Chateau Kerlan
David.Gettman March 12th, 2008
By 2d Lt. Lindoerfer, Troop B, 42d Squadron
18-27 August 1944
We had a large number of the enemy trapped in the St. Nazaire (map I) area, about 20,000, and at our platoon position around le Temple (map 17) they seemed pretty aggressive. On August 18, Col. Reed sent Major James H. Pitman and myself as emissaries to the Chateau Kerlan (map 17), Headquarters of the Colonel commanding enemy forces opposite le Temple, with formal demand for the surrender of his command. The letter that we carried read as follows:
“With the Allied Army advancing north from Marseilles, with 20 of your best Divisions encircled in front of Paris (map II), the situation of the German forces in the St. Nazaire area is hopeless. They must either give up the unequal struggle or I must destroy them. Continue Reading »
