Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

 Otto-Harald Mors (1910 – February 11, 2001), was a battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

 commander, with the Fallschirmjäger

Fallschirmjäger

are German paratroopers. Together with the Gebirgsjäger they are perceived as the elite infantry units of the German Army....

, who planned and led the Gran Sasso raid to rescue Benito Mussolini, following his arrest in September 1943. He received the German Cross

German Cross

The German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...

 in Gold on 26 September 1943.

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

Gran Sasso

Gran Sasso d'Italia is a mountain located in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The Gran Sasso forms the centerpiece of the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park which was established in 1993 and holds the highest mountains in continental Italy south of the Alps and is part of the...

 mountain as the airborne raid was underway at the mountain top, where Mussolini was held. In spite of this, all the merits and limelight of the raid went to Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...

, because Mors' father was being "watched" by the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

and the Major himself was deemed "politically unreliable".