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Operation Oak

Operation Oak
Part of World War II
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503A-07, Gran Sasso, Mussolini mit deutschen Fallschirmjägern.jpg
Mussolini rescued by German commandos from his prison in Campo Imperatore on 12 September 1943.
Operational scope Operational
Location Campo Imperatore, Italy
42°25′34″N 13°31′42″E / 42.42611°N 13.52833°E / 42.42611; 13.52833Coordinates: 42°25′34″N 13°31′42″E / 42.42611°N 13.52833°E / 42.42611; 13.52833
Planned Kurt Student
Planned by Harald Mors
Target Campo Imperatore
Date 12 September 1943 (1943-09-12)
Executed by Fallschirmjäger-Lehr-Bataillon of the 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision, 1/FJR 7; SS-Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal; Polizia di Stato
Outcome Rescue of Benito Mussolini
Casualties Italian: two killed
German: 10 injured

The Gran Sasso raid refers to Operation Eiche ("Oak"), the rescue of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini by German paratroopers led by Major Otto-Harald Mors and Waffen-SS commandos in September 1943, during World War II. The airborne operation was personally ordered by Adolf Hitler, planned by Harald Mors, and approved by General Kurt Student. Gerhard Mertins was among the paratroopers who participated in the raid.

On the night between 24 and 25 July 1943, a few weeks after the Allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome, the Italian Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence (Ordine del Giorno Grandi) against Mussolini. On the same day, the king replaced him with Marshal Pietro Badoglio and had him arrested.

Mussolini was being transported around Italy by his captors (first to Ponza, then to La Maddalena, both small islands in the Tyrrhenian sea), while Hauptsturmführer (SS captain) Otto Skorzeny—selected personally by Hitler and Ernst Kaltenbrunner to carry out the mission—was tracking him.


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Wikipedia

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