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Analysis of Stephen Harding's "The Last Battle" in chicago style...

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Analysis of The Last Battle Stephen Harding’s The Last Battle provides an excellent and accessible primary source for use when referencing the battle for Schloss Itter at the end of the Second World War, as well as use as a reference source for a larger and more broad discussion of battles towards the end of the war in the European Theater. Harding’s work relies on numerous contributions from firsthand accounts from the battle’s combatants who have survived until the time of publication. When applying Harden’s writing to a discussion about the battle for Schloss Itter and the end of the war on the European front, said discussion can be made even stronger through use of additional sources that detail the activities of the prisoners of Schloss Itter prior to their involvement in the conflict, compare the life of the prisoners of Schloss Itter to those held in other prisons, provide detail on men who's involvement is not otherwise elaborated on, and compare the situation in Germany to that on the home front. Harding makes specific and explicit reference to tennis star Jean Borotra’s involvement in the battle, his past as an officer in the French army, and his subsequent position as commissioner of sports in Vichy France. Harding makes it clear that Borotra “refused to be a lapdog for the Germans” and reinforcing his belief that sports were to bring young people together regardless of race or religion.1 However, other sources illustrate Borotra’s disdain for the German and Vichy leadership, going so far as to seemingly spite the government with unreasonable and embarassing policies. For example, Borotra “curtailed football matches to 10 minutes on the grounds that the french were insufficiently nourished”, according to an article published in the West Australian in

1Harding, Stephen. The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Wan-

ing Hours of World War II in Europe. (Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group, 2014), 47.

2 1943.2 Using his position in the Vichy government to create such an absurd rule, though with the benefit of the French people in mind, Borotra’s character, deeply patriotic, is further presented and explained in more depth with an additional source, strengthening Harding’s description of his role in the events of The Last Battle. Harding provides a detailed account of the food provided to French prisoners kept in Schloss Itter by the Czech chef, nicknamed André by the French, using “flour, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products from surrounding farms to turn out wholesome and plentiful meals for the captives”, in addition to two liters of wine per week.3 In describing the conditions at Schloss Itter, it is important to mention the stark contrast between the nourishment provided for the French prisoners in the castle, and the conditions faced by other groups, including Jews and Slavs, in Nazi concentration camps. In a document directed to the War Refugee Board, written in February of 1945 and declassified in 1972, Roswell McClelland, the United State’s representative to the War Refugee Board, details the rations of the Jewish prisoners in the concentration camps as a daily bread ration of “some 250 grams, along with from 5 to10 grams of margarine, a slice of sausage or a spoonful of jam”.4 This distinction between the food rations of the Jewish concentration camp prisoners, and the comparative luxury afforded to the French prisoners of Schloss Itter gives a sense of scale to Harding’s work, allowing it to be more completely applied to discussions about Nazi prisoner’s conditions in World War II when used as a contrast to the horror that some faced.

2"Jean Borotra: Sports Leader's Reported Arrest." The West Australian (Perth), January 12,

1943. 3Harding, 63. 4United States, State Department, War Refugee Board, Concentration Camps Weisskirchen Bei Kratzau, by Roswell McClelland (Washington, D.C.: State Department, 1972), accessed April 4, 2017, http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/_resources/images/wrb/wrb0129.pdf.

3 Another account of the battle of Schloss Itter, given by Cpl. John G. Mayer in the May 26, 1945 edition of the 12th Armored Division’s Hellcat News, describes the activity of a Pvt. Joseph Wall, “left to guard the bridge alone all night, armed only with a carbine, [taking] a number of prisoners”.5 This event is not detailed in Harding’s work, and when described through another source, brings life to the seriousness of the situation in which Captain Lee’s men were facing at the castle, and the incredible nature of the event of such a small band of men holding their own in such a perilous situation. The features of the battlefield, and the purposes they serve, can be directly compared to similar features and attitudes reflected by said features on the home front. The munitions factory in Kufstein was a “frequent target for U.S. 15th Air Force B-17 and B-24 bombers”, with resistors in the Inn River Valley were tasked with protecting the infrastructure from destruction by the retreating German forces, assembling groups of “local government and business leaders, craftsmen, clergy, laborers, police officers, physicians, and homemakers” to do their part in defending the area.6 This is not at all dissimilar to the situation in manufacturing centers on the American home front. Centers of industry dotted the landscape, such as along the quiet Naugatuck River valley.7 These factories produced everything from brass ammunition casings, gears, machinery, and chemicals, and were a high-priority target for the Germans were they ever to reach U.S. soil. As such, these locations were under constant watch, with guard towers littering the landscape and 24-hour watch being assigned to these factories, with civilian volunteers often taking part in the watch at ground level to carry their weight in some way in the war effort.8 The similarity 5Cpl. John G. Mayer, "12th Men Free French Big-Wigs," Hellcat News (Heidenheim), May 26,

1945. 6Harding, 76. 7Importing the Brass Industry. N.d. Exhibit. Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT 8Kenneth Hanks, "Information on Trolley Lines in the Naugatuck Valley and Manufacturing Activity During WWII," interview by author, April 2, 2017.

4 here, between the high priority placed on centers of manufacturing as targets during the war, when looked at from both Harding’s mention of the factories as frequent targets, and American factories being under constant watch, gives a strong sense of importance to Allied forces’ targets in Germany and serves to strengthen the reader’s understanding of the importance of Kufstein detailed by Harding. Stephen Harding’s The Last Battle provides an excellent look at not only the battle of Schloss Itter, but also at the final days of the Second World War that, when looked at in conjunction with other sources, bring new life to the descriptions of prisoner’s backgrounds and conditions in the war, the stories of untold heroes, and the importance of manufacturing, both on the battlefield, and on the home front, that make The Last Battle an excellent option for a primary source in any discussion about World War II when combined with other compelling sources. Bibliography

Hanks, Kenneth. "Information on Trolley Lines in the Naugatuck Valley and Manufacturing Activity During WWII." Interview by author. April 2, 2017. Harding, Stephen. The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group, 2014. Importing the Brass Industry. N.d. Exhibit. Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT. "Jean Borotra: Sports Leader's Reported Arrest." The West Australian (Perth), January 12, 1943. Mayer, Cpl. John G. "12th Men Free French Big-Wigs." Hellcat News (Heidenheim), May 26, 1945. United States. State Department. War Refugee Board. Concentration Camps Weisskirchen Bei Kratzau. By Roswell McClelland. Washington, D.C.: State Department, 1972. Accessed April 4, 2017. http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/_resources/images/wrb/wrb0129.pdf.

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