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Major Josef Gangl

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Major josef gangl Continue Battle of ItterPart Castle of the Western Front of World War IILoss Iter (Itter Castle) in 1979DateMay 5, 1945 (1945-05-05)Lockatter Castle, Austria47-28-13.82N 12'8'22.33E / 47.4705056-N 12.1395361'E / 47.4705056; 12.1395361Coordinates: 47'28'13.82N 12'8'22.33E / 47.4705056'N 12.1395361'E / 47.4705056; 12.1395361Five victory of the AlliesBelligerentS of the United States French captive German soldiers Austrian resistance to Nazi Germany1 Waffen-SSCommunders and leaders John Lee Harry Bass Joseph Gangl † Kurt Schroeder Georg Bohman Division involved the 12th Armored Division of the 142nd Infantry Regiment Affen-SSStr 36 4 tanks 150-200 3 anti-aircraft guns Howways and the loss of 5 killed and wounded 1 tank destroyed an unknown killed and wounded 100 captured in Austria Battle for the Castle Itter was fought in the Austrian village of Etter Of North Tyrol on May 5, 1945, in the last days of the European Theater of World War II. Troops of the 23rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armored Division of the 21st U.S. Corps, led by Capt. John S. Jack Lee Jr., a number of Wehrmacht soldiers led by Major Joseph Sepp Gangl, SS-Hauptsturmf'hrer Kurt-Siegfried Schroeder, and recently freed French POWs defended Itter Castle from attacking forces from the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division before being released from the American 142nd Infantry Regiment 36th Division This is the only known time during the war in which the Americans and Germans fought side by side. Popular stories about the battle called it the strangest battle of World War II. Itter Castle is a small castle located on a hill near the village of Etter in Austria. After the Anschluss of 1938, the German government officially leased the castle in late 1940 from its owner Franz Gruner. The castle was seized from Gruener by SS Lieutenant General Oswald Paul on the orders of Heinrich Himmler on February 7, 1943. The conversion of the castle to prison was completed by 25 April 1943, and the facility was placed under the control of the Dachau concentration camp. The prison was created to hold high-ranking French prisoners valuable to the Reich. Among the famous prisoners were tennis player Gene Borotra, former Prime Ministers Edouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud, former Commander-in-Chief Maxime Weigand and Maurice Jeg, the elder sister of Charles de Gaulle Marie-Agnes Cailjo, the right-wing leader and member of the French resistance Francois de La Rocca and the trade union leader Leon Juho. In addition to THE VIPs, the castle housed several Eastern European prisoners separated from Dachau, who were used for the detention and other black works. [17] The main entrance to the castle (1979) french tennis star Jean Borotra in 1932 on May 3, 1945, Tsvonimir Suckovic, a imprisoned Yugoslav communist member of the resistance from Croatia, who worked as a handyman in prison, left the castle under the pretext of carrying out an assignment for the prison commander Sebastian Wimmer. He carried a letter in English asking for the help of the Allies, which he was supposed to give to the first American he encountered. The town of Vergle ran in the mountains 8 kilometers away, but was still occupied by German troops. Instead, Shukkovic clicked on the Inn Valley in the direction of Innsbruck, 64 km (40 miles) from the coast. Late in the evening, he reached the outskirts of the city and encountered the advanced unit of the 409th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 103rd Infantry Division VI of the U.S. Corps and informed them of the prisoners of the castle. They were unable to authorize the rescue on their own, but promised a response from their headquarters by the morning of May 4. At dawn, a heavily armored rescue was mounted, but was stopped by heavy shelling just past Jenbach about halfway to Itter, and then reminded superiors to encroach on the territory of the 36th U.S. Division in the east. Only two support jeeps continued. After he did not return on May 2, and the death in prison of former Dahau commander Eduard Weiter under suspicious circumstances, Wimmer feared for his life and left his post. SS-Totenkopfverbende guards left the castle shortly thereafter, and the prisoners took control of the castle and armed themselves with left-hand guns. Not knowing the result of the efforts, prison officials accepted the offer of Czech chef Andreas Krobot on a bicycle to Wergl in the middle of the day on May 4 in the hope of getting help there. Armed with a similar note, he was able to contact the Austrian resistance in the city, which had recently been abandoned by the Wehrmacht but was again occupied by Waffen-SS roaming forces. He was taken to Major Joseph Gangle, the commander of the remnants of the Wehrmacht, who defied the order to retreat and was instead abandoned by the local resistance as its head. Gangl sought to maintain the position of his unit in the city to protect the locals from the repression of the SS. Nazi loyalists shot at any window, displaying a white or Austrian flag, and executed the men as possible deserters. Gangl's hopes were that the Americans would quickly reach Wurgle so that he could surrender to them. Around the same time, the reconnaissance unit of four Sherman tanks of the 23rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armored Division of the 21st U.S. Corps under The Command of Captain Lee reached Austria, 13 km (8 miles) north. There, in the town square, he was idle waiting for the 12th to be released by the 36th Infantry Division. Asked to help Gangl, Lee did not hesitate to volunteer to lead a rescue mission and immediately get permission from his headquarters. After personal reconnaissance of the castle with Gangl in Kubelwagen Major, Lee left two of his tanks behind, but requisitioned five more and supported the infantry from the recently arrived 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th. Along the way, Lee was forced to send reinforcements back when the bridge proved too weak for the entire column to cross once, let alone twice. Leaving one of his tanks to guard him, he went back accompanied by only 14 American soldiers, Gangl, and the driver, and a truck carrying ten former German gunners. At 6 km (4 miles) from the castle, they defeated a batch of SS troops who were trying to set up a checkpoint. Meanwhile, French prisoners appealed to SS officer Kurt-Siegfried Schroeder, with whom they became friends in Etter during his recovery from his wounds, asking them to take responsibility for their protection. Upon Lee's arrival at the castle, the prisoners warmly welcomed the rescuers, but were disappointed by its small size. Lee placed the men under his command on the defensive positions around the castle and placed his tank, Betten Jenny, at the main entrance. Lee ordered the French prisoners to hide, but they remained outside and fought alongside the American and Wehrmacht soldiers. Throughout the night, the defenders were tortured by reconnaissance forces, sent to assess their strength and probe the fortress to weak spots. On the morning of May 5, the forces of 100-150 28 Waffen-SS launched their attack. Before the main assault began, Gangl was able to call Aloya Mayra, the Austrian resistance leader in Wurgle, and request reinforcements. Only two more German soldiers under his command and a member of the Austrian teenage resistance, Hans Waltle, could be rescued, and they quickly drove to the castle. The Sherman tank provided fire support for the machine gun until it was destroyed by German fire from an 88 mm cannon; it was occupied at the time only by a radioman seeking to repair a faulty tank radio, which escaped without injury. Meanwhile, by early afternoon, word had finally reached the 142nd out of desperation of the plight of the defenders, and aid forces were dispatched. Realizing that he had failed to give the 142nd full information about the enemy and his location before the connection was severed, Lee accepted the Bootra tennis star's offer to blow down the castle wall and run the SS SS Silov point glove and ambush to deliver it. He succeeded, asked for American military uniforms, and then joined the force as he made a rush to get to prison before his defenders fired their last Ammunition. Emergency services arrived around 4 p.m. and the SS was quickly crushed. It is reported that about 100 SS prisoners were taken. French prisoners were evacuated to France that evening and made their way to Paris on May 10. Consequences and historical significance for his service protecting the castle, Lee received the Cross for Distinguished Merit. Gangl died during the battle from a sniper rifle bullet while trying to move former French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud out of harm's way, 3537 and was honored as an Austrian national hero, and a street in W'rgl was named after him. He was the only defender who died during the battle, although four others were wounded. Popular stories about the battle christened it the strangest battle of the Second World War. The battle took place five days after Adolf Hitler committed suicide, and just two days before the signing of Germany's unconditional surrender. Inquiries: Andrew Roberts, Strange Battle of World War II: When Americans and Germans fought together, The Daily Beast, May 13, 2013 - Nutter, Thomas (April 23, 2013). The Last Battle: When American and German soldiers joined forces in the waning hours of World War II in Europe.
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