The Horrible Execution of the fifteenth OSS operatives captured in Italy.

The Horrible Execution of the fifteenth OSS operatives captured in Italy.

On 26 March 1944, the Germans execute fifteen OSS operatives captured in Italy.

Fifteen OSS operatives landed on the Italian coast for Operation Ginny II, which we covered in our post on 22 March, had been hiding in a barn near the village of Carpeneggio, waiting to complete their mission and be extracted via PT boat.

On the morning of 23 March, two team members approached a local farmer who helped and later led them to the rail tunnels.

 That evening, they planned to complete their mission if they established contact with the PT boats.

However, mechanical problems delayed the departure of the boats, and before they arrived at the rendezvous point, they spotted radio contacts and turned back.

On the morning of 24 March, a local fisherman spotted the OSS team's boats and reported the finding to Fascist Italian militiamen.

Together with German troops, they captured the OSS team and took them to the headquarters of the 135th Fortress Brigade.

Under interrogation that night, one of the OSS operatives revealed the objective of their mission.

General Anton Dostler was informed of this and then passed the information to Field Marshal Albert Kesselring on the morning of 25 March.

Kesselring ordered them shot immediately according to Hitler’s secret 1942 'Commando Order', which instructs that commandos caught behind the lines are to be executed immediately and without trial, regardless of whether they are properly uniformed soldiers.

Dostler signed the execution order personally, despite protests by his aide, Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten, and officers from the 135th Fortress Brigade.

This morning, 26 March, German troops take the 15 American soldiers, all still wearing their full U.S. Army uniforms, to the Punta Bianca cliffs.

There, they execute them, bury their bodies in a mass grave, and camouflage it.

Anton Dostler will be captured by U.S. forces on 8 May 1945 and put on trial for the OSS team's execution in October.

hfhfThe court's unanimous rejection of his plea to ˝following superior orders˝ and subsequent sentence to death will set a precedent for war crimes tribunals.