While Allied Special Forces were busy testing the boundaries of ‘ungentlemanly warfare’, the Third Reich was also attempting to build its own crop of crack fighters. No task was too dangerous or dirty for these men, who were led by Hitler’s favourite ‘commando’, Otto Skorzeny. But were these ‘elite’ troops, and the man who led them, the stuff of legend or another piece of over-hyped military mythology?
Otto Skorzeny has gone down in legend as Adolf Hitler’s daring commando leader. However, much of what has been written about Skorzeny since the end of the war owes itself to his own considerable efforts to paint himself as a hero. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in Operation Oak – the rescue of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1943. Yet he neither masterminded nor led the operation. In truth, he was more of a glory hunter than an accomplished military commander, who did what he could to satisfy his own vanity. Never theless, his actions and operations remain historically intriguing.
Operation Oak
In September 1943, Skorzeny took part in his first successful ‘special’ mission of the war – Operation Oak. It is the operation he is best remembered for today, yet he was neither the brains nor the brawn behind the mission.
Shortly after the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the Gran Consiglio del Fascismo (Grand Council of Fascism) in Rome passed a motion of no confidence in Mussolini’s leadership. King Victor Emmanuel III replaced Il Duce with Marshal Pietro Badoglio and had the former arrested on 25 July. Badoglio subsequently entered into secret negotiations with the Allies to sue for peace. On 3 September, Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile with the US and Great Britain. When the details became known, an already suspicious Hitler was enraged.
Badoglio was under no illusion that Hitler would order German forces in Italy to seize control once the Armistice became known. He even went as far as to ask the Allies to commence their landing on mainland Italy before the terms of the Armistice came into effect. This would allow Allied forces to gain a foothold in Italy and give them time to land enough troops to protect Rome. Badoglio also understood that Hitler would no doubt attempt to spring Mussolini free.
Following his arrest, Il Duce was moved to different locations several times, until he was finally held at the Hotel Campo Imperatore. The hotel, primarily used as a ski resort, was situated on a mountain plateau around 7,000ft (2,130m) above sea level in the Gran Sasso d’Italia mountain range. It was inaccessible by road and co
