Raid! The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission

Bela Ugrin (photograph of Richard Goldhurst) New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1981. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 283, [5] pages. Frontis map. Map. DJ has some wear, tears, and soiling. Task Force Baum was a secret and controversial World War II task force set up by U.S. Army general George S. Patton and commanded by Capt. Abraham Baum in late March 1945. Baum was given the task of penetrating 50 miles (80 km) behind German lines and liberating the POWs in camp OFLAG XIII-B, near Hammelburg. Controversy surrounds the true reasons behind the mission, which most likely was to liberate Patton's son-in-law, John K. Waters, taken captive in Tunisia in 1943. The result of the mission was a complete failure; of the roughly 300 men of the task force, 32 were killed in action during the raid and only 35 made it back to Allied-controlled territory, with the remainder being taken prisoner. Richard Baron was a prisoner at the camp. Abe Baum led the raid. The orders came from Patton himself: Take a strike force behind enemy lines–with no air or ground support–and liberate a POW camp at Hammelburg, where Patton’s son-in-law was held. Captain Abe Baum and an armored task force answered the call, crashing through an enemy-held town, plunging into German territory, and fighting their way to Hammelburg. With the German army closing in around them, the raiders kept going, until they had liberated 1,500 prisoners of war. Baum’s Raiders had just achieved an impossible objective. Now they had to get back out….RAID! Written by the men who were there, Raid! is the gripping real-life story of a controversial mission in the heart of World War II. From the belly of a Sherman Tank pelted with enemy fire to the POWs waiting behind barbed wire, this is a thrilling, you-are-there chronicle of human courage–in the face of impossible odds. Condition: Good / Good.

Keywords: WWII, POW, George S. Patton, Hammelburg, Prisoners of War, John K. Waters, Task Force Baum, Creighton Abrams, Aschaffenburg, Camp Lucky Strike, OFLAG XIII-B

ISBN: 0399125973

[Book #77315]

Price: $35.00

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