Kampfgruppe Schottland

History of the fallschirmjager

Prior to the outbreak of war, the Soviets first demonstrated airborne manoeuvres to a delegation of German officers including Goering. Goering was so impressed at the potential of airborne troops he immediately began working on Germany's own airborne assault force. 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 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 In January 1936, 600 men and officers formed the 1st Jager Battalion/RGG, and the 15th Engineer Company/RGG and were transferred to training area Doberitz for jump training while the rest of the regiment was sent to Altengrabow. Germany's parachute arm was officially inaugurated on 29 January 1936 with an order 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

During the war, the Luftwaffe raised a variety of Fallschirmjager units. Starting from a small collection of Fallschirmjager battalions at the beginning of the war, the Luftwaffe built up a division-sized unit of three Fallschirmjager regiments plus supporting arms and air assets, known as the 7th Flieger Division

Fallschirmjager 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 next operation for the Fallschirmjager was the airborne attacks during the Norwegian Campaign, first during the initial invasion when the Fallschirmjager regiments captured the important air base of Sola,The Fallschirmjager 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 almost completely destroyed by the Norwegian Army during a five day battle.

Later in the war, the 7th Air Division's Fallschirmjäger assets were re-organized and used as the core of a new series of elite Luftwaffe Infantry divisions, numbered in a series beginning with the 1st Fallschirmjager 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 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,

After mid-1944, Fallschirmjager were no longer trained as paratroops due to the realities of the strategic situation, but retained the Fallschirmjager honorific. Near the end of the war, the series of new Fallschirmjager divisions extended to over a dozen

Assault on Eben Emael, The Invasion of Crete

At 0430 hours on the 10th May 1940 under the codename of Group Granite, 42 gliders left their bases in Cologne to begin the first large scale airborne assault on the low countries as part of the German operation Fall Gelb. The gliders carrying 493 Fallschirmjager troops were assigned to take and hold the bridges at Veldwezelt, Vroenhoven and Canne in Belgium and the fortress of Eben-Emael.

This fortress was supposed to be impregnable, however with the element of surprise the glider operation gave and the precise landing directly ontop of the fort caught the Belgian defenders completely by surprise. Nine gliders using parachutes to slow them down quicker on landing began their assault exiting their gliders and immediately destroying the objectives of the heavy belgian artillery bunkers using a mixture of holo charge, satchel and demolition charges.

The Belgian defenders were overwhelmed and the Fallschirmjager quickly achieved all of their goals losing only 6 killed and 19 wounded men. The Belgians suffered 60 killed and 40 wounded with over 1000 taken prisoner.

The airborne assault on the three bridges and Fort Eben-Emael had been an overall success for the Fallschirmjäger of Sturmabteilung Koch; the artillery possessed by Fort Eben-Emael had been disabled, and two of the three bridges designated to be captured by the sub-units of Sturmabteilung Koch had been captured before they could be destroyed.

The capture of the bridges, and the neutralization of the artillery pieces in the Fort allowed infantry and armour from the 18th Army to bypass other Belgian defences and enter the heart of Belgium In a post-war publication, General Kurt Student wrote of the operation, and the efforts of Group Granite in particular, that “It was a deed of exemplary daring and decisive significance"

I have studied the history of the last war and the battles on all fronts. But I have not been able to find anything among the host of brilliant actions—undertaken by friend or foe—that could be said to compare with the success achieved by Koch's Assault Group.”

A number of officers and non-commissioned officers were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for their participation in the operation, including Leutenant Rudolf Witzig who led the assault on Fort Eben-Emael in the absence of Koch.

Sturmabteilung Koch was expanded after the end of Fall Gelb to become 1st Battalion of the newly formed 1st Airlanding Assault Regiment, which itself consisted of four battalions of Fallschirmjager trained as a gliderborne assault force. Hauptmann Koch was promoted to the rank of Major for his part in the operation and assumed command of the 1st Battalion

INVASION OF CRETE

The German army decided to invade Crete to give it a strategic hold in the Mediterranean . Amphibious assault was ruled out as the Germans did not have superiority of the seas at the time so a plan was devised for a direct Airborne assault on the island. Unfortunately for the Germans the Allies had broken their codes and were forewarned of the planned invasion down to the finest details.

The invasion began at 8am on the 20th May 1941 with Airborne drops around the airfield at Maleme. The waiting New Zealand battalions cut down the troops as they fell in their parachutes and subjecting the gliders to mortar fire as they came to a halt. In the first wave the fallschirmjager lost 400 of the 600 men dropped. The survivors taking up positions in the "prison valley". The civilians of Crete began stripping the dead Germans of their weapons and weapon drop boxes and assisted the Allies.

Later in the day fresh landings were made at Rethimnon at 4:15 pm and another at Heraklion at 5:30. As before, the Allied defenders were waiting for them and inflicted heavy casualties.

The Germans managed to break the defensive cordon around Heraklion on the first day, seizing the Greek barracks on the west edge of the town and capturing the docks; the Greeks counterattacked both points and recaptured them. The next day, Heraklion was heavily bombed. The battered Greek units were rotated out and assumed a defensive position on the road to Knossos. As night fell, none of the German objectives had been secured

Towards the evening of 20 May, the Germans slowly pushed back the New Zealanders from Hill 107, which overlooked the airfield. The German commanders on Crete decided to throw everything into the Maleme sector the next day. After several attempts the Fallschirmjager troops took the hill and this gave a lifeline allowing Ju-52 transport planes to begin landing re-enforcements into Maleme airfield although this was under heavy artillery fire and many planes were destroyed

The Germans began landing by air and sea and with these fresh troops and heavier equipment began to push the Allies further back across the island. Despite the forewarning and the inflicting of heavy casualties on the initial FallschirmJager drops The Allies were forced to evacuate as many men as possible to Egypt, eventually surrendering Crete to the Axis forces on the 1st June 1941. The German losses were over 4000 dead 2000 wounded The Allies lost 3500 dead 1900 wounded and over 12000 captured.

In terms of achieving their objectives the operation on Crete was deemed a success by the German High Command, however the high casualty rate on the FallschirmJager units made Crete the last mass Airborne operation mounted by the Germans during WW

After the Crete massacre The Fallschirmjager were used in primarily defensive roles, filling up gaps in divisions left understrength by the tolls of the Eastern front.

MONTE CASSINO

The Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four battles during the allied push up Italy, with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome.

In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans holding the Rapido, Liri and Garigliano valleys and certain surrounding peaks and ridges, together known as the Gustav Line. The Germans had not occupied the historic hilltop abbey of Monte Cassino, founded in AD 524 by Benedict of Nursia and which dominated the town of Cassino and the entrances to the Liri and Rapido valleys, although they manned defensive positions set into the steep slopes below the abbey walls.

On 15 February, the monastery, high on a peak overlooking the town of Cassino, was destroyed by 1,400 tons of bombs controversially dropped by American bombers. The bombing was based on the fear that the abbey was being used as a lookout post for the German defenders who unknown to the Allies had respected the religious significance of the monastery and taken up positions on the hills around the monastery.

Two days after the bombing, the Fallschirmjager poured into the ruins; ironically, the destruction caused by the bombing and the resulting jagged wasteland of rubble gave the defenders an excellent defensive position with the bonus of improved protection from air and artillery attack and giving a clear view of fire for the MG and mortar nests. From 17 January to 18 May, the Gustav defences were assaulted four times by Allied troops.

For the last of these the Allies gathered 20 divisions for a major assault along a twenty mile front and drove the German defenders from their positions but at a high cost. The Fallschirmjager troops slipped away in the night leaving nothing behind but high allied casualties and the destroyed monastery.

NORMANDY AND THE WESTERN FRONT

During the battles for Normandy many different Fallschirmjager units were employed in all sectors in the German attempt to stem the tide of the Allies sweeping into France. Fallschirmjager units fought against the British and Commonwealth troops around Caen alongside the 1st & 12th SS Panzer divisions and elements of the 130th Panzer Lehr Division. They also fought against the American units in the St lo area again alongside the Panzer Lehr during the US Operation Cobra offensive. Highly trained Fallschirmjager units were readily deployed in tank hunting teams, scouring the bocage hedgerows and setting up ambush points for any hapless allied unit that happened to stumble across them. Their most famous role during Normandy however was the defence of the town of Carentan (as depicted in the mini series Band of Brothers) by the FallschirmJager Regiment 6, where they held off repeated attacks earning the nickname of the Green Devils of Carentan. After the German retreat and disaster at Falaise The FallschirmJager were involved in further battles including the defence during the allied operation of Market Garden in Holland and the last ditch Battle of the Bulge offensive. The Fallschirmjager fought right until the end in Berlin before capitulating along with the overall German surrender in May 1945.

IN CONCLUSION

The Fallschirmjager units fought in every theatre including Scandinavia , Fall of France, Africa, Eastern Front, Normandy and the Western front. Their high level of training and devotion to duty earned the Fallschirmjager troops great respect amongst their comrades and enemies alike.

Overall during WWII the Fallschirmjager lost over 54,449 paratroops were killed in action and over 8,000 are still listed as missing in action. The Fallschirmjager were awarded a total of 134 Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosses between the years 1940–1945. Twenty-four of which were awarded in the west and 27 were awarded after Crete. Out of the 134, 15 were with oak leaves, five with oak leaves and swords, and one with oak leaves, swords and diamonds. Once again emphasising the importance of the FallschirmJager role within the German order of Battle.

History of the fallschirmjager

MONTE CASSINO

KGS Information

Unit Information