Gran Sasso raid

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Gran Sasso raid
Part of World War II
Mussolini with German commandos
Type	Prison escape with outside help
Location	Hotel Campo Imperatore, Italy 42°26′32.73″N 13°33′31.66″E / 42.4424250°N 13.5587944°E / 42.4424250; 13.5587944
Planned by	Harald Mors
Target	Campo Imperatore
Date	12 September 1943; 80 years ago (1943-09-12)
Executed by	2nd Parachute Division 502nd SS Jäger Battalion
Outcome	Benito Mussolini escaped from prison
Casualties	2 Italians killed, 10 Germans wounded

During World War II, the Gran Sasso raid (codenamed Unternehmen Eiche, German pronunciation: [ʊntɐˌneːmən ˈaɪ̯çə] ^ⓘ, literally "Operation Oak", by the German military^[1]) on 12 September 1943 was a successful operation by German paratroopers and Waffen-SS commandos to rescue the deposed Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from custody in the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif. The airborne operation was personally ordered by Adolf Hitler, approved by General Kurt Student and planned and executed by Major Harald Mors.