Original subtitles

May 1945.

During the final days of war in Europe,

an American tank commander

leads an unlikely band of U.S. and German soldiers

to rescue French VIP's held at an Austrian castle.

As he organizes their defences.

Lee's strategy is to keep the SS guessing

about the disposition of forces inside the castle.

They don't know he's only got 25 men and three officers.

But when Waffen-SS forces attack,

he cannot be sure where their loyalty will stand.

On June 6th, 1944

allied forces finally land troops in Normandy

to open the western front.

But Nazi fanatics and diehards

continue to fight ruthlessly for survival.

D-day was a battle.

The allies still need to win the war.

May 4th, 1945.

Tyrol, Austria.

German army major Josef Gangl and his driver

near the town of Kufstein.

Occupied just the day before by American troops.

German resistance has more or less collapsed.

But it has not yet surrendered.

German troops are withdrawing to the alpine region,

where there is this myth of this alpine fortress,

the last stand of the Nazis.

As they turn a corner,

they come face to face with four U.S. Sherman tanks.

Out of the car!

Alright. What do you want?

On the surface, it may look like Gangl

is one of thousands of Germans soldiers

surrendering to western allies.

But Gangl has come to Kufstein on a mission.

It may be risky.

Days prior,

the U.S. Army began to liberate the nearby Dachau prison camp system.

After witnessing the atrocities,

many of the soldiers were of the opinion

that they simply weren't in the business

of taking prisoners anymore.

But Gangl has joined the Austrian resistance

to help defeat the Nazis from within the Third Reich.

Gangl is taken to Lieutenant Jack Lee,

commander of company B, 23rd Tank Battalion,

U.S. 12th Armored Division.

Months of hardfighting gives Lee confidence,

on the edge of bravado.

In a couple of days prior, a German colonel

wanted to surrender a large number of his men

but wouldn't do so to a lowly first lieutenant.

So, Lieutenant Lee,

making use of the fact that the insignia for a First Lieutenant

is a single silver bar and for a Captain is two silver bars,

simply took a spare bar, put it on his collar,

and was a captain for a few minutes to accept surrender.

In english, Gangl delivers his message.

The German officer explains

that he has knowledge of important French prisoners,

held by the Nazis not far away.

From the perspective of a U.S. Army Commander,

you're wise if you decide I'm only going to trust my own guys.

But you also have to be open minded enough

to realize that there may be a lot of people who need your help,

and that you're probably going to do yourself more harm than good

if you're shooting first and asking questions later.

Gangl presents a letter written by one of the V.I.P.'s.

In it, they plead for rescue.

Rumours had circulated about an alpine fortress

holding such prisoners.

The story could be true, or it could be a trap.

It's a tough sell for someone like Gangl

to make the Americans understand

that he is going to join them in common cause

and that he's really not a supporter of nazism.

Lee climbs into his tank to radio his commanding officer.

He shares the intel about the French hostages.

Lee receives permission to proceed as he judges appropriate.

Alright, we'll see it through. Over.

It's indicative of how fluid the situation is

and there's not always going to be time to check in.

The battalion commander is telling Lee

that he needs to exercise his judgment.

Lee decides to check out the story himself.

He will reconnoitre to where Gangl claims

the VIP Prisoners are being held.

Only one of Lee's gunners and the two Germans accompany him.

Lee decides to travel with Gangl

to determine the German major's reliability.

And to verify his connections with the Austrian resistance.

This situation that you have there on the ground in Austria,

is extraordinarily complex.

German chancellor Adolf Hitler committed suicide five days prior,

on April 30th, 1945.

The German military is disintegrating.

Some surrender to the allies.

Others retreat, or even desert.

In my opinion,

Gangl represents a state of the German armed forces

in may 1945.

He understands the war is lost,

probably has also understood that he has served the wrong course.

And now is time to try to avoid even more damage

to our home country.

Even if this means to cooperate with a former enemy.

But many still support the cause of nazism.

Particularly those in the Waffen-SS,

the military arm of the Nazi party.

There are a number of Waffen-SS troops

in northern Austria by this time.

Most of them are still determined to fight on. They are fanatical.

When we hear fanatic or fanatical today

we think of crazy people who fight on stupid like.

But fanatic is actually considered

a positive term by the Nazis.

If they say you are fanatic Nazi, it's meant as a compliment.

The Waffen-SS will fight to the bitter end.

A couple of days before the war was over

the thinking then was, we are losing,

but when we are losing our enemies shall not survive.

Their fatalism creates great risk for the allies.

Whether in the next village they will be met with open arms

or whether they will be met with a hail of bullets.

The four men travel to their objective: Castle Itter.

Their route will be dictated by roadblocks.

The Nazis controlled most every aspect of German life,

including the road net.

We have a roadblock at the entry points of a town.

This was a way to maintain control over populations.

To cow them into submission.

It was a way to maintain some semblance of political control.

With Gangl and his driver's knowledge of the area,

they bypass some roadblocks.

Other times, on route to the town of Worgl,

Lee and Gangl encounter Wehrmacht, German army troops

who prove loyal to the German major.

As Gangl navigates each turn,

Lee must still wonder whether it is an elaborate ruse.

During a stop in Worgl,

Gangl offers Lee formal surrender of the Garrison based in the town.

They then continue to Itter village,

situated just below the castle itself.

So, for Lee,

the next introduction must have been jarring.

Though he's dressed in civilian clothes

the man is introduced as a Waffen-SS captain.

SS officers did not swear loyalty to Germany

and its constitution and its laws.

They swore a personal loyalty to Adolf Hitler himself.

These were the fanatics.

These were the people who ran the concentration camps.

Lee may have trusted the Wehrmacht officer,

only to fall into the clutches of the SS instead.

May 4th, 1945.

In the final days of World War Two,

an American tank commander, believes a German officer's story

about French VIP Prisoners in a nearby castle needing rescue.

But while on reconnaissance,

Lieutenant Jack Lee fears he has fallen into the hand

of Waffen-SS Captain Kurt-Siegfried Schrader.

Why should I believe you?

But German army major Josef Gangl vouches for the SS captain.

This creates a tense moment.

Gangl recognizes him.

They've worked together on battle group Giel.

Schrader informs Lee and Gangl that he has assumed responsibility

for the French VIP protection.

We can only speculate

what motivates Schrader's change in mind.

Was it a true change of mind or was it just opportunism,

seeing the war is lost for Germany?

They also learn from Schrader

that the SS unit that had guarded the prisoners has fled over night.

The VIPS are safe for now, but everyone fears what's coming next.

Lee finds himself in an remarkable situation:

Two German officers, one from the SS,

have turned their backs on the Nazi cause

to assist American forces to protect the French prisoners.

I'm going to check this guy's story out.

Still needing to confirm Gangl and Schrader's stories,

Lee insists they continue to the castle.

Schloss Itter, as it is known in German,

Sits amidst Austria's tyrol mountains.

Positioned over a ravine,

a short bridge connects the 13th century castle

to a nearby mountain.

Just south of the Austrian-German border,

the tyrol region is of legendary concern.

Mountains separated by countless rivers,

threaded by country roads,

form natural defenses for retreating German troops.

A recurrent fear of allied Supreme Commander,

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, is a final stand in the alps.

As the American forces move south,

they are ordered to cut off mountain passes

to prevent the formation of a Nazi redoubt.

But as the allies press from the north, east and south of Austria,

the squeeze may inadvertently create the assembly of loyal Nazi troops,

Eisenhower fears.

Upon arrving at the castle

Lee encounters an armed group

and realizes that Gangl's story is true:

The French VIP exist and they need help.

The prisoners include two former French prime ministers,

two French generals,

and the sister of Charles de Gaulle.

These are very distinguished soldiers in some cases.

They are distinguished political voices.

In a way,

they represent the sort of kernel of French political nationhood.

So, there's a great value in them, in that sense.

So-called honour prisoners lived in relative luxury,

in hotels and castles throughout the war.

The Nazis see them as a kind of bargain

for future negotiations with the enemy.

But faced day to day uncertainty,

as their survival depended on Hitler's impulses.

With his death and German command structure imploding

SS units in the region might decide it is in Germany's interest

to execute the VIPS.

The fear is that the SS were fully capable of executing anybody

that they didn't want around to testify after the war.

Though currently unguarded and in possession of German weapons,

the VIP are trapped and face imminent danger.

While Lee wants to protect his men from unnecesary risks,

in what could be the last hours of the war,

he understands the importance of the French VIP's,

and that they may be critical

to the stability of free France after the war.

Lee tells the French prisoners that he will be back with help,

as soon as possible.

Lee and Gangl return to Kufstein to gather reinforcements.

Alright, boys let's roll out!

Just before 1900 hours,

Lee leads seven Sherman tanks and three squads of infantry

from Kufstein towards Castle Itter.

They are joined by major Gangl

who adds men to strengthen their numbers.

Jack Lee finds himself

in command of 14 American and 10 German soldiers.

I know of no other time

when you had German soldiers directly serving

and following the orders of an American junior officer

in World War II.

As they proceed to Itter,

Lee must return three of his tanks to Kuftstein,

when an old bridge gives way and prevents further crossings.

He also leaves two tanks behind to defend the town of Worgl.

And one to secure a bridge, they may need as an escape route.

This leaves Lee's tank nicknamed the Besotten Jenny,

as the only Sherman still bound for the castle.

The Besotten Jenny is an M4A3 Sherman tank,

operated by a crew of five.

It is armed with a 76 millimeter main gun

capable of firing 20 rounds a minute

and fitted with a .50 caliber and two .30 caliber machine guns.

As the rescue force closes in on Itter village,

they encounter a Waffen-SS roadblock,

and open fire to clear the way.

The German troops immediately scatter without firing a shot.

They just melt off into the woods.

Pick up the pace.

Having announced their presence to any enemy soldiers in the area

Lee and his rescue force hurry to Itter Castle.

A 60-foot road leads to the castle's gatehouse.

Ok, move in.

Lee's driver puts the tank in reverse.

there's no way to turn around once you're at the castle gate.

And if you were to drive up forward,

he'd have the most vulnerable portion of the tank,

the engine compartment, directly facing enemy fire.

Alright boys keep moving.

The tank's rearview mirrors were broken,

so Lee uses his voice to guide the tank up the hill.

It's an incredibly tense manoeuvre,

because the consequences of error are monumental.

The tank would plunge at least 25 feet into the ravine.

With the Sherman tank safely parked,

Lee is greeted by the French VIP's

whose joyful relief quickly fades.

The initial reaction to the French VIPs

to the rescue force is disappointment.

They're like, "Boy, is this all that's coming?"

Infused as some of them were with their own importance

they would have assumed,

"Of course half the United States Army is going to come after us."

And of course, this was just a little recon element

all that they did not find particularly impressive.

And plus, you've got Germans in tow with weapons, still.

So, you're probably not too wild about that either.

Lee is also met by SS Captain Schrader.

Schrader informs Lee that he's witnessed SS troops

moving anti-tank guns into the woods around the castle.

This is most likely because of the Besotten Jenny's run in

with the Waffen-SS roadblock.

For their safety,

Lee directs the VIP's into the castle's cellars.

The male VIP's argue that they wish to fight in their own defence

but Lee counters that they would not be much help to France

if they get themselves killed.

From the perspective of these two French generals,

both very senior, distinguished generals,

both of whom had extensive combat experience,

now you're being asked to take orders

from some 27-year-old American?

He ranks way below you.

You would find that somewhat insulting.

You would've expected Lee to defer to you

and say "General, what do you think we ought to do now?"

That's not his mindset.

Lacking sufficient resources to evacuate the castle,

Lee organizes a defensive strategy

for the American and German troops under his command.

Lee assigns responsibility for 180 degrees.

Basically half the field of fire to each man.

Schrader to the north and Gangl to the south.

Lee also orders that his tank, the Besotten Jenny,

is manned at all times.

With the defensive positions set,

Lee instructs them to sleep in shifts

and tries to get some rest himself.

At 0400 hours on may 5th,

Lee is awoken by the sound of gunfire.

Castle Itter is under attack.

May 5th, 1945.

Lieutenant Jack Lee commands a small group

of American and German soldiers

trying to protect French VIP's held as hostages at Castle Itter.

Woken by the sound of gunfire from the castle's gatehouse

Lee rushes out.

As a machine gun from a nearby ridge targets the castle,

the crew member stationed in Lee's tank,

the Besotten Jenny, returns fire.

The attack comes from the Waffen-SS,

Fire!

Nazi loyalists determined to retake the castle and the prisoners.

When the firefight subsides

Lee's man reports he saw four Germans inside the razor wire

which rings the castle, with ropes and climbing gear.

Under fire, the advancing SS troops

retreated into the surrounding woods.

Lee debriefs with Major Josef Gangl

and Captain Kurt-Siegfried Schrader about the exchange.

At the sound of another machine gun burst,

the officers race down.

The trio encounter one of major Gangl's men under heavy fire.

Lee and Gangl pull the soldier to safety

while Besotten Jenny's .50 caliber machine gun

opens up again in retaliation.

Gangl translates his soldier's account for Lee.

More Waffen-SS soldiers had gotten past the razor wire

and approached the castle.

The soldier opened fire on them

and in turn was shot at in retaliation.

They retreated again into the forest.

I got a .50 Cal in that section. No one's getting down there.

With the Sherman tank guarding access to the castle,

a frontal attack is futile,

so the SS troops need to find another way in.

What they do is probe the castle in small groups

and trying to find weak spots,

and perhaps also trying to find out the number of the defenders.

HQ.

HQ, this is Lee.

This is Lee. Over.

The situation is dire.

Lieutenant Lee is on his own. He has no radio communication.

He has no way of knowing if a rescue force is coming.

At this point, Lee's strategy is to keep the SS guessing

about the disposition of forces inside the castle.

They don't know he's only got 25 men and three officers.

But a short time later,

another round of gunfire alerts Lee to a new problem.

One of major Gangl's men has fled the castle.

The soldier secretly lowered himself down the castle wall,

then ran into the trees of the gorge.

You said I could trust your men, Gangl.

The soldier's escape is a grave threat

to everyone left inside Castle Itter.

Up until now,

the SS have no idea of who is defending the castle.

This man would likely tell the SS anything they wanted to know.

You know what's going to happen? They're gonna...

He can give away how many people are defending this castle,

and where exactly are their defense positions.

The escape is not just about one soldier.

It undermines the americans' faith in the other Germans as well.

Lee's men observe that the other Germans did not fire on him.

Now at this point, he doesn't know.

Is that simply because they didn't want to kill a fellow German,

or is there something bigger afoot?

This single soldier represents a larger problem for the defenders.

Where is their loyalty? Is it with Gangl?

Or is it with the besieging Waffen-SS unit?

It seems that Gangl and Lee came to some sort of understanding,

and the Germans retain their weapons.

It is a good thing,

because it soon becomes clear that Lee will need every man he's got.

May 1945.

An American tank commander tries to defend the lives of French VIP's

taken hostage and held by the Nazis at Castle Itter during the war.

A Waffen-SS force prepares to retake the castle.

In an unusual twist of fate,

former enemies now work for a common cause.

The castle is held by both American and German troops.

27-year-old Lieutenant Jack Lee

is the American tank commander in charge.

In my opinion,

Lieutenant Lee at this point trusts Gangl and Schrader implicitly.

Gangl already had well established bona fides

both from the resistance and his actions so far.

Schrader, besides being vouched for by Gangl,

also had his family inside the castle.

Lee joins German officers Major Gangl and Captain Schrader

high in the castle to observe Waffen-SS movements.

Lee spots artillery pieces being moved into place among the trees,

only about 800 yards from the castle.

Likely in response to information from an escaped defender.

They know that the defensive force has no heavy weapons to fire.

And so, they feel free to move their heavy guns into place.

One of the guns is an 88.

The 88 is the most dreaded weapon in the German arsenal.

It's a high velocity gun with a heavy punch.

Literally one round can go through a Sherman tank

like it's made of butter.

It does the same thing to stone walls.

They also watch as Waffen-SS troops arrive and take up positions.

From all what we know, the number of German troops

attacking Castle Itter was about a company.

About 150, 200 men maximum.

They were relatively well-armed.

They seemed to have been in good supply of ammunition.

Castle Itter is now surrounded.

While the American and German officers are concerned,

Major Gangl discovers that the French VIP's are not.

Gangl encounters them getting some fresh air in the courtyard,

in spite of Lee's clear instructions.

The 88 suddenly opens up.

A shot hits an upper floor of the castle and rains down debris.

Everyone scrambles for cover.

At ten hundred hours,

Waffen-SS troops begin a full-scale assault on the castle.

Lee will soon learn if the Germans inside the castle

will fight to repel them.

Very quickly, the Besotten Jenny,

the defenders only tank, takes a direct hit.

Lee's best hope for protecting everyone

inside Itter Castle goes up in flames.

An American tanker escapes the burning wreckage.

He and two other U.S. soldiers retreat

as the Sherman's fuel tanks explode.

It is a major set back.

The assault continues.

The forces inside the castle are reduced to simply small arms:

rifles, pistols, and grenades.

They have no heavy weapons whatsoever.

The defenders have no way to take out the German 88,

and it continues to pound the castle.

Some of the French VIP's refuse to retreat to safety,

in order to join the battle.

They had served in the French army.

Though for most, decades earlier in the first World War.

Hurry! ok! Let's go!

Some defenders are positioned higher,

to preserve their view of the attacking troops.

The Waffen-SS attack intensifies.

Lee notices that one of the French VIP

has moved into a vulnerable spot.

But before Lee can react, Major Gangl does.

May 1945.

During the final days of the war in Europe,

American and German soldiers fight together,

to hold a castle and protect French prisoners from Waffen-SS forces.

German Wermacht Major, Josef Gangl

rushes to pull one of the French VIP back,

from a vulnerable position.

But in his haste,

Gangl exposes himself to a bullet fired from outside the castle.

In the hope of peace,

Gangl chose to defy his own country,

because he could no longer support in its aims,

and he pays the ultimate price.

It was not an opportunistic choice

to defend Castle Itter. He did it with conviction.

Lee cannot stop.

As the incoming fire increases

he must secure the castle.

Lee passes word to his men in the gatehouse,

to hang on as long as possible before falling back.

As part of the growing onslaught,

SS troops advance from the east and west sides,

as well as up the drop off to the castle's north.

The defenders struggle to cover all three directions.

It is not clear how long they will be able to hold out.

Jean Borotra,

one of the prisoners and a former French tennis star,

braves the incoming fire to deliver a message.

He bursts in to report to Lee that they're running low on ammunition,

with Waffen-SS forces closing in.

Just then,

an unexpected sound cuts through the gun fire.

What happens next is amazing. The telephone in the castle rings.

Hello?

Lee answers

and is relieved to hear the voice of an American officer on the line.

When he had reached the town of Worgl,

Gangl's Austrian resistance fighters

had alerted the officer to the existence of the castle telephone.

He's calling to check on Lee's forces and what they need.

Lee only has time to report that the castle is under attack

and they're low on ammunition...

...before the line goes dead.

Though reinforcements may be coming

there's no guarantee they will arrive in time.

He did not get a chance to relay the strength

and position of the Waffen-SS troops,

which could help the relief force make it more quickly to the castle.

In addition to losing Gangl,

two of the German soldiers have been injured.

Lee knows that the castle could be overrun before help arrives,

risking the lives of everyone inside.

Jean Borotra interrupts with a crazy offer.

During his captivity,

Borotra had escaped from the castle before,

only to recaptured by and returned to the prison.

He suggests to Lee that he should dress as an Austrian peasant,

jump the wall, and try and run to town to get aid.

If Borotra can escape once more and locate the American forces,

he can pass on Lee's warnings.

Lee is not convinced the plan can succeed

but has few choices and even less time.

As the fighting eases,

Borotra is able to slip away from the castle.

To fulfill his mission, he will have make his way

past the Waffen-SS positioned outside the walls.

Everyone's life could depend on it.

May 5th, 1945.

In the Austrian alps,

Waffen-SS troops attack Castle Itter,

the war time prison which housed French VIPs

The castle is held by a motley mix

of both American and German soldiers

fighting to protect the hostages of the Third Reich.

With the castle defenders

at risk of being overwhelmed by loyal Nazi forces...

...former French tennis star, Jean Borotra,

escapes the castle in disguise to alert nearby American troops.

But first, he must make it through the Waffen-SS line

advancing on the castle.

Borotra must convince the Nazi troops

that he is just an Austrian peasant.

If they even suspect him of being a military deserter,

let alone an escaped prisoner, it could cost him his life.

Tense moments pass.

Borotra's performance as an peasant

must have been convincing, as they allow him to continue.

Borotra heads off in search of the Americans.

Back at Castle Itter,

Lieutenant Jack Lee continues to lose ground to the SS troops

and runs low on ammunition.

He has no way to know

if friendly reinforcements can reach them in time.

If the castle is overrun,

they believe the French VIPs are at risk

of being executed by the Waffen-SS fanatics.

Some hardcore SS officers say "Okay we are losing the war,

"but we will take our enemies with us.

They shall not survive us."

Lee and the French generals

agree to retreat to the castle's inner stronghold,

which Lee calls the keep.

Down to the last magazine!

Make it count.

The keep is literally the last stand.

There's no place to retreat to from it.

They have to gamble that they can hold off the SS

until relief forces arrive. Or the game is up.

At this point, Lee and his men are going to win or die.

Waffen-SS forces sustain their attack and close in.

The castle defenders return fire,

but they are being overwhelmed by superior numbers.

SS troops reach the castle gate

and prepare to blast their way inside,

with a Panzerfaust rocket.

An easy to use weapon, which blows up tanks.

The Waffen-SS suddenly hear tank noise

from the rear, from the village.

Without an armoured unit of their own,

the Waffen-SS are no match for the arriving U.S. tanks.

They quickly realized the Americans are coming.

The Waffen-SS disappeared as quickly as possible.

To Lee's relief, reinforcements have arrived just in time.

Lee and the others holed up in Castle Itter have been saved.

Lieutenant Lee by this point is exhausted.

And when the commander of the 142nd comes up to him,

he says, "Take them Colonel, they're all yours."

The battle for Castle Itter

would be amongst the last ground combat of World War II in Europe.

Only two days later, May 7, 1945,

Germany surrenders unconditionally to the allies.

The fact the last battle

fought in the European theatre of operations

was not to conquer territory,

but to defend innocent prisoners

must have been an incredibly uplifting moment

for all those involved.

The Americans evacuate the French VIPs to innsbruck, Austria.

Within days they arrive home in France.

Several would return to politics after the war.

SS-Waffen Captain Kurt-Siegfried Schrader receives a letter,

undersigned by the former prisoners

stating he's ensured the safety of the French detainees

and stayed with them during the German attacks.

Schrader serves as a prisoner of war for only two years,

before being released.

In the end, when we judge the personality,

we must always bear in mind

there were many SS officers who didn't act like Schrader,

who didn't change their mind.

You can say Schrader showed more responsibility

than most of his peers.

Austria honours major Josef Gangl for his work with the resistance

and for his actions at Castle Itter.

Lieutenant Jack Lee

would be awarded the distinguished service cross

for his intiative, boldness and courage

in defence of Castle Itter.

Lieutenant Lee himself summed it up years later

when he was asked. He just said,

"It was just the damnedest thing."

It had been a long road since the beaches of Normandy.

Peace, eleven months in the making.

D-day is only the beginning

and it's a really important beginning

of almost a year of really intense fighting

by a western allied coalition

all of whom need one another badly.

And all of whom sacrificed terribly,

for this to come to a final victory.