Lions Of Judah: The Special Forces Unit With A Vendetta Against Hitler | Secret War | Timeline

[Music] in the desert of North Africa in the summer of 1942 a small band of soldiers were selected by the British for a unique Mission they all had the same special skill they spoke fluent German these men were the children of German Jews victims of the Holocaust and now they would have their Revenge they call themselves The Lions of Judah they were hurt by the Nazis and they wanted to take revange in fighting the Nazis we had a motive to fight the Nazis the Lions of Judah with a special interrogation group or SG they consisted of less than 40 men and were operational for just 6 months in 1942 nothing could be closer than men who are all in it together saving each other's lives have all been through it operating exclusively Behind Enemy Lines the mission was simple elimination sabotage and demolition anything that would disrupt and demoralize the German army they did their job to cross the line and lay ambushes or Patrol uh terrain Behind Enemy line in all of their operations they would face overwhelming arms during their short quest to disrupt the Nazi war effort in North Africa almost all were killed my father was a brave man he gave his life for his country this is the extraordinary story of the special interrogation group and how they became part of British military folklore [Music] in March 1942 a man staggered out of the desert in North Africa he wore an Africa core uniform of the German Army blooded and dying of thirst he had to make it back to base [Music] finally after many days he glimpsed civilization before him the outskirts of the city of T Brook the base for the British forces he was quickly spotted picked up and taken to the British HQ where he was treated for his wounds given clean clothes and a stiff drink then driven to British High command in Cairo only then did he meet with his commanding officers for the man was not a German but Captain Herbert Buck the Scots guards and he had an extraordinary tale to tell Buck had been out fighting with the British e8th army west of to Brook in January 1942 when he was wounded and captured he was Shackled and taken away in a truck but the Germans had no idea just how dangerous this Soldier was Captain Beck succeeded to every evade German captivity by killing the driver who took him into captivity and wearing his uniform and taking his arms throwing out his body from the cabin and he cross the Western desert as a German Buck easily passed himself off as a German soldier wearing an Africa core uniform he simply marched back to British territory passing through axis lines without difficulty that was why 2 weeks after escaping Buck was back in British [Music] hands as he related his experience to his superiors an idea began to formulate in their minds Buck seemed the ideal man to put in charge of a new unit called the special interrogation group or SG the job of the SG was to go behind the Enemy Lines to create chaos for that they needed men fluent in German and willing to operate in hostile territory Buck's own experience made him the perfect leader the SI were needed urgently because the German Army were on the march in North Africa [Music] General Owen rmel and his Africa Corp had landed at Tripoli in Libya in February 1941 despite being outnumbered roml surprised the British by attacking driving them out of Libya in just weeks as the British were forced to retreat to the Egyptian border they realized it would take more than just conventional forces to beat this foe that was why the SG was formed the SG would be predominantly drawn from one particular body of men the 51st Middle East Commando were a 600 strong unit made up mostly of german-speaking Jews who'd fled the [Music] Nazis most of them had some previous account to settle with the Germans they experienced the regime of persecutions German jury underwent since uh 1933 so this was a special motivation in October 1941 the 51st were part of a Commando Force whose mission was to attack rl's headquarters and kill him they failed but most of the 51st Got Away unscathed among its ranks was a 26-year-old German Jew Morris Tien Bruner in 1938 Morris and his family were deported to Poland but he escaped leaving his family he eventually found his way to ANP in Belgium I said goodbye to my parents I didn't know that I will not come back nobody dreamed of a war yet and so all the difficulty which came on later but if I would have known that I probably would have wouldn't have left wouldn't have left my parents with help from the Jewish underground movement in Europe Tian Bruner and 950 other Jewish refugees boarded a ship in Marseilles Bound for Palestine in June 1939 even in those early days his strength of character was apparent the SS perita reached Palestine but the British refused permission for it to dock t St Bruner seized control of the ship and ran it ground on Tel Aviv Beach he was interned by the British but 2 weeks later war broke out and he was released and granted Palestinian citizenship he enlisted in the British Army and fought with the 51st Commando where he witnessed the horrors of desert Warfare the understand of shock many of us because we lost personal friends I lost my second Gunner Yosef was really we were so close friends and he was killed to bits next to me and I was the lucky [Music] one on the 17th of March 1942 Tian Bruner and the other men of the 51st were resting at a camp near the sewers Canal When a Stranger appeared it was Captain Herbert Buck a cryptic entry by the commanding officer in the 51st diary for that day reads Captain Buck selects Germans Captain buck b a person to be trusted a person who could talk to a person Al he was a from a very aristocratic family who speak like men to men right and highly intelligent Buck said he was looking for men for a different kind of challenge he addressed us with that idea what we could do if we would volunteer for this kind of work he said we um would be trained by uh experienced people to behave like German soldiers put on German uniforms and go into enemy territory and do intelligence as well as sabotage works there in the days that followed Buck recruited almost 30 men to his new SI including T Bruner volunteering for the Commando was one step nearer to my aim to hatur Nazis as much as possible and perhaps being in a position to help my parents who were didn't know what in what condition they are so um I am 27 others the volunteer and that we are willing to take the risk and go discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and adree podcasts presented by world-renowned historians all from history hit watch them on your smart TV or on the- go with your mobile device download the app now to explore everything from the wonders of ancient Pompei and the Mystery of the princes in the tower to the life of Anne Belin and D-Day sign up via the link in the description While most of the SG were Jews from the 51st some were recruited from free check forces and the French Foreign Legion the only Criterion for selection was that they would be able to impers German soldiers impeccably with a team assembled the training began training went very well we learned how to march in gep we learned how to Cur each other in in German we learned how to snore in in in German and all these things to look as normal as possible to act like some Soldiers the SG had to master all aspects of German military Machinery weaponry and conduct because their disguise had to be [Music] Flawless this note was sent to headquarters in Cairo requesting equipment in the shape of one German staff car and two 1 and 1/2 ton trucks any other captured German equipment was highly valued and put to a mediate use they use Germans light weapons like schmeiser field rifle other German machine guns mg34 whatever uh they wore German uniform they had German helmets they used German notebooks the smallest details were [Music] German but then Buck took a Gamble and recruited two German prisoners of War to help in the training this was his idea and the role of the German prisoners of War was to teach the current military German language the current order of habits customs in the German Army wter esner and Herbert Brookner had been captured in November 1941 serving in the 361st Regiment of the Africa Corps they claimed to be anti-nazis and were recruited by Buck to teach the SG everything they knew about the Africa core but first buck had to ask permission to hire them in his plans for the SG he described the decision as a necessary risk for training purposes to have men who had recently been in the German Army but tan Bruner had his suspicions and went to Buck to tell him Captain Buck said to me uh Morris everything is all right the uh they have been uh tried and they have been interviewed and they have been interrogated and uh uh they have observed they are 100% all right they are really idealist fighting the Nazis like [Music] you Buck's Instinct was that the Germans could be trusted and the training continued the SG were based on their own side but within earshot of the main British Camp every morning the British would hear the SG being woken with the alarming words company aner or company get up the men would be questioned suddenly L on their German identities and March to the mesro for [Music] [Music] interrogation the tough regime knitted them into a team that became experts in handling explosives desert navigation and unarmed combat they also became skilled mechanics and drivers of German vehicles but no one in the camp had any idea what mission these men were training for initially the SG mingled in prisoner of war camps with German soldiers to gather intelligence and learn how they behaved this was the interrogation part of their [Music] job only then could they be deployed on exploratory sorties Behind Enemy [Music] Lines but the Nazis soon got wind that there were German spies in their camps in fact in June 1942 British intelligence translated a secret message from Hitler to roml regarding the existence of numerous German political refugees fighting in Africa and that should they not be mercilessly wiped out in battle should have a military sentence pronounced immediately the Nazis would show no mercy to the men of the SG cap would mean certain death but by now the SG were needed more than ever because the war in North Africa had taken a turn for the worse in June 1942 rumel began a massive new assault on British forces his Africa core crossed the Egyptian border and drove the British eth army deep into Egypt RL was less than 100 Mil from the sewers Canal if that fell then the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean will be under threat now was the time for the SG and their first mission was about as deadly as it could be [Music] the British were particularly troubled by enemy aircraft based on the North African Coast they were bombing Royal nav ships resupplying the eighth [Music] Army the sg's task was to assist a new Special Forces Unit the Special Air Service or SAS and Destroy as many aircraft as possible at two airfields 100 miles west of T Brook the SAS was founded by Colonel David Sterling of the Scots [Music] guards Sterling had a lot to prove a third of the SAS had been killed or captured on their very first operation in Libya it was Sterling who requested that the SG assist with his new Mission but were they ready for action though he was Keen to fight the Nazis Morris Tien Bruner still had real concerns about the two Germans training the SG esner and bner were very good instructors but when we were told that very soon we go in action and uh pner and the two German soldiers will go with us I protested I say it's too dangerous TI Bruner's concerns were ignored and he and the SG were transported to the vast sewa Oasis in Egypt Esna and Brookner accompanied them from there 12 siig men including tan Bruner boarded a captured Africa core truck and a British 3 ton Lori 14 men from a free French Squadron also climbed in the back of the lores they were to act as captured prisoners of war the SG would be their German guards we are the guards have taken prisoner these soldiers so whenever they on any checkpost so we had we are taking the soldiers back to uh some Camp right that's our order right on the 8th of June 1942 the SG set out from sewa escorted by the SAS after 4 days their escort left and T Bruner and SG changed into their German uniforms now they were on their own one Lori was driven by the German prisoner of war Brookner and had nine French soldiers in the back on the other Lory there is some more free French and uh the rest of the group and we Captain Buck being the driver and um esner going me at top Each truck was an SG guard posted German style as a lookout each man carried a German isue luga pistol machine gun bayonet and grenades the French were dressed in khaki with blue caps and carried a pistol each and each Lori also concealed two ready mounted machine guns the Convoy soon came across several roadblocks manned by Germans and Italians but their disguise was convincing and they were W through even being warned about the presence of British Commanders they spent the night a few miles from the two airfields their intended targets the next day they carried out their first reconnaissance the Germans Esna and Brookner were sent to a German Outpost and came back with the password for entry to the airfields The Raid could now [Music] begin at 900 p.m. on the 13th of June buck and the German prisoner esner took three SG and five French to the maruba Airfield the French commanding officer and the other German prisoner Brookner took nine French and the remaining SG to the Airfield at DNA TI Bruner stayed behind at the rendevu point I was detailed to be the Le over there between the two camps and being in touch on the valkie right at that time right to the progress which they making on the way right so I didn't they went out on this side and the others went on this side and I was in charge of the in between later that night bucks group returned to tan Bruner with no casualties and revealed that their mission had been a total success 27 German aircraft had been destroyed at the maruba Airfield but what of the other party somewhere in the darkness Tian Bruner heard a commotion I had a noise and with things of shouting and and uh the free French officer who was with the leftand who was in charge of this SCP came back with one other uh free French soldier who say what's what's going on what what happened I asked him he was completely out of press and he had to give him some time until he could speak to me the French officer told him that on route to the Airfield at DNA German prisoner of war Brookner had slammed his hand down on the dashboard H there say there something on the motor I will try to fix the Stop and said wait here and he opened up the hope and uh I looked at the motor and fiddled some around and said no I can't fix myself I'm going there as a garage nearby I have this is passed by uh I will ask their help Brookner never returned minutes later the truck was surrounded by Germans who ordered all French out no one moved instead the sg's machine guns opened [Music] up in the fierce firefight many Germans died but not before they'd killed the three SG men and seven free French soldiers though shocked at their losses Buck TI Bruner and the remaining men gathered their equipment and headed back to base it was clear that Brookner had betrayed the SG Captain Buck was devastated and was now more concerned about the other German Esna very ashamed of himself was ashamed I said look here I will take it up we're going our back we try to get back to to our U uh our camp but I will sitting next to Esna for me now he was a German an enemy right and uh nothing else met at and I said when you move you're a dead man T Bruner guarded esner for the week-long journey back to base when we came to our camp I said this man has to be taken to British headquarters but he's very dangerous if he moves makes a wrong move shoot him don't take any risk with him he will try to shoot you or Escape so was esner a double agent too we will never know but he did try to escape and was shot dead in subsequent weeks the full story behind the Airfield raids became clear two lwaa pilots captured in July 1942 revealed that the Germans knew the siig were coming weeks before the raid it was also rumored that Brookner was flown to Berlin and awarded a golden Iron Cross and that this double agent's real name was in fact Brockman and though the raid on the airfields was partly successful it didn't slow rl's Africa core roml who by now had been promoted to field Marshal made an attempt to break through to the Egyptian Capital Cairo if Cairo fell it would only be a matter of time before the German Army reached the sewers canal and controlled all shipping in and out of the Mediterranean a British defeat looked beyond the cards but leftenant General Bernard Montgomery had other [Music] ideas Montgomery had been tipped off by British intelligence and was ready for rumble in the Battle of alam alala Monty deliberately left a gap in the front line enticing roml to attack he then ordered his tanks to remain in their positions instead of charging the enemy the ground was now laid for the fiercest of battles and Monty held the line meanwhile British High command in Cairo once again summoned Captain Herbert Buck of the SG where he was given orders for the sg's next mission it was even more dangerous than their first in early September 1942 TI Bruner and the other Commandos were sent to a new base deep in the Sahara called kufra the kufra base was home to another special force the long range desert group or lrdg the lrdg was made up almost entirely of men from New Zealand and Rhodesia many of its members would go on to serve in the SAS the lrdg were experts in desert navigation in specialized in reconnaissance and intelligence during their stay at kufra the Sid rested or when swimming in either the Salt Lake or the freshw pool constructed by the lrdg but finding the SG Drilling in German uniforms and using German commands astonished even [Music] them then on the 5th of September leftenant Colonel John hlon The Man Who Would command the SG on the next mission and 83 men of the SAS drove into the kufra base my father was pretty athletic he was a good shot he rode he sailed uh he had a thoroughly good time if you ask me hdon was born in Egypt and was fluent in both Arabic and Italian his love for the land of his birth was his motivation for keeping the nais out he arrived in kufa to collect the men of the SG for a perilous Mission it was called operation agreement a raid onto Brook he was the man who had the idea first but his original plan was only to go uh on the raid with a handful of men say 20 no more but it wasn't to be I think what happened was that uh the planners got hold of the idea that what a super thing it would be to smash up to Brook totally uh and it it blossomed into some enormous raid to Brook was the most important sea port in Libya it was the chief Supply route for rl's Army it had been captured by the Africa Corp on the 21st of June [Music] 1942 by September to Brook and the surrounding Coastline had become heavily fortified RL had 50,000 men and over 400 tanks in and around the port and there were anti-aircraft and shipping defenses spread along the shoreline the British knew that if they could destroy to Brook they would strangle rl's Army operation agreement was to be a three-pronged attack the Royal Air Force would begin the operation with a surprise bombing raid the combined SAS and Si Team codenamed Force B were to destroy the coastal guns east of to Brook with the guns knocked out 396 commanders waiting offshore on board HMS Zulu HMS seik and cantry would attempt a Landing West of the port they were code named for CA and then an amphibious assault by motor torpedo boat code named force a would land and attempt an assault on the port itself as in the raids on the Libyan airfields in June the SG would play the same trick they trained for the SG were to be disguised as Germans but this time would be escorting British prisoners of war the SAS the SG would be dressed in German uniforms speaking German and carrying German weapons paybooks Insignia cigarettes chocolates and even love letters from ficticious wives in Germany joining Captain buck and the SG for this mission was a new officer from the SAS leftenant David Russell had approached buck and volunteered his Services Buck had spotted or been told about David Russell who was fluent in six dialect spoke German like a a German and um would have contacted him Russell had no Illusions about what he was getting into it is what you would say is high very high risk I think they all had the intention of coming out alive if they could but they knew how dangerous it [Music] was on the 5th of September Force B including Captain Buck David Russell and six men of the SG left kufra for the 800m journey to T Brook they traveled in German trucks that had been painted with stolen Africa core stencils after leaving their base Force B was soon finding the going hard in searing heat they had to negotiate great seas of sand and almost sheer Cliffs to reach their objective trucks had to be dug out of the sand on several occasions but on the 10th of September Force B reached hatat etla a depression in the desert where they could hide and rest without fear of Discovery they would stay here for 3 Days rehearsing their assault onto Brooke even having time to pose for photographs this is most of the group with leftenant colonel hasson in the center here are the sappers in the group on the 13th hdon read his men a morale boosting telegram it came from Churchill [Music] himself with their Spirits raised Force B and the SG now just 90 mi from T Brook set off for their [Music] objective at first the Convoy did not attract attention from the German and Italian [Music] patrols 4 miles from T Brook one of the trucks was deliberately disabled and parked for use as a getaway vehicle the three remaining trucks each had 30 SAS acting as prisoners of war and were driven of course by the german-speaking SI but as day turned to night they faced their first test out of the darkness the lead truck was challenged loudly in German it stopped and a German guard began asking more questions than anyone was expecting fearing they'd been rumbled David Russell did what he had to do David jumped off goes into the darkness then comes back with a gun Chucks it back into the Lorry and says he won't need this anymore and he does WR to his sister saying um when you feel as I do about family it is very difficult to steal yourself and to have to go and kill people in Cold Blood but in this game it's kill or be killed and uh if you're on the run and you're being hunted your blood's up and you just have to go and try and save your life and anybody with you it was now 10:30 p.m. above the Convoy the RAF were about to Signal the start of the [Music] [Music] mission under cover of the bombing raid hazeldon Buck Russell and force B reached a small house overlooking to Brook they burst in and drove out or killed the Italian platoon inside from here they and their fellow commanders could State raids on their intended targets the Coastal Gun imp placements the SG and SAS teams worked separately through the night and knocked out as many of the guns as they could at 2: a.m. they were satisfied that enough guns had been destroyed and signaled that Landings could commence so far operation agreement was going to plan but as the sun rose above the Horizon on the 15th of September the enemy now fully alerted regrouped and closed in on Force [Music] B realizing they were under attack the Germans sent in masses of reinforcements cut off and outnumbered Behind Enemy Lines Force B the SAS and the SG were now sitting ducks but they continued with their mission they moved in land and took control of four anti-aircraft positions but they were soon in deep trouble they were beginning to be overrun by both Italians and Germans and mean after all they were a very small force uh split in two and uh my father's uh headquarters were with being besieged though they'd achieved their objective Force B were now isolated and alone in hostile territory they knew they were in trouble and managed to get a message to headquarters they received a reply That Shook them it acknowledged that Force B had done its job but HMS seek had been been disabled HMS Zulu had retreated after being hit while Towing HMS seek HMS Coventry had been hit and was on fire and that force a had failed to land and were withdrawing operation agreement had failed commander of force B liutenant Colonel hasson knew that time was running out [Music] he now ordered everyone to destroy their belongings and then he gave the order to retreat the SG retrieved the getaway truck David Russell bought the truck up to the headquarters that hazeldon had taken on and they put the wounded into that but by this time some Germans had arriv arrived and were shooting at them so um hazeldon who was following in the wireless operator's truck uh then came rushing back and David Russell and a whole lot of men were sort of covering far giving covering far for the wounded truck Etc and I think it was then every man for [Music] himself hasson jumped into the truck with the remnants of force B and drove off but after just a few hundred yards he breaked hard and jumped out he decided to stall the Enemy by standing and [Music] fighting my father decided that he needed to try and drive the enemy back and he singlehandedly charged uh uh the German position which and apparently so I read they were forced back to and the tracks managed to get through three men of the SG joined hasson and they fought a pitch battle with the advancing forces but they were soon overwhelmed and hasson was in trouble unfortunately he was killed and while he was on the ground found a hand grenade uh exploded on top of him uh and one of the SG men uh Hillman I think uh was bending over him when this bomb actually exploded but it didn't kill him but his face was totally blackened but thanks to hlon the SG had enough time to escape my father was a brave man he gave his life for his country um I don't suppose for a minute he thought that uh he was going to be killed I I don't think you'll go into battle thinking I'm going to be killed because if you do you can't really achieve anything you have it may be there but you have to push it to the back of your mind and get on with what you're doing otherwise you've defeated before you start from the original Force B party of 90 men six of the SG survived together they marched across the desert in search of Allied Forces after many close calls with the Enemy and suffering from malnutrition and dehydration Captain Buck d David Russell and the SG reached Allied lines 2 months later on the 18th of November 1942 The Assault on to Brook had been an unmitigated disaster from a fighting force of about a thousand the Allies lost 746 men along with HMS cantry HMS seek HMS Zulu and several other amphibious boats German and Italian casualties amounted to just 16 I think there's agreement throughout uh everything I read that it was a disaster it should never have it shouldn't have been allowed quite honestly the failure at T Brook marked the end of the SG and surviving members were transferred to other units many would distinguish themselves in battles to come David Russell was asked to take over the guards patrol of the longrange desert group and I think everybody felt you know he'd really done quite a good job having been a wild card to begin with leftenant David Russell later joined British intelligence but was murdered in Romania in 1943 in letters to his family there was no doubt of his fondness for his comrades in the SG you ad the qualities in the people you really get to know each other and you you act as one and I'm sure that David and the siig and the SAS men did that too Captain Herbert Buck was killed in a plane crash while serving with the SAS in 1946 moris th Bruner also joined the SAS and became David Sterling's interpreter he survived the war and is the only original member of the SG living today the SI did um the job they were asked to do and a bit more than that I think that we F fulfilled a duty which could not stand by your by a a whole normal regular army because we were spring the price on on to and carried out action which was in complete surprise of our enemy to Brook whose name is written deep in our Middle East campaigns to Brook which we held at a fortress behind the Enemy Lines for 9 months and which had already changed hands twice was ours once more the date was November the [Applause] 13th the British forces in the second world war spawned many daring special or unconventional units the SG were the least known but those that passed through its ranks were unique in their background their training but above all their [Music] courage [Music]

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

Views: 128,406

Keywords: Army veterans, Code 'TIMELINE', Duty and honor, German language, Historical documentaries, Historical education, Historical revelations, History channel, Holocaust aftermath, Inner circle, Jewish soldiers, Military training, Personal connections, Secret missions, Special forces, Timeline - World History Documentaries, War crimes, War effort, War heroes, War history, World War II

Id: Wuf3xAUckEc

Length: 51min 55sec (3115 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 20 2024