Operation Greif Commandos

[jim armstroong]

 

A C&P reply to an earlier question re seeing Krauts in GI Uniforms around the time of the Battle of the Bulge(This was on another Forum)

 

"Possibly you have misinterpreted what Recon and J3rd said when each they said THEY had never seen a Kraut in an American uniform and I was able to reaffirm their statements. They were much further South rather than in the Bulge Area.

 

I can assure you that it did happen to the Americans and those Krauts caught in an American uniform were shot as spies. "Operation Greif Commandos" were the ones that wore GI equipment.

 

From what I recall from being in an Intel Unit is that there were four groups on reconnaissance commandos and two groups of demolition commandos sent out in the first few days of the Operation. Each unit consisted of 3 or 4 men and were thought to be quite able to pass for GIs.They had the uniforms,weapons and vehicles(captured) and were able to lose their Kraut accents. However through changing passwords on short notice,trick questions,calling a halt to all troop movements sparodically for a short period etc the ruse was seen through.

 

General Bradley was briefly detained at a check point because the men there didn't really know him by sight and another General(forget the name) was taken into custody because he answered the question about the Capital of the State of Illinois correctly BUT the man in charge thought it was another city which was HIS mistake. Thankfully the General was generous to his "captors".

 

The American solution to the Greif Commandos was simple and effective. Any Krauts captured wearing US Uniforms were shot as spies and no more groups showed up after December 20,1944."

 

One of the original facets of the operation was the capture of Gen. Ike but there was never a chance for that to happen with his security!!!

 

Sgtleo

 

[Dogdaddy]

Hello Sarge,

There are wartime films of the actual firing squad executions of Germans in GI uniforms.

 

 

Jim

[Walt's Daughter]

Sgt Leo:

 

It amazes me even after all these years, that some people still don't believe that certain things happened in the war. Like GI's, photographers, Generals and so on, made up all these stories. Hmmm, let's guess which forum that may have been on...

 

Why would it be so hard to fathom that Germans who could speak English and have ready access to American uniforms wouldn't and couldn't do things like that?

 

If I am reading your above post correctly, it would appear that the person or persons on the other forum made a vast assumption just because Joe and Russ hadn't come across it. As you said, they were further south as my dad was, and they or their company, battalion, etc., would not have experienced this. But many did and there is proof in records, film, etc.

[Walt's Daughter]

Here'a an interesting link on Walter Cronkite who was with Patton's 3rd Army.

 

Cronkite: The Battle of the Bulge Remembered

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...storyId=4246503

 

Once there, click on the LISTEN button and hear Cronkite's Commentary on NPR. It's several minutes long. Within this commmentary he talks about the Bulge and Germans in American uniforms. It's very good.

[Dogdaddy]

Not only is the story true, but these English-speaking Germans were hand picked by Otto Skorzeny, at one time dubbed "The Most Dangerous Man in Germany."

 

 

Jim

[j3rdinf]

Now lets just slow down a bit guys. Yes, myself and Recon did say "neither of us SAW

a Kraut in a American uniform. So we just told the truth of what we actually encountered. Isnt that what iis wanted here? First hand info on what we saw? Never

did we say it "it is not true". Evidentally from Sgt. Leos posting there were 2 groups of 3 or 4 men and this is not one hell of a lot. I will take his word anyday. So just figure out how many of us actually saw one of these "Krauts in American uniforms".. Sure, it

did happen undoubtedly in small instances. But, how many of us millions of G.I.'s encountered it. If you watch the "war movies" it happened all the time according to them.

[Walt's Daughter]

Dear Joe:

 

We weren't questioning you or the Sarge. I was just commenting about the person he was referring to on the OTHER FORUM. Evidently HE mistook what the thread was trying to say.

 

[Dogdaddy]

Joe- I second Marion's post. I wouldn't doubt the word of any of you guys and that's not what my posts were intended for....I have always found this aspect of the Bulge story very interesting, as well as Skorzeny himself. In one book I have on the Bulge it states that the Grief commandos had little effect on the outcome and can be considered "[/i]a significant waste of German resources", but they did have a significant effect on American rear-area morale, out of proportion to their numbers as rumors began to spread. I'm sure that the vast majority of Americans never saw any of these guys!

 

 

Jim

[Sgtleo]

 

 

J3rdinf:-

 

What follows is exactly what I posted:-

 

Quote""Possibly you have misinterpreted what Recon and J3rd said when each they said THEY had never seen a Kraut in an American uniform and I was able to reaffirm their statements. They were much further South rather than in the Bulge Area." End Quote

 

You are right here wern't many but they scared the you know what out of everybody from Ike down until this was found out and all were captured and/or killed. Ike at one time according to our info had 3 BNs of MPs guarding the area he was in

 

Reading it you will see that I was just commenting that you and Recon were, probably 500 hundred miles South of me, not in the same NORTHERN part of France and BELGIUM where the Bulge occurred. You two would have had something a H**L of a lot more than 20/20 vision to see that far. I was in NO WAY denigrating either of you in what you had said,what you had seen etc. I know better than to do that and I hope you know that is NOT my style. This was a C&P from an old posting where the "Historians" were sounding off about the shooting of POWS.

 

Sorry about the fact that you read it another way than I intended!!

 

I don't remember anybody here on this Forum saying that what you said was not true!!

 

I hope this clears the air for all here.

 

Sgtleo

[j3rdinf]

Again, this has gotten out of hand through missunderstandings. I was agreeing with the Sarge about some Krauts being in U.S. uniforms. This was common knowledge. I did

not disagree, only stateing a answer from the other forum and agreeing saying it again. .. It kind of reminded me of the "Wherwolves" bit in post war Germany. Granted, undoubtedly there were a few, also some roumors, but again, neither myself

or Recon actually saw any of them or their work. (I dont mean tthis in a sarcastic way,

but as another fact). My first post on this thread was not in rebuttal but agreeing that

we did say we had seen none of this. (in our areas). Hope this ends the confusion.

I will put it simply. Yes, I do believe that there were some Krauts in G.I. uniforms, but

no, I did not actually see any in our area which was many miles from the Bulge. Fred,

I sure wasnt trying to "ruffle your feathers" and I know you werent try to "Ruffle" mine

as some here thought.. By the way Fred (Sarge) the other forum sure has gone to hell in the last month or so. Almost none of the "old group" posting anymore. Going to spend this afternoon trying to track down Recon once again and if so going to give him hell for disapearing again. Got a few more "markers to call in" and will see what they

come up with quickly again.