Fallschirmjäger

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Fallschirmjägern during the Battle of Normandy.
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Fallschirmjägern during the Battle of Normandy.
Fallschirmjäger photo taken from The Hague, Bezuidenhout during the invasion of the Low Countries, morning of May 10, 1940
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Fallschirmjäger photo taken from The Hague, Bezuidenhout during the invasion of the Low Countries, morning of May 10, 1940

Fallschirmjäger (help·info), often rendered Fallschirmjager in English (a misspelling, as without the ä character the correct transcription would be Fallschirmjaeger; see German alphabet), is the German word for paratrooper. (Fallschirm means 'parachute', and Jäger, a traditional German term for light infantry, means 'hunter' or 'ranger'.)

Contents

[edit] History

During World War II the Luftwaffe raised a variety of Fallschirmjäger units. Unlike Great Britain, the British Commonwealth, and the USA, these infantrymen were part of the Air Force rather than the 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).

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 battlegroups (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 Fallschirmjägern 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 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.

[edit] Operations

Fallschirmjäger participated in many famous battles, including the airborne seizure of Fort Eben-Emael and airdrops in Norway in 1940, and the defence of Carentan during the Battle of Normandy in 1944. Their most famous airdrop was in the Battle of Crete in 1941, where the entire 7th Air Division division was deployed along with other assets such as the German 22nd Air Landing Division. The operation was successful in capturing Crete, but the high casualties among the Fallschirmjäger convinced Hitler that such mass airdrops were no longer feasible - though it has to be noted that surprise was lost even before the drops started, and the battle might have caused fewer German casualties otherwise. Still, 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.

During the Battle of Monte Cassino the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division operated as ordinary infantry. When the Allies bombed the Monastery of Monte Cassino they inadvertently created an excellent fortress of rubble. This enabled the still present Fallschirmjäger to holdout for months against repeated assaults and heavy bombardment. They were nicknamed "Green Devils" by the Allied forces for their tenacious defence, though they were finally forced out of the position by Polish and French Morrocan forces.

[edit] Non-Luftwaffe Paratroops

Germany also raised other small airborne units not associated with the Luftwaffe, such as parachute and commando units in the Waffen-SS and the Brandenburg commandos under the direct control of OKW.

[edit] Equipment

Fallschirmjäger units were usually very well equipped; they had the choicest weapons of the Nazi German military. The FG 42 "assault rifle" for example was used almost exclusively by them. Also, they were among the first combat units to use recoilless rifles in warfare.

A special version of the Wehrmacht's modernized Stahlhelm, or M1935 steel helmet, 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.

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, connected to 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. In the resulting face-down position, control of the chute 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.

[edit] Luftwaffe Parachute Units

  • Erste Fallschirmjägerarmee
  • Fallschirmjägerkorps
    • I. Fallschirmjägerkorps
    • II. Fallschirmjägerkorps
  • Fallschirmjägerdivisionen
  • Other units
    • Ramcke Parachute Brigade
    • Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment, Formerly the Feldjager-Sturmregiment, with Battalions I, II, III, and IV.
    • Barenthin Regiment- formed from drafts from other units
    • Fallschirmjäger-Sturmgeschütz-Brigaden
      • Fallschirmjäger-Sturmgeschütz-Brigade XI
      • Fallschirmjäger-Sturmgeschütz-Brigade XII

[edit] Other Parachute units

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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