Another Ahab
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Got more interested, and started digging. Found some history here:
Part I
The most famous Storch Mission was the hazardous rescue of deposed Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini from his 9000ft high mountain-top prison in the Gran Sasso Massif in Italy. The landing site was but a tiny, rock-strewn ledge.
It is also noteworthy that Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel had a Storch as his personal plane in North Africa, operating routinely from improvised desert strips.
The last act of fame by a Storch was a flight by Hanna Reisch to Hitler’s bunker in the middle of Berlin 26 April 1945.
Part II
The Storch could be found on every front throughout the war. It will probably always be most famous for its role in the rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a boulder-strewn mountain top near Monte Cassino, surrounded by Italian troops. German commando Otto Skorzeny dropped with 90 paratroopers onto the peak and quickly captured it, but the problem remained of how to get back off. A Focke Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter was sent, but it broke down en route.
Instead, pilot Walter Gerlach flew in a Storch, landed in 30 m (100 ft), took aboard Mussolini and Skorzeny, and took off again in under 80 m (250 ft), even though the plane was overloaded. The involved Storch rescuing Mussolini bore the radio code letters, or Stammkennzeichen, of "SJ + LL" in motion picture coverage of the daring rescue.
Part I
The most famous Storch Mission was the hazardous rescue of deposed Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini from his 9000ft high mountain-top prison in the Gran Sasso Massif in Italy. The landing site was but a tiny, rock-strewn ledge.
It is also noteworthy that Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel had a Storch as his personal plane in North Africa, operating routinely from improvised desert strips.
The last act of fame by a Storch was a flight by Hanna Reisch to Hitler’s bunker in the middle of Berlin 26 April 1945.
Part II
The Storch could be found on every front throughout the war. It will probably always be most famous for its role in the rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a boulder-strewn mountain top near Monte Cassino, surrounded by Italian troops. German commando Otto Skorzeny dropped with 90 paratroopers onto the peak and quickly captured it, but the problem remained of how to get back off. A Focke Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter was sent, but it broke down en route.
Instead, pilot Walter Gerlach flew in a Storch, landed in 30 m (100 ft), took aboard Mussolini and Skorzeny, and took off again in under 80 m (250 ft), even though the plane was overloaded. The involved Storch rescuing Mussolini bore the radio code letters, or Stammkennzeichen, of "SJ + LL" in motion picture coverage of the daring rescue.
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