Photo courtesy of HISTORYNET.
History buffs, in my experience, can be prone to reveling in a sense of pride or possess feelings of superiority based on their ability to know obscure and mostly useless information about random battles or other phenomena. I try not to be pretentious about that sort of thing; I acknowledge it takes more to be a true history buff than simply watching a few Oversimplified, Knowledgia and Kings and Generals videos. I do get excited, however, when I get an opportunity to talk to one of my friends or family members about a random historical event that seized my attention. Of all the battles that I have learned about, the Battle of Castle Itter gives me the most pleasure to discuss. I believe that the Battle of Castle Itter stands as the strangest moment of conflict in documented history, even stranger than the infamous Emu War and Anglo-Zanzibari War.
The 1932 Emu War gained notoriety for the ridiculousness of fighting a war against birds. Australia was dealing with a crisis when the emus migrated to the coast of western Australia during their breeding season. The emus destroyed the crops of Australian farmers, which led Minister of Defence George Pearce to send soldiers to help the farmers eliminate the emu threat. This effort failed and the emu population persisted, with only 986 of the birds killed out of approximately 20,000. While this war is hilarious, it should not be considered the strangest in history. Battles between humans and animals have occurred throughout history; how many times do you think your ancestors campaigned against a herd of wooly mammoths? I understand that formal examples of battles against animals in the 20th century are limited, but it feels wrong to label the Emu War the strangest battle in history when man has fought nature for all of it.
The next battle considered by many to be the strangest in history is the 1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War. This war was a single battle that lasted 45 minutes between the British Empire and the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The death of Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini caused a succession crisis in which the U.K.’s preferred candidate had his path to the throne blocked. The British claimed a right to choose the next Zanzibari sultan due to an 1890 agreement declaring Zanzibar a British protectorate. The anti-British Sultan Khalid Bin-Barghash refused and barricaded himself in the palace with his palace guard, all while the British surrounded the city with three cruisers and two gunboats. The battle ended quickly after the British bombarded the palace, setting it on fire and disabling the limited artillery and machine guns the defenders possessed. History buffs view this battle as strange due to its brevity, however, this alone cannot be a reason for it to be the strangest battle in history. Short skirmishes between unequal powers have occurred constantly throughout history, and the Anglo-Zanzibar War is only one particularly noteworthy example of this. Think of all the uprisings put down by empires throughout history; this battle is merely another example of an imperial power dominating its subjects.
None of these battles come close to the insanity that was the Battle of Castle Itter. As the Second World War came to an end and much of Austria was liberated from the Third Reich, Castle Itter remained a prison in the North Tyrol region that housed notorious French prisoners such as tennis star Jean Borotra and Marie-Agnes Cailliau, the sister of Charles de Gaulle. A Yugoslav prisoner and Czech cook escaped the prison and sought allied assistance to free the rest of the prisoners. They found the American 103rd Infantry Division and Wehrmacht Major Josef Gangl, who had abandoned his post to work with the Austrian Resistance against roaming Waffen SS troops. The Americans, Germans, and French prisoners all defended the castle against SS attacks and held out until an American relief force arrived to decisively defeat the German special forces. This battle clearly holds the title for strangest in history, and that’s clear even while leaving out some of the more minor details regarding the individual heroism of the soldiers and prisoners. The absurdity of the battle is palpable when one acknowledges the fact that the Nazis fought with the Americans and French, and against other Nazis to boot! This battle had it all: confusing twists, heroic actions and even celebrity participation. Think of how much more exciting the Anglo-Zanzibar War would have been if John Lennon pole vaulted over a wall (Jean Borotra did this to deliver a letter to the 142nd American Infantry Division). The title of strangest battle in history belongs to the Battle of Castle Itter because of the aforementioned reasons, but also due to the fact that it is confusing as hell. Try explaining to your friends exactly what happened at this battle and I am sure you will end up just as confused as them.