Task Force Baum

Raid on Hammelburg
	Part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany in the Western Front of the European theatre of World War II
	; An M4 medium tank of the 47th Tank Bn., 14th Armored Division crashes into the prison compound at Oflag XIII-B, 6 April 1945 - two weeks after the failed Task Force Baum raid.
Date	26–29 March 1945
Location	Area of Hammelburg, Germany50°05′03″N 9°54′09″E / 50.08416°N 9.90249°E
Result	German victory
Belligerents
United States	Germany
Commanders and leaders
George S. Patton; Abraham Baum	Heinrich Köhl
Units involved
Elements of 4th Armored Division Task Force Baum;	Elements of 251st Infantry Division Panzerjägerabteilung 251;
Strength
11 officers and 303 men; 16 tanks, 28 half-tracks, and 13 other vehicles	Unknown
Casualties and losses
32 killed; 256 wounded, missing or captured; All tanks and vehicles destroyed or captured	Unknown
	Oflag XIII-B class=notpageimage\| Hammelburg, Germany (pre-war borders, 1937)

Task Force Baum, also known as the Hammelburg raid was a secret and controversial World War II task force set up by U.S. Army General George S. Patton and commanded by Capt. Abraham Baum in late March 1945. Baum was given the task of penetrating 50 miles (80 km) behind German lines and liberating the POWs in camp Oflag XIII-B, near Hammelburg. Controversy surrounds the true reasons behind the mission, which most likely was to liberate Patton's son-in-law, John K. Waters, taken captive in Tunisia in 1943. The result of the mission was a complete failure; of the roughly 300 men of the task force, 32 were killed in action during the raid and only 35 made it back to Allied-controlled territory, with the remainder being taken prisoner. All of the 57 tanks, jeeps, and other vehicles were lost.