| Acting Commander of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment Major Otto-Harald Mors (November 18, 1910 – February 11, 2001), with deposed Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) just after German paratroopers stormed the Gran Sasso Hotel, where the exiled leader was being held by the Italian government. While the raid is often credited to Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny (June 12, 1908 – July 5, 1975), this was a result of a deliberate propaganda campaign by the Nazis. Mors actually planned and executed the Gran Sasso operation. Mussolini was then flown out by a Fieseler Fi 156 observation aircraft that had arrived afterwards. Although under the given circumstances the small plane was overloaded, the tall intelligence operative Skorzeny insisted on accompanying Mussolini, which endangered the mission’s success. After an extremely dangerous but successful takeoff, they flew to Pratica di Mare. They then immediately continued to fly in a Heinkel He 111 to Vienna, where Mussolini stayed overnight at the Hotel Imperial. The next day he was flown to Munich, and on September, he met Hitler at Führer Headquarters, in Wolf’s Lair, near Rastenburg. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0342.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.50 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 2175 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsberichter |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 12, 1943 |
| Location | Gran Sasso |
| City | Terasso |
| State or Province | Abruzzo |
| Country | Italy |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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