The World War Two raid that made this German commando famous - After the Italian government announced the Armistice of Cassibile and thereby its defection from the Axis to the Allies on 8 September, dictator Benito Mussolini was imprisoned in order of the king in the Gran sasso fortress. On 12 September 1943, Skorzeny and 16 SS troopers joined the Fallschirmjäger to rescue Mussolini in a high-risk glider missionThe Fallschirmjäger and Otoo Skorzeny's special troopers overwhelmed Mussolini's captors, 200 well-equipped Carabinieri guards, without a single shot being fired. The Germans took the Italian General Fernando Soleti as a hostage, who flew with them and making himself recognized by the soldiers who guarded the hotel, ordered them not to shoot.Ten minutes after the beginning of the raid, Mussolini left the hotel and was accompanied by the German soldiers whom then all escaped in an awaiting plane.
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