The WW2 Hero You've Never Heard Of (WW2 Documentary)

as the sun dipped below the Horizon on the 8th of April 1945 across the murky mosquito infested waters of lake kamaco on Italy's northern coast a group of men began to stir there were amongst Britain's Finest fighting troops distinguished by the legendary winged dagger which marked them out as the elite of the elite leading them was an equally legendary man just 24 years old and holding no less than three military crosses for Gentry major Anders Lassen this night in a raid deep into enemy territory he would add the prestigious Victoria Cross to that list of accolades but at the ultimate cost this is his story in April 1945 the world was witnessed to the crumbling of Hitler's thirdd W on the Western Front the Allies relentlessly pushed axis forces deep into the heart of Germany whilst in the East the Soviet jug continued its unyielding Advance with the ultimate goal in sight Berlin but it was here to the South that this story takes us all across the Italian Peninsula the Allies have been embroiled in bitter combat since the summer of 1943 Churchill's famous soft underbelly of Europe had proved to be anything but well entrench behind a series of stoutly defended lines the Germans had fought fiercely as the Allies ground their way up through at saleno anio Otona and most famously Monte Casino it was perhaps this fight more than any which had become emblematic of that growling struggle now though by April 1945 the Allies were once again gearing up for one more offensive a decisive push that would Liberate the entire country from axis control the situation was something like this two major Allied armies were leading the advance to the west running from the leguan sea to the heart of of Italy was General Lucien truscott's us Fifth Army and to the east covering the area to the Adriatic Coast was General mccc's British e8th Army both had their sights on Germans last remaining stronghold bologna for axis forces the task was a daunting one Limited in both supplies and Manpower there to hold a line stretch of more than 180 km across the peninsula but making use of the formidable terrain a mixture of mountains valleys and rivers ideal for defense and holding well-prepared positions they had severely limited their opponent's offensive options this led Allied commanders to decide to bypass bolognia Al together deploying both fifth and eth armies to encircle the city the idea was to pin down the Defenders within bolognia or other Allied Forces swiftly Advanced relentlessly pushing the retreating Germans trapping them on the natural barrier of the Po River but the question was where would that strike come in the British sector the key was surprised the Germans with enough time could react to any major Threat by throwing in their last reserves to The crucial Point blunting any attack at heavy cost and so it was decided that a series of smallscale deceptive raids and faints would be employed to keep the Germans guessing they weren't to know it but the real Target would be here the arenta Gap taking a look at the ground today we can see the situation A little better the Eastern Coastline of this part of Italy was not an easy nut to crack dominating the area from a geographical point of view was the enormous Lake kako a shallow expans of water bounded by Soft Marshland it was almost impassible and easily defended to its East lay an area known as the spit a narrow Corridor of land some 1.5 Mi wide and 6 Mi long bristling with dozens of defensive points covering both Coastal and southernly attack routes to the west of the lake though was this area running from the shores of Lake kamaco to the small town of arenta an area 4 MI wide by 7 1/2 M deep the arenta Gap a decisive thrust here could outflank the bolognia defenses and reach the poe and would certainly seal the Fate for much of the remaining Axis power in Italy taking a closer look at the lake now which is hard to visualize given postwar land reclamation today it covers some 13,000 hectares but back in 1944 was far more imposing covering this area a total of 34,000 hectares with water ranging from 1 to 5 ft in depth it couldn't be used by traditional vessels and was impossible for infantry to cross to make things worse it was guarded by four garrisoned Islands located here which commanded the entire area that said it did provide some opportunities if those islands could be taken they would form a perfect Launchpad for raids against the less defended western side of the spit and form a protective flank for attacks through the arenta Gap operating in and around this area in early 1945 with the elite soldiers of the second Commando Brigade having seen service in Italy the Adriatic and in Yugoslavia they came with a fearsome reputation and for good reason perhaps the best known amongst all of them was this man Anders Lassen born in 1920 in the Tranquil confines of the hings Guard estate near man Denmark Anders was a spirited young man with an insatiable appetite for adventure taking to the Seas as a cabin boy in 1938 he'd been aboard a Danish register vessel in 1940 when news of the German invasion and occupation of Denmark came instead of heading as instructed to the nearest German H Port the crew including Lassen seized control of the ship and instead headed for a British help port in the Persian Gulf after 8 months of sailing under the British flag young Anders volunteered for service with the British army joining the elite smallscale raiding Force Under command of the British Special Operations executive over the next four years Lassen's path traversed through Northwest Europe North Africa cre the Ian Island Greece Yugoslavia and finally Italy during which time his natural leadership propelled him through the ranks culminating with the rank of major within the special boat Squadron formed from the famed SAS during those four years Lassen had earn no less than three military crosses and a legendary reputation as a fearless leader who always LED from the front in April 1945 lasson was the commanding officer of M Squadron s SPS which operated under the command of second Commando Brigade staff sergeant Les Stevenson who served closely with Lassen for several years recalled a singularly strong-minded character providing you were truthful with him and carrying out his instructions he was marvelous but if anyone triy to pull a fast one or not quite carry out his orders it might be a different story there was no shadow of a doubt if he told you he was going to go there you knew he was going to go other people would hesitate and fuss with him you knew where you stood he was a very reliable person someone you could have faith in you never doubted his ability it was men like Lassen in second Commando Brigade who've been given the daunting task of preparing for the assault into the arenta Gap this would be best achieved by drawing German eyes and forces away from the area towards the spit and so on the 1st of April 1945 operation roast was initiated with second Commander Brigade advancing through awful terrain towards the town of Porto Garibaldi at The Spits Northern end despite a difficult start and heavy losses after 3 days of bitter fighting they had managed to advance to within 350 yards of canal Veta and Porto Garibaldi despite further allo bombardments from both artillery and air the tenacious German defenses in the area held firm and little further progress was made initially Lassen's M Squadron played a crucial role in piloting troops across the lake during the first 3 days of operation roast however they soon received their own mission and on the 5th of April seized the four Islands in Lake kamaco proper it was from this new Ford operating base that Lassen and his band of men would operate in the coming days under the name fry force with further limited attacks now taking place to the area to the west of lake kamaco in preparation for the main assault in the Argenta Gap Lassen's role took on new importance every extra man that he could tie down to the north of the lake was one less that would have to be faced in the main assault and so an aggressive system of raids was devised to pin those defenders in place much like a skilled boxer the SBS teams adopted a tactic of calculated Jabs ensuring that the Germans remained on edge fully aware of the British presence on the night of the 7th of April Lassen dispatched three F boats or folding canoes to recoger an area between k IO and Porto garabaldi however a fierce headwind hampered their progress and they were forced to withdraw without completing any reconnaissance while lasson was disappointed orders from second Commando Brigade directed that the attacks must precede the following night irrespective of the lack of reconnaissance the main assault on the arenta Gap was scheduled for the 10th and it was imperative to keep enemy troops engaged so Lassen divided his men into four groups each assigned different roles for what would become the largest SPS raid of the war today one group would head West to assess the feasibility of launching an attack towards arenta from the Western shores of the lake another Patrol would land at the Northeast Salt Lakes to conduct reconnaissance and engage with locals other small groups were instructed to create disturbances and draw attention to themselves while some were tasked with conducting silent reconnaissance of enemy positions Lassen himself led the final group consisting of 17 men split into two patrols e Patrol led by Lassen with 10 men and Y Patrol under command of leftenant Turnbull with six men their mission was to land on the shore between Porto garabaldi and kako town pred Northwest into the town eliminate as many German troops as possible capture prisoners for interrogation and then withdraw and so at 8:00 p.m. on the 8th of April they silently pushed off from the small island of curo heading in a northeasterly direction towards their designated Landing point south of kamaco town a short time later their guide an Italian Fisherman pointed into the darkness and with that Lassen and his men quietly slipped into the murky water they proceeded silently before emerging onto a raised roadway and Railway line connecting Porto garabaldi and kamaco this road was a mere 15 ft wide and built a top a small dam to the West stretched the vast expanse of the lake while to the east lay a flooded area up to 6 ft deep a very exposed position Lassen gave the order to advance to Scouts were to Lead the Way Northwest along the road in the direction of kamaco with the remainder of e Patrol closely behind with Lassen himself positioned at the rear behind him leftenant turble and Y Patrol followed suit step by step they advanced in silence some 450 yards until finally a German challenge rang out from the darkness ahead the sole Italian speaking member of the team private Freddy green loudly declared that there were fishermen returning to kako the rest of the patrol watched on hoping their rules would deceive the enemy when no response was forthcoming they cautiously began to approach the enemy position then without warning two machine guns opened fire at close range catching the scouts and private Crouch by surprise wounding all in moments a sudden eruption of gunfire from two pill boxes immediately behind each other alerted additional troops in the area and bursts of Tracer could be seen whipping down the road as several more machine guns opened up from pill boxes further the back chaos erupted as the group returned fire peppering the closest machine gun position however amidst the confusion some of lon's men Advanced too far putting themselves at risk of being caught in the crossfire with his usual courage Lassen sprang to his feet and sprinted through a hail of bullets towards the first pill box pausing only momentarily to hurl two grenades in its direction as they detonated with thunderous blasts Lassen stormed him his men following closely behind in the fierce fight that ensued all four Defenders were killed shifting his Focus to the next position ahead of him he took off a again sprinting toward it throwing grenades while his men at the first pill box provided suppressing fire Lassen heed three grenades toward the enemy momentarily stunning The Defenders he then fired off a green flare blew his whistle and shouted back to his men come on forward you bastards this second pillbox position also manned by Four soldiers operating two machine guns was also overrun with Lassen in the lead two of The Defenders were dead and two more taken prisoner however this position then came under intense fire from two more pill boxes further down the road one being 100 yds away on the left and the other 300 yd further back on the right the German defenders in these positions fired off Illuminating flares bathing the area in light and unleashing a deadly hail of fire during this exchange fuselier Stanley Hughes and Corporal Edward Roberts were killed with the force now reduced to just 10 the remaining men of Ian y Patrol sought Refuge from the incoming Fire by leaving the road and taking cover on either side concealed within the water and mud Lassen undeterred by the intense enemy fire ordered his men to concentrate their own fire on that third position 100 yds away leftenant Turnbull a little way further back witnessed what happened next the concentration of fire at this time was so heavy that it caused the force to temporarily take cover in the water on either side of of the road where major lasson reorganized his Force obtained some more grenades and B all his Firepower into position to fire onto the third Block House at this moment cries of camarad were heard from the Block house and major lasson ran forward and stopped approximately three yards from the entrance and in German ordered the occupants to come out and surrender when he shouted a machine gun opened from inside severely wounding him in the region of the abdomen as he fell he flung into the position another grenade wounding some of the occupants Les Stevenson who was right next to Lassen recalled that same moment Lassen had thrown all his grenades and he said have you any grenades Steve and I said yes here's one and before I had time to give it to him he'd taken it out of my hand and said oh you bastard you haven't straightened the PIN uh but that went over my head I knew that was laston it didn't bother me it was almost a compliment he shouted over to them to surrender and although he was not brutal ruthless he would still give them an opportunity to surrender on occasion and they said camarad so it appeared that they were going to surrender he then gets up and tells the rest to stay there he goes across the road in the darkness and we were giving him cover waiting for the next move and just when he gets to BU the pill box there's a burst of machine gun fire and then silence you couldn't see exactly what was going on you could just barely see the pill box it could only have been a few seconds but it felt like 20 minutes and then I heard him shout SPS major Lon wounded I went across and in front of the pill box he was lying there stirring as Stevenson tried to move him lasson said oh it's you Steve I'm dying leave me trying to evacuate me will put everyone else's lives at risk tell turble to take command and continue the attack Stevenson reached into his pocket retrieved a morphine tablet and placed it in Lassen's mouth still under Fire he tried to lift his injur Commander but he was too heavy for one man alone moments later another Trooper arrived and when Stevenson asked for assistance he simply replied he's dead there's no point 24-year-old Andy Lassen died right there on this unremarkable roadway outside the town of kamaco just weeks before the end of the war in Europe tragically his men still under a hail of fire were forced to withdraw leaving Lassen where he fell in total the force left behind two more dead soldiers and five missing at least two of whom were wounded the small exhausted Patrol eventually returned to their boats and pushed out onto the lake at 3:00 a.m. to make their Journey back in silence as Dawn broke the following morning the 162nd turkistan Infantry Division who' been defending the area gathered their dead and transported them to kamaco town leaving the bodies of Lassen Hughes Roberts and crouch on the battlefield the priest of kamaco Don franccesco Mariani eventually recovered their remains burying the fallen in the town's old Cemetery upon receiving news of the deaths the reactions within the other SBS units were mixed private Ken Smith an old campaigner long inured to the horrors of War reflected after 5 years of war human life was just not as precious as it is in peace time we had lost a lot of friends and we all knew that we could be killed at any time so when we heard that Lon and the others had died we Shrugged said oh well we drank another mug of coffee however for those that have been closer to Lassen such as private green the loss hit particularly hard deeply affected by Lassen's death he spent two full days in an inconsolable grief a testament to the profound impact of the loss of a beloved comrade and leader today the actions which claimed the lives of Andis lasson is Mena commemorated outside kamaco with a simple Memorial marking the location at which they came ashore on that fateful April evening a month after Lassen's death the commanding officer of the SP SPS Lieutenant Colonel David Sutherland conducted interviews with the men who had accompanied Andy on that final mission armed with their testimony he approached Brigadier Todd commanding second Commando Brigade advocating strongly for Lassen to be poly awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at kamaco on the 19th of of July the commander of the eth army General mccre approved the recommendation recognizing Lassen's exceptional bravery and Leadership back in Denmark just 5 days after the country's Liberation ander's parents received the heartbreaking news of his death it was small consolation for them when they were told of his Victoria Cross and although they attended the ceremony at Buckingham Palace to receive it on their boys behalf they gained more closure from a trip in 1947 that followed in his wartime footsteps ending here at arenta Gap War Cemetery where Andy Lassen lays to this day the British had lost a special forces Legend but they had lost a son thanks for watching if you'd like to help us keep making videos like this please check out our patreon community at the link below where we release fulllength virtual tours not available here on YouTube Every fortnite ranging from medieval to the modern day we want to offer a special thanks to Danish historian and author Thomas harder who wrote the excellent Special Forces hero exploring Anders Lassen's Life Check It Out Below that's all this time see you again soon

Channel: Battle Guide

Views: 325,653

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Id: fudnjty7ukQ

Length: 20min 10sec (1210 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 24 2023