Operation Greif

Overview

Operation Greif was a special operation commanded by Waffen-SS commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The operation was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse River before they could be destroyed. German soldiers, wearing captured British and U.S. Army uniforms and using captured Allied vehicles, were to cause confusion in the rear of the Allied lines.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

Operation Greif was a German special operation conducted during the Battle of the Bulge in which soldiers wearing captured Allied uniforms and using captured Allied vehicles were deployed behind enemy lines. Conceived by Adolf Hitler and commanded by Otto Skorzeny, its stated objective was to seize one or more bridges over the Meuse River before Allied forces could destroy them. Beyond the physical objective, the operation was designed to generate confusion in Allied rear areas. The infiltration of German personnel disguised as Allied troops created a climate of suspicion within Allied commands that had effects disproportionate to the operation's actual scale, disrupting communications and security procedures across the rear echelon during a critical phase of the German offensive.

Tactics