The Gran Sasso Raid: Mussolini's Daring Rescue from a Mountain Fortress — Forcapedia — Forcapedia
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The Gran Sasso Raid: Mussolini's Daring Rescue from a Mountain Fortress
On 12 September 1943, German commandos and paratroopers executed a daring glider-borne raid on a remote mountain hotel in the Apennines to free the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Codenamed Operation Oak, the mission was a stunning propaganda victory for the Nazis, though the actual military risk was far lower than the legend suggests.