The Battle of Castle Itter: An Unlikely Allied Alliance
On May 5, 1945—just three days after Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin—one of the strangest events in modern military history unfolded in North Tyrol, Austria. Castle Itter, a medieval fortress converted into a high-security prison for prominent French captives, was targeted by fanatical elements of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. The prisoners inside included former French prime ministers Édouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud, former commanders-in-chief Generals Maurice Gamelin and Maxime Weygand, and international tennis champion Jean Borotra, all facing imminent execution by retreating SS troops.
Recognizing the danger, a bizarre joint defense force formed to protect the castle. U.S. Army Captain John C. “Jack” Lee Jr. led a small detachment from the 23rd Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division, alongside anti-Nazi German Wehrmacht soldiers under the command of Major Josef Gangl, who had defected from the regime. This combined defense force of roughly 36 combatants—comprising American GIs, Wehrmacht defectors, a defected SS officer, and the French prisoners themselves—fortified the castle walls alongside an American Sherman tank named Besotten Jenny.
When an estimated 150 to 200 Waffen-SS troops launched an amphibious assault against the fortress using heavy machine guns and 88mm anti-tank guns, the defenders fought back fiercely. Major Gangl was killed by a sniper while moving French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud out of harm’s way, but the defenders held their ground for several hours until relief forces from the U.S. 142nd Infantry Regiment arrived to scatter the SS forces. The Battle of Castle Itter remains the only documented engagement of World War II where American and German soldiers fought side-by-side as allies to defeat Nazi forces.
