Lee had ordered the French prisoners to hide, but they remained outside and fought alongside the American and Wehrmacht soldiers?“ Throughout the night, the defenders were harried by a reconnaissance force sent to assess their strength and probe the fortress for weaknesses, In the morning of 5 May, a force of 100450971 Waffen-SS launched their attackl‘sl Before the main assault began, Gang] was able to phone Alois Mayr, the Austrian resistance leader in Wõrgl, and request reinforcements. Only two more German soldiers under his command and a teenage Austrian resistance member, Hans Waltl, could be spared, and they quickly drove to the castle?“ The Sherman tank provided machine-gun fire support until it was destroyed by German fire from an 88 mm gun: it was occupied at the time only by a radioman seeking to repair the tank's faulty unit, who escaped without injury.[ºº] - Cont