The Gran Sasso raid: The Liberation of Mussolini

[kobold]

thanks for the info.

[David Thompson]

Several off-topic, churlish and bizarre posts from ITAIM were removed by this moderator, along with a righteous response from Helly Angel.

ITAIM -- Take your clown act somewhere else. We don't need it here.

[Helly Angel]

Thank you David!

[Searchlight]

I am so impressed. How on earth did you dig up these photo's? Are they the actual troops taking part in the rescue?

Outstanding.

[varjag]

IMO 1-2-3 are taken during preparations, 4-6-7-8 are from Gran Sasso and of course - Gabriels - taken on location.

[Roderick]

Nice job, Sr. Helly Angel! Really a very nice job! Bravo!

How much do we owe you for this?

I'll pay you twelve cans of frozen beers. (BRAHMA, Obviously):D

regards,

Roderick

[Helly Angel]

Yeah Mr Roderick!!! I accept your accurate pay metods is very very interesting!!!

BRAHMA is very popular in Venezuela man! and the publicity of the cangrejo (I can´t remember in english) is very very famous here!

Ñañañañaaaa!!!! hahahaah

Greetings Friend!!!

[Christoph Awender]

Hello

Does somebody know if the Wochenschau footage about the liberation of the Duce was authentic or staged afterwards?

\Christoph

[Klar zum Gefecht !]

Dear Christoph,

An old issue of "after the battle magazine" might be of some help to you.(issue n°22 "The rescue of Mussolini"). It gives plenty of details about the operation at gran sasso. I read it a few months ago and I own it, but I haven't got it by me right now, so I can answer your question only briefly:

Unlike the pictures that were taken, the Wochenschau movie footage was not real, it was staged and shot a few days (two as I recall it ) after the actual liberation of "il Duce". By that time, Skorzeny and his men had already gone so the german soldiers appearing in it are only Fallschirmjäger and no SS-men at all. They all came on site via the road & the cable car cabin, and not via glider. The gliders that were filmed were left overs from the real operation. General Kurt Student even attended the shooting.

I guess it seems logical that such a movie could not have been shot "live" during the real operation. First of all because the outcome was so uncertain, second because it would have been impossible to carry a camera in the -already overloaded with men & weapons- gliders. Therefore, even he had been there during the real operation, the cameraman would have had to come with the second team, the one that secured the cable car access, and he would have missed the action of the main team anyway.

[Miha Grcar]

I have that Wochenschau, it mainly focuses on the Fallschirmjäger. In part about the Duce's rescue it is more than obvious that it was "staged".

best,
Miha / Nibelung

[Andreas]

According to this site, the reason for the production of the film was Skorzeny's desire to hog the limelight.

http://www.angelfire.com/my/rememberww2/1943/09/12.htm

Two weeks ago il Duce was moved to the Albergo di Campo Imperatore hotel, 7,000 feet up the Gran Sasso mountain in the Apennines, where he was guarded by carabinieri. The hotel is about 93 miles east-northeast of Rome at an altitude of 6,652 feet. The Italian Military Intelligence (SIM) attempting to hide the former leader from the German Intelligence agents. The only access was by cable car. An intercepted radio message gave Skorzeny the answer to his quest. But how was he to reach the hotel, normally only accessible by cable car? During a reconnaissance flight, Skorzeny saw a small lawn just behind the hotel and this was the spot on which he decided to land. A paratroop drop was out because of the altitude leaving only gliders to get the German troops into the hotel. At Practica di Mare Aerodrome Skorzeny, his Luftwaffe paratroopers from Fallsirmjager-Lehr-Battalion under the command of Major Mors and fifty SS men belonging to Skorzeny's unit, prepared for the operation which included occupying the railway terminal to prevent reinforcement by Italian troops. The raiding force were equipped with amongst other things explosives, laughing gas and forged British bank notes. The twelve DFS 230C-1 gliders, capable of carrying eight fully equipped soldiers, begin lifting off at 1230 hours local and shortly after, four of the twelve dropped out on the way for various reasons with the lead two disappearing. The "small lawn" Skorzeny had seen on his flight was in fact a small piece of very steep ground with a sheer drop at the end meaning that the gliders would have to crash land near the hotel. All gliders landed but one crash landed and injured all on board; Skorzeny's glider stopped short only a few yards from the hotel doors. He raced up to the hotel doors and kicked them in and preceded to put an Italian radio operator and his radio out of action. He made contact with Mussolini and declared "Duce, I have come to rescue you!" In four minutes the Italian dictator was outside the hotel and boarding a Fiesler Fi 156 Storch light aircraft ready to fly back to the aerodrome. Although the Fi 156 had only two seats, Skorzeny insisted that he wanted to fly back to base with Mussolini. This made the plane overloaded and 12 men held the plane on his place as the pilot ran up the engine. Finally he raised his arm and the men let go of the plane, the plane speeded ahead, almost hitting a large rock, and finally disappeared over the edge. The plane landed in Rome and Mussolini and Skorzeny were flown to Vienna. The propaganda value of this mission was immense and Skorzeny and his SS men were featured in most of the media broadcasts. The truth is that the entire Gran Sasso mission was planned by Luftwaffe General Student and the Fallschirmjäger Lehr Battalion under the command of Major Mors. Only two gliders contained Skorzeny and his men from the Jagdverbande with the rest from the Fallschirmjäger Lehr Battalion. Skorzeny was responsible for Mussolini's safety and his delivery to Hitler but the mission itself was in overall command of the paratroops. Not surprisingly, they were somewhat annoyed when Skorzeny and the SS received all the kudos. Gen. Student even had the Luftwaffe make a film showing the paratroops version of events. (Jack McKillop)

Emphasis by me.

All the best

Andreas

[Miha Grcar]

Andreas, that explains a lot. The footage shows only Fallschirmjäger troops and no SS at all (if I remember correctly).

best,
Miha / Nibelung

[Christoph Awender]

Thanks for the information. I thought so that the footage was staged but as I it shows Mussolini I was not sure. I think that the SS-Fallschirmjäger were equipped with Luftwaffe uniforms and equipment so I think they wouldn´t be apparently different.
Let me know if you want some stills from the footag posted here.

Thanks again,
Christoph

[UMachine]

When Skorzeny plucked Mussolini off that mountain top villa,he had some foreign speaking,Italian speaking paras included in his group.Any real info about the actual paras,and not just the "Star",Skorzeny?

[Rogerbutthead]

The paratroopers that participated in Operation 'Eiche' (Oak) came from 1.Kompanie of Fallschirm-Lehr-Batallion under the comand of Major Mors. (Fallschirmjager - by Baxter and Volstad)