Several United States Douglas C-47 Skytrain stand in a row on ground. U.S. troops 82nd Airborne Division loading jeep into C-47 aircraft. A man sits on the Jeep as it is being loaded at an airbase in Italy (World War II).
Nazi German paratroopers rescue Benito Mussolini from confinement in the Campo Imperatore Hotel at the Gran Sasso massif (Gran Sasso mountain, the highest peak in the Apennines range, Italy). Military trucks are seen driving up the mountain road toward the Gran Sasso mountain. German soldiers walk along the road. Lieutenant Georg Freiherr von Berlepsch, leader of the 1st Company, Fallschirmjäger (German Air Force paratroopers) briefs the troopers. Next the troopers are seen crossing a plateau as they head toward the Campo Imperatore buildings. Closeups of the buildings. Benito Mussolini in black overcoat and hat, seen leaving the hotel in the company of his German rescuers. Paratrooper reporting by radio. View of Alpine cable car system used to depart from the mountain. Major Otto-Harald Mors (sometimes incorrectly written as Harald-Otto Mors) commander of the Parachute Regiment salutes Lieutenant von Berlepsch, as his Company returns from the mountain. They shake hands. German Colonel Otto Skorzeny, operations commander, walks with group escorting Mussolini. The Mussolini and Colonel Skorzeny climb aboard a German Luftwaffe Fieseler Fi 156C-3/Trop Storch short takeoff and landing liaison aircraft. Troopers wave as the aircraft takes off from the mountainside. Complete change of scene shows a German Junkers, Ju-52 aircraft in flight overhead. Next, Adolf Hitler is seen rendering a traditional military hand salute as he stands, watching the airplane taxi and park at the airfield serving his Wolf's Lair headquarters near Rastenburg on the Eastern Front. Mussolini steps from the plane and is warmly greeted by Hitler. His son-in-law, Count Gian Galeazzo Ciano, embraces and kisses Mussolini, who then steps into a mercedes touring car displaying both Italian and Nazi symbols. Arriving at the Wolf's Lair, Mussolini is greeted by German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop. Hitler escorts Mussolini through the building. Next, the two are seen leaving the building and driving back to the airport, where Hitler and entourage bid farewell to Mussolini, who climbs aboard the Ju-52, again. Hitler waves as the plane taxis out.
Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. Aerial view of several American warships. United States Troop Carrier C-47 aircraft flying in formation over the Mediterranean Sea. An Allied warship underway.
United States Army Air Force C-47 aircraft in flight over Italy during World War II. The C-47 aircraft tow gliders while in flight. The aircraft in formation flight.
Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. Shells burst on a shore as a puff of white smoke rises. A landing craft anchored off the shore. Smoke rises from the coast. A craft underway in the foreground.
U.S. 376th Bomb Group B-24 Liberators in flight over Italy during World War II. B-24 Liberator bombers in flight over snow capped Alps. Nine B-24s in flight. Palm trees on a beach. A torn American flag flying.