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Fallschirmjäger

 
Wikipedia: Fallschirmjäger
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Fallschirmjäger board transport aircraft for the invasion of Leros.
The title of this article contains the character ä. Where it is unavailable, the name may be represented as Fallschirmjaeger.

De-Fallschirmjäger-pronunciation.ogg Fallschirmjäger (help·info) (often rendered Fallschirmjager in English; from the German Fallschirm "parachute" and Jäger "riflemen") are German paratroopers. Fallschirmjäger of Germany in World War II were the first to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They came to be known as the "Green Devils" by the Allied forces they fought against.[1] During the entirety of World War II, the Fallschirmjäger commander was Kurt Student.

Contents

History

A Fallschirmjäger with the MG 42 somewhere in the Soviet Union, 1943.
A Fallschirmjäger mortar crew firing the 8 cm Granatwerfer 34.

During the interwar years the rapid development of aircraft and aviation technology drew the attention of imaginative military planners. The idea of inserting a large body of troops inside enemy territory was first proposed during World War I by commander of the U.S. Air Corps in France—Brigadier General Billy Mitchell.[2] However the Allied High Command was forced to abandon the idea as it was wholly unprepared for such an undertaking, both logistically and in materiel.[2] Among the first to recognize the potential of airborne forces were Italy and the Soviet Union.[3] The first effective means of supporting massed infantry airborne operations came with the development of the static-line parachute in Italy in the 1920s, whereby parachutes are attached to the inside of the aircraft and deployed automatically upon departure.[3] This technique allowed the jumps to occur at lower altitudes, limiting exposure to enemy fire, and providing a tighter drop zone grouping than individually deployed rip-cord type parachutes.[3] The Soviets were the first to demonstrate the military possibilities of airborne infantry in the 1930s with a series of maneuvers held in 1935 and 1936.[3] Though somewhat crude (the Soviet paratroopers had to exit their slow-moving Tupolev TB-3 transporters through a hatch in the roof and then position themselves along the wings and jump together), the exercise managed to land 1,000 troops through air-drops followed by another 2,500 soldiers with heavy equipment delivered via airlandings. The gathered forces proceeded to carry out conventional infantry attacks with the support of heavy machine guns and light artillery.[4] Among the foreign observers present was Hermann Göring.[4]

Impressed, the ambitious Göring became personally committed to the creation of Germany's airborne arm in the 1930s[5]. As the Prussian Prime Minister of the Interior, he ordered the formation of a specialist police unit in 1933, the Polizeiabteilung z.b.V. Wecke, devoted to protecting Nazi party officials. The organization of this unit was entrusted to Polizeimajor Walther Wecke of the Prussian Police Force, who had assembled a special detachment of 14 officers and 400 men within just two days.[5] On 17 July the detachment was officially renamed Landespolizeigruppe Wecke z.b.V., and was the first Landespolizeigruppe in Germany.[6] On 22 December 1933, the unit was again retitled, becoming the Landespolizeigruppe General Göring. The unit carried out conventional police duties for the next two years under the command of Göring's ministerial adjutant Friedrich Jakoby[6], but it was Göring's intention to ultimately produce a unit that would match the Reichswehr.

In the spring of 1935 (March–April) Göring transformed the Landespolizei General Göring into Germany's first dedicated airborne regiment, giving it the military designation Regiment General Göring (RGG) on 1 April 1935 (after Hitler introduced conscription on 16 March 1935).[6] The unit was incorporated into the newly-formed Luftwaffe' on October 1st of the same year and training commenced at Altengrabow. Göring also ordered that a group of volunteers be drawn for parachute training. These volunteers would form a core Fallschirmschützen Bataillon ("parachute soldiers battalion"), a cadre for future Fallschirmtruppe ("parachute troops").[6] In January 1936, 600 men and officers formed the 1st Jäger Battalion/RGG, commanded by Bruno Bräuer, and the 15th Engineer Company/RGG and were transferred to training area Döberitz for jump training while the rest of the regiment was sent to Altengrabow.[7] Germany's parachute arm was officially inaugurated on 29 January 1936[8] with an Order of the Day calling for recruits for parachute training at the Stendal Parachute Training School located 96 km west of Berlin. The school was activated several months after the first parachute units were established in January 1936 and was open to active and reserve Luftwaffe personnel. NCOs, officers and other ranks of the Luftwaffe were required to successfully complete six jumps in order to receive the Luftwaffe Parachutist's Badge (instituted on 5 November 1936).[8]

During World War II, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) raised a variety of airborne light infantry (Fallschirmjäger) units. Unlike the United Kingdom, the British Commonwealth, and the USA, the German paratroopers were part of the German Air Force rather than the Heer (German Army). Starting from a small collection of Fallschirmjäger battalions at the beginning of the war, the Luftwaffe built up a division-sized unit of three Fallschirmjäger regiments plus supporting arms and air assets, known as the 7th Flieger Division (7th Air Division).

Fallschirmjäger units made the first airborne invasion when invading Denmark on the 9 April 1940. In the early morning hours of Operation Weserübung, they attacked and took control of Aalborg Air Base which played a key role acting as a refuel station for the Luftwaffe in the subsequent invasion of Norway. In the same assault the bridges around Aalborg were taken. Other airborne attacks during the Battle of Denmark were also carried out, including one on a fort on the island Masnedø.

The first opposed airborne attacks occurred during the Norwegian Campaign, first during the initial invasion when Fallschirmjägers captured the defended air base of Sola, near Stavanger. The Fallschirmjäger also had their first defeat in Norway, when a company was dropped on the village and railroad junction of Dombås on 14 April 1940 and was destroyed by the Norwegian Army in a five day battle.[9]

Later in the war, the 7th Air Division's Fallschirmjäger assets were re-organised and used as the core of a new series of elite Luftwaffe Infantry divisions, numbered in a series beginning with the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division. These formations were organized and equipped as motorized infantry divisions, and often played a "fire brigade" role on the western front. Their constituents were often encountered on the battlefield as ad hoc battle groups (Kampfgruppen) detached from a division or organized from miscellaneous available assets. In accord with standard German practice, these were called by their commander's name, such as Group Erdmann in France and the Ramcke Parachute Brigade in North Africa.

After mid-1944, Fallschirmjäger were no longer trained as paratroops due to the realities of the strategic situation, but retained the Fallschirmjäger honorific. Near the end of the war, the series of new Fallschirmjäger divisions extended to over a dozen, with a concomitant reduction in quality in the higher-numbered units of the series. Among these divisions was the 9th Fallschirmjäger Division, which was the final parachute division to be raised by Germany during World War II. The division was destroyed during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945. (These divisions should not be confused with the Luftwaffe Field Divisions, a poorly organised and managed series of light infantry divisions raised from excess Luftwaffe personnel early in the war.)

Over 54,449 paratroops were killed in action and over 8,000 are still listed as missing in action.[citation needed]

Fallschirmjäger were awarded a total of 134 Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosses between the years 1940–1945. Twenty-four KC were awarded in the west and 27 were awarded after Crete. Out of the 134 KC, 15 were with oak leaves, five with oak leaves and swords, and one with oak leaves, swords and diamonds.

Operations

A Fallschirmjäger landing on Crete.
A heavily armed Fallschirmjäger carrying a Panzerfaust and sporting the characteristic Splittermuster 41 "splinter" camouflage.

Fallschirmjäger participated in many of the famous battles of World War II, early operations included the skilful airborne seizure of Fort Eben-Emael allowing for the early capture of Belgium, operations in Holland (including the shock defeat at the Battle for the Hague) and major successful airdrops in Norway and Denmark in May 1940.

Their most famous airdrop was in the Battle of Crete in 1941, where the entire 7th Air Division was deployed, with the German 5th Mountain Division as the follow-up. Crete was captured, but the high casualties among the Fallschirmjäger convinced Hitler that such mass airdrops were no longer feasible—though surprise was lost even before the drops started, and the battle might have caused fewer German casualties otherwise. The Allies would come to a similar conclusion near the end of the war, as each successive large-scale airdrop resulted in higher and higher casualties.

The 3rd battalion, 3rd Regt, 1st Fallschirmjäger Division fought against elements of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade during the Battle of Ortona, Italy, from December 20, 1943 to December 28, 1943. The battle was dubbed "Little Stalingrad"[10] for the deadliness of its close-quarters combat. Fallschirmjäger also played a key role in the Battle of Carentan, as depicted in Band of Brothers, during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.

Prior to the Battle of Monte Cassino the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division held the ground near the Monastery of Monte Cassino but did not occupy the building itself. The historical significance of the Benedictine monastery caused the German commander-in-chief in Italy, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, to order German units not to include the monastery in German defensive positions and informed the Allies accordingly[11][12]. The Allied high command refused to believe that the German forces would not use such a valuable position in their defences and orders were duly given for the 1500 year old building to be bombed to rubble. After the bombing, the Germans moved into positions amongst the bricks, remnants of walls and still intact cellars which provided excellent protection for the troops. This enabled the Fallschirmjäger to hold out for months against repeated assaults and heavy bombardment. Here they gained the nickname of the "Green Devils" from the Allied forces for their distinctive 3/4-length splinter pattern camouflage jackets and the tenacious defence of the ruined town and monastery on the mountain above against far superior numbers. They only finally retreated from their positions to stave off being outflanked, and Polish, Gurkha, Senegalese, Moroccan & Brazilian forces finally occupied the ruins of the monastery.

Uniforms and Equipment

A concealed paratrooper looking down the sights of his FG 42 automatic rifle.
The Fallschirmjäger were the first to operationally employ recoilless weapons. The 7.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40 could be air-dropped and had a maximum range of 6,800 m.
Fallschirmschützenabzeichen

Fallschirmjager would be awarded the Fallschirmschützenabzeichen, a paratrooper insignia featuring a diving gold eagle gripping a swastika.

A special version of the German armed forces' (Wehrmacht's) modernized steel helmet (Stahlhelm), the M1935, called the Fallschirmhelm, was designed and issued to Fallschirmjäger units. It did away with the projecting visor and deep, flared rim of the standard-issue helmet, and added further improvements. The modified shell incorporated a completely different and more substantial leather liner and chinstrap design that provided far more protection for German airborne troops; this model was known as the M1938.

The style of parachute harness used by the Fallschirmjäger, however, is generally considered inferior to those used by the war's British and American paratroopers. Unlike the British and American models, which connected the chute at each shoulder, the German design connected the parachute to the trooper's body via a single strap in the center of the back, an Irving-type harness. Paratroopers had to throw themselves bodily forwards out of the aeroplane, and in the resulting face-down position when the chute opened, control was nearly impossible. The necessity of landing on knees and elbows reduced the amount of equipment the trooper could carry and, even with pads, significantly increased the chance of injury. As such they jumped armed only with a holstered pistol and a small "gravity knife". Rifles and other weapons were dropped in separate containers and, until these were recovered, the soldiers were relatively poorly armed (by comparison, Allied paratroopers were dropped armed with rifles or submachine guns). The Japanese copied the German system.

Fallschirmjäger units were usually very well equipped; they had access to the best weapons of the German military. They were among the first combat units to use assault rifles and recoilless weapons in combat. Fallschirmjäger also readily employed the best of several foreign-made small arms, including the Italian Beretta Modello 38 9 mm submachine gun,[13] and the FN Browning P-35 9 mm pistol.

A universal weapon was developed specifically for the paratroopers that could replace rifles, submachine guns and light machine guns but was also light enough to be carried during a jump. These efforts resulted in the FG 42 automatic rifle which combined the firepower of a machine gun with the lightweight handling characteristics of a standard infantry rifle. The FG 42 was built and deployed in small numbers from 1943 until the end of the war. Though an extremely advanced weapon[14][15], the design had some drawbacks. The lightweight frame was subject to considerable muzzle rise when in automatic fire and had to be fired prone to guarantee accuracy. This meant that the FG 42 was not entirely compatible with the more universal role it was supposed to play, as both a light machine gun and assault rifle. The FG 42's advanced design also meant that the weapon could not be mass-produced in a cost efficient manner, and use of certain precious metals in the gun's construction placed it in competition with other wartime projects for increasingly scarce resources.

The Parachutist's "Ten Commandments"

A revealing document captured from a German paratrooper who was taken prisoner in Greece reveals much of the Fallschirmjägers elite attitude. Titled the Ten Commandments[16] it listed the following instructions:

  • 1. You are the elite of the German Army. For you, combat shall be fulfillment. You shall seek it out and train yourself to stand any test.
  • 2. Cultivate true comradeship, for together with your comrades you will triumph or die.
  • 3. Be shy of speech and incorruptible. Men act, women chatter; chatter will bring you to the grave.
  • 4. Calm and caution, vigor and determination, valour and a fanatical offensive spirit will make you superior in attack.
  • 5. In facing the foe, ammunition is the most precious thing. He who shoots uselessly, merely to reassure himself, is a man without guts. He is a weakling and does not deserve the title of paratrooper.
  • 6. Never surrender. Your honour lies in Victory or Death.
  • 7. Only with good weapons can you have success. So look after them on the principle—First my weapons, then myself.
  • 8. You must grasp the full meaning of an operation so that, should your leader fall by the way, you can carry it out with coolness and caution.
  • 9. Fight chivalrously against an honest foe; armed irregulars deserve no quarter.
  • 10. Keep your eyes wide open. Tune yourself to the top most pitch. Be nimble as a greyhound, as tough as leather, as hard as Krupp steel and so you shall be the German warrior incarnate.

Luftwaffe parachute units

Larger units

Fallschirmjägerdivisionen

Regiments and Brigades

Other parachute units

Bundeswehr Fallschirmjäger

Fallschirmjäger of 26th Air Assault Bde marching in Paris

In the modern German Bundeswehr, Fallschirmjäger form the core of the Special Operations Division with two brigade equivalents and several independent companies and battalions. All in all in 2010 about 10,000 troops will serve in that division which will have the following structure:

  • Special Operations Division
    • Headquarters Company (stationed in Stadtallendorf)
    • Airborne Signal Battalion (Stadtallendorf)
    • Airborne Air Defence Missile Battery 100 (Seedorf)
    • Long Range Reconnaissance Training Company 200 (Pfullendorf)
    • Army Band 300 (Koblenz)
    • Airborne Brigade 26 (Saarlouis)
      • Headquarters Company (Saarlouis)
      • Airborne Reconnaissance Company 260 (Zweibrücken)
      • Airborne Engineer Company 260 (Saarlouis)
      • Fallschirmjäger Battalion 261 (Lebach)
      • Airborne Support Battalion 262 (Merzig)
      • Fallschirmjäger Battalion 263 (Zweibrücken)
    • Airborne Brigade 31 (Oldenburg)
      • Headquarters Company (Oldenburg)
      • Airborne Reconnaissance Company 310 (Seedorf)
      • Airborne Engineer Company 270 (Seedorf)
      • Fallschirmjager Battalion 313 (Seedorf)
      • Fallschirmjager Battalion 373 (Seedorf)
      • Airborne Support Battalion 272 (Oldenburg, Seedorf)
    • Special Forces Command (KSK) (Calw)

The vast majority of division members is deployable by parachute, while all of it is at least air mobile. In addition to the Special Operations Division Germany is also setting up an air mobile or air assault unit of (German) regiment size.

National People's Army

In popular culture

In the Jack Higgins book and movie adaption The Eagle Has Landed, a group of Fallschirmjäger are featured in a fictional covert operation where they secretly land on the English coast in an attempt to kidnap Winston Churchill. Within the book and movie, the Fallschirmjäger are among the few German characters in fiction to be portrayed as professional soldiers and even heroic as one sacrifices his life to save a British girl who fell into the spillway of the Studley Constable village grist mill, and the commanding officer, portrayed by Michael Caine, throws his career away in an attempt to save a Jewish girl from SS & Polizei troops overseeing a transport to one of the Todeslageren in the East, commanded by SS-Gruppenfuhrer Jurgen Stroop.

In the video game Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, the main attack force in the initial Nazi invasion of New York city, are Fallschirmjäger troops. They are first seen when they land on the skyscraper the player character is working on.

In the massively multiplayer online game World War II Online, it is possible for Axis players to play as Fallschirmjäger. Parachute drops are possible.

In the WW2 real-time strategy game Company of Heroes, Fallschirmjager are portrayed as stealthy units, able to hide in cover and infiltrate the battlefield unseen, and as extremely lethal to enemy infantry when equipped with their FG42. They are not seen actually fulfilling their namesake as paratroopers (despite requiring the Luftwaffe Support Tree), but instead summoned from any building around the battlefield, having infiltrated it beforehand.

In the popular first-person shooter Medal of Honor Airborne, the Fallschirmjäger appear as more difficult enemies in later missions, armed with sniper rifles and powerful automatic weapons.

In the first-person shooter Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway multiplayer, the player can play as a member of a squad of Fallschirmjäger on the German side, opposite of an American Airborne squad.

See also

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References

  1. ^ Green Devils: German Paratroopers 1939-1945 By Jean-Yves Nasse, W. Muhlberger, G. Schubert, Jean-Pierre Villaume,
  2. ^ a b Ailsby, Christopher: Hitler's Sky Warriors: German Paratroopers in Action, 1939-1945, page 12. Spellmount Limited, 2000.
  3. ^ a b c d Ailsby, 16
  4. ^ a b Ailsby, 18
  5. ^ a b Ailsby, 21
  6. ^ a b c d Ailsby, 22
  7. ^ Ailsby, 23
  8. ^ a b Ailsby, 26
  9. ^ Bjørn Jervaas: The Fallschirmjäger Battle at Dombaas (English)
  10. ^ Ortona By Mark Zuehlke # Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre (May 2004)Language EnglishISBN 1550545574 ISBN 978-1550545579
  11. ^ Time, The Bombing of Monte Cassino
  12. ^ [Monte Cassinoby David Hapgood (Author), David Richardson]
  13. ^ Quarrie, Bruce, Fallschirmjäger: German Paratrooper, 1935-45, Osprey Publishing (2001), ISBN 1841763268, 9781841763262, p. 59
  14. ^ Senich, Peter: The German Assault Rifle: 1935–1945, page 239. Paladin Press, 1987.
  15. ^ Miller, David: Fighting Men of World War II: Axis Forces : Uniforms, Equipment and Weapons, page 104. Stackpole Books, 2007.
  16. ^ U.S. World War II intelligence report on Fallschirmjäger
  17. ^ Battaglione Paracadutisti Nembo

Bibliography

  • Ailsby, Christopher (2000). Hitler's Sky Warriors: German Paratroopers in Action, 1939-1945. Staplehurst, UK: Spellmount Limited. ISBN 1-86227-109-7. 

External links


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