Key Facts
- U.S. soldiers involved
- 15
- Date of first mission (Ginny I)
- February 27/28, 1944
- Date of second mission (Ginny II)
- March 22, 1944
- Date of executions
- March 26, 1944
- Legal basis for execution
- Hitler's Commando Order of 1942
- Commanding German general tried
- Anton Dostler, executed by firing squad
Strategic Narrative Overview
Ginny I launched on the night of February 27/28, 1944, but the team landed at the wrong location and could not find the target tunnel, forcing an abort. A month later, on March 22, Ginny II attempted the same objective at the same landing point. The team again came ashore in the wrong place and was captured by German forces two days later on March 24, despite being properly uniformed as U.S. military personnel.
01 / The Origins
During the Italian campaign of World War II, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services planned two sabotage missions aimed at destroying railway tunnels near Framura on the Italian Riviera. Cutting these rail lines would sever German supply and communication routes to central Italy, where Allied and German forces were locked in a prolonged campaign. The missions were designated Operations Ginny I and Ginny II, with the same fifteen-man OSS team assigned to both attempts.
03 / The Outcome
On March 26, 1944, all fifteen OSS soldiers were summarily executed by order of German General Anton Dostler, invoking Hitler's 1942 Commando Order. After the war, Dostler was prosecuted before a U.S. military tribunal in one of the earliest post-war war crimes proceedings, found guilty of ordering the unlawful executions, sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Anton Dostler.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.