'Mussolini's last jailer' turns 101

Benito Mussolini's last jailer on the Gran Sasso in Abruzzo before a daring September 12 1943 German air raid plucked him to safety after two months of captivity following the Fascist Grand Council's vote of no confidence in July that year has now turned 101 in his home in Città di Castello near the Umbrian capital of Perugia, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

Ferdinando Tascini told local media "I was in my room when I heard people shouting 'they're coming'.

"Mussolini was expecting the Americans, but it turned out to be the Germans."

The Gran Sasso raid (codenamed "Operation Oak," by the German military was a successful operation by German paratroopers and Waffen-SS commandos to rescue the deposed Fascist dictator from custody in the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif.

The op was personally ordered by Adolf Hitler.