OBERSALZBURG - May 5, 1945
A closer look at the damage to the Platterhof Garage showing the air-raid siren on Bodnerbichl Hill behind. There is an historical argument as to which American army unit has the distinction of capturing Hitler's Bavarian fortress. The 3rd Division record shows that elements of its 7th Regiment reached Berchtesgaden at 1600 hours on May 4, 1945 and then advanced on the Berghof. Stephen Ambrose's popular story "Band of Brothers" credits Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division with its liberation on the afternoon of May 5. Most likely it was a French armored unit that had occupied the Platterhof Hotel the afternoon of May 4 and later greeted the Americans at the main SS Gate Haus when they arrived. This image was captured May 5, 1944 by the 3rd Signal Co.
photo: dogfacesoldiers collection (identification and information for this section aided by Geoff Warden's Third Reich in Ruins )
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