WW2 - German Commando Gefreiter Wilhelm Schmidt executed by American Military Police on 23 December 1944 after his capture near Aywaille on 17th December 1944. The Germans being executed were part of Otto Skorzeny's team of commandos that penetrated American lines during the Battle of the Bulge (Operation Greif). They were captured in American uniforms, and their mission was to blow up a bridge. A lack of vehicles, uniforms, and equipment limited the operation and it never achieved its original aim of securing the Meuse bridges.