682-2 45 Surrender

Chapter 45

Surrender

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Chapter 45

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Chapter 45

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Chapter 45

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Chapter 45 Surrender One of the last scraps happened at Itter Castle. A bunch of French officials that had bucked the Germans was held prisoner there. One tank from the 12th Armored and four infantrymen from the 142nd managed some how to get though the S. S. Troops that were guarding the castle. The commander of the castle surrendered, but the S. S. Troops turned on them. An 88mm down the hill from the castle knocked out the tank, but most of the crew made it into the castle. Then the 88 started shooting at the castle and knocked several holes in it. The French that were freed joined our boys. They used weapons and ammo that belonged to the enemy. Somehow that tank crew, four infantrymen, and about thirty French held out until they run out of ammo. Just as they did, another unit from the 142nd broke through and saved them. The Frenchmen knew they were literally fighting for their lives. They knew the S. S. Troops had orders to kill them rather than let them get loose. The reason they couldn’t stop the 88mm that was giving them fits was because they had it backed up in the RR Tunnel. So you see it was pretty traumatic to the bitter end. I think it was the next day that we pulled into this big, pretty valley in the Alps. That is, it would have seemed pretty except it was literally full of German troops, still armed. We drove through them out to about the middle. It was a weird feeling driving through hundreds of still-armed Germans. A place was set up for them to all turn in their guns and they were all stacked there. There was no trouble and the more guns they turned in, the better we felt. I will admit that it was some days before I could really breathe easy. Being in the middle of all those former enemy was unsettling.

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