Everything about Fallschirmj Ger totally explained
(often rendered
Fallschirmjager in
English; from
German Fallschirm "parachute" and
Jäger, "hunter; ranger" a term for
light infantry) are
German paratroopers.
Fallschirmjäger of
Nazi Germany in
World War II were the first to be committed in large scale airborne operations. During the whole period of its existence, the Fallschirmjäger commander was
Kurt Student.
History
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
German Army (
Wehrmacht Heer). 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 they attacked and took control of Aalborg airport which played a key role acting as a refuel station for the Luftwaffe in the further invasion into Norway. In the same assault the bridges around Aalborg were taken. Other airborne attacks on Denmark the
9 April were also carried out, including one on a fort on the island
Masnedø.
The first opposed airborne attacks occurred in
Norway, first during the
initial invasion when
Fallschirmjägers captured the defended air base of
Sola, near
Stavanger. The following Norwegian Campaign also saw the first
Fallschirmjäger defeat 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.
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 shouldn't 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.
Fallschirmjäger were awarded a total of 134
Knights Crosses between the years 1940-1945. 24 KC were awarded in the west and 27 were awarded after Crete. Out of the 134 KC, 15 were with oakleaves, 5 with oakleaves and swords and 1 with oakleaves, swords and diamonds.
Operations
Fallschirmjäger participated in many famous battles, including the airborne seizure of
Fort Eben-Emael and airdrops in
Norway and Denmark in 1940, the bloody battle of
Monte Cassino and the defence of
Carentan, as depicted in
Band of Brothers, 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 was deployed, with the
German 5th Mountain Division as the follow-up. Initially the operation was unsuccessful and it wasn't until an airfield was captured that they could be reinforced. Crete was captured, 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.
The 3rd battalion, 3rd Regt, German 1st Parachute Division fought in and was defeated by elements of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division during the battle of Ortona, Italy, from
December 20,
1943 to
December 28,
1943.
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. Nicknamed "Green Devils" by the Allied forces for their tenacious defence, they finally retreated from their positions to stave off being outflanked, allowing Polish and French Moroccan forces to occupy the ruins of the monastery.
Uniforms and Equipment
Fallschirmjager would be awarded the
Fallschirmschutzenabzeichen a Paratrooper Insignia featuring a diving gold eagle gripping a swastika.
Fallschirmjäger units were usually very well equipped; they'd access to the best weapons of the German military. They were among the first combat units to use
assault rifles and
recoilless rifles in warfare.
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, 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. 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 troopers were poorly armed (By comparison, Allied paratroopers are dropped armed with rifles or submachine guns). The Japanese copied the German system.
Some would say that in an attempt to turn the
Fallschirmjäger into Göring's private army, rivaling Himmler's
SS, a universal weapon was developed that could replace rifles, submachine guns and light machineguns but was also light enough to be carried during a jump. This resulted in the
FG42 automatic rifle. This was built and deployed in small numbers from 1943 until the end of the war.
Luftwaffe parachute units
Larger units
- Fallschirmjägerarmee
- Fallschirmjägerkorps
Fallschirmjägerdivisionen
Fallschirmjägerdivision 1., Fallschirmjägerregimenter (FJR).1, FJR.3, FJR.4
- (as 7.Flieger-Division with FJR.1, FJR.2, FJR.3, FJR.4, FJR.5)
Fallschirmjägerdivision 2., FJR.2, FJR.6, FJR.7, FJR.23
Fallschirmjägerdivision 3., FJR.5, FJR.8, FJR.9
Fallschirmjägerdivision 4., (formed from the Italian 184th Nembo Parachute Division (Italy); destroyed at Anzio.) FJR.10, FJR.11, FJR.12
Fallschirmjägerdivision 5., (the last parachute trained unit) FJR.13, FJR.14, FJR.15
Fallschirmjägerdivision 6., FJR.16, FJR.17, FJR.18
Fallschirmjägerdivision 7., (only some of its units were parachute trained) FJR.19, FJR.20, FJR.21
- (as Fallschirm-Jäger-Division Erdmann: FJR.Menzel, Grossmehl, Greve, Hübner, Laytved-Hardegg)
Fallschirmjägerdivision 8., FJR.22, FJR.24, FJR.32
Fallschirmjägerdivision 9., FJR.25, FJR.26, FJR.27
Fallschirmjägerdivision 10., FJR.28, FJR.29, FJR.30
Fallschirmjägerdivision 11., FJR.37, FJR.38, FJR.39
Fallschirmjägerdivision 20., (never finished forming) FJR.58, FJR.59, FJR.60
Fallschirmjägerdivision 21., (never finished formeing) FJR.61, FJR.62, FJR.63
Fallschirmjäger-Ausbildungs-und-Ersatz-Division,
Regiments and Brigades
Brigades
Other parachute units
Waffen SS
Heer
Bundeswehr Fallschirmjäger
In modern German Bundeswehr Fallschirmjager 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's 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
40. Fallschirmjägerbataillon Willi Sänger was the only airborne infantry formation of the Nationale Volksarmee (NVA). The battalion and its airborne-commando school were based in Prora at the Rügen island (1961-82) and near Potsdam (1982-90). Officially, the battalion was an airborne unit organized as an NVA light infantry battalion, but in reality it was more considered a special force commando unit like US Army Special Forces. On mission, the companies of the battalion were to be split up in to five-six man teams to increase it's shadowbility. As a force with special capability it remains under the direct command of the Kommando Landstreitkräfte (KdoLaSK) - the army high command.
The reconnaissance company of the Felix Dzerzhinsky Watch Regiment (German: Wachregiment "Feliks E. Dzierzynski"), an elite motorized rifles regiment of the Ministry for State Security of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a paratroop trained unit.
In popular culture
In the video game , the main attack force in the initial Nazi invasion of New York city, are Fallschirmjager troops. You first see them when they land on the skyscraper you're working on.
In the massively multiplayer online game World War II Online, it's possible for Axis players to play as Fallschirmjager. Parachute drops are possible.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fallschirmj Ger'.
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