Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Hi

I'm after any information on the Storch used to fly Mussolini to safety after the rescue.

As far as i can remember the raid to rescue him was carried out by paratroopers and the storch landed once the site was secure. I'm sure i've seen footage of the Storch taking off with Mussolini on board (plus the raids commander and pilot) on a documentary, but i cant remember where.

Do any of you have any info? do you know the Storchs indentity ??+??

Thanks

Ben

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Fi156C-3/trop, WNr.001268 coded SJ+LL

Cheers

Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Thanks for the fast reply, could you tell me where your info came from please. I struggling to find any, especially photos.

Thanks again

Ben

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

...using www.google.co.uk, I searched for "Mussolini, Fi156" and came up with this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieseler_Fi_156

...from there, I looked up SJ+LL on the LEMB Sktz Database and was able to find the Fi156 sub-type and WNr...

Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Ben, have also a look at this older thread...

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showth...ghlight=Storch

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Thank you both very much, just the help i needed.

Ben

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Hello Ben:

I'm glad that my old thread about the Storch used in the Mussolini rescue was of some further use.

The rescue operation was carried out by paratroops who used gliders to land near the hotel where Mussolini was being held. The Storch landed when the site had been secured. The operation was commanded in the field by the famous/infamous Otto Skorzeny.

I viewed film shot during the operation on a DVD about the Fallschirmjajer. I would think it's very likely that the film featured on the Deutsche Wochenschau newsreel, so it would be worth checking the archive made available via a recent post on this forum, to see whether you can find the footage - what a brilliant link, thanks Laurent!

Cheers

Don

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Perfect, Thanks again for all your help.

Was there any truth to the plan to use helicopters instead of gliders but they were destroyed in a raid a couple of days before?

Ben

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Hello Ben:

Suggest it was unlikely there was ever a plan to use helicopters for the Mussolini rescue based on:

• very immature state of helicopter technology in 1943, certainly the use of helicpters would be high risk, whereas....
• use of gliders for landing troops on precise locations was well established by 1943 e.g. refer the famous use of glider landed troops to capture the Eben Emael fortress in May 1940

Quite simply, why take unnecessary risks on what was clearly a very hairy operation?

I realise the danger of web-based sources, but this account does tally with what I have previously seen about the Mussolini rescue:

http://www.2worldwar2.com/otto-skorzeny.htm

Cheers

Don

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Being aware myself too of the dangers of web sources, I would be very cautious about the role played by Skorzeny in the liberation of Mussolini...

The whole operation was planned by Kurt Student and his Fallschirmjaeger, with Skorzeny being there only as an "observer". He suddenly pulled his rank and put himself on the same Storch with Mussolini (putting the whole operation in danger as the Storch only barely make it on take-off due to the extra weight...) and then presented himself to Hitler as the one who had liberated the Duce!

In an interview given in the 70's to the italian journalist and historian Arrigo Petacco, Kurt Student's eyes filled with rage when he heard Skorzeny's name and he defined him a "swindler and a liar", having stolen the merit of the whole operation.

As a matter of fact, the figure of Skorzeny is controversial, to say the least...

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Ferdinando:

Thank you very much for that information. The combination of the Fallschirmjager and Skorzeny had always struck me as a little odd.

And your account is certainly consistent with the competing and overlapping agendas characteristic of the Third Reich, where seeking Hitler's attention was all important.

Cheers

Don

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

A photo album attributed to SS officer Erich Priebke is currently on eBay here. It includes numerous photos of those involved in the rescue of Mussolini, including Mussolini and Skorzeny. Also shown on the eBay preview is a DFS 230 landed in the mountains and the Fi156 SJ+LL. The preview pics are poor quality, but hopefully the originals are much better.

Ian

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

On the 'Yesterday' Freeview channel they are showing a series called Hitler's Idols one episode featured Skorzeny including a couple of post war interviews with him. The Mussolini rescue was covered with some re-enactments and some original film. As these programmes tend to repeat (on at 5pm) might be worth setting the recorder up in case it comes up again.

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

It is true that the rescue operation was a Luftwaffe mission, not SS, and that Skorzeny was a shameless self-promoter.

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

What about the other two aircraft involved in the transport of the Duce in those eventful days?
The fi156 took him to Pratica di Mare airport, from there, a he 111 brought Mussolini to Vienna, where (if I understand it well) his "liberator" Skorzeny stopped to change into his high uniform. From Vienna, the he111 then flew to Munich. Any info about this plane? Are the informations about these stops correct?
Last, a ju52 took Mussolini to Rastenburg and was duly filmed for the Deutsche Wochenschau. This latter seems to me to carry DC+SE codes. I am seeing right?

Cheers,

Andrea

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

Have also a look to youTube Mussolini Gran Sasso

Re: Mussolini rescue, Storch help please.
 

So, it seems the ju52. DC+SE was W. Nr. 6720 of the Fliegerstaffel des Führers. Any images around about the he111?

Thanks