Description:
This is the section of his plane when he rescued Mussolini. Size 30" X 26"
I Acquired this piece From a friend of my fathers who was
a major in Army Intellegence and he removed it from the plane when they captured the area
On 25 July 1943, a few weeks after the allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome, the Italian Grand Council of Fascism voted to depose Mussolini and replace him with Marshal Pietro Badoglio.[1] Mussolini was subsequently arrested on King Victor Emmanuel's orders.[2]
After his arrest, Mussolini was transported around Italy by his captors. Otto Skorzeny, selected personally by Hitler and Ernst Kaltenbrunner to carry out the rescue mission, tracked him.
Intercepting a coded Italian radio message, Skorzeny used his own reconnaissance to determine that Mussolini was being imprisoned at Campo Imperatore Hotel, a ski resort at Campo Imperatore in Italy's Gran Sasso, high in the Apennine Mountains. On 12 September 1943, Skorzeny joined the team, led by Major Harald Mors, to rescue Mussolini in a high-risk military mission.
Mussolini leaving the Hotel
The operation on the ground at Campo Imperatore was led by Lieutenant Count Otto von Berlepsch, planned by Major Harald Mors and under orders from General Kurt Student, all Fallschirmjäger (German Air Force Paratroop) officers. The commandos crashed their gliders into the nearby mountains, then overwhelmed Mussolini's captors without a single shot being fired. Skorzeny attacked the radio operator and his equipment, and formally greeted Mussolini with "Duce, the Führer has sent me to set you free!" to which Mussolini replied "I knew that my friend would not forsake me!" Mussolini was first flown from Campo Imperatore in a Luftwaffe Fieseler Fi 156 Storch STOL liaison aircraft, initially flown in by Captain Walter Gerlach, then taking off with Mussolini and Skorzeny (even though the weight of an extra passenger almost caused the tiny plane to crash) then on to Vienna, where Mussolini stayed overnight at the Hotel Imperial and was given a hero's welcome. The Storch involved in rescuing Mussolini bore the radio code letters, or Stammkennzeichen, of "SJ + LL" in motion picture coverage, for propaganda purposes, of the daring rescue.
Condition:
Used - See Item Description
Location:
AZ
Trades Accepted: Trades considered
Shipping Notes: See Description
Vietnam Tribute Collection Limited Edition Knives - each bearing the same number out of 2,500 knives made - one for each branch of the military service.
These knives were crafted by Gerber Legendary Blades - supplier of fighting and survival knives to US Forces who served in the defense of freedom in Southeast Asia
· Issued by the American Historical Foundation - Richmond, Virginia
· Each Knife is uniquely crafted with a historic scene on one or both sides of the blade and the manufacturers name and production number of the knife on the other side of the blade
Each knife comes in its own hardwood or felt box
· The entire set of four - Army, Navy, Air force, and Marines - come in a matching display case
