The Last Battle (35 page)

Karen Jensen and Wendy Palitz, both of Weider’s
World War II
magazine; editor Karen for commissioning me to write the article from which this book evolved, and art director Wendy for both her friendship and the article’s wonderful design.

Thomas Culbert and Mike Constandy for their dogged research work at the National Archives.

Joe Basse for providing information on, and photos of, his father, Harry Basse.

Robert D. Lee for providing information on, and photos of, his uncle John C. Lee.

John Kramers, Arthur Pollock, and Edward Seiner for their personal recollections of the battle for Schloss Itter.

Victoria Haglan for her excellent German translations.

Patricia E. Evans, Chenango County, New York, historian, for locating and providing background material on John Lee and his family.

Gail Wiese, Jennifer Payne, and Kelly Gonzalez of Norwich University’s Archives and Special Collections for their help in researching John Lee’s time at the university.

Veterans of the 12th Armored Division F. George Hatt and Steve Czecha and 23rd Tank Battalion veterans James Francis and John McBride, all for their help in researching their units and the men who served in them.

Lisa Sharik and the staff of the Texas Military Forces Museum and Kyle Wiskow and the staff of the 12th Armored Division Museum for their research assistance.

John P. Moore for providing vital background information on Kurt-Siegfried Schrader.

John Browning for information on his brother William Browning, squad leader in Company E, 142nd Infantry Regiment.

Ron Thomassin for providing photos of Harry Basse.

Megan Lewis at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum for her research efforts on Sebastian Wimmer and Stefan Otto.

I
N
A
USTRIA
:

The staff of Gemiende Itter, who were tremendously helpful both via e-mail and during my visit to Schloss Itter; Robert Kaller of Vienna’s Institut für Zeitgeschichte; Hedi Wechner, current mayor of Wörgl; Otto Hagleitner, for information on his father, Rupert; and Dr. Wilfred Beimroh and the staff of the Tiroler Landesarchiv.

I
N
F
RANCE
:

Evelyne Demey Paul-Reynaud, for sharing family history and photographs of her parents taken while they were imprisoned in Schloss Itter.

Lise Pommois, for sharing photos of 23rd Tank Battalion operations in Alsace.

I
N
G
ERMANY
:

The research and reference staffs of the Stadtarchive Ludwigsburg, KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, and the Bundesarchiv’s Militärarchiv.

I
N
P
OLAND
:

Marta Grudzińska at the Majdanek Museum and Archive for information on Sebastian Wimmer’s activities at the infamous concentration camp.

I
N
S
WITZERLAND
:

Remo Becci, archivist of the United Nations International Labor Organization office in Geneva, for providing background information on and photographs of Augusta Léon-Jouhaux.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES

O
FFICIAL
D
OCUMENTS

Many of the sources below are part of the National Archives and Record Administration’s Modern Military Records Center in College Park, MD; these are indicated with the abbreviation NARA MMRC.

Armored Force Field Manual, Tactics and Technique.
U.S. War Department. March 1942. Archives II, NARA MMRC.

Battalion Diary for Month of May 1945.
753rd Tank Battalion. Oct. 31, 1945. NARA MMRC.

Battlegroup Buddenbrock, 16 March–4 May 1945
, by Generalmajor Jobst Freiherr von Buddenbrock. Foreign Military Studies, 1945–1954. Department of the Army, Washington, DC, 1956.

Company History, 1–8 May 1945
. Company D, 753rd Tank Battalion. May 10, 1945. NARA MMRC.

Final Strike Assessment, Wörgl M/Y, Austria
. Photo Interpretation Officer, 301st Bombardment Group (Heavy), Feb. 23, 1945. NARA MMRC.

General Order 212
. HQs., U.S. Forces, European Theater, Aug. 29, 1945.

The German Replacement Army (Ersatzheer)
. Military Intelligence Division, War Department, Washington, DC, April 1944. NARA MMRC.

Himmler’s Files from Hallein
. Office of the Military Governor for Germany (U.S.), Office of the Director of Intelligence, Nov. 8, 1945. NARA MMRC.

Historical Narrative for May 1945
. HQs., 753rd Tank Battalion, n.d. NARA MMRC.

History of the 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, Sept. 3, 1943–May 8, 1945 (Volume II, France, Germany, Austria)
. HQs., 142nd Infantry Regiment, n.d. NARA MMRC.

Journal of Operations, 1944–1945
. HQs., 17th Armored Infantry Battalion, n.d. NARA MMRC.

Kampf um die Alpenfestung Nord
, by General der Gebirgstruppen Georg Ritter von Hengl. Foreign Military Studies, 1945–1954. Department of the Army, Washington, DC, 1956.

Operations in Germany, 1–10 May 1945
. 23rd Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division, Feb. 15, 1946. NARA MMRC.

Operations in Germany and Austria, May 1945
. HQs., 103rd Infantry Division, July 1945. NARA MMRC.

Operations in Germany and Austria, 1–10 May 1945
. HQs., 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, May 25, 1945. NARA MMRC.

Operations in Germany, Austria and Italy, May 1945
. HQs., 103rd Infantry Division, n.d. NARA MMRC.

Personalakten für Gangl, Josef, Heeres-Personalamt, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
. Berlin, n.d. NARA MMRC.

Regimental History, 409th Infantry Regiment, 1–10 May 1945
. NARA MMRC.

Resistance and Persecution in Austria, 1938–1945
. Austrian Federal Press Service, Vienna, 1988.

Rocket Projectors in the Eastern Theater
. Foreign Military Studies, 1945–1954. Department of the Army, Washington, DC, 1956.

7th Werfer Brigade, 24 March–30 April 1945
, by Generalmajor Dr. Kurt Paape. Foreign Military Studies, 1945–1954. Department of the Army, Washington, DC, 1956.

Special Narrative Report, Mission to Wörgl M/Y, Austria
. Office of the Intelligence Officer, 301st Bombardment Group (Heavy), Feb. 23, 1945. NARA MMRC.

SS Personalakten für Wimmer, Sebastian, SS-Hauptamt
. Berlin, n.d. NARA MMRC.

Tank, Medium, M4A3
. Technical Manual 9–759. War Department, Washington, DC, September 1944. NARA MMRC.

Unit Journal, 1–10 May 1945
. HQs., 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, NARA MMRC.

Widerstand und Verfolgung in Tirol, 1934–1945: Eine Dokumentation, Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes
. Vienna, 1984.

I
NTERVIEWS

Duvall, Calbert. Company B, 23rd Tank Battalion. Conducted via e-mail, June 20, 2012.

Kramers, John T. Military Government Section, 103rd Infantry Division. Audio-recorded June 8, 2012.

Pollock, Arthur P. Company E, 142nd Infantry Regiment. Audio-recorded Nov. 3, 2011.

Seiner, Edward J. Company B, 23rd Tank Battalion. Audio-recorded Oct. 28, 2011.

U
NPUBLISHED
M
ANUSCRIPTS

Čučković, Zvonimir. “Zwei Jahren auf Schloss Itter.” Handwritten, n.d. Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau.

“Die Wahrheit Über Schloss Itter.” Privatarchiv Otto Molden: Zur Geschichte der Österreichschen Widerstandsbewegung Gegen Hitler, 1938–1945. Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Universität Wien, Vienna, n.d.

Flanagan, Drew. “Resistance from the Right: François de La Rocque and the Réseau Klan.” Department of History, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 2010.

Schrader, Kurt-Siegfried. “Erinnerungen, Gedanken, Erkenntnisse.” 1993.

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OOKS

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