MISCCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ON THE GERMAN FALSCHIRMJÄGER OF WW2

- Operation Stösser in the Ardennes was the only operational night jump carried out by the German Fallschirmtruppe during WWII.

 - Oberst Baron Friedrich August von der Heydte used a captured Russian ribbon design parachute for the drop in the Ardennes. Although still nursing a previous injury and sustaining another during the jump he was reported as saying that the Soviet chute proved to be a lot better than its German counterpart, it was more controllable and did not suffer as much oscillation during the jump.

- Unlike their comrades in other branches of the Wehrmacht, who kept their Soldbuch’s in their tunic breast pocket, men of the Fallschirmtruppe never carried their pay books when jumping into combat. They were kept by a regimental or divisional department, usually at their place of departure until the return of the man. They did carry with them a special identity card.

 - All German airborne operations carried out in WW2 with the exception of the Ardennes drop took place outside of the range of German artillery. The men involved in operation Stösser were supposed to be supported by long range artillery, but the plan was dropped due to defective radio equipment damaged during the drop. An artillery observer, Obersturmfuhrer Etterich from the 12th SS Panzer Division accompanied Von der Heydte's Battalion.

- Allied and German airborne forces alike used dummies to deceive enemy forces. The problem associated with dropping dummies, however realistic the dummies may be, was the fact that the deception does not last very long. It does not take long for the cover to be blown by alert ground troops.
Dummies manufactured by the Allies were quite realistic, when they hit the ground they let off firecrackers imitating gunfire.
The Germans decided that the best use for dummies was alongside real paratroops to give the deception of numbers involved in the operation and to mask the real objective.
The Germans even experimented with the use of smoke pots attached to the dummies to shroud them on landing, therefore elongating the period of deception. This idea never got past the planning stage.

 - When pondering over the problem of retrieving gliders from drop zones, the German high command toyed with the idea of mounting light aircraft engines on the gliders so once they had dropped off their loads they could be flown out of the drop zone to be used again.

- Only 20% of the men dropped into the Ardennes were trained to jump with their weapons and equipment. This dis-advantaged the mission as a very high percentage of the weapons and supply containers were never recovered.

- By D-Day on June 6th 1944, there were 150 000 men in service with the Fallschirmtruppe. Only 30 thousand of these men were actually qualified parachutists. These qualified men were mainly from the 1st and 2nd Parachute divisions. The 1st was formerly the 7th Airborne division and the 2nd was made up of various units such as the 2nd Regiment, remnants of the Ramcke brigade and a battalion of the Assault regiment. All of these units were veteran units who had seen action in various operations.

- Unlike the troops of the US and British forces, the Germans never produced a walkie- talkie type radio for contact between company and platoon size formations.
However a small set was designed by Siemens-Halske for use in the shelved operation on Malta in 1942 for the battalion under the command of Oberst Baron von der Heydte.
It was very portable and could be carried by one man, had a long battery life and had a range of nearly 200 miles. This set did not go into mass production.

- During Operation Mercury at least one kompanie of each battalion involved was dropped in the wrong place, some men perished due to being dropped into the sea. This was blamed on the lack of experience and courage of the Jumpmasters on the JU-52 transport aircraft.
Luck was not with one stick of paratroops that dropped onto Crete, they landed in a cane brake where all the men were impaled on the canes, whether this can be blamed on the jumpmaster or the parachute design which gave the para hardly any control, is uncertain. The fact is many men perished that day due to being incorrectly dropped.

- Although not directly connected with the Fallschirmtruppe, in 1943, seven 75 mm anti-tank guns were successfully dropped by Gotha 242 medium assault gliders into the besieged citadel of Velikie Luki. These desperately needed guns were used to hold back Russian amour and delay the end of the siege for a while longer.

- The German Airborne forces were awarded a total of 134 Knights Crosses between the years 1940-1945. The actions in the west saw the award of 24 KC, whereas the following year after Crete 27 were awarded.
Out of the 134 KC, 15 were with oak leaves, 5 with oak leaves and swords and 1 with oak leaves, swords and diamonds. Only 2 KC were awarded to Corporals.(no distinction between officers and men there then).

- The only Knights Cross with oak leaves, swords and diamonds awarded to a member of the Airborne forces was to General Bernhard Hermann Ramcke. Not for his airborne actions, but whilst in command of Festung Brest on the French coast after the D-Day landings, when it came under siege from allied troops.
The fortress finally surrendered on 20th September 1944 the same day that his diamonds were awarded. General Ramcke was obviously not going to adhere to the order "fight to the last man and the last bullet", he went into captivity with several large leather bound suitcases and a red setter dog.

- Some of the JU-52 aircraft that towed the DFS-230 gliders to their objectives in Belgium in May 1940, never returned straight back to their bases. They carried on 25-30 miles behind the Belgian lines and dropped straw filled dummies to deceive the Belgians that they were being attacked from the rear.

- General Bernhard Hermann Ramcke and the remnants of his Fallschirm Brigade were given up for dead when they went missing after the second battle at El-Alamein. The Brigade on retreating managed to steal a convoy of enemy Lorries and drove across nearly 800 miles of desert to get back to German lines. On returning, Ramcke personally presented himself outside the door of Field Marshal Rommel's command vehicle, I imagine giving the Field Marshall a shock in the process.

- General Ramcke had a mouthful of metal teeth after he lost them in a parachuting accident. - The first encounter between British Para's and Fallschirmjäger took place on 20th November 1942 in Tunisia, North Africa.

- Men of the 8th Parachute Division were called upon to neutralize a group of die hard SS and German Partisan's (Werewolf units) in the first days of May 1945. They dug themselves in within a forest called Forst Segeberg in Northern Germany. They were intent on battling against 2 Battalions of the British 11th Armoured Division. In Flensburg on the German/Danish border, Admiral Doenitz, now chief of state after Hitler's death ordered them to surrender. When they refused Doenitz dispatched some splinter groups of the 8th Parachute Division to deal with them. Under the eyes of the British, a fierce battle broke out between the two German forces. The remnants of the fanatical SS Kampfgruppe surrendered a couple of days later.

 - The following Fallschirmtruppe Commanders were awarded the Knights Cross with Oak leaves and Swords:
Major General Ludwig Heilmann - 15th May 1944
Major General Karl-Lothar Schulz - 18th November 1944
General Eugen Meindl - 8th May 1945
General Richard Heidrich - 25th March 1944
Oberst Hans Kroh

- 12th September 1944

- General Eugen Meindl began the war as the commander of a Gebirgs-Artillery regiment before transferring to the Fallschirmtruppe

- General Kurt Student, the innovator of vertical envelopment was awarded the Knights Cross with Oakleaves.

 - 756 German Paratroopers were awarded the Narvik Shield, after the struggle for the town between April and June 1940

 - General Bruno Bräuer was executed at the Chaidari military barracks in Greece on May 20th 1947, the 6th anniversary of the invasion of Crete. He was also the first Fallschirmjäger to be awarded the Parachute Qualification Badge.

- Whilst contemplating his escape from the Falaise Pocket, General Eugen Meindl, commander 2nd Para Korps, came across his own son who was also trapped within the encirclement.

- There were 223 awards of the German Cross in Gold to men of the Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger, out of a total of 7248 awarded to the Luftwaffe in general. - The infamous Oberst Freiherr von der Heydte started the war as an Anti-Tank kompanie commander in the Army and did not join the Fallschirmtruppe until August 1940. Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who attempted to assasinate Hitler on 20th July 1944 was cousin of the Baron.

- The lowest recorded combat jump is the German paratroopers (Fallschirmjager) when then jump into Crete (WWII). The Fallschirmjager jumped from 250 feet