Editing Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (section)

==Operational history==
===Second World War===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-04, Gran Sasso, Fieseler Fi 156 »Storch«.jpg|thumb|The ''Storch'' involved in Mussolini's rescue in the [[Gran Sasso raid]].]]

The ''Storch'' was extensively operated by the ''Luftwaffe''. Several reconnaissance units operated the type, such as [[Aufklärungsgruppe 14]] and [[Aufklärungsgruppe 21]].<ref name = "smithkay 146"/> Furthermore, each [[Geschwader]] was provided with at least one, if not multiple, Fi 156s. Numerous high ranking German officials, particularly members of the [[German General Staff|General Staff]], had their own Fi 156s, including Field Marshals [[Albert Kesselring]] and [[Erwin Rommel]].<ref name = "smithkay 146">Smith and Kay 1972, p. 146.</ref>

Throughout the Second World War, the Fi 156 was deployed in quantity to virtually all theatres that [[Nazi Germany]] was militarily active upon; as such, it saw usage in the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]], the [[Western Desert]], and even the [[Arctic]].<ref name = "smithkay 1456">Smith and Kay 1972, pp. 145-146.</ref>

During the [[German invasion of Belgium (1940)|German invasion of Belgium]], in addition to its more routine usage in the liaison role, around 100 Fi 156s were used to transport a battalion of [[Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland]], two men per aircraft, landing on a stretch of road behind enemy lines (Operation Niwi).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frieser |first1=Karl-Heinz |last2=Westwood |first2=John T |title=The Blitzkrieg Legend; The 1940 Campaign in the West |date=2005 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=1591142946 |page = 123}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland, Operation Niwi |url=https://www.avalanchepress.com/1940_GD.php |publisher=Avalanche Press |access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>

During the [[North African campaign]], the [[Afrika Korps]] made routine use of the ''Storch'' both for transportation and to conduct aerial surveillance. It was also operated by a pair of dedicated desert rescue squadrons to retrieve stranded pilots in this theatre.<ref name = "smithkay 146"/>

During September 1943, the Storch played a pivotal role in [[Gran Sasso raid|''Operation Eiche'']], the rescue of deposed Italian dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] from a boulder-strewn mountain-top near the [[Gran Sasso]]. Even though the mountain was surrounded by Italian troops, German [[commando]] [[Otto Skorzeny]] and 90 [[paratrooper]]s used gliders to land on the peak and quickly captured it, then faced the problem of getting back. A [[Focke-Achgelis Fa 223]] [[helicopter]] was sent, but it broke down en route. Instead, pilot Heinrich Gerlach flew in a ''Storch''. It landed in 30&nbsp;m (100&nbsp;ft), and after Mussolini and Skorzeny boarded, it took off after a run of 80&nbsp;m (250&nbsp;ft), even though the aircraft was overloaded. The ''Storch'' used in rescuing Mussolini bore the radio code letters, or ''Stammkennzeichen'', of "SJ + LL"<ref>{{cite web |title=The LEMB Stammkennzeichen Database |url=http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org/stam-s.html |website=www.luftwaffe-experten.org |access-date=9 September 2024}}{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010074632/http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org/stam-s.html |date=10 October 2014 }}</ref> in the motion picture coverage of the daring rescue.

On 26 April 1945, a ''Storch'' was one of the last aircraft to land on the improvised airstrip in the [[Grosser Tiergarten|Tiergarten]] near the [[Brandenburg Gate]] during the [[Battle of Berlin]] and the death throes of [[Nazi Germany]]. It was flown by the test pilot [[Hanna Reitsch]], who flew ''Generalfeldmarschall'' [[Robert Ritter von Greim]] from [[Munich]] to Berlin to answer a summons from Hitler.<ref>Beevor 2002, p. 322.</ref><ref name = "smithkay 147">Smith and Kay 1972, p. 147.</ref>

[[File:Air Vice Marshal Broadhurst in his Fi 156 Italy c1943.jpg|thumb|right|Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst and his ''Storch'', Italy, 1943]]
A ''Storch'' was the final aircraft to be shot down by the Allies on the Western Front, and another was forced down by an L-4 Grasshopper, the military version of the American [[Piper J-3 Cub]] civilian training and sport aircraft and a direct Allied counterpart of the Storch. The pilot and co-pilot of the L-4, lieutenants Duane Francis and Bill Martin, opened fire on the ''Storch'' with their [[M1911 pistol|.45 caliber pistols]], forcing the German air crew to land and surrender.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/eAf0maieLjs Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190515131905/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAf0maieLjs&list=UUfCKvREB11-fxyotS1ONgww&index=30 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAf0maieLjs |title = Grasshopper (sic) vs. Fieseler Storch - WW2's Weirdest Dogfight (NB actually refers to a Piper Cub rather than a grasshopper) |website=[[YouTube]] |date = 18 February 2019 |access-date=9 September 2024}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

During the conflict, a number of ''Störche'' were captured by the Allies. One became the personal aircraft of British [[Field Marshal]] [[Bernard Montgomery]]. Others were used as the personal aircraft of Air Vice Marshal [[Arthur Coningham (RAF officer)|Arthur Coningham]] and Air Vice Marshal [[Harry Broadhurst]], who acquired his ''Storch'' in North Africa, and flew it subsequently in Italy and North-West Europe. The British captured 145 Fi 156s, of which 64 were given to the French as war compensation from Germany.{{CN|date=February 2024}}

===Postwar activities===
[[File:Fieseler Fi-156 OE-ADS Sprayer STT 29.07.65 edited-3.jpg|thumb|right|An Austrian-registered ''Storch'' fitted with spraying equipment at [[Stuttgart Airport]] in 1965]]
Both the [[French Air Force]] (''Armée de l'Air'') and the [[French Army Light Aviation]] (''Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre'') operated the ''Criquet'' between 1945 and 1958. Accordingly, the type saw battlefield service in French hands during both the [[Indochina War]] and the [[Algerian War]].

The [[Swiss Air Force]], as well as several other mountainous European countries, continued to use the ''Storch'' to conduct rescue operations in challenging terrain where STOL performance was necessary. One of the more historically significant operations involving the type was the [[1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier|Gauli Glacier crash]] rescue in November 1946, where a pair of [[Swiss Air Force#History|''Flugwaffe'']]-flown Storches were the sole means of safely retrieving the twelve survivors of the crash. After the Second World War, numerous aircraft were used in utility roles, including [[Aerial application|agricultural spraying]]. Even into the twenty-first century, numerous Storches have remained operational, the type has become a common sight at air shows. In North America, both the [[Collings Foundation]] and the [[Fantasy of Flight]] museum have airworthy Fi 156 ''Storch'' aircraft in their collections.