Editing Stephen E. Ambrose (section)

====Band of Brothers====
The book [[Band of Brothers (book)|Band of Brothers]] states [[E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment (United States)|Easy]] reached [[Berchtesgaden]] first amongst Allied units. Other units claim the honor, for example, on May 4 by forward elements of the [[7th Infantry Regiment (United States)|7th Infantry Regiment]] of the [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd Infantry Division]].<ref name=historynet>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-race-to-seize-berchtesgaden.htm |title=World War II: Race to Seize Berchtesgaden |last=McManus |first=John C. |date=June 12, 2006 |website=HistoryNet |access-date=July 10, 2019 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116173041/https://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-race-to-seize-berchtesgaden.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-SS-Chronology/USA-SS-Chronology-5.html |editor-last=Williams |editor-first=Mary H. |date=1960 |title=Special Studies, Chronology 1941-1945 |series=[[United States Army in World War II]] |publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army |quote=In U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, 7th Inf of 3d Div, crossing into Austria, advances through Salzburg to Berchtesgaden without opposition. |access-date=January 11, 2017 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116173157/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-SS-Chronology/USA-SS-Chronology-5.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn| According to [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe, the [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd Infantry Division]] was the first to take the town of Berchtesgaden; the "Eagle's Nest" is never mentioned.<ref>{{cite book |title=Crusade in Europe |url=https://archive.org/details/crusadeineurope00eise |url-access=registration |last=Eisenhower |first=Dwight D. |date=1948 |location=New York |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/crusadeineurope00eise/page/418 418] |quote="On May 4 the 3d division of the same corps captured Berchtesgaden." (The corps mentioned was the US XV Corps. The term "Eagle's Nest" is not in the quote nor the paragraph that mentions the capture of Berchtesgaden.)}}</ref> This view is supported by General [[Maxwell D. Taylor]], former Commanding General of the [[101st Airborne Division]], then attached to the [[XXI Corps (United States)|XXI Corps]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Swords and Plowshares |url=https://archive.org/details/swordsplowshares00tayl |url-access=registration |last=Taylor |first=Maxwell D. |date=1972 |location=New York |publisher=[[W. W. Norton]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/swordsplowshares00tayl/page/106 106] |isbn=9780393074604 |quote=3d Division units got into Berchtesgaden ahead of us on the afternoon of May 4}}</ref><!-- What did Taylor have to say, if anything, about the Kehlsteinhaus, which is the point at issue on this page? --> }} Reputedly members of the 7th went as far as the elevator to the ''Kehlsteinhaus'',<ref name=historynet/> with at least one individual claiming he and a partner continued on to the top.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.09540/ |title=Veterans History Project: Interview with Herman Finnell |date=2001 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=July 15, 2019 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116173048/http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.09540/ |url-status=live }} Herman Louis Finnell of the 3rd Division, 7th Regiment, Company I, states that he and his ammo carrier, Pfc. Fungerburg, were the first to enter the Eagle's Nest, as well as the secret passages below the structure. Finnell stated that the hallway below the structure had rooms on either side filled with destroyed paintings, evening gowns, destroyed medical equipment and a wine cellar.<!-- Note: Unlike Hitler's Berghof, the Kehlsteinhaus was ''not'' bombed; purportedly SS troops which survived the air raid inflicted substantial destruction on the Berghof, Kehlsteinhaus, and elsewhere before leaving the area in advance of Allied occupation. It remains unclear who inflicted the destruction the Fungerburg describes, the SS, or prior U.S. troops. --></ref> However, the [[101st Airborne Division|101st Airborne]] maintains it was first both to Berchtesgaden and the Kehlsteinhaus.<ref>[[E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment (United States)|Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion 506th Regiment]], US 101st Airborne Division: {{cite video |year=1945 |title=Video: Allies Sign Control Law For Germany, 1945/06/14 (1945) |url=https://archive.org/details/1945-06-14_Allies_Sign_Control_Law_For_Germany |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]] |access-date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=November 2017}} Elements of the [[2nd Armored Division (France)|French 2nd Armored Division]], Laurent Touyeras, Georges Buis and Paul Répiton-Préneuf, were present on the night of May 4 to 5, and took several photographs before leaving on May 10 at the request of US command,<ref>{{cite book |title=Les Fanfares perdues: Entretiens avec Jean Lacouture |last1=Buis |first1=Georges |last2=Lacouture |first2=Jean |date=1975 |location=Paris |publisher=[[Éditions du Seuil]] |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=La Nueve. Los españoles que liberaron París |trans-title=The Nine. The Spaniards who liberated Paris |first=Evelyn |last=Mesquida |location=Barcelona |publisher=[[Ediciones B]] |date=April 2010 |language=es |isbn=978-8-49872-365-6}}</ref> and this is supported by testimonies of the Spanish soldiers who went along with them.