why was benito mussolini the italian dictator held in custody by king victor emanuel iii of italy
how did otto skorzeny become adolf hitler's favorite commando why was otto skorzeny called
the most dangerous man in europe by british prime minister winston churchill how did scorching these
commandos pull off one of the greatest single rescue missions of world war ii and how did
the gran sasso raid change the complexion of special operations missions for all time
hello i'm colin heaton former soldier marine corps scout sniper history professor historian and
book author and we'll answer these questions and other issues on this segment of forgotten history
in july 1943 adolf hitler issued an order that would shake the foundations of the
allied intelligence and military communities on 25 july 1943 the italian national police
captured mussolini and placed him in gran sasso de italia these carabinieri were acting under
orders from the italian king victor emmanuel iii king victor emmanuel was anxious to break ties
with germany and gain an armistice disinformation masked benito mussolini's disposition he was moved
around quite a bit germany scrambled to reinforce italy after the allied invasion at salerno
on 3 september 1943 mussolini had fallen into serious disfavor with the italian people
most of whom hated the war and did not feel that they had any obligation to fight with germany
this sentiment was also shared throughout the italian military since 1 in 12 italians either
had a friend or a relative or knew someone who did have a relative living in the united states
the italians felt that they had a cultural bond with americans
allied air superiority complicated the secret rescue mission mussolini
was positively located on the grand sasso days before the italian king announced an armistice
on 26 july 1943 hitler called skorzeny into a meeting as quoted from skorzeny post-war interview
adolf hitler outlined in a few precise words his train of ideas the thought of his mussolini's
imprisonment was unbearable and he hitler regarded his rescue as an absolute duty as his friend
he placed me under the command of general oberst or colonel general court student details i was
to discuss with student with these instructions i was discharged end quote skorzeny ordered his
executive officer major colorado to select 50 of his yakupa band 502 commandos for the mission
rydal chose 10 officers and 40 enlisted men
some being former brandenburg commandos the best germany had all combat veterans both luthwaffa and
often ss parachutists and all with a variety variety in proficiencies in speaking italian
he had them assemble at the temple hop airport prepared to take off meanwhile on 27 july otto
skorzeny and student flew to rome and met with field marshal albert kesselring
according to scorch nay's own post-war interrogation quote no one had the faintest idea
that general uber's student and i were entrusted with locating the whereabouts of the duchess
and with affecting his rescue end quote on 29 july major rideau's commando force and elements
of the luthwalfa 11th air corps established a base camp close to rome's practica de maria airport
mussolini was confined there in the hotel campo imperatore
italia is a massive in the apennine mountains of italy its highest peak chronogrande or about
2 000 feet high is the highest mountain in the epinides and the second highest mountain in italy
outside the alps on each september scorching rival conducted an aerial reconnaissance of the
grand sasso at the same time the italians signed the armistice and isolated the germans in rome
undeterred scorch nick continued to search for mussolini this included a cover story whereby
military doctors would visit grand sasso to determine its suitability as a malaria clinic
on 10 to 11 september scorching refined the rescue plan to use 12 dfs-230 gliders
they would assault grand cesar by air and be supported by major otto harold morse and his
parachute battalion whose vehicle convoy would secure the lower end of the funicular railway
between the village and granceso proper on 12 september the mission was launched
and the glider towed to altitude and then released skorzeny and rydal fully expected
to be greeted by ground fire either as their gliders approached or as soon as they landed
as they had every reason to believe that mussolini would be heavily guarded
and he was the gliders banked into the glide slope to land on the mountain top and the
timing had to be perfect the gliders all landed without incident and the commandos poured out
four minutes after landing skorzeny bluffed the 200-man italian guard
force into surrendering and his team secured mussolini skorzeny described the event
not a rifle was lifted against us i reported to him mussolini with the words duche
if you're has sent me as a token of his loyal friendship then the italian carabinieri joined
in the photo shoot perhaps happy that the germans did not open fire on them lack of radio
contact with rome removed the planned aircraft extraction of mussolini from the liquila airfield
the last option was for captain gerlach to land his feastler 156c3 store next to the hotel
pick up skorzeny and mussolini take off and land at rome's pratika demare airport 30 minutes
later after scorch nay and mussolini landed it transferred to a heinkel he 111 medium bomber
and then flew onto vienna austria upon arrival once hitler spoke to mussolini on the phone
a colonel was instructed to present skorzeny with the knights cross for the rescue
the following day they continued their visit to rastenburg east prussia where hitler had his
eastern headquarters hitler greeted both men and asked skorzeny about the mission
after skorzeny finished hitler promoted him to ss strimbond viewer or major on the spot
two days later skorzeny was allowed to collect his men still in italy and they were given authorized
use of motor vehicles to drive into t-roll austria each man was given a month's leave as a reward
the grand salsa raid proved that a highly motivated leader with courage and conviction
supported by well-trained and seasoned men could perform even the most improbable operation score
snake was later given even more missions as hitler's faith and belief in him grew
other would later be entrusted with other missions of great consequence and daring such as being sent
to kidnap yes of course tito as well as admiral horthy the regent of hungary or his son whichever
they can get first these missions will be covered later in future episodes on forgotten history
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