General Patton Admits He Was WRONG!!!!
During World War II, there were two POW camps located near
Hammelburg. The name of one camp was Stalag XIII-C. The other,
an officer or Oflag camp, was Oflag XIII-B.
Stalag XIII-C a POW camp for non-commissioned officers and enlisted
personnel. It contained three compounds, one for British and
Commonwealth soldiers, one for American soldiers and the third for
Soviet soldiers.
Oflag XIII-B had two compounds. One was for American officers, while
the other was for Serbian officers.
In late March, 1945, after the crossing of the Rhine River, an armored
task force, Task Force Baum, under orders from General George S. Patton, Jr.,
was sent to Oflag XIII-B to liberate the prisoners who were being held there.
There was some controversy over the reason for the raid which is now known
to history as "The Hammelburg Raid". Patton claims that he has sent the task
force to the camp to rescue the prisoners so that they would not be executed
by the retreating Germans, while others believe that the raid had been
conducted in order to liberate Patton's son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John
K. Waters, who had been found to be at the camp.
The task force, made up mainly of units from the 4th US Armored Division,
reached the camp on March 27, after making a 60 miles deep penetration
through the Germans' front lines. The task force liberated the camp, and
found Waters. They soon learn from one of the other prisoners, who is a
doctor, that he has been wounded during an earlier escape attempt and
is therefore unable to be moved from the camp because of those injuries.
The troopers then leave the camp, taking with them all those who want to
get back to friendly lines. This turns out to be 1200 men.
Unfortunately, the task force, miles from the camp, was attacked on three
sides by German troops the following day, and was soon fighting for its very
life. The task force is soon destroyed, with most of the force (those who
aren't dead) captured, including a large number of the recently liberated
prisoners. About a week to ten days after the failed raid, the camp was again
liberated by American troops, but by then, most of the more able-bodied
prisoners had been sent elsewhere.
Patton is later reprimanded for the raid by both General Eisenhower and
General Bradley, for both the aborted attempt and the destruction of the
task force. He told war correspondents a short time after the reprimand
that he had no idea that his son-in-law was actually in the camp until after
the troops have reached Hammelburg. But, he later admitted that not
sending a Combat Command to Hammelburg instead of the task force is the
only mistake that he had made during the campaign.
Sgtleo head: 