Allies and Axis Working Together in WW2

when the allies and axis troops work together the second world war is known for its brutality with both the allies and the Axis powers fighting tooth and nail for Supremacy in spite of this however there were some incidents in which soldiers from one side actively or inadvertently aided their enemies whether this was done out of a sense of morality ideology or some reason known only to them here are a few examples of when axis and allies worked together the Battle of it castle by May 1945 with VE day just on the corner and the Nazi reign of terror coming to an end one final battle remain in the Austrian Alps Castle it was a fortification that dated back to the 13th century during the war it was under the administrative control of the daau Concentration Camp about 90 Mi away the castle was used by the SS to incarcerate high value prisoners particularly those who had potential value as hostages mostly French Nationals including two former Prime Ministers as well as several generals and prominent political figures on May 4th the guards of Castle itter abandoned their posts and fled leaving the confused inmates uncertain about their fate in the surrounding area were various gapo and VA SS units who executing anyone who attempted to surrender it was feared that the SS would liquidate these high value prisoners as a last Act of Defiance the prisoners sent two Messengers off seeking Aid with one of them finding an American unit though was outside of their operational jurisdiction a small rescue party led by tank commander Jack C Lee was dispatched to the castle the other messenger found vermar major sep gangal a German officer who was disillusioned with the Nazi cause both units met up with each other and agreed to work together to protect the prisoners with Lee placing his Sherman tank at the Castle's entrance the next day aoan SS unit arrived and were met by a combined force of American GIS their Mock deserters and a number number of French and Austrian prisoners using Small Arms left behind by iter's guards Lee's tank was knocked out though no casualties were suffered the fighting lasted all day with the Defenders running out of ammunition just as their last rounds were expended elements of the 142nd Infantry Regiment arrived engaging the SS troops capturing over a 100 and killing or scattering the rest the only death on the defender side was gangam who was hit after shoving a prisoner out of danger though four others were wounded ending one of the strangest battles of World War II you know I've always been fascinated by how things work especially math data and computer science and if you're like me curious and eager to learn then I've got something amazing to share with you imagine learning these complex subjects in a way that's not only interactive but really fun that's what brilliant offers with thousands of lessons covering everything from Basics to more advanced topics and with new lessons added every month it's like an ever expanding Universe of knowledge take their new course on artificial intelligence for example you're not just reading about AI you're actually engaging with interactive puzzles that teach you how neural networks operate it's kind of like playing a game but you're learning a real world concept the best part brilliant customizes content to fit your skill level whether you're just starting out or you're ready to dive deep into Data analysis or programming there is something there for you you progress at your own pace with helpful hints and step by-step solutions to guide you if you sign up now you get to start free for 30 days plus the first 200 people who sign up using the discount URL will get 20% off an annual plan just visit brilliant.org simple hisory to get started give it a try yourself to see what I'm talking about L vafa fighter es scorts American bomber on December 20th 1943 a flight of B7 heavy bombers were making their way to Breman Germany targeting a factory that produced the fw1 90 Fighters one of these nicknamed Ye Old Pub was piloted by Charlie Brown as they made their approach German anti-aircraft flat guns opened up with devastating effect the barrage tore open the plexiglass nose sending Subzero winds into the aircraft subsequent hits knocked out one engine and damaged another with power reduced the bomber fell out of formation and was immediately surrounded by swarms of German fighters in the ensuing fight another engine was damaged the tail Gunner was killed the rest of the the crew wounded and the defensive guns reduced to the dorsal turret and single nose gun Brown turned the plane and headed towards England but with any hope of safely reaching there rapidly fading as Ye Old Pub limped home the wounded and Frozen crew were greeted by a baffling sight to the side of the bomber was a German measure Schmid BF 109 flown by France Stigler who instead of finishing off the crippled Flying Fortress waved after seeing the condition the men were in he could not bring himself to finish them off Stigler tried to Signal Brown to land the bomber safely in Germany or to neutral Sweden where they could land and be intered brown was confused as to what Stigler was trying to communicate and continued to Pilot his crippled plane towards England rather than abandon them Stigler flew in close formation with the bomber which prevented German anti-aircraft guns from firing at them as they left German airspace Stigler saluted before returning home Brown managed to make the trip back to England Landing safely both Brown and sagler would survive the war and would meet in much more peaceful circumstances in 1990 and would remain friends until their deaths in 2008 the niche incident when the Americans inadvertently helped the axis side on November 7th 1944 the American 82 operations group based in Italy was providing support for Soviet forces particularly the sixth guard's rifle Corp which was making its way towards belrain near the town of Niche Yugoslavia now Serbia a flight of peace 38 lightning fighter plane spotted what they thought was a convoy of German troops there are multiple versions of what happened next what can be agreed upon is that the Lightnings began an attack on the Soviet Convoy strafing it with machine guns and Rockets killing 34 including the sixth guard core commander and destroying about 20 trucks the Soviets called for their own fighters thinking they were under attack from loffa FW 1889s which have a similar twinbody design as the P38 when the yak 9 and Yak 3 fighters arrived on the scene they began dog fighting the Americans which lasted about 15 minutes a number of aircraft on both sides were shot down though the exact figures are disputed eventually the Americans realized they were fighting the Soviets and broke off the attack another wave of p38s was inbound but they were intercepted by the Soviet fighters who showed the red star on their aircraft and they returned back to base without any further incident to this day there was no official reasoning for the engagement intelligence reports indicated that there were no German troops in the region adding suspicion that the attack was deliberate Additionally the dog fight lasted for 15 minutes with none of the Americans noticing the red star on the Soviet Fighters which looks nothing like the Lu wav a cross or swastika there are some reports that the Americans had made a navigation error and believed they were over enemy territory the Soviets had also Advanced much more quickly than anticipated and their presence in the region may have been a surprise to the American forces officially the incident was determined to be an unfortunate friendly fire incident and the Americans sent an official apology to the Soviets though it may just be a case of mistaken identity rumors persist that the attack was deliberate it is impossible to determine as much of the information on what had occurred is still classified to this day American pilot defects by 1944 the war was going firmly in favor of the allies with the axis forces suffering setbacks on both the eastern and western fronts in spite of this at least one Allied Soldier took his chances throwing his lot in with the axis cause Martin James Monty had joined the US Army Air Corp qualifying as a pilot and was sent to Karachi India now Pakistan where his service was uneventful in late 1944 Monty deserted pitching a ride on a c-46 Bound for Cairo Egypt then numerous stops until his destination of Pomano Airfield north of Naples once there he located a P38 Lightning that was awaiting testing after repairs he stole the plane and headed towards German held Milan once there he defected and spent some time as a prisoner of the suspicious Germans Monty was later released after he convinced them of his sincerity as to why he defected he was an Ardent anti-communist and believed that the war was a communist plot and that Germany and the US should Ally against the Soviet Union their true enemy he offered his services to the Nazi war effort and was sent to Berlin where he began a radio broadcast urging his fellow Americans to stop fighting against against Germany and turn their attention to the evil Soviets broadcasting under the name Martin vop his program lasted only a few sessions before his radio career Ended as for the plane he piloted the Germans eagerly took possession of the P38 repainting the craft with their own markings which was then used by the lvfa until the end of the war as the war ended Monty escaped Berlin and made his way back to Italy where he turned himself into to the Americans he was taken into custody and later charged with desertion receiving a 15-year suspended sentence it wasn't until 1948 when his defection and propaganda activities were discovered he was charged with treason and faced a potential death penalty Monty pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and a $110,000 fine though he was paroled in 1960 he tried without success to have his conviction overturned eventually dying in 2000 British French and Norwegian SS units the vafan SS was the military arm of the German German Nazi party outside of the Vermont in spite of being associated with a German political party the SS eagerly recruited members from other nations placing them in combat roles in German occupied Norway large numbers of Norwegians joined the German military in all of its branches including the Vermont the ks Marina and the lufa overall around 50,000 Norwegians fought for the Third Reich with large numbers also joining the Norwegian Legion an SS unit founded in 1941 after their formation the the legion was deployed to the Leningrad front where they participated in the protracted Siege of the city after enduring heavy casualties as a result of heavy Soviet counterattacks the legion would be disbanded in 1943 those who wished to continue fighting for the SS were transferred over to the newly formed 11th volunteer Panzer Grenadier division nordland where they continued to fight for the Germans in addition to the Norwegians the nordland division also contained a large number of Danes who also joined the Nazi cause and by the end of the war volunteers from Hungary the Netherlands Britain Finland Romania France Spain Switzerland Estonia and Sweden had joined or been attached to the unit the nordland division would continue to fight until the war's end in 1945 with many fighting to the death against the Allied Advance those that were captured were often repatriated to their home countries in order to face trial for treason some SS units were recruited out of desperation by 1944 Germany was losing ground on all fronts and desperately need needed manpower to plug the gaps known as the British free Corp the unit was made up of British and Commonwealth PS recruited with the intention of fighting the Soviets the results were less than inspiring information about the British free Corps is difficult to obtain though its estimated that at its height it consisted of around 27 members a few of the men were dedicated to the proposed Mission but the majority were inept or incapable combatants bordering on incompetent some with extensive criminal and disciplinary records against them most of the men looked for any opportunity to Desert and the BFC never saw combat with the unit disbanded shortly after its Creation in German dominated vichi France the SS also recruited another unit one whose quality was the complete opposite the 33rd vafan Grenadier division of the SS also known as the first French SS Division and the Charlamagne division was founded in 1944 made up from other French units that had served with the Third Reich as early as 1941 such as the Legion of French volunteers against bolshevism or lvf and the eighth volunteer STM Brigade France which saw action on the Eastern front in 1944 both of these units were disbanded and reformed into the 33rd Grenadier division at its height the division had around 7,000 members though heavy fighting whittel down this number to a mere 700 by April 1945 about half were sent to assist a construction Battalion while the rest were deployed to Berlin there they were assigned to guard the furer bunker they fought fiercely knowing the Fate that awaited traitors fighting the Soviets almost to the last man and was one of the last units to offer resistance in the German Capital the 30 or so survivors surrendering on May 2nd 1945 of the members who escaped some made their way to France where they were captured by the Allies some were put on trial and sentenced to prison though many were shot on the spot as traitors to their Homeland in the deadliest conflict in world history members of the axis and Allied Armed Forces due to personal convictions ideology or any other reason known only to them set aside their differences and worked alongside one another remember that's brilliant.org simple history I can't wait to hear about what you'll discover on your next own 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Channel: Simple History

Views: 924,159

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, animation, simple, history, Axis, Allies, allies, axis, ww2, war, gun, guns, prisoners, inspiring, germany, usa, USA, US, us, soldiers, alliance

Id: oj5k89auJ2E

Length: 13min 53sec (833 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 27 2023