tobacco, 12, 31, 41
Tolbukhin, Fyodor, 67–68
Totenkopfstandarte Oberbayern atrocities, 18–20
Totu, bishop of Regensburg, 6
Treaty of Versailles (1919), 78
Tunisia, 52
12th Armored Division
advances into Austrian Tyrol, 1
advances to Kufstein, 70, 89
combat action, 117–118
12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, 71, 85
XXI Corps, 69–71
XXI Corps, U.S. Seventh Army, 69–71
23rd Tank Battalion
commanded by Clow, 118–119, 121
in Kufstein, 1–2
postwar lives and deaths of soldiers, 171
Tyrol region
historical background, 5–6
administrative districts under Nazis, 9
Allied armies advance (XXI Corps), 67–71
as center for anti-Nazi resistance, 10, 74
Tyrolean peasant uprising (1515–1526), 6
Ukraine, 67, 81–82, 99
“Ungarische Zigeunerweisen” music (Menter), 8
Unions/trade unions, 36–38
United Nations International Labor Organization agency, 166
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 164
U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), 74
U.S. Seventh Army
commanded by Patch, 85
advances into Tyrol, 68–69
enters Austria, 117–118
hosts liberated VIPs, 163
U.S. 6th Army Group, 69
U.S. Third Army, 69
Vals-les-Bains, 39
Vichy government
Pétain as puppet head, 29–31
arrests French political figures, 35–36, 39–40, 44
de la Rocque’s role, 57, 58–59
orders CGT dissolved, 38
VIP prisoners. See Honor prisoners
Von Bock, Fedor, 10, 20
Von Hengl, Georg Ritter
battle groups, 72–73, 87–90, 104, 111
defends passes into Austria, 72–73, 86, 87–88
withdraws to east of Schloss Itter, 89–90
and Lynch broker surrender of Tyrol, 164–165
Von Kliest, Ewald, 81
Von Reichenau, Walter, 19
Waffen-SS troops
search out resisters in Wörgl, 91
flee advancing Allies, 94
shoot anyone showing white or Austrian flags, 102, 109, 111
fired on by Lee’s rescue force, 125
attack Kramers’s column, 141–142
all-out attack on Schloss Itter, 144, 146–152, 159–160
Wagner, Richard, 8
Waltl, Hans, 145, 151
War correspondents, 121, 143, 156–157, 161–163
War crimes, 18–21, 95
“We Liberated Who’s Who” article (Levin), Saturday Evening Post, 172
Wegscheider (Gangl’s lieutenant)
assists Dietrich in Wörgl, 110–111
sent to Schloss Itter with Linsen, Waltl, 145–146
defends Schloss Itter, 149, 151
Wehrmacht
Austrian-born officers, enlisted soldiers, 10–11, 74–75
forced to withdraw by Red Army, Allies, 67–68, 83
become resisters, 87–88, 102, 121–122
surrender to Allies at Wörgl, 122
led by Gangl, defend Schloss Itter, 129–130, 137–138
Gangl dies, two troops wounded, 150, 157
Weiter, Wilhelm Eduard, 95–96, 103
Werfer-Brigade 7, 84–86
Western Front, 79
Weygand, Marie-Renée-Joséphine (de Forsanz), 54, 55, 168
Weygand, Maxime
background, 44, 53–55
as conservative chief of army, 28, 33–34
arrives at Schloss Itter, 55
antagonistic toward Gamelin, 54
hated by Reynaud, Daladier, 62–63
after liberation, put on trial for collaboration, 164
postwar life and death, 168
Wimmer, Sebastian “Wastl”
background, 17–19
as commandant of Schloss Itter, 22–23, 40–42, 92–96
drunken violence toward number prisoners, 92–94
war crimes in Poland, Majdanek, Dachau, 18–21, 95
flees Schloss Itter, 96
postwar life and death, 169–170
Wimmer, Thérèse, 21, 22, 169–170
Winter, August, 71–72
Witchcraft in the Tyrol, 6
Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s field headquarters, 98
Wörgl
as von Hengl’s headquarters, 72
Mountain Warfare Noncommissioned Officer School, 15, 70
key resistance cell, 10, 74–77, 86–90
Krobot finds Gangl’s resistance group, 109
surrendered by Gangl to Lee, 122
Lee’s rescue force leaves for Schloss Itter, 124–125
Kramers and 753rd tanks arrive, 152–154
Workers’ Force, 166
World War I
armistice, 26
Borotra’s service, 46
Clemenceau’s service, 56
Daladier’s service, 26, 27
de la Rocque’s service, 57
Gamelin’s service, 32–34
as tragedy for France, 33
Weygand’s service, 54
Worsham, Alfred
in Lee’s rescue group, 125
under attack from Waffen-SS, 147–148
defends Schloss Itter, 130, 132, 136
aftermath of battle, 164
postwar death, 171
Woves, Bedrich, 38
Würthle, Friedrich, 75
Ybarnegaray, Jean, 47
“Zwei Jahren auf Schloss Itter” manuscript (Čučković), 169