A painting and a real photo of the Battle for Castle..
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A painting and a real photo of the Battle for Castle Itter, showing US Army soldiers of the 12th Armored Division and 142nd Infantry Regiment with an M4 Sherman tank alongside German Wehrmacht soldiers who fought on the same side against the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division. Battle for Castle Itter took place in May 5th, 1945 in North Tyrol, Austria. It was a battle fought in the last days of the European theater in WW2 to rescue French prisoners held in the castle. It's also considered as "The Strangest Battle" due to the fact that American soldiers and German soldiers fought together for the first time against other Germans. The defective Germans were led by Major Josef Gangl (killed in action during the defense of the castle) and Hauptsturmführer Kurt Siegfried Schrader while the Americans were led by Captain John "Jack" Lee and Lieutenant Harry Basse. The Waffen SS opened fire on the castle and its defenders with a Flak 88mm and attacked the castle with 150 men killing a few Germans and Americans and destroying the Sherman tank that provided machine gun fire. While they were running low on ammo, Borotra (French tennis player), vaulted over the castle walls and ran past the attacking Waffen SS soldiers to deliver the information, Lee gathered on the enemy. Borotra successfully delivered the information to the 104th Infantry Division, requested a uniform and fought alongside them. The relief force arrived around 16:00 with more tanks and the SS were promptly defeated. Some 100 SS prisoners were reportedly taken. The French prisoners were evacuated towards France that evening, reaching Paris on 10 May.
The prisoners in Castle Itter were Édouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud, Maxime Weygand, Maurice Gamelin, Léon Jouhaux, Jean-Robert Borotra, François de La Rocque, Michel Clemenceau. In addition, Marie-Agnès Cailliau, the sister of Charles de Gaulle.
The prisoners in Castle Itter were Édouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud, Maxime Weygand, Maurice Gamelin, Léon Jouhaux, Jean-Robert Borotra, François de La Rocque, Michel Clemenceau. In addition, Marie-Agnès Cailliau, the sister of Charles de Gaulle.
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