Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "Operation Cowboy and the 1945 Rescue of Europe's Stolen Horses" video.

It's unfortunate that the surrendered German general's name that set all this in motion has been lost to history. Col. Reed had met with with this German general over breakfast, and he told Reed about the location of the Lipizzaner stallions as well as the location of 400 allied prisoners and 25 Russian deserters in Hostau. The US probably wouldn't have arrived at Hostau in time to save the stallions if not for this chance meeting.
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@amadeusamwater It could have been one of two things. Either Lt. Holz misremembered the name or our own POW records are wrong and Lt. Holz got it right. The Army was taking tens of thousands of prisoners a day as German positions were overrun or they just surrendered in the face of advancing Russian troops. Things were pretty hectic, and soldiers were routinely giving false names if they were afraid of being found out for their criminal activities. At this late date, historians haven't been able to figure out who this general really was, so his name is lost to history pending any new information.
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Leonard Chornomaz I understand that, but the breakfast with Reed was the chance meeting.
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@fire304 Indeed, that and convincing one of the last horse loving generals as well. The whole story is one of happy coincidences as some men of of the Second Cav made the US Army's last mounted operation.
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@amadeusamwater I have read that but the POW records don't show a general of that name near western Czechoslovakia at the time of the rescue. There were several generals with similar names as POW's but none of them would have been involved with the horses. The feeling among historians is we just don't know for sure who this general was.
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Lassi Kinnunen I hadn't thought of that, but it's certainly a possibility.
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