The Last Battle by Stephen Harding Read Free Book Online Page B

remained friends at Schloss Itter despite their differing politics. (National Archives)

    Upon his December 1943 arrival at Schloss Itter, General Maxime Weygand encountered immediate vituperation from Paul Reynaud and only less obvious hostility from Maurice Gamelin; the former considered Weygand a traitor to France, and the latter burned with professional embarrassment. (National Archives)

Though Michel Clemenceau had been a longtime admirer of Pétain, he became an outspoken critic of what he saw as the aged general’s willingness to collaborate with the Germans. Clemenceau’s views quickly drew the attention of the Gestapo, and he was arrested in May 1943. His calm self-possession upon arrival at Schloss Itter prompted Reynaud to note that the castle’s other VIP prisoners were reassured by Clemenceau’s “unshakable confidence.” (National Archives)

    Until his arrest by the Gestapo in 1943, François de La Rocque had been a key member of the Vichy government, a confidant of Pétain, and a man widely viewed as one of France’s leading fascists. His arrival at Schloss Itter was thus a surprise to the other VIP prisoners, who would have been further astounded to learn that de La Rocque led a resistance movement that provided valuable information to British intelligence. (National Archives)

SS-Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Eduard Weiter, the last commandant of Dachau, arrived at Schloss Itter with his retinue on April 30, 1945. His suicide just 48 hours later prompted Sebastian Wimmer and his troops to abandon the castle and its VIP prisoners. (National Archives)

    During his four years at Vermont’s Norwich University, John Carey Lee Jr. was known for both his football skills and his equestrian abilities and is seen here following his May 11, 1942, graduation and commissioning as a second lieutenant of cavalry. (Photo courtesy Robert D. Lee)

Upon his graduation from Norwich, Lee received orders to attend the basic armor officer course at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and lingered in New York only long enough to marry a woman named Virginia, the first of his eventual three wives. (Photo courtesy Robert D. Lee)

    Taken about two months before the battle at Schloss Itter, this image depicts Company B commander Jack Lee (at right) with, from left, 2nd Lieutenant John Powell, one of Lee’s platoon leaders, and 1st Lieutenant Harry Basse, Company B’s motor officer and Lee’s closest friend in the unit. Within weeks Powell was dead and Lee and Basse had both been lightly wounded. (Photo courtesy Robert D. Lee)

Following the 23rd Tank Battalion’s mauling during the January 1945 Battle of Herrlisheim, Jack Lee’s Company B was reequipped with the improved M4A3(76)W version of the Sherman tank. Also referred to as the M4A3E8, the variant was widely known as the “Easy Eight.” By the time of the Schloss Itter mission, the second Besotten Jenny would have appeared virtually identical to the well-worn 10th Armored Division vehicle shown here. (U.S. Army photo, courtesy Steven Zaloga)

    A tanker stows main-gun rounds in the “wet” ammunition-stowage racks in the floor of an “Easy Eight.” The system was intended to prevent the Sherman’s 76mm rounds from detonating if the tank’s hull was breeched by enemy fire. It was a feature that would prove extremely important for Besotten Jenny during the battle for Schloss Itter. (U.S. Army photo courtesy Steven Zaloga)

Black soldiers of Company D, 17th Armored Infantry Battalion, clear German civilians from a recently captured town. Though most secondhand accounts of the Schloss Itter action state that Jack Lee tapped several Company D troops to take part in the rescue mission, the author’s research has shown that the four U.S. infantrymen who rode aboard Lee’s tank and helped defend the castle were actually drawn from the all-white 2nd Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment. (U.S. Army photo courtesy Steven Zaloga)

    Soldiers of the crack 17th SS Panzer