| Country: | Switzerland |
| Details of Formation: | The Swiss organization was referred to as P26 (“Projekt 26”). It was established by military officials outside political control and linked to the Ministry of Defence. Sources refer to early 1950s as the date of the group’s creation. |
| Details of Termination: | The Swiss government dissolved the group on 14 November 1990. |
| Purpose: | The stay-behind paramilitary group was intended as a fighting force to counter a possible Warsaw Pact invasion and domestic subversion. It was meant to conduct guerilla warfare and sabotage activities. Another early task was to set up plans for a Swiss exile government. |
| Organisation: | The PGM cooperated with NATO, though it was not directly part of its Gladio network. It was financed by the Ministry of Defence. There were strong links to the British MI6. The head of the group was Efrem Cattelan. |
| Weapons and Training: | The group had access to weapons such as guns and explosives and there were weapons caches. It was trained by British intelligence (MI6). |
| Size: | -- |
| Reason for Membership: | According to a report, most of the group’s members included weapons, telecommunications and psychological warfare experts. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | -- |
| Other Information: | The group’s existence emerged in November 1990 as a result of the work of a parliamentary commission. The network of Gladio groups may have some semi-official status within the intelligence community. But this status is not recognized but hidden even from some domestic governments and prime ministers. The groups were ultimately answerable to NATO-CIA rather than domestic governments in event of attack by Warsaw Pact. The group was supposed to target domestic subversion. |
| References: |
Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD. Wikipedia. “Projekt 26.” https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Projekt-26&oldid=833856725 |