Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > UWOA > Briefback

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-23-2015, 19:38   #1
Golf1echo
Area Commander
 
Golf1echo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Western Carolina in the rainforest,4000' along the Eastern Cont. Div.
Posts: 1,426
Operation Eiche (Oak)

The rescue of Mussolini, I missed this one in history class...
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/s...-of-mussolini/

The ex-fill involves one of the best airplanes ever built ( Fieseler Storch ), must have been quite a ride in the fuselage.
__________________
"It is because they have so much to give and give it so lavishly...that men love the mountains and go back to them again and again." Sir Francis Younghusband

Essayons

By Dand

"In the school of the wilds,there is no graduation day"Horace Kephart

Last edited by Golf1echo; 03-23-2015 at 19:40.
Golf1echo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-23-2015, 20:36   #2
The Reaper
Quiet Professional
 
The Reaper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,779
I believe that was Otto Skorzeny's work.

Well done.

TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
The Reaper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-24-2015, 03:55   #3
PatrickS
Asset
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Baden-Württemberg (SW Germany)
Posts: 26
TR
Concerning Skorzeny and his involvement, it was more of a publicity stunt. He had been tasked with locating Mussolini, when it became apparent that Italy's fascist government would fall.

In general, the SS was trying to gain control over all things "commando" since the prime commando unit, the Brandenburgers, were part of the Abwehr (military intelligence), whose higher ranks were effectively a resistance cell. While there was no proof/ solid evidence at the time, Himmler and the majority of SS-leaders were highly suspicious of the Abwehr and formed their own commando unit under Skorzeny's command. Whilst Skorzeny was influential in gathering intelligence concerning Mussolini's whereabouts, his involvement in Eiche/ Oak was of much smaller scale. The operation was controlled by General Student and his staff and planned by Major Harald Mors, who was also the ground commander during the raid. It was essentially a paratrooper op and Skorzeny's small detachment of SS was simply granted permission to tag along.
He was however smart enough to insist on being on that Storch. Maybe he was worried about a potential crash/emergency landing and figured that Mussolini needed a security detail or he simply realised that arriving with Benito would put him on center stage. Regardless of this, he was quite simply additional weight/ an extra passenger on the Fi 156.

By the way, when it comes to the whole SS vs Abwehr story, the fact that Admiral Canaris and Reinhard Heydrich were fully aware of each others "hobbies" (being an influential member of the military resistance against the Nazis/ being the main architect of the Holocaust, whilst also being rumoured to have jewish ancestry) is rather stunning. Especially since it resulted in the bizarre situation that both men had information about each other, that would have ended their careers/ gotten them killed.
Given the fact that Canaris and Heydrich had known each other long before the war (the later Admiral was assigned to the light cruiser "Berlin" when Heydrich was a naval cadet on the vessel) and even became friends after Canaris had grown fond of Heydrich during their time on the Berlin, their relationship on its own offers enough material for a decent screenplay.


Golf
I agree. The Storch was an outstanding aircraft. Surely proved its capability during the C-53 crash in 1946.
PatrickS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-24-2015, 05:34   #4
Guymullins
Guerrilla Chief
 
Guymullins's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: South Africa
Posts: 911
Skorzeny's bravery and élan was so admired by the Allied special forces that they intervened when he was on trial at the end of the war and was expected to be executed for getting his men to wear enemy uniforms, mainly at th Battle of the Bulge. The SAS made it known that they themselves had done similar things and that Skorzeny had not broken any convention doing so. He was spared and later was rumoured to have lead Odessa, the Nazi escape programme that transported Nazis to Argentina and Spain after the war. He was quite a guy, and had he been on our side, would have been the wars greatest hero.
Guymullins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-24-2015, 08:17   #5
Golf1echo
Area Commander
 
Golf1echo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Western Carolina in the rainforest,4000' along the Eastern Cont. Div.
Posts: 1,426
Interesting, there seemed to be more at play than going to visit his family for Skorzeny.

Fieseler Storch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9uBdU0ccE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZouzzfZcrg
Film jg's crew made of the operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOVCZyEj5pM

The German glider mission I was familiar with, the attack of Fort Eben Emael : http://www.historynet.com/hitlers-se...rgest-fort.htm
sidebar of note at end of the article.

Many of us wore a glider patch at one point and know the legacy of Camp Mc....
__________________
"It is because they have so much to give and give it so lavishly...that men love the mountains and go back to them again and again." Sir Francis Younghusband

Essayons

By Dand

"In the school of the wilds,there is no graduation day"Horace Kephart
Golf1echo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 15:29.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies