Otto Skorzeny had a scar on his cheek from dueling while in college. He had participated in 15 duels. In 1931, he became a Nazi. After the conquest of Poland, he enlisted as a 31-year-old private in Hitler’s bodyguard. He rose to be a Lt. Col. in the SS and Hitler’s favorite commando. He was the leader of the rescue mission that freed the ousted Benito Mussolini after he was imprisoned in a ski resort on a plateau. Skorzeny and his men landed in gliders. Later, he abducted the son of the Hungarian leader when he was thinking of signing an armistice with the Soviets. So, when Hitler had the idea of using commandos as part of his Ardennes Offensive (what became known as the Battle of the Bulge), he called upon Skorzeny. Der Fuhrer wanted Skorzeny to train a special brigade of Germans disguised as Americans to go behind enemy lines to seize bridges on the Meuse River. It was called “Operation Greif” (named after the mythical griffin). He was given only six weeks for training. Skorzeny managed to find only ten Germans who spoke “American”. Another 400 or so spoke English to varying degrees. None good enough to pass inspection. The men were sent to “American school” to polish their acts. They learned how to swear, chew gum, and be lazy. They watched American movies. As far as the others, who spoke no English, Skorzeny told them that if they were questioned they should say “sorry” and run off as though they had diarrhea. Needless to say, Skorzeny was not confident. Plus, he was given little of the equipment he had asked for. The unit had only one operational Sherman tank. Panther tanks had to be altered to look like American tanks, but they were not convincing. They did have 30 jeeps and 15 trucks painted American and they did have American uniforms.
When the offensive opened, a special squad of the most American of the men went ahead to try to reach the bridges and do some sabotaging. They got nowhere near their objectives, but did cause some confusion. They turned around road signs and in one instance misled an entire regiment. Most were soon captured and word spread that German spies were mingling with Americans. One of the captured men made up a story about going after Eisenhower and this amped up the paranoia a great deal. American soldiers were counseled to quiz suspicious soldiers to determine if they were legit. Popular questions had to do with sports (ex. who won the World Series?), state capitals, and celebrities. Omar Bradley was temporarily held after he correctly identified the capital of Illinois as Springfield. His quizzer insisted it was Chicago. Other than the confusion, the unit was a flop. Most of the men ended up being captured and several were executed for violating the Hague Convention of 1907. You are forbidden to fight wearing the opponent’s uniform. However, after the war, Skorzeny was acquitted in a war crimes trial because it was determined that you had to actually fight in the uniform, not just do deception and sabotage. He escaped from detention and went on to become a commando adviser to several governments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Greif
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/01/19/operation-greif-and-otto-scarface-skorzeny/
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