December 23rd, 1944 - German infiltrators were lined up for execution by firing squad after they were convicted by a military court for wearing U.S. uniforms, acting as spies

December 23rd, 1944 - German infiltrators were lined up for execution by firing squad after they were convicted by a military court for wearing U.S. uniforms, acting as spies.

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The soldiers in the photograph were executed after a military trial found them in violation of the Hague convention concerning land warfare, article 23: “It’s especially forbidden…, to make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national flag or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy”. Their mission was part of Operation Greif commanded by Otto Skorzeny. The operation was the brainchild of Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse river before they could be destroyed. German soldiers, wearing captured British and US Army uniforms and using captured Allied vehicles, were to cause confusion in the rear of the Allied lines. A lack of vehicles, uniforms, and equipment limited the operation and it never achieved its original aim of securing the Meuse bridges.

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So great was the confusion caused by Operation Greif that the US Army saw spies and saboteurs everywhere. Checkpoints were set up all over the Allied rear, greatly slowing the movement of soldiers and equipment. American MP’s at these checkpoints grilled troops on things that every American was expected to know, like the identity of Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, baseball scores, or the capital of a particular U.S. state, though many could not remember or did not know. The tightened security nonetheless made things very hard for the German infiltrators, and a number of them were captured.
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Perhaps the largest panic was created when a German commando team was captured near Aywaille on Dec 17th. Comprising three Germans, they were captured when they failed to give the correct password. One had spread a rumor that Skorzeny...