HISTORY

Operation Gran Sasso Raid

Season
1
Episode
4
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episode description

The feat that made possible the release of Benito Mussolini from his imprisonment on the Gran Sasso plateau was one of the most dramatic operations carried out by special forces in military history. After being arrested on 25 July 1943 by his own officers, the Duce had been transferred to the Campo Imperatore hotel, an isolated mountain resort (accessible only by cable car), where he was watched. Hitler ordered the paratrooper general Kurt Student to organize a mission for the liberation of the Italian dictator, using his Fallschirmjäger, a highly trained special unit, and, for political reasons, an SS unit under Captain Otto Skorzeny. On September 12, 1943, Student's paratroopers launched a daring assault with gliders, the aim of which was to surprise the Italian garrison guard and free Mussolini. This episode reconstructsthe military action in detail and analyzes its consequences

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