Valor Friday

Schloss Itter (Itter Castle) in July 1979. Photo by S.J. Morgan.

Castle Itter in Austria was the site of what’s been described as the strangest battle in all of World War II.

The setting for today’s story is a small castle in Tyrol, Austria. The site dates back to the 13th Century as a fortress of some sort. As castles were, it was the administrative center of the region. It was built in its current structure in the late 19th Century. Owned as a private residence, it was turned into a prison by the Nazis in 1943, during World War II.

Itter Castle became the home for a certain, peculiar group of prisoners. The Nazis interned French political leaders there. This included Charles de Gaulle’s older sister, former Prime Ministers Édouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud (Reynaud having been PM when the country fell to the Germans), Generals Maurice Gamelin and Maxime Weygand (who had both been commander-in-chief during their long and storied careers), and other prominent French figures.

The time frame, as I said, started in 1943, but today’s story is in the final days of the Second World War. In fact, it’s just two days prior to Germany’s unconditional surrender. It’s the 3rd of May, 1945, and Hitler’s already dead by his own hand. The Third Reich is now in the hands of Fleet Admiral Karl Dönitz, who is frantically trying to save as many of his people as possible from the vengeful horde of Soviets marching through Berlin as we speak.

The players at Castle Itter include the aforementioned French prisoners. The prison was under the operational command of the Dachau concentration camp, and some prisoners from that facility worked at Itter. The prisoners were guarded by men of the 2nd division of Werfer-Regiment 83 under the command of Major Josef “Sepp” Gangl. Gangl and his men were ordered to retreat, with the Nazi 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division “Götz von Berlichingen” to replace them.

Josef “Sepp” Gangl

Gangl was the very model of the German soldier. He’d enlisted in 1928, before the Nazis came to power, when the German Army was limited to just 100,000 men (a post-WWI restriction to ostensibly prevent Germany from again waging war, which obviously was ineffective). He became a career soldier, and was given a battlefield commission in the Second World War.

Gangl was wounded early in the war on the Western Front, and received the Iron Cross second class and Iron Cross first class. He’s wearing both in the photo above, along with a Wound Badge. In March 1945, after continued service, including time on the dreaded Eastern Front, Gangl was awarded the German Cross in gold (the next highest decoration for valor above the Iron Cross and below the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross). His medals and steady promotion through the ranks indicate he was a successful soldier for the Reich.

After the Invasion of Normandy, Gangl fought on the Western Front and in well known actions like the Battle of Caen, Falaise Pocket, and the Battle of the Bulge.

In these final few days of the war, Gangl knew the enemy was closing in fast. The Americans were just a few dozen miles away and coming fast. He also heavily suspected that the Waffen SS unit coming to relieve him was going to slaughter the prisoners at Itter before they were pushed back by the Allies.

While he could be pictured in the encyclopedia as the archetype of Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht, Gangl was also a latter day addition to the Austrian Resistance. Days after arriving near Itter, Gangl had reached out to the resistance. Providing them with weapons and information, he coordinated with them to prevent the outright destruction of their town, as Gangl’s commanding officer had ordered the destruction of infrastructure should they not be able to defend it.

May 3rd saw Gangl and his troops get ordered out of the city as the American 12th Armored Division had attacked close by and inflicted heavy casualties. Residents of the city had already started to hang white flags on their houses. In accordance with Himmler’s orders, the male residents of such houses were shot.

Gangl was one of those rare German officers who felt a need to protect the civilians. Protect them from his own men. Gangl thus remained behind as the more fanatically Nazi Waffen SS panzer division rolled into town and were to take over Castle Itter. Among those Gangl was looking to protect were the political prisoners at Itter.

Gangl was holding his men in position in the nearby town of Wörgl, where he was planning on waiting for the Americans to take the town. He was sitting there to safeguard the townspeople from any SS troops that would, if given the chance, exact some revenge on the Austrians as they retreated.

On the morning of 4 May, a Czech prisoner of the castle rode a bike into town to report to Gangl that it seemed as if the Waffen SS troops were preparing to execute the prisoners at Itter. The SS men had hastily abandoned their posts. The prisoners started to collect weapons, as they feared the enemy’s imminent return, and prepared to defend themselves.

Instead of proceeding directly to the castle and pitting his soldiers against the Nazis, he drove under a white flag towards the American lines eight miles away.

John “Jack” Lee Jr

He was intercepted by a patrol of four American Sherman tanks from the 12th Armored Division under the command of Lieutenant John C “Jack” Lee Jr. Lee was a 27 year old first lieutenant from Norwich, New York. The 12th Armored Division had entered combat in October 1944, and fought as part of the Patton’s Third Army. They held the line while the rest of the Third Army moved to recapture Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and fought at the Colmar Pocket, and captured several cities as they rushed to cross the Rhine. In April 1945 they liberated the Landsberg concentration camps and POW camp Oflag VII-A Murnau (filled with mostly Polish officers).

When told of the nearby Itter and its occupants of French VIPs with SS troops soon to attack, Lee didn’t hesitate to volunteer to effect a rescue. He radioed headquarters and got permission, then followed Gangl with a ragtag bunch of friendly troops under his command. Lee had at his command 14 American servicemen, two tanks (he left two behind at his assigned post), Gangl, Gangl’s driver, and 10 former Germany artillerymen.

About halfway back to the castle, the rescue squad came across an SS group of men setting up a roadblock, and defeated the enemy.

Lee requisitioned reinforcements as he went, including three more tanks and infantrymen from the 142nd Infantry Regiment, but was forced to turn many of them back when a bridge they were forced to cross appeared too flimsy for them all to cross. The bridge had also been pre-wired with demolition charges.

Meanwhile at the castle, the prisoners had made contact with former SS officer Kurt-Siegfried Schrade. Schrade was living locally, and had made friends with some of the French prisoners while he was convalescing. Schrade agreed to lead the prisoners in their defense against his former compatriots.

When Lee and Gangl arrived back at Itter, the French prisoners greeted their would-be rescuers warmly, but were disappointed at the small size of the relief force. Lee immediately placed his men into defensive positions, and placed his tank “Besotten Jenny” facing the main gate.

As night fell, a group of 150 Waffen SS troops attacked the castle. Lee had ordered the French prisoners to remain hidden safely, but when the battle began, they fought alongside the Americans and Germans. Gangl phoned local resistance leaders, and they hurried what they could to the castle, but that amounted to only two more German soldiers and an Austrian teenager.

So began the most unusual of battles in the World War. American Army soldiers fought side-by-side with not just French (who were mostly civilians) but with men from the German Army (including one confirmed SS man). They faced off against the elite soldiers of an SS panzergrenadier division. Throughout the night, the defenders of Castle Itter fought off repeated SS probing attacks attempting to find any weaknesses.

As 5 May dawned, the castle was rocked by machine gun fire and flak bursts from one of the Germans’ favorite weapons, the 88mm anti-aircraft artillery cannon (used to great effect against not just aircraft). With the rounds causing chunks of brick to rain down around them, the defenders held.

Lee’s one tank provided covering machine gun fire until it was destroyed by that German 88. At the time the tank was silenced, only a radioman was inside trying to repair the faulty radio, and he was able to escape without injury. The destruction of that lone tank signaled the SS to attack in earnest.

As noon neared, the enemy assault was continuing unabated. The nearby 142nd Infantry had now gotten word of the castle’s plight and was sending reinforcements. Lee, unable to radio friendly units with an accurate report on the enemy’s size, strength, and position, accepted French prisoner Jean Borotra’s offer of help.

Borotra was a tennis star and offered to jump over the castle walls, break through enemy lines, and run to American lines to provide a report. He would succeed, and requested (and received) an American uniform so he could accompany them back to the castle.

The defenders of the castle were running low on ammunition. Lee had told his men that should they reach a critically low point of ammo they would retreat to the castle’s keep, in a tactic straight out medieval times. Lee was quickly approaching that point, and he had begun to start to pull men back from the walls.

As Lee started to consolidate his defense, the enemy focused their attention on the main gate. The defenders were firing some of their last rounds of ammunition when the sound of rumbling tanks heralded the arrival of the American relief force.

When the men of the 142nd Infantry came at about 1600 hours, the SS force was quickly defeated. About 100 Nazi troops were taken prisoner, and the French prisoners were liberated.

Several Americans and men of the Wehrmacht fell to the relentless fire of that German 88. Others fell to the sharpshooting of an SS sniper. Among those who lay dead after the Battle for Castle Itter was Major Sepp Gangl. He is, officially, the only KIA of the friendly side of the action, with another four or so wounded. Gangl was memorialized as a hero of the Austrian Resistance.

Gangl died from a sniper’s bullet, saving the life of Paul Reynaud. Reynaud had been the Prime Minister of France during the Battle of France, which was where Gangl had first seen combat five and a half years previously. Reynaud resumed public service after the war, serving ultimately as deputy prime minister for a year in the 1950s.

Lee, for his actions those two days, was promoted to captain and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He is one of only six men of the 12th Armored Division to have received that honor. Lee would die at the relatively young age of 54 in 1973 back home in New York. Lee had three siblings, both of his brothers also served in World War II. William (1920-1972) had been a private in the USAAF and David (1926-2007) had been a private first class in the Army (receiving the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart).

The battle has been memorialized by the Swedish rock band Sabaton. Their 2016 album The Last Stand features the song The Last Battle.

Category: Army, Distinguished Service Cross, Historical, Valor, We Remember, WWII