On March 22, 1944, fifteen men of the U.S. Army (including two officers) landed on the Italian coast about 100 kilometres north of La Spezia, 250 miles behind the then established front. Their mission was to demolish a railroad tunnel between La Spezia and Genoa. Two days later, the group was captured by a party of Italian Fascista soldiers and members of the German Wehrmarcht. ...
The captured U.S. soldiers were interrogated and one of the U.S. officers revealed the story of the mission. This information was then sent to Dostler at the 75th German Army Corps. The following day (March 25), Dostler sent a telegram to the 135th Fortress Brigade ordering that the captured soldiers be executed. ... the fifteen Americans were executed on the morning of March 26, 1944. Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten, who refused to sign the execution order, was dismissed from Wehrmacht for insubordination.
