Reddit reviews The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe

Battle for Castle Itter Wiki entry

Itter's prisoners were freed by units of the American 103rd Infantry Division of General Anthony McAuliffe on May 5, 1945.

The next day, the American units, including 23rd Tank Battalion of the U.S. 12th Armored Division under the command of Capt. John C. ‘Jack’ Lee, Jr., the former prisoners themselves, and anti-Nazi elements of the Wehrmacht under the command of Major Josef ‘Sepp’ Gangl, who died in the battle fought alongside the German guards against attacking SS elements until reinforcements arrived.

If you want to buy the book, here's the Amazon link.

May 1945. Hitler is dead, and the Third Reich little more than smoking rubble. No GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. But for cigar-chewing, rough-talking, hard-drinking, hard-charging Captain Jack Lee and his men, there is one more mission: rescue fourteen prominent French prisoners held in an SS-guarded castle high in the Austrian Alps.

It's a dangerous mission, but Lee has help from a decorated German Wehrmacht officer and his men, who voluntarily join the fight.

Based on personal memoirs, author interviews, and official American, German, and French histories, The Last Battle is the nearly unbelievable story of the most improbable battle of World War II-a tale of unlikely allies, bravery, cowardice, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Battle-German-Soldiers/dp/0306822083/

I've been reading a book about this called The Last Battle. AMAZING book that has completely reshaped my thinking of the regular German army during WWII.

I would recommend reading Stephen Harding's The Last Battle: When US and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of WWII. The book depicts the events surrounding the last major engagement between American and Nazi forces of the war, which took place on May 4th, 1945 in the Austrian Tyrol, at a castle outside the town of Itter. Itter Castle had been used by the SS as a "VIP Prison" for French notables - including two former prime ministers, two former military chiefs of staff, and several other politicians the Nazis thought would be valuable in the post-war settlement that never came. After Hitler's suicide, as the Allies swept across Western Europe, Himmler ordered the prisoners killed, so a ragtag force consisting of a small American tank squad and Austrian Wehrmacht soldiers who had decided to support the anti-Nazi resistance defended the Castle and the French VIPs against an assault by a sizable contingent of Waffen-SS. Just one day later, the Nazi's unconditional surrender was signed.

The book, written by an American military historian, gives great insight into the tenuous and dangerous situation in rural Germany and Austria in the War's final days. Many Wehrmacht soldiers decided to lay down their arms, but there were still roving bands of SS men who were aggressively resisting the Allies' advances and generally harassing anyone who they suspected of being a "defeatist" or supporting the resistance. Definitely check out Harding's book if you're interested in this period. The story he tells will make a great movie someday.

More info:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/12/world-war-ii-s-strangest-battle-when-americans-and-germans-fought-together.html
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Battle-German-Soldiers/dp/0306822083/ref=as_at/?tag=thedailybeast-autotag-20&linkCode=as2&

Source: I finished reading the book yesterday.

See also: The Last Battle, written about the battle by Stephen Harding.

Here's the Amazon.com link as opposed to the Amazon.ca link which I_am_a_BalbC posted.

By the way, thanks for the summary, I_am_a_BalbC! This is fascinating stuff. Just bought the book. :)

The Last Battle - It's the true story of US Army and German Army forces joining together in the last days of WWII in Europe to fight off the SS who were intent on killing high-value hostages taken by Germany early in the war.

This is it, FINALLY a randomactsofgaming question that I'm prepared for.

Battle of Schloss Itter, a castle in Austria that was liberated by American troops and about to be attacked by the overwhelming force of the 17th waffen-SS panzer grenadiers division. The castle held many french VIPS that had been labeled for execution, they needed to hold the castle and defend the french vips. vastly outnumbered, the American troops were then joined by German Wehrmacht troops, as well as the french vips and their wife's to fight the waffen SS. They held out long enough to be reinforced by allied Austrian and American soldiers. It's the only time in WW2 that American troops fought side by side with previously enemiesGerman troops, and the Only recorded time that Americans ever fought in defense of a medieval castle.
It's an incredible true story, written into a book called the last battle by Stephen Harding.

I'm mobile so I'll link you to more info when I get on my computer but here's the addresses(forgot how to link, I'll fix that later) to the amazon page.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0306822083

Thanks for the opportunity!

Great book on that story:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Battle-German-Soldiers/dp/0306822083/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376104111&sr=8-1&keywords=last+battle+of+ww2

But, to be fair, Schloss Itter was more of a resort than a castle, but it still had medieval style walls and gates. Basic story goes: French POWs were being held in the castle. End of war seems close, camp guards leave the prisoners alone in the castle. Diehard SS and Wehrmacht are under orders to kill the POWs. Hodgepodge collection of US tankers, infantry, and anti-Nazi German and Austrian troops rush to the castle to protect them. Battle ensues. Read the book, it's a great read.

Ew. The Daily Fail. Yuck

I'm talking about this for more info click here