Patton's Last Gamble - The Disastrous Raid on POW Camp Hammelburg in World War II

In March 1945, against the advice of his top subordinates, Gen. George Patton created a special task force to venture more than fifty miles behind enemy lines and liberate a POW camp near Hammelburg, Germany. The camp held some 1,500 American prisoners, including Patton-s son-in-law. Hampered by ambushes and a lack of fuel and even maps, the raid was a disaster, one of the worst mistakes of Patton-s legendary career. Out of some 300 men, only three dozen returned. Based on memoirs, diaries, combat reports, and interviews with survivors, Patton-s Last Gamble vividly recounts a mission Gen. Omar Bradley later said -began as a wild goose chase and ended in tragedy.-