Operation Cowboy

Operation Cowboy
	Part of the Western Front of World War II
Date	28 April 1945
Location	Hostau, Sudetenland
Result	Allied success Many POWs freed;
Belligerents
United States; Wehrmacht POWs; Allied POWs; 1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division deserters;	Germany Waffen-SS;
Commanders and leaders
Captain Thomas M. Stewart; Major Robert P. Andrews; Lt.Col. Walter Holters; Lt.Col. Hubert Rudofsky;	Standartenführer Hans Kempin
Units involved
42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron; 2nd Cavalry Group; XII Corps;	32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division
Strength
325	Unknown, but greater than the opposing force
Casualties and losses
Several killed or wounded	100+ killed; 100+ wounded

Operation Cowboy was fought in the town of Hostau, Sudetenland (now Hostouň in the Czech Republic), on 28 April 1945, in the last days of fighting in the European theater of World War II. It is one of two known incidents during the war in which Americans and Germans of the Wehrmacht fought side by side against the Waffen-SS , the other being the Battle of Castle Itter.