The full story is detailed in two books, ‘Raid! The Untold Story of Patton’s Secret Mission’ and ’48 Hours to Hammelburg.’ John Waters survived and remained in the Army as a career officer. Patton, in admission of one of his few failures, admitted that it was a mistake to send anything less than a full combat force to Hammelburg. Within a few weeks, the camp was liberated as U.S. The task force made it to Hammelburg, but was decimated by the Germans, who mistook it for the entire 3rd Army and responded in force. He decided to send a task force 60 miles forward to rescue the POWs at Hammelburg, including his son-in-law, Colonel John Waters. “When Patton was moving the 3rd Army across Germany in March of 1945, he had advanced as far as Aschaffenburg on the Main River. Some of the prisoners would get Ostertag’s goat by running to a window and proclaiming: ‘Here come Patton’s tanks!’ The prisoners maintained a secret radio, just as Hogan’s Heroes did. Sergeant Schultz portrayed a tragicomic older camp guard by the name of Ostertag, who had already lost two sons in the war, one on the eastern front and one on the western front. General von Goeckel had been so impressed by the manner in which Colonel Goode organized the prisoners and maintained order that he actually did take Goode along with him on trips into the town of Hammelburg. The American officer in charge, Colonel Hogan, was actually Colonel Paul Goode, who had been captured in Normandy. The camp commandant, Colonel Klink in the TV series, was actually an older German officer, General Gunther von Goeckel, who had been pressed back into service as the war progressed. “The producers of ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ included many details which were true to life. Hammelburg Lager (camp) is located on high ground approximately two kilometers south of the town.

Hammelburg is a beautiful city nestled (since the days of Charlemagne) in a river valley in the Franconia region of northern Bavaria. It was only for a few years during WWII that a portion of the base was converted into a POW camp for mainly American, British and Serbian soldiers. “The Hammelburg base has been a training area for the German army going back to 1893, and continues to this day. The camp was named Stalag 13, just as in the TV series. “Few people realize that the Hammelburg POW camp depicted in ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ actually existed during WWII.

Did you know that ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ was based on a German POW camp actually called ‘Stalag 13’? – Twin Cities Close Menu

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