HISTORY:
** The successful rescue of imprisoned Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from atop the Gran Sasso plateau was one of the most dramatic special forces operations in military history. Arrested by his own officers in July 1943, Mussolini had been whisked away to an isolated and heavily guarded mountaintop resort, the Hotel Campo Imperatore which could only be reached by a heavily guarded cable car station. The Germans, led by SS Haupsturmführer Otto Skorzeny, launched a daring Glider-borne assault, which surprised the Italian guards and secured Mussolini without a shot being fired. However, when the original escape plan had to be scrapped, the Germans organize a desperate, last minute airborne extraction to escape before the Italians could launch a counter attack. **
** Quoted from the Osprey Publishing website.
THE BOOK:
Osprey Publications has released Rescuing Mussolini, Gran Sasso 1943 as Number 9 in their Raid series. It is a soft cover book with 64 pages and is the standard Osprey Publishing size of 7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs, full color illustrations, 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-views’, detailed captions and more. It has a 2010 copyright, a publication date of April 10, 2010, and the ISBN is 978-1-8460-3462-6.
THE CONTENTS:
Introduction
Origins
- Kidnapping Mussolini
- Hitler’s decision
- Preparations for Operation Axis
Initial Strategy
- The Search Mussolini
- The Italian Armistice
Planning Operation Oak
The Raid
- The ground assault
- Take-off from Pratica di Mare
- Last minute warning
- Landing at Campo Imperatore
- To be or not to be…
- Exfiltration
- Let the recriminations begin…
Analysis
Conclusion
Bibliography
THE TEXT:
Author Robert Forczyk has written an excellent history about the German mission “Operation Oak”, which became known as the Gran Sasso raid, to rescue ousted and imprisoned Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The text goes into very specific detail in all areas of the book as outlined on the contents page, please refer to the contents listing that I have provided for the subjects that are covered throughout the book. The author details and discusses every aspect of the mission from the planning that went into the raid, what the expected goal of the raid was to be, the search for Mussolini after he had been taken into custody, how the raiders prepared for the mission once Mussolini was located, the events that took place before, during and after the glider landings at Gran Sasso as well as the actions of the forces that took control of the lower cable-car station in Assergi, what went according to plan, the enemy reactions and actions and other elements that affected the overall outcome of the mission. Also discussed and greatly detailed are the actions that took place once Mussolini was rescued, his extraction from Gran Sasso and what he did after his rescue including his meeting with Adolf Hitler. Along with his own words, Robert Forczyk has also provided quotes from various individuals that were directly involved with the mission to rescue Mussolini. Some of the individuals quoted are Adolph Hitler, Italian King Victor Emmanuelle III, mission leader Otto Skorzeny, lead glider pilot Leutnant Meyer and Kurt Student Commanding General of Paratroops. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. As a reader that had a basic knowledge of the raid and various details about it, I still found myself to be well informed on the subject upon finishing the book. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference and history book on the 1943 Gran Sasso raid to rescue Benito Mussolini during World War II. to their personal library will be pleased with this very informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 43 black and white photographs and 2 color photographs are included in this volume. The photographs are a combination of in-action photographs, photographs removed from motion pictures to photographs that have been staged for the photographer and range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs. Some of the photographs are profile studio portraits of uniformed individuals. The photographs are of subjects prior to the rescue mission, immediately after the rescue and days after the mission had concluded. Anyone interested in the German DFS-230B glider will appreciate many of the included photographs as they show both internal and exterior views of the glider. The internal photographs show things such as the troop area and troops seating as well as the aircrafts framework construction. There also many photographs that show German dress and combat uniforms, weapons and equipment. The majority of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few have an out-of-focus appearance, and some appear to be too dark, and others appear too light. This is typical for the discussed period of history, and the quality of a few of the photographs is no fault of the author and does not take anything away from the book. One thing that I was appreciative of with the photographs is that several of them are not overused photographs that tend to turn up in other publications dealing with the same subject. Author Robert Forczyk stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be excellent reference material due to the details they contain. The military historian and scale modeler will benefit from the excellent photographs as will anyone that is interested in the 1943 Gran Sasso raid to rescue Benito Mussolini during World War II.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are 3 illustrations included in the volume by illustrators Howard Gerrard and Mariusz Kozik.
The illustrations are very well done, nicely detailed and are of:
Plate A
Tactical Assignments
- A one-page color illustration showing how the formation of the 10 gliders of Kette 1 would look once in the air. Also included is a key detailing Kompanie, I./FJR and 7SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502 as well as information on Kette 1, Kette 2 and Kette 3.
Plate B
DFS-230B
- A one-page full color illustration showing front, top and port side views of a DFS-230B German transport glider. Also provided is a key that provides technical information on the DFS-230B such as the date the gliders entered service, the number of crew, the number of passengers, empty weight, maximum payload, maximum glide speed and the normal tow speed.
Plate C
Landing at the Hotel Campo
- A two-page full color action illustration showing DFS-230B German transport gliders that have landed or are in the process of landing as well as German troops that have disembarked from their assigned gliders and are advancing on the Hotel Campo.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail, eliminating any doubt as to what is shown. The captions go into very specific detail as to the specific individuals shown and their military rank, the names of the specific military units shown, types of military aircraft and vehicles shown, the names of specific weapons shown, such as the German 2.8cm sPzB 41 tapered-bore anti-tank gun and equipment such as the German Torn. Fu.d2VHF/AM radio. Also included are specific dates and locations and other such pertinent information. Robert Forczyk’s captions are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
THE MAPS:
There are two full-colored maps by Bounford.com included in this volume. Both maps come with a map/cartographic distance scale. The second map comes with a listing of events in step-by-step chronological order. The maps are of:
- Mussolini’s movements, 25 July–1 September 1943.
- The advance on Gran Sasso
THE 3D BIRDS-EYE-VIEWS:
There are two 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-views’ by Alina Illustrazioni & Alan Gilliland included in this volume. The first ‘bird’s-eye-view’ has a key and also a column identifying the locations, in the illustration, of the 10 gliders involved in the raid. The second ‘birds-eye-view” has a key as well as a column listing 13 specific events taken during the raid and identifies those locations on the illustration. The ‘bird’s-eye-views’ are of:
- Glider landings, 1405 hours, September 12, 1943
- Storming the hotel, 1405-1415 hours, September 12, 1943
CONCLUSION:
As with the other Osprey Publishing titles I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains a well written informative text, many subject specific photographs and illustrations, well detailed captions and more, all detailing the mission to rescue the ousted and imprisoned Italian leader Benito Mussolini during the Second World War. As with the other Osprey Publishing titles, I have no hesitation recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal reference library.
PRICE:
UK £15.99 / US $21.00 / CAN $30.00
This book was provided to me by Osprey Publishing. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.