Depicted - 502SS Jäger /SS Jagdverbände commando of SS-Standartenführer Otto Skorzeny.
The germans who rescued ItaliAn dictator and the Germans who posed as Americans in American uniforms in BOB?
Can you enlarged the image?
is that a grenade launcher on that rifle?
Just click on the pic;) in the post to enlarge it. That is the max resolution what you can get.
Yes you are right. Both operations you mentioned (supposing that BOB stands for Battle of the Bulge / Operation Wacht am Rhein) were conducted by Skorzeny’s 502nd under his direct command, with the mention that during BOB the unit was a part of the 150th SS Panzer Brigade. The pic show the commando who liberated Mussolini, just before the assault.
Ja Sturmscharführer. It is indeed a grenade launcher (Schießbecher) mounted on a standard Karabiner 98k. Here is another pic of a soldier from Großdeutschland Panzer Grenadier Division showing the same weapon.
thanks!
Anyway strange to see a german paratrooper using a 98K rifle, usually they use FG 42 carbines
Well, there was a good dozen of paratrooper divisions in the German armed forces. With 7,500 items of the FG-42 produced
chances for the single soldier to get issued with that weapon were rather small.
thanks for the info, I didnt know the FG 42 produced only this relatively small number under WW2!
The Brandenburg Commandos were considerably more effective in Red Army and NKVD garb on the Eastern Front, whereas the men impersonating Americans were rounded up or killed in fairly short order. I think the quality of the commandos and their preparations had declined considerably by the end of 1944…
Actually I don’t think it’s a rare pic, there’s a big photo-set of the operation Oak (the liberation of Mussolini) with many photos, also in colour.
Furthermore I’m quite sure this pic was taken after the action, not before.
I add just two more points historically important in my opinion:
- the paratroopers were commanded by major Harald Mors; Skorzeny’s role in the operation was a nazi propaganda invention. The true merits and the true valuable work of major Mors were robbed by Skorzeny with the compliance of dr. Goebbels apparatus, only for SS propaganda purposes. The only “merit” of Skorzeny was to pretend to fly with Mussolini in the Stork when there was place only for the pilot and the passenger: considering furthermore that Skorzeny himself was a big and tall man, a fortiori he risked to prejudice the flight and the safety of the important passenger. All but a merit.
Different the role of Skorzeny in finding the prison of Mussolini, but it has nothing to do with operation Oak (and see point 2). - Apart the flight itself, that was a daring assault action, there was no combat: the Italian guards (polizia and carabinieri) had the order to not combat and to save at all costs the prisoner. In fact in the photos you can see Italian policemen and officers smiling with the Duce and the German paratroopers. At Campo Imperatore there was only one Italian casualty: a policeman, violating the orders, fired some shots from the roof before being hit. Furthermore the Germans took with them the Italian police general Soleti, wich had to confirm to the Italian garrison, if it had been necesserary, the order of not opening the fire.
Many historicians think that the safety of Mussolini (the order of avoiding resistance) was the secret price in exchange of a quiet escape for the king Victor Emmanuel and general Badoglio towards Pescara. Strangely, when hundreds of thousand without orders or with confused orders were captured by the Germans, nobody stopped for a control the column of the traitors (king, Badoglio and co.).
Noooo, not at all, these are just harmless Paratroopers waiting outside the Bavarian Stube seconds before opening time to catch a dozen pints.
or,… the targeted sentries have increased in awareness and were less gullible over the years in war time.
I think I rather go with the last.