Harald Mors

{{Short description|WWII Luftwaffe officer (1910–2001)}} [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-14, Gran Sasso, Mussolini vor Hotel.jpg|thumb|300px|Harald-Otto Mors, to the right of Mussolini. Campo Imperatore, 12 September 1943]] '''Harald-Otto Mors''' (18 November 1910 – 11 February 2001) was a German Luftwaffe officer (1934–1945) during the Second World War. In the summer of 1943 he commanded a battalion of ''Fallschirmjäger'' and planned and led the Gran Sasso raid to rescue Benito Mussolini following his arrest in September 1943. He received the German Cross in Gold on 26 September 1943. He became a Bundeswehr officer from 1955 until his retirement in 1965.<ref>Patzwall 2001, p. 316.</ref>

Mors played a key role in planning the raid, and participated as commander of the secondary force that secured the lower cable-car station at the foot of the Gran Sasso mountain as the airborne raid was underway at the mountain top, where Mussolini was held.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1987-12-26|title=SS Officer Skorzeny Wrongly Credited With Deed, Historian Says : Mussolini Rescue: A New Version|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-26-mn-7422-story.html|access-date=2021-06-20|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Budanovic|first=Nikola|date=2017-07-01|title='Scarface' – The Elite Nazi Commando Who Hitler Sent To Rescue Mussolini|url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/5-successful-missions_skorzeny-m-2.html|access-date=2021-06-20|website=War History Online |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Commons category|Harald-Otto Mors}} ;Citations {{Reflist|30em}} ;Bibliography {{Refbegin}} * Patricelli, Marco. ''Liberate il Duce! La vera storia dell'Operazione Quercia, Mondadori'', Milano 2001 / ried. Hobby & Work, Milano 2012, {{ISBN|9788878519909}}. * Annussek, G. ''Hitler's Raid To Save Mussolini'', Da Capo Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-306-81396-3}} * {{Cite book |last1=Patzwall |first1=Klaus D. |last2=Scherzer |first2=Veit |year=2001 |title=Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II |trans-title=The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2 |language=German |location=Norderstedt, Germany |publisher=Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall |isbn=978-3-931533-45-8 }} {{Refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mors, Harald}} Category:1910 births Category:2001 deaths Category:Fallschirmjäger of World War II Category:Recipients of the Gold German Cross Category:Luftwaffe personnel of World War II