Initially, paratrooper units were created in the Wehrmacht, but later they were transferred to the Luftwaffe.
In the German army there were parachute landing (Fallschirmtruppen) and air landing (Luftlandentruppen) divisions.
The personnel of the paratrooper division landed with parachutes or gliders. The divisions of the air landing division were delivered by transport aircraft, such as Ju-52 / Зm directly to the landing site, by landing method.
In German military sources, parachute troops are officially referred to as "parachute chasseurs" (Fallschirmjager).
The color of the German paratroopers (Waffenfarbe) was golden yellow - golden yellow buttonholes and a border on shoulder straps of the same color.
The background of shoulder straps is bluish-gray.

general of the parachute troops (General der Fallschirmtruppe)
Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant)
major general (Generalmajor)
Oberst (Oberst)
Oberst Lieutenant(Oberstleutnant)
Major
hauptmann (Hauptmann)
Oberleutnant (Oberleutnant)
Lieutenant (Leutnant)
staff sergeant major (Stabsfeldwebel)
chief sergeant major (Oberfeldwebel)
sergeant major (Feldwebel)
non-commissioned officer (unterfeldwebel)
non-commissioned officer
staff corporal (Stabsgefreiter)
Corporal (Hauptgefreiter)
chief corporal (Obergefreiter)
Corporal (Gefreiter)
Private

The German paratroopers wore the uniform adopted by the Luftwaffe. They were supposed to wear white dress and gray-blue or sand-colored (tropical) casual uniforms.
A peculiar distinctive symbol of the German paratrooper was a yellow neckerchief, which first appeared in North Africa. However, these shawls or scarves did not always have the color of yellow gold, but always bright.

The jackets of the German paratroopers were also standard for the Luftwaffe. The paratroopers also wore quilted flight jackets or casual uniforms with four pockets.

The uniforms were tied with a belt, all paratroopers, regardless of rank, were armed with pistols, knives and hand grenades.

A jumpsuit (Fallschirmkittel) was worn over the uniform - practical clothing made of thick cotton.
Hinged to the bottom, with a concealed button closure, and later with a zip, the field gray jump suit with a low stand-up collar was nicknamed the "bone bag".
At first there were no pockets on the upper part of the chest and on the trousers shortened to the middle of the thighs. Then horizontal welt pockets with zippers appeared on the hips, and two vertical chest pockets slanted to the shoulders had leaflets covering the zippers.
The sleeves were fastened with buttoned cuffs.

Non-commissioned officer of the 1st Airborne Regiment, Belgium, 1940. The steel helmet was specially designed to meet the requirements of the specifics of the parachute troops. It protected the paratrooper from grenade and shell fragments, and also protected him from severe bruises to the head during falls that often occurred during the landing. The shape of the helmet excluded hooks for parachute lines or clothing and equipment. A balaclava made of eight leather petals tied with a cord with holes for ventilation was put on under the helmet. The balaclava and a leather chin strap with a frame buckle clasp were attached to a spring-loaded aluminum hoop-frame with a rubber backing, which was held on the helmet dome with four special screws.

With overalls worn over field uniforms, straight-cut field gray trousers were worn. On the side seams at the knees there were pockets with flaps not three buttons, intended for a knife, dressing material and other essentials.
Quadrangular kapka shock absorbers were sewn into the knee parts of the trousers, and when landing, in order to avoid injuries, they put on thick kapka or rubber knee pads, stitched with rollers, with long ribbons and buckles.
Both the knee pads and the jumpsuit itself were usually disposed of after landing, although the overalls were sometimes left to be worn over it with a harness.

Until 1940, on the overalls of the paratroopers, an army eagle was sewn on the chest, or nothing was sewn on. In the future, it became mandatory to use the Air Force emblem, embroidered on a blue, and later on a green or plain gray background.

Insignia - chevrons of corporals, flaps with wings - were sewn over the elbows.
In a number of cases, the collar of the fleece blouse worn under it was laid out on the collar of the overalls, which had become a turn-down, so that the buttonholes were visible in order.
Early model overalls were easy to put on and take off thanks to the cropped legs. After landing, the parachutist was first released from
tethered parachute system, then dumped overalls.

Oberleutnant from 1st Battalion, 1st Parachute Regiment, Western Europe, 1940. The officer in the landing zone takes off his jump jacket to get personal equipment, as before the jump he had to hide under the jacket and then take it out. This procedure took quite a long time due to the fact that the German paratroopers had to unfasten four carabiners to remove the harness, and then get out of the legs of the jumpsuit jumpsuit. The head of a paratrooper officer is protected by an ordinary steel paratrooper helmet, however, photographs taken in Norway in 1940 show that some paratroopers at that time wore ordinary army helmets, and some early experimental helmets similar to army helmets, they are easy to distinguish by horizontal slit-slot above the ear. Jumping jackets of the "first model" in 1940 were equipped with pockets. At this time, they began to use a stylized system of insignia by rank - the same as on the flight jackets and overalls of the Luftwaffe. On a reddish-brown or dark blue rectangular flap above the elbow, white or grayish "eagles" and stripes were sewn or stenciled on the right and left. The lieutenant, chief lieutenant and captain were entitled to one strip and from one to three "eagles" above it, respectively. The major, lieutenant colonel and colonel have one, two and three "eagles" above two stripes, respectively. Under the jacket, the chief lieutenant wears an officer-style flight blouse, with a silver piping along the edge of the collar (for the lower ranks, the piping is instrument golden yellow). Buttonholes in color according to the type of troops also with a silver edging. On the buttonholes are insignia by rank. In general, they corresponded to those described above, with one, two or three "eagles", but for senior officers, instead of a strip, a half wreath of oak leaves was depicted under them, and for staff officers, the "eagles" were entirely surrounded by a wreath. On the right chest is an emblem embroidered with silver thread. The shoulder straps of the chief officers on the lining of the applied color were laid out with a silver tourniquet. The lieutenants had "clean" shoulder straps, the chief lieutenants and captains - respectively, with one or two golden quadrangular stars. This officer wears the usual Wehrmacht brown belt belt with a two-pronged frame buckle (officer version). On the neck are binoculars and a gas mask in a bag specially designed for paratroopers made of field gray fabric.

Later versions of the overalls had a more practical design, two large pockets, and the floors wrapped around the legs and fastened before the jump.
These clothes were sewn from a fabric with a two-tone green or sandy-brown camouflage pattern. Later, trousers were also sewn from the same material.
In 1942, after paratroopers were no longer used for their intended purpose, Fallschirmtruppen personnel began to wear single-breasted field jackets (Kampfjacke), which were sewn from viscose-cotton fabric with a camouflage pattern.
Similar jackets were worn by the personnel of the Luftwaffe airfield divisions.
A minimum of symbolism was worn on the field uniform - the breast emblem adopted in the Luftwaffe in the form of an eagle and buttonholes, insignia were attached to the buttonholes.

For most of the Second World War, German paratroopers wore solid gray-green wide trousers, darker than the jumpsuits of the early versions. Wide trousers did not hamper the movements of the paratrooper.
The trousers had two side and two hip pockets with small flaps on the buttons, and they were tied with ribbons at the ankles.
A knife was attached to the right thigh, which opened thanks to a weighted blade, under the influence of gravity.

In North Africa, German paratroopers wore heavy cotton trousers or shorts. Pants were made somewhat baggy for better ventilation of the body and prevention of sweating.
There were three pockets in the trousers: two regular ones, the third one on the left thigh was intended for storing a topographic map.

The German parachutist relied on gloves and jump boots.
Parachutists' gloves had elongated wrists with lingering elastic bands. Shock-absorbing glove pads protected the back and palm sides of the hands.
Gloves were made of black leather, although the lower ranks could also have textile ones.
Jumping boots, under which woolen socks were worn, were made of black leather with rubber soles, which had developed lugs.

Paratrooper of the 7th Airborne Division, Crete, May 1941. By the spring of 1941, the uniform of the German paratroopers had undergone a number of changes based on the experience of the 1940 landing operations of the year. The woolen uniform and trousers remained the same, but they were completely unsuitable for the hot climate of the Greek island. For unknown reasons, before the landing on Crete, the paratroopers were not given a new tropical Luftwaffe uniform more adequate in terms of weather. Overalls have four pockets with zippers or buttons. Appeared, so far in very limited quantities, jumpsuits made of fabric with a camouflage pattern. On the sleeves they began to wear patches with insignia, similar to the insignia of the Luftwaffe flight personnel. True, not all paratroopers had such stripes. Experience has shown the unsuitability of the gray color of helmets. After Holland, the tricolor emblem disappeared from the helmets, covers were introduced from the same fabric from which the overalls were sewn. The covers were attached to the helmet with six hooks. A narrow strip of fabric was worn over the cover, for which it was possible to fasten a disguise - branches, grass. Later, covers began to be sewn from fabric with a camouflage pattern adopted in the Luftwaffe.

The high ankle boots had thick rubber soles, very comfortable, although not suitable for long marches on foot, and provided good traction on the floor inside the fuselage of the aircraft (because they did not use the large boot nails that are usually characteristic of this kind of shoes supplied to soldiers of other military branches).
The lacing of these boots was located on the side, then it was mistakenly believed that the side lacing kept the shoes on the foot better than the traditional one.
There were samples with ordinary lacing.

Parachutist of the Air Landing Assault Regiment, May 1941. During the Crete operation, fabric covers for helmets first appeared, which were sewn from greenish fabric that went on jackets; the cover could be supplied with a tape for leafy camouflage, threaded into specially sewn loops. Such a cloth covering was held on the helmet with six hooks fixed around the perimeter. Similar covers made of greenish fabric were found until the end of the Second World War. The jacket-overalls are still an early model, but already with four pockets, all with zippers and rectangular flaps. This parachutist, ready to board the plane, had the retractable end of the parachute between his teeth, a common technique to free his hands. Of greatest interest is the armament and equipment of this paratrooper. As a rule, pouches with magazines for a submachine gun were wrapped around the shins below the knee pads. The MP40 itself with the butt folded is enclosed in a makeshift case, which may have been altered from a gas mask bag and tucked under the harness.

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

The lows of the legs and the tops of the boots were grasped by swing leggings made of gray canvas with leather overlays and fasteners on straps with buckles.
In parades and field conditions, German paratroopers wore ordinary military-style boots.
The field equipment of the paratrooper corresponded to the field equipment of the infantryman, only, at first, paratroopers used bags to store gas masks, and not metal cylindrical containers, since a metal container could cause injury when jumping from an airplane or landing.
In addition, a special harness was developed for the Fallschirtruppen.

Private of the 7th Airborne Division, 1941. The fighter is dressed in a Luftwaffe paratrooper's semi-overalls, which were sewn from pale green or light gray cotton fabric. The semi-overalls had short legs - up to the middle of the thighs; the parachutist put his feet into them, without taking off his trousers and boots, passed his hands into the sleeves and buttoned the semi-overalls with buttons from the groin to the collar over the field tunic or jacket. Like the skydiver's helmet, the jumpsuit was designed to prevent entanglement in parachute lines or snagging on anything in the aircraft. Oddly enough, the main drawback of this uniform was its inconvenience when removing it - in order to get rid of it, the paratrooper had to first remove all the ammunition from himself. In combat conditions, the ego takes quite a lot of time and therefore it was dangerous. The parachutist's trousers, made of field-gray dyed matter, had a slit with fasteners on the outside of each knee, through which, after landing, he removed the knee pads that were worn under the trousers. The trousers had two side pockets, two back pockets and a small pocket, like a sentry, in the front right just below the waist.

Info: Darman "World War II Uniform"

Feldwebel of the 7th Air Division, May 1941. In the campaign to capture Crete, many paratroopers were already wearing jump jackets of the so-called "second model". Outwardly, they were similar to the previous ones, but were sewn from green fabric with a camouflage pattern. Much more important, however, is that their cut has abandoned the design of the overalls. As a result, it has become much more convenient to get to the equipment covered by the jacket. The jackets of the "second sample" were fully swing-out, and the fastener system made it possible to fasten each floor around the thigh in preparation for the jump, and after landing, again quickly turn the impromptu "overalls" into a jacket. By May 1941, sleeve insignia became widespread. For non-commissioned officers, they were from one to four "eagles" and four "eagles" with a quadrangular star below them, respectively, for a non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned officer, sergeant major, chief sergeant major and staff sergeant major. Instead of jump boots with side lacing, the lace-up front version became more common: such shoes were easier to manufacture and more reliable. The parachute harness was somewhat modified, instead of the previous D-rings, patented buckles with elastic straps began to be installed at the same points; the simple buckle on the waist belt of the harness has also been replaced.

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

German paratrooper, 1940. The parachutist is dressed in full dress uniform (shirt and tie), the jumpsuit is intercepted by parachute harness straps. The aiguillettes of the dress uniform are not visible - they are hidden by the jumpsuit. Jumpsuit - an early model. Pants are normal. A pocket is visible on the left leg, in which it is supposed to carry a knife, in which the blade extends under the influence of gravity. On the feet of a soldier are not ordinary army boots, put to the front porch, but jump boots. 2 - headgear - a Fallschirmjager helmet of gray-blue color adopted in the Luftwaffe, on one side of which the national tricolor is depicted - on the other an eagle. The leather balaclava has several ventilation holes. The balaclava holds an aluminum ring with a rubber gasket in the helmet, which, in turn, is attached to the helmet with four bolts. The bolts are also used to fasten the chin strap, which is designed in such a way that it does not allow the helmet to move out of the eye when jumping from an airplane. 3 - emblem of a parachutist, which was issued after six successful jumps. The emblem was an image of a steeply gliding gilded eagle with a black swastika in its claws, framed by a silver oval wreath (sometimes blued) with laurel leaves on the left and oak leaves on the right. The newly minted paratrooper received his badge in a blue box along with the corresponding certificate, which crowned the training process. Worn on the left side of the uniform. 4 - Zeiss binoculars; 5 — submachine gun MP-40; 6 - leather pouch for magazines for a submachine gun; 7 - a leather tablet for a topographic map and stationery; 8 - a flask with a mug; 9 - knee pads. Structurally, the knee pads of a German parachutist have six horizontal tubes of black or brown leather with rubber inside.; 10 - holster for a Luger pistol; 11 - jump boots of the early model.

Information: "German paratroopers 1935-1945" ("New Soldier #4")

Ober-lieutenant, Russia, 1942-1943. In addition to their usual equipment, paratrooper rangers on the Eastern Front received all variants of army one-color or two-color (reversible) uniforms. The photo that was used to create this design clearly shows baggy pants that are mouse gray on one side and white on the inside. On the sleeves of the jacket there are dark blue stripes with insignia: they are rearranged from the Luftwaffe winter flight suit. The steel helmet, gear, binoculars, and even gloves are covered in white camouflage paint.

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

After the first winter campaign in the USSR, another type of field uniform appeared - quilted insulated trousers and a jacket on one side of white, on the other - gray colors. They could be worn in any color outside, depending on the dominant color of the surrounding area.
However, such a uniform was sewn in limited quantities.
Insulated clothing was not worn over jumpsuits.

Chief Sergeant Major of the 1st Airborne Division, Italy, 1943. The parachutist is dressed in camouflage uniforms: a special helmet with a German camouflage net, a blouse with a splintered pattern. On his shoulder he holds a special assault rifle for paratroopers. The chest bandolier contains spare clips for the rifle. The military rank can be seen from the patch on the sleeve with four white wings. Below the blouse, uniform tropical trousers of the Luftwaffe are visible. They looked like a tunic in both color and quality and were cut in the form of wide trousers so that they could be worn with trousers gathered at the ankles. Fabric straps with aluminum buckles made it possible to fasten the legs above the top of the boots, which made the trousers look baggy. You can see the collar of a brownish-yellow cotton shirt, which had four small brown buttons and could be unbuttoned to its full length. The same buttons fastened the flaps of the patch breast pockets; two buttons were on each cuff.

Information: McNab "Military uniform of the XX century"

"Father of the parachute troops" of Germany, Colonel-General Kurt Student, 1944. The student is dressed in the usual uniform of a Luftwaffe general. All officers of the German Air Force relied on caps of this type, but for generals all insignia, piping, cords and buttons were gold. Uniform with gold buttons, collar piping and breast emblem. Buttonholes and lining of epaulettes were supposed to be white for the generals. On ashtrays with gold edging were placed images of one, two or three golden "eagles" in a wreath: respectively, the ranks of major general, lieutenant general and full general. The rank of Colonel General was designated by the same buttonholes with the image of a large "flying eagle" of the Luftwaffe above two crossed wands, and the eagle's wings extended beyond the wreath. Shoulder straps made of gold thread mixed with silver were without stars or carried from one to three stars - respectively, four general ranks. The breeches, which were required for service uniforms, had double wide white stripes with a white edging in the gap. Above the left cuff is a white “Cretan ribbon” with yellow letters: these commemorative ribbons were issued to all ranks of all branches of the armed forces who took part in the battles on the island from May 19 to May 27, 1941.

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

Non-commissioned officer, Italy, 1944. The paratrooper is wearing a 1938 helmet with Luftwaffe eagles on the left side. The parachutist is dressed in a woolen uniform, which was widely represented in Italy, The tunic is made of gray-blue cloth inherent in the Luftwaffe. Hip pockets with flaps. On the collar of the non-commissioned officer there are buttonholes in the colors of the German paratroopers with insignia - four wings - with a silver border. The eagle on the parachutist's chest is embroidered with gray silk thread. On the left side of the tunic there is an Iron Cross and a parachutist badge. The black leather jump boots have twelve eyelet lacing at the front.

Info: Lagarde "Serman soldiers of World War Two"

Lieutenant, Ardennes, 1944. The parachutist is wearing a helmet without rims, while beginners already received ordinary army steel helmets. The helmet is wrapped with a mesh, to which it is convenient to attach a disguise. Jumpsuits at the end of World War II were extremely rare and were used in separate operations. The lieutenant is dressed in a camouflage jacket, such a camouflage pattern has been used in the uniform of the Luftwaffe since 1942. The trousers are made of camouflage with a different pattern. Jumping boots among the paratroopers disappeared everywhere in 1944, but they are the ones on the parachutist's feet. The paratrooper's legs are insulated with gaiters. Military rank can be established by buttonholes and sleeve patches. The entire set of Gefechtsgepack (assault infantryman's assault kit) laid down by the state is fixed on the officer's belt - a bowler hat, a roll, a container for bread, a sapper shovel, a flask and a container for a gas mask. By this time, no one was afraid of chemical warfare, but the container turned out to be an extremely convenient thing for storing personal property. Zeiss binoculars are located on the paratrooper's neck, and an FG-42 assault rifle is in his hands. 2 - FG-42 assault rifle, box magazine and needle-shaped bayonet; 3-4 - infantry assault kit; 5 - panzerfaust (left) and rocket-propelled anti-tank gun (right).

Information: "German paratroopers 1935-1945" ("New Soldier #4")

Jaeger of the 5th Parachute Division, Ardennes, December 1944. At the final stage of the Second World War, the paratroopers of the III Reich began to use more and more army equipment. Specific helmets of paratroopers began to be painted in the "army" grayish-green color (feldgrau), and household metal chain-link nets were used to attach camouflage. In winter, woolen balaclavas were worn under helmets. For insulation, this huntsman put on the usual greyish-blue Luftwaffe overcoat, and over it he pulled on a jacket that was increasingly used instead of a jump jacket: this is a Luftwaffe camouflage field jacket (they were widely used by soldiers and officers of airfield divisions). These jackets were made of fabric with a "comminuted" camouflage pattern, equipped with a turn-down collar, shoulder straps and had two or four pockets. Magazines for the StG44 assault rifle were crammed into pockets - there were not enough special pouches designed for three magazines. On the feet of the parachutist are ordinary army boots.

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

Major from the 1st Parachute Division, Berlin, 1944. The basis for this image of a paratrooper was photographs of participants in the parade, during which Göring presented awards to those who distinguished themselves in the battles of Cassino, as well as a photograph of Major Baron von der Heydte. It was a unique occasion when German paratroopers participated in a solemn formation, wearing parachute harnesses over pressed jump jackets and field uniforms, with all insignia. Various sources refer to these harnesses as "simplified". It is difficult to determine how they differ from the harnesses used before, with the exception of a greater fit (most likely in preparation for a parade) and the absence of a parachute itself. The major has the following insignia and awards: on the right chest - the national emblem (option for the Luftwaffe) above the gold Military Order of the German Cross. On the left (somewhat tighter than usual due to the harness being worn) - Iron Cross 1st Class, Parachutist Badge, Luftwaffe Ground Combat Badge, and Wound Badge. On the sleeve of the jacket - "Cretan ribbon" (on the left only) and stripes of insignia by rank (on both sleeves).

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

Major of the Parachute Regiment in a leather coat, 1944. A leather coat is a piece of uniform that was purchased privately by officers. For officers of the Luftwaffe and paratrooper units, the color of the leather coat was gray-blue. Its cut almost repeated the overcoat, but it was detachable at the waist between the fifth and sixth buttons. The hem of the coat had a multi-row horizontal stitching. Of the insignia on the coat, only removable shoulder straps were worn. In the winter version, a leather coat could have a permanent or removable warm lining, even fur, and a fox, raccoon, beaver, or bear fur collar.

Information: Davis "German Uniforms of the Third Reich 1933-1945"

German paratrooper, Italy, 1944. In Italy, elements of the main and tropical uniforms were often mixed. A variant of the uniform field cap of the Luftwaffe for the tropics was sewn from the same dull-sand-colored matter as the entire uniform. The jump jacket is made of brownish camouflage fabric; camouflage: the so-called "blurred" type. In 1943-1945, there were jackets of all three color options - green, with "comminuted" and "blurred" camouflage. In 1944-1945, jackets made from Italian camouflage fabric with a specific pattern also gained some popularity. Since the vast majority of paratroopers fought as ordinary infantry after 1941, their equipment began to approach army equipment more and more. This soldier is wearing regular army boots. The gas mask box and black shoulder straps are also military-style. A dull yellow "assault pack" frame connects Y-strap shoulder straps and a waist belt at the back. A bowler hat and a rain cape made of fabric with a “comminuted” pattern are suspended from the frame. Under the cape is attached a pouch with bivouac equipment. A bread bag and a flask, as well as a sapper shovel and a bayonet-knife, are attached to the waist belt with belts.

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

Ober-lieutenant (left) and sergeant major (right), Apennines, Italy, 1944. The paratroopers are dressed in tropical uniforms. Both are wearing uniforms with epaulettes, but without other emblems, except for breast eagles. Neckerchiefs are a kind of symbol of the paratroopers of the Reich. Trousers - tropical pattern, jump boots - late model with front lacing. A holster with a Luger pistol hangs on the belt of the sergeant major. This is not a standard Luger, but an artillery model with a long barrel - Luge Lange Pistole 08. Pay attention to the different buckles on the waist belts of the officer and the lower rank. The chief lieutenant put on a camouflage jumpsuit over his uniform. Before the jump, the lower parts of the floor of the overalls (more precisely, the jackets) were wrapped around the hips and fastened. In battle, the floors could not be buttoned. The officer's headdress is a Meyer cap, popular among the troops, which turned out to be a very practical headdress, it was sewn made of light fabric, the straight visor protected the eyes well from the sun. The chinstrap was usually lowered only in strong winds.

Information: "German paratroopers 1935-1945" ("New Soldier #4")

The uniform of the German paratroopers during the Second World War included a gray-blue Luftwaffe uniform, field gray trousers, high-top jump boots, airborne overalls and a helmet without flanging. At the time of the invasion of Holland, most of the paratroopers wore jumpsuits of the second model, although there were also early type jumpsuits with zippers. Overalls were worn over uniforms and equipment. preventing the loss of property hung on a soldier during a jump and at the same time minimizing the likelihood of a paratrooper catching on aircraft parts or tangling parachute lines. Most overalls did not have outside pockets, some had pockets with zippers. Overalls were sewn from gray-green (sometimes olive-green) material, the fabric for overalls was lighter than for uniforms. The only "decoration" of the overalls was the breast emblem in the form of an eagle with a swastika. In the neckline of the gate, one could almost always see the buttonholes of the uniform with insignia. Wool trousers remained unchanged throughout the war. The cut is normal, but on the back of the knees there were slits through which you could remove the inner knee pads. The slots were closed with valves. On the right thigh was a pocket for a knife with a switchblade, mandatory for all paratroopers. Trouser cuffs were tucked into boots. Early type boots with side lacing had rubber soles. The M38 helmet was a variant of the standard Wehrmacht M35 helmet. The balaclava was attached to the helmet at four points. The helmets of the period of the invasion of Holland were gray, but many paratroopers camouflaged them with mud. Especially often quite bright emblems painted on the sides of the helmets were smeared with mud.

Information: "German paratroopers 1935-1945" ("New Soldier #4")

Paratrooper of the 1st Airborne Division, Italy, 1944. The uniform is typical of the Mediterranean theater from 1942 until the end of World War II. M38 helmets were usually painted sandy yellow as a more appropriate color. color scheme terrain. The jump suit has changed once again. The paratroopers preferred very practical camouflage overalls to all other types of clothing. Now it was more likely not a jumpsuit, but a parka with long floors that could be wrapped around the legs and fixed in that position. Even the overalls of the old models have evolved - they began to be sewn with a right back pocket for a signal pistol. During the summer months in the Mediterranean, paratroopers everywhere wore tropical Luftwaffe uniforms, and in winter - woolen. A jump suit was worn over light trousers and a shirt. Trousers - baggy, not constraining movements, sometimes they were adjusted to fit, sometimes not. The cuffs wrapped around the berets of the boots and were fixed with buttons. Above the left knee there was a large patch pocket. Boots - with front lacing. Due to problems with rubber, not all boots were made with rubber soles.

Information: "German paratroopers 1935-1945" ("New Soldier #4")

Non-commissioned officer of the 9th Parachute Division, Eastern Front, 1945. A typical appearance of the nominal "airborne paratrooper" of the last months of the war. This non-commissioned officer no longer has any elements of uniforms and equipment specific to a paratrooper, except for the old green jump jacket (they were found even during the battle for Berlin). The bluish-gray uniform field caps of the 1943 model of the year almost completely replaced the caps by the end of the war; they were worn by both officers and soldiers. On the cap - all the required insignia. The officer sample of the kepi was distinguished by a silver edging along the edge of the bottom. The collar of the flight blouse is released over the jacket so that the insignia and non-commissioned officer galloon are visible. The trousers of the Luftwaffe are tucked into boots: oddly enough, boots can often be seen in photographs of paratroopers in the last months of the war. For this time, a mixture of black army leather equipment with dark brown aviation equipment is typical.

Information: Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"

The landing helmet - Fallschirmhelme - was developed on the basis of the steel helmet of the Wehrmacht by simply removing the rims that slowed down the airflow in free burning.
In addition, a torn helmet could get tangled in the lines or crush the canopy.

Initially, the landing helmet was painted in the gray-blue color of the Luftwaffe, and the national tricolor and the image of the Luftwaffe eagle were applied on the sides.
However, combat experience forced these helmets to be painted green or dull yellow (Italy, North Africa) colors, and beautiful emblems were abandoned.
In winter, helmets were painted white with improvised materials.
There were several camouflage paint schemes. Very often, the paratroopers wound handicraft nets around their helmets for attaching branches and other camouflage.
The helmet was produced in three sizes, its weight was 1000 grams.
After 1941, there was a transition to the steel helmet of the Wehrmacht.

Also, the German paratroopers had the following headgear:
Fligermutze caps common to the Luftwaffe;
kepi with lapels Einheitsmutze;
officer's caps of both samples (Schirmutze) bluish gray or tropical sand colors.
In winter, especially on the Eastern Front, they wore knitted hats that completely covered the head and neck with a cutout for the face.
Mountain rifle caps were also popular among paratroopers.
Presumably, the Luftwaffe camouflage pattern first appeared in 1941, when Knochensack paratrooper jackets began to be sewn from camouflage fabric. "Cretan" photographs of German paratroopers in such camouflage are well known, while at the same time there is not a single photograph of this type of camouflage dated 1940.
Camouflage clothing of the Luftwaffe-Splittermuster type is limited to two basic types: paratrooper jackets and jackets for personnel of the Luftwaffe aviation divisions.
There were at least two types of paratrooper jackets, made from camouflage fabric in the Luftwaffe-Splittermuster pattern. The rarest is the earliest type with sewn-in shoulders.
The second type of cut was not much different from a regular jacket, but the floors could wrap around the legs and be fixed for the convenience of making a parachute jump.

Badge of a paratrooper of the ground forces. The badge was established on September 1, 1937. It was awarded to the fighters of the first parachute units of the German ground forces after they completed five or more parachute jumps and passed a qualification test. On the badge there is an image of an attacking eagle surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves. Moreover, the image of the eagle was made separately and attached to the wreath with the help of two small pins. The sign was carried out with a sufficient degree of detail. The award was presented in a blue box covered with leather, on the front side of which the name was printed in gold Gothic letters. The usual set of documents was attached to the award. This badge, like others similar to it, was worn on the left side immediately below the Iron Cross 1st Class or a similar award. The issuance of the award was discontinued after the reassignment of the parachute units of the ground forces to the German air force. Thus, this sign is not a sign of wartime, and this is its collection value.

Information: Shunkov "Wehrmacht"

Luftwaffe paratrooper badge. The Luftwaffe Paratrooper Badge looked the same as the Army Paratrooper Badge (see above), but the Imperial eagle with the swastika in its claws was missing from the top. In the aviation version of the sign, the swastika is included in the main composition - it is carried by an attacking eagle. The badge is an oxidized silver-plated wreath of oak leaves on one side and laurel leaves on the other side, intertwined at the bottom of the badge with a ribbon. A gilded diving eagle holding a swastika in its paws is inscribed in the wreath. The eagle and the wreath are fastened with two rivets. The reverse side of the sign is flat, with a needle fastening. The badge was made of silver-nickel alloy, tombac and zinc. The establishment of this badge was announced on November 16, 1936. However, the preparatory work for its creation began in August of the same year, and the first award of the badges took place on December 15, 1936. According to some reports, 32,600 paratroopers were awarded this badge.

Information: site Wikipedia

Sleeve ribbon "Crete". The sleeve ribbon "Crete" was established on October 16, 1942. This ribbon was awarded to participants in the landing operation to capture the island of Crete in May 1941. The conditions for giving are as follows: participation in the landing (by parachute, sea or with the help of gliders) from May 20 to May 27, 1942; participation in air battles during the battle for the island; participation in maritime operations during this period; participation in patrolling coastal waters and in naval battles until June 19, 1941. The summer was made of white cotton-based fabric, with a yellow border around the edges. The inscription "KRETA" in the center of the ribbon was also embroidered with golden threads with elements of Greek ornament on both sides. The ribbon was worn on the left sleeve.

Information: Shunkov "Wehrmacht"

Sources of information:
1. Information: "German paratroopers 1935-1945." ("New Soldier #4")
2. McNab "Military uniform of the XX century"
3. Davis "German Uniforms of the Third Reich 1933-1945"
4. Darman "Uniform of the Second World War"
5. McNab "Fallschirmjager: Paratroopers of the III Reich"
6. Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"
7. Radovic "German helmets of the Second world war"
8. Lagarde "Serman soldiers of World War Two"
9. "Zielone Diaably" (Militaria 05)
10. “Wehrmacht camouflage uniform in color photographs” (“Soldier at the Front No. 16”)
11. Shunkov "Wehrmacht"
12. Kurylev “Army of the Third Reich 1933-1945. Illustrated Atlas»
13. Lipatov "Luftwaffe"

The airborne troops of the Wehrmacht, more than other military structures of Nazi Germany, are covered with myths. Airborne assaults on the Eastern Front are mentioned both in fiction books and in popular science books. In films about the Great Patriotic war massed German parachute landings are shown more than once.

And although at the present time there are enough sources to learn about the real activities of the Wehrmacht paratroopers, the myths about the whole airborne armada in the German army are still common among a wide audience.

A major airborne operation in World War II was carried out by Germany only once. In 1941 in Crete. Before that, there were several more operations in Norway, Belgium, Greece. According to early Soviet sources, three divisions landed on Crete by parachute and two divisions by landing. But in fact, the entire operation was carried out by the forces of a single German 7th aviation division. The division had three parachute regiments, and Soviet historians may have simply confused regiments with divisions. Moreover, a landing assault on Crete was also planned by the forces of the 5th mountain infantry division, in which there were just two regiments.

The airborne troops of the Wehrmacht consisted of one division, for landing by parachute - it was the 7th aviation, and one division for landing by landing - the 22nd airborne. The 22nd Division differed from conventional infantry formations in that the personnel were trained to quickly leave transport aircraft after landing. And when the 22nd division was unable to take part in the landing on Crete, it was easily replaced by another one that happened to be nearby.

Especially for the Crete operation, an assault landing regiment was formed, whose personnel were to land from gliders. After Crete, the regiment fought as ordinary infantry. For the planned capture of the island of Malta in 1942, the 1st Parachute Brigade was formed, but she had to fight in North Africa as a regular infantry.

Airborne landings have never been used on the Soviet-German front. The 7th Aviation Division was indeed sent to the Eastern Front after recovering from losses in Crete, but also fought as ordinary infantry.

The history of the German parachute troops does not end there. Since 1943, eleven parachute divisions have been formed, fighting on all fronts.

But the peculiarity of all these units, formations and even associations was that no one planned to land them. Their appearance was due to the presence in the German air force of a large number of unused personnel, due to huge losses in aircraft. And at the front, infantry was needed, which was not enough. It would be reasonable to transfer the released people to ground troops, but the commander of the Luftwaffe Goering wanted to have his own land army.

First, airfield divisions were formed from airfield technicians, signalmen, security guards, and anti-aircraft gunners, which turned out to be completely incapable of combat. But the negative experience with the avifield divisions did not cancel Goering's idea, and the formation of new formations began, which were called parachute, or rather parachute-chasseurs. This name did not speak of the possibility of landing, but that they were organizationally part of the Luftwaffe. They were not limited to infantry, and even parachute-tank and parachute-motorized divisions were formed.

The first divisions were formed on the basis of those that already existed: the 7th division, the 1st parachute brigade, the assault regiment and other separate units, and could be considered elite formations. At the front, these divisions performed well, which was also appreciated by the enemy. The rest of the formations were already formed from a very different contingent and did not belong to the elite in terms of their level.

In 1944, a parachute army was formed to fight on the Western Front. But, unlike the Anglo-American 1st Airborne Army, which carried out strategic airborne landings, the German Fallschirm-Armee fought only on the ground. And this army included a variety of formations and units, both parachute and conventional field troops.

In the Second World War, the Wehrmacht formally created parachute troops, second only to the Soviet ones in terms of numbers. But they had nothing to do with real airborne troops. They did not have any special equipment and weapons, there was no military transport aviation, and there were not even parachutes.

Introduction.

I. 1. The origin of the Wehrmacht.

2. Appearance and formation of landing units.

II. 1. Preparation.

2. Equipment.

A. Parachutes and gliders. The scheme of the jump of paratroopers.

B. Airplanes.

B. Weapons and personal equipment.

III. Fighting in 1939-1940

1. Poland, Norway and Denmark.

2. Belgium and Holland; Greece.

IV. Landing on Crete.

1. Alignment of forces.

2. Landing paratroopers.

3. Disembarkation of rangers.

4. The final phase.

V. The results and significance of the Crete operation.

VI. Bibliography.

INTRODUCTION.

“Our shirts are thin, our blood is wild, we are not afraid of the enemy and death” - these are the words of the patriotic “Song of the Paratrooper” by Friedrich Schaefer, printed in Germany during the war even on postcards, clearly show the admiration of the nation for the feats of arms of German paratroopers, their role in Nazi propaganda military power. Indeed, in the Wehrmacht, paratroopers became a model of combat training, courage and stamina, inscribing more than one bright page in the history of the Second World War.

I'm generally interested in military history. And the Wehrmacht, in my opinion, left a noticeable mark on it. This is one of the greatest military vehicles in military history. Being a model of discipline, training, stamina, fighting to the very end, the Wehrmacht was an almost perfect military machine. Their middle command level was the best in the world, the soldiers are well trained and well armed. And the more I feel a sense of pride for my ancestors who managed to stop this death machine. After all, it was Russia that broke the back of Nazi Germany. And no historian can prove to me that the Allied landings in Normandy played any significant role. Who opposed the Americans and the British in the West? Untrained youths and old men and elite divisions were all in the East trying to stop the Russians.

Now they say that the Russians defeated a weak enemy, that the Germans fought very ineptly, sending their soldiers in frontal attacks on fortified positions, under machine guns. This is the impression that can be formed after watching our films about the war. It remains to be wondered why our army fiddled with the Germans for so long. I would like to dispel this myth a little. This essay tells about the German paratroopers, reveals their training, equipment and several major operations. At the end - the crown of German landing operations - landing on Crete. More than 10 thousand people took part in the landing. Even during the landing, half were killed or wounded. Around many times superior enemy forces. Ordinary troops would have surrendered under such circumstances, but not the German paratroopers ... They dug in and began to resist fiercely, from time to time attacking just as fiercely. And in the end, their fanaticism, aggressiveness and comprehensive training took over the British. The paratroopers held out until reinforcements approached and completely defeated the enemy.

A typical example of the quality of German paratroopers: Max Schmeling, nicknamed "Siegfird", a two-time heavyweight boxing world champion in 1930-32, landed in the forefront of Crete. He successfully passed through the whole war and after it became an entrepreneur 1 .

And although after Crete there were no more major landing operations (it is for this reason that I do not write about the further participation of paratroopers in the war), nevertheless, what they managed to do makes them almost heroes. Yes, namely heroes, although they are Nazis. In my opinion, the Wehrmacht, for the most part, was not infected with the ideas of Nazism. His officers honestly performed their duty and it was not their fault that they were on the side of the losers. I'm not trying to idealize the Germans as some kind of knights. I just want to say that I feel admiration for them, about the same as our ancestors who fought against them.

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I .1. THE ORIGIN OF THE WEHRMACHT. 2

Wehrmacht (“Wehrmacht”, from “Wehr” - weapons, defense and “Macht” - strength) - the armed forces of Nazi Germany in 1935-1945. The basis for the creation and deployment of the Wehrmacht was the Reichswehr, renamed after the introduction on March 16, 1935 of universal military service. According to the "Law on the construction of the Wehrmacht", the number of divisions was to increase to 36, and the total strength of the land army to reach 500 thousand people.

The Wehrmacht was headed by the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces of Germany (OKW), which was subordinate to the ground forces, air force, and navy. The OKW included: the operational department (A. Jodl), military intelligence and counterintelligence - Abwehr (V. Canaris), the economic department, which was in charge of supplying and arming the army

(G. Thomas) and general purpose management. W. Keitel was the chief of staff of the OKW. Another supreme military body was the OKH - the command of the ground forces (V. Brauchitsch,

F. Halder, F. Paulus). Commander of the Air Force (Luftwaffe) -

G. Goering. Navy (Kriegsmarine) - E. Raeder. But the most important were the OKW and OKH, which, in fact, competed with each other. Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler was the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht.

On the eve of World War II, the Wehrmacht numbered 3 million people; its maximum strength was 11 million (December 1943).

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I.2. APPEARANCE AND FORMATION OF AIRBOARDING UNITS.

The German military command was interested in the possibility of combat use of the airborne forces from the mid-30s. The locomotive for the creation of paratroopers was Field Marshal Goering, commander of the Air Force. The capabilities inherent in the new type of troops were perfect for the “blitzkrieg” strategy: conducting lightning-fast offensive operations with the massive use of tanks to break through the enemy’s defenses. The task of the paratroopers was to quickly capture strategically important objects: bridges, communication centers, fortified points, etc.

An additional impetus for the creation of such units was the famous Kiev exercises of 1935, when, in front of stunned observers from around the world, including Germany, the Soviet Airborne Forces landed 2,500 people. It is worth adding that the German command, forced to start from scratch when forming the Wehrmacht, was free from inert ideas about the conduct of a modern war, unlike other countries except the USSR.

The formation of the Airborne Forces began simultaneously, both in the ground units and in the Air Force. On September 1, 1935, a special elite police detachment from Goering's guard was sent to the city of Altengrabow, where the 1st parachute regiment was being staffed. It was headed by Major (later Colonel) Bruno Brauer. Many fighters received serious combat training in the Spanish Civil War, as part of the Condor Legion. The selection for the regiment itself was very cruel: 1 person out of 3 candidates. This system continued until 1940. OKH, in turn, created a battalion of paratroopers in the spring of 1936. Unlike the paratroopers of the Air Force, who had only rifles, they were armed with heavy machine guns and mortars. Major Richard Heidrich became commander, later major general.

Severe physical and shooting training, imperfection of the parachute system, numerous trams during landing and even deaths as a result of non-opening of the parachute contributed to the creation of informal relations between officers and soldiers, a special atmosphere of belonging to special units and the strengthening of morale in general.

Officially, the Airborne Forces were "legalized" by decree of the Minister of Aviation E. Milch and with the blessing of Goering on January 29, 1936. In the same year, they announced admission to the parachute school in Stendal. However, at that time, German military thought had not yet fully decided on the concept of using paratroopers. The staff of the Air Force wanted to use them to capture enemy airfields at the beginning of the war, as well as for sabotage. The OKH believed that the Airborne Forces should also be used as ordinary infantry. To this end, they must be landed behind enemy lines in large formations, thereby placing the enemy between two fires. In general, both points of view prevailed, which was the reason for the bilateral preparation.

In 1938, Major General Kurt Student, the future commander of the Airborne Forces, a former flight training inspector of the Luftwaffe, received an order to form large units of the Airborne Forces. By September 1939, such a unit was created, although not fully staffed - the 27th air division, its commander was K. Student. For this reason, another landing unit, the Heidrich battalion, participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Based on this experience, this battalion was transferred to the Air Force, with the renaming of the 2nd Parachute Regiment, with the same commander. Almost all parts of the Airborne Forces were transferred to the Air Force, which will play a disservice to the paratroopers in the future, since ground operations require close coordination with the ground forces, and cannot be carried out only by the forces of the Luftwaffe alone. At the same time, another important element of the Airborne Forces, the airborne (glider) units, remained under the command of the army. The pilots of these gliders were ordinary infantrymen trained to fly gliders.

Thus, by the spring of 1940, after comprehensive training, the Wehrmacht received two divisions at its disposal: the 7th aviation and the 22nd infantry. The latter was, in fact, an ordinary infantry formation, trained and equipped for airlift. Yes, and it was intended to quickly strengthen the first wave of landing in the event of the capture and retention of paratroopers in the hands of sites suitable for landing.

II.1. PREPARATION.

Great importance was attached to the training of German paratroopers in the skills of parachute jumps. Insufficiently developed and primitive equipment for jumping necessitated especially thorough training of personnel. The main techniques, in particular landing, were practiced during long-term sports training. These trainings, together with the study of the parachute, constituted the initial stage of the training of a fighter, after which the course of studying the materiel and learning to lay the parachute began. In the future, the soldier began training in making a jump from a mock-up aircraft, and also studied foreign samples of materiel. By the time this part was completed, the cadets were required to fully master the skills of handling a parachute.

At first, both soldiers and officers trained together, according to identical standards, and subsequently classes for officers became much more complicated. Much attention was paid to the development of initiative among the private rank and file, since the complete failure of all officers and non-commissioned officers in battle was not ruled out. Under these conditions, the private had to actively act at his own discretion.

After this stage, the paratroopers are sent to a school near Stendal to complete parachute training - jumps were made from real aircraft from a height of a maximum of 200 meters. A paratrooper was one who completed at least 6 jumps and completed a special training course. The first jump was carried out alone from a height of 180 meters. Others were group and produced from lower and lower altitudes. The course was crowned by a jump of a platoon (36 people) from a height of less than 120 meters. Upon completion of the landing, the group proceeded to carry out a tactical training task. To confirm qualifications, an annual recertification was required. Unfortunately, by 1944, these standards had to be changed, due to the changing nature of the tasks of the paratroopers and their numbers. Any soldier who jumped with a parachute at least once began to be considered a paratrooper.

II.2. EQUIPMENT.

A. LANDING EQUIPMENT.

German soldiers used domestic parachutes, very simple in design - RZ. In early 1940, improved RZ16 parachutes entered service. The reason was the constant reports of dangerous swaying in the air and intermittent failures in deployment, quite often leading to tragedy. The RZ16 was widely used, and the last mass-produced parachute was the RZ20 released in 1941.

The culture of making parachutes in Germany was not as high as in England or the USA, so their primitive design did not allow them to be controlled in the air. In addition, the fighter descended at high speed and could easily be injured. By the way, reserve parachutes were not provided.

The white dome of the parachute (in Crete they were already used with camouflage coloring) had a length of 8.5 meters and consisted of 28 parts. The folded dome was placed in a cloth bag, the top of the dome was connected to its neck with a thin sling, and the bag itself was rigidly connected to a halyard - a piece of braid with a carabiner at the end. No rings were provided for pulling out - the bag with the halyard was torn off the parachute and it opened due to a strong jerk at the moment the halyard was completely unwound.

Another means of landing was a glider. The main model was DFS230. Invented in 1937. It was piloted by one person, in the landing - 8-9 people. It was delivered to the target in tow Ju52, after which they were unhooked and they planned for the target. In order to dampen the speed near the ground, a brake parachute was issued. He had a glider and weapons - 1 machine gun, MG15. As the war progressed, the Air Force saw fit to replace it with a more advanced model. They became Go 242. He carried 21 paratroopers on board, and was also supplied with a braking parachute. For protection, there were 4 MG 15s, in addition, the paratroopers could shoot from personal weapons through the windows in the cargo compartment. During operation, the glider was equipped with 2 engines, thereby saving them from towing aircraft. This model was used from 1942 until the end of the war.

In preparation for the failed landing in England, paratroopers were supposed to be used to capture key points. But they, according to analysts, lacked heavy weapons to securely hold a bridgehead. In order to deliver such weapons, a giant glider was developed - Me 321, weighing 40 tons. It could carry an 88 mm anti-aircraft gun with a tractor and the main German T-IV tank or up to 200 troops. This glider was flown by two pilots. In addition to them, there were 2 gunners, a radio operator and a loading technician. The takeoff was carried out with the help of 8 rocket boosters and a bunch of three Me 110 fighters. This bulky and clumsy bunch required fantastic skill from the crews. Catastrophes during the tests followed one after another, and the list of victims exceeded well over a hundred (during one takeoff, 129 people died - the crews of the glider and tugboats, plus 120 landing personnel) 3 . Fortunately, their use as landing craft was abandoned, but as a transport glider, the Me 321 was used in Africa and near Stalingrad. Given the difficulties during takeoff, it was equipped with 6 motors, which also made it possible to do without tugs.

The real revolution was the Fa 223, the first Nazi helicopter. It could carry 12 people and a mountain gun. Unfortunately (or fortunately), since the model was found to be unstable in the air, it was never used in a real combat situation.

There were many more magnificent models of gliders and towing aircraft, but none of them were completed to the end - Germany simply did not have enough time.

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SCHEME OF A PARACHUTE JUMP.

During the flight in the Yu-52, the main landing aircraft, which will be discussed below, 12 or 18 people were sitting inside the cargo compartment facing each other. When approaching the landing area, the issuer gave the order to stand up and line up along the fuselage. At the same time, the fighters clamped the end of the exhaust halyard in their teeth so that their hands remained free. After the appropriate order, the paratroopers hooked the hooks of the carbine to the longitudinal beam. The carbine moved freely along it, as the fighter approached the exit from the aircraft. Having approached the door, the parachutist spread his legs wide, with both hands he took hold of the handrails on both sides of the door and abruptly threw himself head down (this maneuver was practiced for quite a long time in training). When the pull rope was unwound to its full length (9 meters), the weight of the soldier and the momentum created by the opposite movement of the aircraft forced him to abruptly tear out the contents of the satchel, opening the neck valves. In the ongoing fall, the bag with the parachute dome jumped out - at this moment the small clasp that held the bag together with the parachute came off and the bag was pulled off the parachute with a halyard. They remained hanging in the door of the aircraft, and the spirally coiled lines continued to unwind after the canopy was completely filled with air. All this time, the fighter was flying to the ground upside down and only the straightened lines sharply “pulled” him to the normal position, which was accompanied by a rather sensitive jerk.

This method of opening a parachute was very different from that adopted in the British and Soviet Airborne Forces, and was recognized by them as quite primitive, especially if we compare the force of impact when opening a parachute. Besides, head-down diving was not bravado, but a necessary element. If the fighter, during the opening of the parachute, were in a horizontal position, then a jerk in the waist area would “break” him (head to feet) with very painful sensations and with the danger of injury. And if he was flying like a soldier, then the same jerk would have thrown him upside down with a good chance of getting tangled in the lines.

However, the German method had its advantages. Unpleasant sensations were more than offset by the short parachute opening time, which allowed the Germans to jump from a lower height than their colleagues from England could afford. In the case when a paratrooper came under fire from the ground, dangling helplessly under the dome, this played an invaluable role. In the German airborne forces, the interval between 110 and 120 meters was considered normal. But in Crete, in the face of strong opposition from enemy air defenses, paratroopers were also thrown from a height of 75 meters.

But that's not all. German parachutes did not allow to regulate the speed and place of the fall. To reduce the risk of landing, skydivers were taught to land in a "lean forward" position. In the last seconds before touching the ground, the paratrooper had to turn around in the wind, making convulsive “floating” movements with his arms and legs. After that, he fell on his side and quickly rolled forward. This explains the presence of massive shock absorbers-shields on the knees and elbows of the fighter, for the most part completely unknown to the Allied Airborne Forces. However, even with them, for a heavily loaded German paratrooper who used a primitive parachute (the falling speed even in calm weather was 3-6 m / s), the “roll landing” was fraught with great risk - trams and bruises during jumps were common and common occurrence.

After landing, the paratrooper could not immediately get rid of the parachute straps: he had to unfasten 4 rather uncomfortable buckles. Quite difficult was the extinguishing of the dome after landing: the lines were behind the back of the paratrooper. While he was trying to reach them, the wind could blow and drag him aside. Not without reason, in the training of German paratroopers, there was such a technique as extinguishing a comrade's canopy by throwing one's body onto his canopy.

However, all the problems of paratroopers did not end there. All their equipment: weapons, grenades, ammunition, walkie-talkies and first-aid kits were in special landing containers. This was due to the fear of incomplete opening of the parachute due to a snag on the lines for items of equipment on the parachutist's body.

The containers were dropped simultaneously with the personnel. After landing, the fighter had to find the first container that came across as quickly as possible, open it and arm himself. Prior to that, his only weapon was the LUGER_08 pistol, colloquially - "Parabellum". Therefore, without exaggeration, the rapid discovery of the container was a matter of life and death.

II.2. EQUIPMENT.

B. Airborne paratroopers.

Transportation and landing was carried out using Ju52 military transport aircraft, developed back in 1931. Takeoff weight - 10500 kg, speed - 305 km / h, ceiling - 5500 km, range - up to 1200 km, crew - 3 people (in the landing option) 4 . In the early 30s, this machine was the main bomber of the Luftwaffe. In this capacity, the car took part in the Spanish War, after which they began to be transferred to military transport aviation. The landing version was designated by the letter F and carried 14 people on board, and in addition to them, a 37-mm cannon or a motorcycle under the fuselage. All machines were equipped with a device for towing gliders. Defensive armament consisted of 3 MG15s. The aircraft was in the series until 1944, a total of 3900 Ju52s of various modifications were produced.

The reliable and unpretentious aircraft was nicknamed "Aunt Yu" and "Iron Anna" in the Air Force. On April 1, 1939, the first airborne squadron was formed from these aircraft. Soon two more squadrons were added to it. By the summer of 1940, they were transferred to the XI Air Corps - a unit that united everything that had to do with the paratroopers.

By the end of the war, in order to replace the obsolete Ju52, a transport modification of the new German He111 bomber, the He111H-20 / R-1, was developed. Take-off weight - 15000 kg, speed - 430 km / h, ceiling - 6700 m, range - 1920 km, crew of 4-5 people and 16 paratroopers on board 5 . Their serial production was started at the end of 1944 and they did not have a noticeable impact on military operations - the Germans ended the war, mainly with the "Aunts Yu".

II.2. EQUIPMENT.

B. WEAPONS AND PERSONAL EQUIPMENT.

The soldiers of the first parachute units were armed with a Czech-made 16/33 rifle, which, after the capture of Czechoslovakia, entered the mountain rifle units under the designation Gew 33/40. The option for the Airborne Forces provided for a folding wooden butt. The rifle was equipped with a bayonet.

In 1938, the MP-38 submachine gun, developed by ERMA for a 9-mm cartridge, was put into service especially for paratroopers. The weapon is made taking into account the need for its compactness and lightness. It allowed only continuous fire. A special device inside the drummer slowed down the rate of fire, which gave the shooter, after some practice, to get the hang of shooting from it in short bursts. The sight is cut to a distance of 200 meters, the front sight is located on a high base and is equipped with a ring-shaped front sight. The heating of the barrel during firing made it necessary to hold on to the magazine, therefore, in order to avoid its distortion, the neck of the magazine was made long. This sample became so successful that it was immediately adopted by the Wehrmacht, becoming its kind of symbol. It is this submachine gun that our historians will call "Schmeisser", although H. Schmeisser himself had nothing to do with its development 6 . The saturation of the Airborne Forces with these weapons was very high - if during the Crete operation of 1941 every fourth paratrooper was armed with them, then subsequently all paratroopers had them.

Due to the impossibility of using at long distances and the weakness of the pistol cartridge, a special automatic rifle was developed - for the 7.92 mm rifle cartridge - FG42. It was supplied only to the landing units. In essence, the FG42 was a light machine gun. The rifle was equipped with a bipod and a bayonet, a box magazine adjoined horizontally on the left. It had 20 rounds. There was a fire extinguisher.

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To enhance the firepower, light and heavy machine guns were in service - MG34, designer L. Shtange. Caliber 7.92 mm, weight 11 kg, technical rate of fire 800-1000 rounds per minute. This machine gun is considered the best machine gun of the entire Second World War 7 .

Of the heavy weapons, the paratroopers had very original samples. 28/20 mm sPzB is an anti-tank rifle. It was used at the beginning of the war, and then it was removed from service, since the armor of the tanks was no longer under its power. Mortar grenade launchers screwed onto rifles up to 60 mm in caliber, as well as knapsack flamethrowers, were also used. Among the latter, a sample of 1944 stands out, which even an untrained soldier could use - releasing a fiery stream of 27 meters in 0.5 seconds. By the end of the war, disposable grenade launchers of various types began to be widely used, infantry 50, 81 and 120 mm mortars were also actively used.

Artillerymen also had unusual samples - 75 and 105 mm recoilless guns - the world's first guns of such a system. Its essence is that the jet of powder gases after the shot does not rest against the breech, but is partially or completely retracted back through special holes - therefore, there is almost no recoil. Due to this system, the weight of the gun decreased by 50-60 percent, since there was no need for recoil devices. Of course, she also had a drawback - the exhaust jet, which had a high temperature, was a danger to the calculation of the gun.

Of the conventional guns, a 75 mm mountain gun was used, plus 37 and 50 mm anti-tank guns. Anti-aircraft gunners had a quadruple version of the 20 mm Flak 38 automatic gun. In addition to it, a 20 mm MG 151/20 machine gun was used.

The main drawback of the German Airborne Forces was their insufficient, even for those times, mobility. Their only transport was a BMW R75 motorcycle with a sidecar and its half-track modification. It was believed that the paratroopers would immediately land in the desired area, capture it and wait for reinforcements. Therefore, in some situations, for example in Crete, where paratroopers were left to their own devices, they had to use captured vehicles to achieve at least minimal mobility.

III. COMBAT ACTIONS IN 1939-1940

1. POLAND, DENMARK AND NORWAY.

For the first time, German paratroopers went into battle during the 1939 campaign against Poland. True, due to insufficient staffing, the 7th air division was not used. Only separate landing units were involved, thrown into the rear of the Poles with sabotage and reconnaissance purposes. Nevertheless, some experience of actual combat operations was obtained and taken into account in the ongoing development of plans for future campaigns.

When Student in July 1939 reported to Hitler on the state of the units entrusted to him and said that the paratroopers were waiting for an order to participate in the Polish campaign, he heard in response: “They will still see a few battles in the West!” 8 Hitler believed that it was too early to spend the precious and small cadre of paratroopers. In addition, the German command did not want to reveal its trump card (the possibility of a sudden attack from the air on strong enemy fortifications). Therefore, paratroopers received a real baptism during the Norwegian campaign (“Teachings on the Weser”). Although their participation was very limited, its results were evaluated very positively.

The need for the occupation of the Scandinavian states was determined by the urgent need to ensure uninterrupted supplies of scarce Swedish ore through the territories of Norway and Denmark. The features of the future battlefield (the presence of densely populated islands in Denmark and the narrow strip of Norwegian territory extended from north to south) clearly showed that ground forces alone could not do here. The German Navy, inferior in size to the Allied Navy, also could not provide significant support. For this reason, special hopes were placed on paratroopers.

At the very beginning of the invasion, the 1st parachute battalion of Major Walter entered into action. The headquarters and 2nd companies were supposed to capture the Forneby airfield, in the Norwegian capital Oslo, and hold it until transport vehicles arrived.

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aircraft with the 163rd Infantry Division on board. 3rd company,

Lieutenant von Brandis, was to capture the Sola airfield, the main base of the Norwegian Air Force, and the 4th company, Captain Gerike, was to capture two airfields in Aalborg and the Danish Vordinbur bridge. The need to capture it was due to the fact that it was the only way to the capital of Denmark - Copenhagen. Finally, the 1st company, Lieutenant Schmidt, remained in reserve.

On the morning of April 9, 1940, the landing began. Walter was unlucky from the very beginning - due to bad weather, 2 Yu52s collided in the air and died. But it was not possible to land on the airfield - it was closed by a dense landing force and the paratroopers had to return. The planes of the 163rd division found a gap in the clouds and they had to land by landing method in enemy-controlled Forneby. The Germans suffered heavy losses, but captured the airfield.

Von Brandis was more fortunate. His unit made a successful landing, though they suffered losses from ground fire, and captured Sol. And what's more - they managed to take control of two important bridges that were nearby.

Guericke carried out the part of the task entrusted to him even more successfully. The Danish units guarding Vordingbore Bridge were so shocked by the sight of paratroopers landing on both ends of the bridge that they surrendered without a fight. The capture of both airfields in Aalborg was also successful. Without a single shot, the guards were disarmed - as it turned out, they were sleeping (!), disbelieving in the threat of a landing.

Schmidt's company got the most heroic and, at the same time, the saddest fate. The German mountain division in Narvik (Norway) (see Appendix 2, photo 1), was cut off from support from the sea when the covering ships, one and all, were sunk by the British. The next day after that, the British cut it off from the main forces, landing troops on the coast. Therefore, the supply of the division fell on the shoulders of the Luftwaffe, which dropped reinforcements and ammunition to it. Schmidt's company was dropped to release the British on a mountain hanging over the strategic Oslo-Narvik highway. Unfortunately for the Germans, they were immediately discovered by the retreating Norwegian units. The determined Norwegians fought back. Most of the paratroopers died in downed planes.

The survivors (about 60 people), dug in on the slope of the mountain, which they were supposed to capture, continued to fight in the most difficult conditions for another 4 days, until all the ammunition was out. And then they gave up. By this time, there were 34 of them left. Schmidt himself, seriously wounded in the thigh and stomach, led his men to the end.

Since Schmidt's operation failed, the command of the Navy declared that the grouping in Narvik could be destroyed. And Goering informed Hitler that the supply of units by air was impossible due to bad weather. Soon the British took Narvik. The surviving mountain rangers, airborne paratroopers and sailors from the sunken ships withdrew to the mountains, where they entrenched themselves and repelled all attacks. A week later, the British, under the influence of news from France about heavy fighting, evacuated their corps.

The Germans returned to the city victorious. After the surrender of Norway, Schmidt returned to Germany (he was awarded the Knight's Iron Cross) 9 and his people.

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III.2. BELGIUM AND HOLLAND; GREECE.

The invasion of Belgium in May 1940 was the most impressive triumph of the German paratroopers. Under the command of Student, they carried out a carefully planned operation to punch a hole in the system of powerful defensive fortifications on the Belgian border. This system was built taking into account the experience of the First World War. Its core was the border semi-underground fort Eben-Emael and the powerful fortresses of Liege and Antwerp. The Eben-Emael garrison had 18 artillery pieces placed in concrete casemates with walls two meters thick. Its eastern front was one with the canal embankment, and the other three sides were surrounded by an anti-tank ditch four meters thick. The armament of the fort consisted of 2 x 120 mm, 16 x 75 mm guns and a significant number of positions with anti-tank weapons, mortars and machine gun points. In the event of a bombing, the gun turrets could completely descend underground with the help of electric motors. There was protection against gas attacks. This fort could be a tough nut to crack for any army, especially considering that maintaining a high rate of advance was a major factor in the blitzkrieg strategy. We add that the guns of this monster covered three strategically important bridges leading from the Ruhr basin to the Belgian coast - the Veldweselt, Wrenhoven and Cannes. All bridges were prepared for the explosion, remotely controlled from the Eben-Emael command post.

The calculation of the Belgians was based on the fact that the Wehrmacht would get bogged down in this web of fortifications, and there the Anglo-French army would come up. In addition to the fortifications on the way of the Germans, there was a network of canals and rivers equipped with a system of emergency flooding of coastal areas. Without mastering the aforementioned crossings, the Germans would not have been able to maintain the set pace of the offensive. In this case, the replaced "Run to the Sea" of thirty years ago could be repeated, followed by a positional war with known results. That lesson was well learned in the German headquarters. In view of the threat of a disruption in the timing of the offensive, the 7th Air Division was tasked with capturing the enemy's fortifications and waiting for the arrival of the main forces. A total of 6,800 paratroopers were involved.

To capture Fort Eben Emael, a special assault group was created, led by Captain V. Koch. To carry out the operation, he received his company from the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment and the company of Lieutenant Witzig from the 2nd Battalion. A total of 438 people. In preparation, an exact model of the fort was made on a scale of 1: 1. Training on it began in the winter of 1939.

The detachment was divided into 4 groups. Only the group "Granite", numbering 85 people, under the command of Witzig, was intended to storm the fort. In addition to conventional small arms, it was armed with 4 flamethrowers, anti-tank rifles, sticks of dynamite and shaped charges weighing up to 50 kg. The Steel group, Ober-Lieutenant Altman, was aimed at capturing the Veldweselt Bridge, the Concrete Group, Lieutenant Shakht, - the Vrenhovensky Bridge, the Iron Group, Lieutenant Shekhter, - the Cannes Bridge. In case of successful capture of these points, the groups were ordered to hold them at all costs until the main forces arrived. All actions were to be carried out with the help of gliders - in contrast to Holland, where they intended to be thrown out with parachutes. This was explained by the fact that the area of ​​the fort did not exceed one square kilometer, and there was a need for a targeted drop of paratroopers, without wasting time on collection. Everything was decided in a few seconds - the Belgians would not have given more time.

It was May 10, 1940. Before the gliders arrived in the Eben-Emael area, German aircraft dropped a large number of smoke bombs on the fort, placing a dense curtain. The first groups to land were "Concrete" and "Steel", at 5:15 and 5:20 am, respectively. They took their targets relatively easily, but their joy was premature - all day they had to repel the furious counterattacks of the Belgians. Only at 21:40 the main forces approached them and took over the baton.

In Eben-Emael, they knew about the German advance, but they believed that they were safe - the fort was far from the front line. The group "Granit" was built at the airfield at 3:30 am, and at 5:20 am 11 DFS230 gliders were uncoupled from Yu52 over the fort. The landing was successful - only 2 gliders, including the one on which Witzig was, missed the fort. In this regard, the attack was led by Chief Sergeant Wenzel. The Belgians did not expect anything like this at all - they did not even open fire on the gliders that landed on the roof of the fort. Despite the absence of the commander, the attack began without delay. The gliders had not yet completely stopped, as the doors opened and paratroopers poured out of them, hung with weapons and shaped charges. From that moment on, real hell began for the Eben-Emael garrison. The Germans first filled up the exits from the bunkers with explosions of dynamite sticks, after which they dealt with the artillerymen, throwing grenades into the loopholes and ventilation wells. In armor caps, gaps were pierced with shaped charges, then they acted with grenades or flamethrowers. Protruding guns were disabled by inserting explosive charges inside, which ripped the barrels to the breech. Thus, in a matter of minutes, 7 casemates and 13 guns, including all 120 mm ones, were destroyed. All this happened with minimal opposition from the defenders of Eben-Emael - only in one place the paratroopers were held up by machine-gun fire from the bunker, but the neighboring group eliminated it by entering from the other side. In an open battle with an enemy many times superior in number (1200 people), the Eben-Emaelya garrison could not - all exits were destroyed. At 5:40 a.m., Wenzel radioed Koch: “We safely reached the target of the attack. Everything is developing according to plan. True, most of the fort was still in the hands of the Belgians. One tower fired all day on the Cannes bridge. At 8:30, Witzig finally arrived and took command. The situation has already worsened. Belgian troops stationed in the vicinity came to their senses and launched a counterattack, supported by guns. Witzig's men had to take cover in abandoned casemates, leaving the cover planes to deal with the attacking Belgians themselves. At the same time, the XI Air Corps, a unit that directly included the entire transport aviation of paratroopers and cover bombers, proved to be especially active.

After sitting underground, the Germans held out in the fort all night from 10 to 11 May, after which a sapper battalion approached them to the rescue. Having received reinforcements from the Germans

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launched an assault on the remaining shelters and guns of the enemy. Soon advanced units approached and the fort capitulated, just 24 hours after the start of the invasion of Belgium, opening the way for German troops inland.

The last group of "Iron" had the hardest fate. The bridge had already been blown up when they landed, and then immediately the group came under fire from the last towers of Eben-Emael. Schechter was killed, he was replaced by Lieutenant Meisner. His unit withstood several major counterattacks before the advanced units approached them at 23:30.

So, the crossings over the Albert Canal and most of the bridges during the day were taken and saved from destruction, along them the infantry and tanks rushed to the open French border.

In the “Holland fortress”, replete with natural obstacles convenient for defense, such as rivers, canals and locks, it was decided to drop several landings. The number of Koch's group thrown against Belgium did not exceed 500 people, but 4 times more paratroopers were dropped into the Netherlands, not counting the 22nd air division, which, as we remember, was intended to reinforce the landing of the first wave. The main landing targets were the bridges at Moerdijk and Dordrecht, as well as the airfields at Waalhaven and Valkenburg. For this, the following were allocated: the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 1st regiment - to capture bridges; 3rd Battalion - Waalhaven; 6 companies of the 2nd regiment and the 47th infantry regiment - Valkenburg. When planning, the Germans did not know that the Dutch had drawn the right conclusions from the Scandinavian campaign and pulled significant forces into the Valkenburg region.

The first to go into battle was the 3rd Battalion, Captain Schultz. The capture of the airfield was very important because it was on it that the 22nd air division was supposed to land. Despite the fact that the paratroopers came under fire right during the landing, they managed to capture the target during a short battle. The groups landed to capture the bridges acted most successfully of all (although the hero of the capture, Sol von Brandis, died during the landing). They almost instantly took the bridges and held them in their hands until the arrival of the main forces.

Things went much worse in Valkenburg. The Dutch, who were expecting an air attack, opened fire on the paratroopers' planes when they came into view. Having lost several dozen aircraft, the Germans began landing the second echelon by landing, landing aircraft near the airfield. However, the forest soil of the airfield was too soft to support the weight of the transport. The runway was filled with stuck planes and was packed. Several planes tried to land directly on the airfield, but the runway was blocked by bundles of logs, prudently installed by the Dutch. After overturning several aircraft, the Germans were forced to retreat. And since the Dutch continued to resist fiercely, those paratroopers who managed to land had to retreat.

Immediately after the capture of Waalhaven, Student arrived there, personally taking part in the battle. And on May 14, Holland capitulated. It was not possible to capture the Dutch queen - the British evacuated her on a destroyer. In general, the operation was a success - the country was captured in the shortest possible time. Even the newest British Spitfire fighters were captured. Ironically, Student could not share the triumph of his people - on May 14, he and a group of accompanying officers were mistakenly fired upon by soldiers from SS units. The general was wounded in the head and sent to the hospital in serious condition.

Thus, the use of the Airborne Forces in the war against the countries of the West was crowned with complete success, achieved at the cost of small losses - 290 killed, 480 wounded and 439 missing. Strong support from the paratroopers was the main factor in the success of the blitzkrieg. The main conclusion from this campaign - the success factor was the timely approach of the main forces to help the landed units. Transport aviation lost 150 aircraft, which even then made us think about the possibility of landing in the face of opposition from unsuppressed enemy air defense.

Since Student was in the hospital, General R. Putzier was temporarily appointed to his post. Also, the Airborne Forces underwent reorganization. As part of the 7th division, another one appeared, the 3rd regiment. The Koch group was turned into a Separate Parachute Assault Regiment under the command of Colonel Eugen Maindal. It consisted of 4 battalions. The XI Corps was officially created, uniting both divisions. In addition to them, the corps included the Mayndal regiment, a bomber air group, transport aviation and various auxiliary units. Student was appointed commander, who received the rank of full general of aviation, but he returned to service only in January 1941. Major General Wilhelm Susman was appointed to the post of commander of the 7th division.

In April 1941, paratroopers were sent to the Mediterranean Theater, where they took part in the invasion of Greece. After the defeat of the combined English and Greek forces, the British retreated in a southerly direction - to the Peloponnese peninsula, connected to the mainland by the narrow Isthmus Isthmus. The latter was cut by the deep Corinth Canal. The British units sought to cross the canal along the only bridge, blow it up and dig in on the other side. In case of successful implementation of this plan, it would be almost impossible to knock them out of there - the channel was too deep, and its steep high banks, “dressed” in granite, did not allow them to quickly rise. Based on this, the German command decided to thwart the enemy’s plan and seal it north of the Corinth Canal, riding the isthmus before the British. The 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2nd regiment took part in the operation, which were supposed to land from opposite sides of the bridge.

2nd Battalion, Lieutenant Toizen, boarded 6 gliders at 4:30. Their task was to directly capture the bridge. Two hours later, the bombers struck the British troops, and at 07:40, six gliders landed on the bridge under heavy fire. The paratroopers quickly dealt with the guards, taking 80 prisoners and 6 guns. However, the Germans did not disable the system for undermining the bridge, hoping to blow it up in the event of an unsuccessful outcome of the operation. At that time, 40 Yu52 landed troops on the northern and southern shores in order to delay the enemy and provide support to the Toyzen group. The operation was almost completed when fortune suddenly betrayed the Germans - a camouflaged British gun, which was 200 meters from the bridge, opened fire on the bridge. One of the shells detonated an explosive charge mounted on a support and the bridge collapsed into the water along with the paratroopers. The explosion killed many of Toyzen's men and wounded him. Surrounded by superior British forces, the group of surviving prachutists could easily be destroyed. But the enemy, informed of the appearance of new groups of paratroopers in his rear, was nervous. Toyzen took advantage of the situation - meeting with the British officer who led the divisions near the bridge, he cheekily announced that his group was the vanguard of the invasion, and the division was expected to arrive soon, supported by U87 dive bombers. The British believed this threat, and as a result, the wounded and deified Teuzen triumphantly accepted the surrender of the garrison. The result of the operation was the awarding of Toyzen with the Knight's Cross and the capture of 12,000 British and Greeks. Unfortunately, the order for the operation was given too late - the main British forces (50,000 people) managed to evacuate to Crete. If the landing order had been given earlier, then the capture of the entire British corps in the Middle East would have greatly influenced the further outcome of the North African campaign.

IV. LANDING ON CRETE.

1. POSITION OF FORCES.

Control of Greece did not mean control of the eastern Mediterranean as long as Crete, a strategically important island and a natural springboard for a possible Allied invasion of the Balkans, remained in British hands.

The German command, faced with the need to capture Crete and not having sufficient naval forces for an amphibious assault, decided to conduct an airborne operation unprecedented in scale. The plans for landing on Malta, at the mouth of the Suez Canal and in Alexandria, developed earlier by the Student's headquarters, were postponed - all attention was turned to Crete. By this time, the composition of the XI Corps had changed: the 22nd Division was sent to guard the oil fields in Ploiesti. Instead, the Student received the 5th Mountain Division of Major General Yu. Ringel. The forces intended for the assault on Crete in the early morning of May 20, 1941 looked like this:

Assault Airborne Regiment, Major General Maindal. The composition of the regiment: 1st battalion - Major Koch, 2nd battalion. - Major Stenzler, 3rd Battalion. - Major Sherber, 4th Battalion. - Captain Gerike.

7th Division, Lieutenant General Zusman. The composition of the division: 1st regiment - Colonel Brauer (1st battalion, Major Walter, 2nd battalion, captain Burkhard, 3rd battalion captain Schultz), 2nd regiment - colonel Shturm (1st battalion ., Major Krokh, 2nd Battalion, Captain Pitsonki, 3rd Battalion, Captain Wiedemann) and the 3rd Regiment - Colonel Heidrich (1st Battalion, Captain von Heidte, 2nd Battalion, Major Derpy , 3rd Battalion, Major Heilman) 11 .

5th Division, Major General Ringel. Composition: 85th, 100th and 95th regiments. We will not dwell on their composition in detail, since the main actions were carried out by paratroopers, and mountain shooters only strengthened them. There were also auxiliary units, but they did not play any significant role in the capture of Crete. Only 23 thousand people, and about 10 thousand landed from gliders and with parachutes.

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Air support was assigned to more than 500 aircraft of the VIII Air Corps under the command of General von Richthofen. General management was carried out by the headquarters of the 4th Air Fleet under the command of Major General von Lehr. The total number of aircraft reached 433 bombers and 235 fighters. Transport aviation included 520 Yu52, 72 DFS230 airframes. In total, this armada transported, in addition to people, 353 guns, 771 motorcycles, 5358 landing containers with equipment and 1090 tons of various cargoes.

4 main landing zones were planned on the island, 3 of them fell on the main airfields. The landing was supposed to be carried out in three waves: the first to enter Crete were the paratroopers of Maindal, whose task was to capture and hold the airfield in Maleme and numerous roads, bridges and anti-aircraft artillery positions located in the vicinity of the local capital - the city of Chania. They were supported by Heidrich's 3rd Regiment, 7th Division. The need to capture Chania was determined by the location of the English headquarters and the residence of the Greek king there.

The 2nd regiment of the 7th division was to capture the airfield and the town of Rethymnon, and the 1st regiment - the airfield near the village of Heraklion. The goal of capturing all the landing strips was to create a reliable foothold and place for unloading heavy weapons and the 5th division during the third wave of landing. Until this task was completed, the support of paratroopers was entrusted to the Air Force.

The plan of operation was called "Mercury". It looked simple enough, especially against the background of the overwhelming success of the Airborne Forces in the West. On April 25, the order to storm was given. However, as events have shown, everything was not so simple ...

Firstly, not 25-30 thousand garrison turned out to be on the island, as expected, but no less than 32 thousand British, Australians (part of the 2nd brigade) and New Zealanders (4th, 5th and 10 th brigade), and 11 thousand Greek soldiers (this does not include the personal protection of the king). In addition, anticipating the landing, the British transferred to the island their best units in the Middle East - the Leicester battalion and about 700 Scottish Highlanders from the Argyll and Sutherland regiments. There were also 45 guns and 9 tanks. There was no aviation at all. The commandant of the island was General Freiberg, an experienced and determined military leader. He conducted reconnaissance in advance of areas where paratroopers could be landed and ordered to cover them with an almost impenetrable network of barriers (against both paratroopers and gliders). No less erroneous was the opinion in the German headquarters that the British and Greeks were demoralized by the defeat on the continent.

The mistake of the British was to underestimate the security of the island. They knew about the impending landing on Crete, but did not believe that such territory could be captured by paratroopers alone. Therefore, they expected a landing from the sea with a force of up to 10 thousand people. A whole fleet was deployed to cover from the sea: 4 battleships, 9 cruisers and more than 20 destroyers.

Based on the situation, Freiberg expected a landing of 20-25 thousand people, so the soldiers of the garrison felt quite confident. But, in the end, the protection of the island was still insufficient. For example, the Greeks, who left all heavy weapons on the continent, had one rifle for 6 people, and 3 clips for a rifle (!) 12 .

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IV.2. LANDING PARACHUTISTS.

Early in the morning of May 20, 1941, after the bombing of the island, the first Yu52 and Yu87 appeared over Crete (see Appendix 2, photo 2). Their target was the town of Maleme. Despite the fact that the strip was only 600 meters long, mastering it was vital to the operation. Another condition was the elimination of anti-aircraft guns near the strip. The company of Lieutenant Gents (90 people) landed first. The clock was 7:00. Intense fire was opened on the gliders from the ground. Despite heavy losses (two hours later there were about 60 killed and wounded), the paratroopers successfully attacked anti-aircraft gun positions south of the airfield. The vanguard was followed by Koch's 1st Battalion in gliders. Unfortunately, due to a mistake, the 1st and 4th companies were uncoupled by tugboats directly above the British positions. Major Koch and most of his men were wounded in the first minutes of the battle. Under the circumstances, the assault on the air base was not possible. And the 3rd company was landed where necessary, and connected with the remnants of the scattered and defeated units (the survivors gradually gathered in groups throughout the day) and successfully suppressed resistance on the northern and western sides of the airfield.

The 3rd battalion of the Assault Regiment, dropped with parachutes in the northeastern part of Maleme, during the landing was very dispersed and failed to concentrate, as its fighters landed under a flurry of very dense machine-gun fire from the British from a camp located on the dominating airfield altitude 107. Paratroopers were shot in the air, and after landing they were destroyed in hand-to-hand combat.

The regimental headquarters and the 4th battalion successfully landed west of the landing strip, but in this battle the commander of the regiment, Maindal, was wounded in the chest and stomach. The command of the regiment was taken over by the commander of the 2nd Battalion. Major Stenzler (his unit was in reserve, but due to the difficult situation, everyone was thrown into battle). The battle went on all day. Positions around the airfield changed hands. The Germans captured almost all anti-aircraft guns, after which they shot trucks hurrying to the airfield with reinforcements. By the end of the first day, paratroopers captured the landing strip. Since the next counterattack was expected at any moment, even the descending moonless night did not ease the tension of the Germans preparing for battle.

Heidrich's 3rd Regiment, detached to support Maindal's forces, landed to the west of the objective. They were supposed to capture Chania and Galatas - small settlements, as well as the Souda Bay, suitable for landing seaplanes. The 3rd Battalion landed at the forefront. Heilman, dropped directly on the positions of the New Zealand soldiers. The latter opened very well-aimed fire. Many paratroopers landed dead. Some of the Germans were blown into the sea by the wind, where they drowned. One company in full strength fell into the reservoir, where almost all the soldiers drowned. Most of the soldiers landed in the center of the enemy camp and were captured. Only one company (9th) landed where needed. As a result of such losses, the assault on Chania became impossible. After a bloody battle for a very important height in the Galatas area, the 9th company was forced to retreat deep into the island.

The release of the 1st and 2nd battalions was carried out in the area of ​​the Agya prison, adapted by the British for a fortified point and controlling the road to Chania. The paratroopers immediately joined the battle. The sounds of battle attracted the attention of George II, the Greek king, who was located in a village nearby. Looking out the window, the monarch saw about a hundred meters landing Germans. The king was immediately evacuated from the unsafe zone, and later taken from the island on the destroyer 12.

Meanwhile, von Heirdt's soldiers cleared the prison building and turned it into a regimental headquarters. By evening, the remnants of the 9th company joined them.

Almost all the circumstances associated with the actions of the first wave turned out to be gloomy. None of the planned points was held securely by the Germans. Several battalion and company commanders were killed, the loss of personnel was simply monstrous.

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On top of everything else, due to pilot error, the glider crashed and killed the commander of the 7th division, Zusman. His deputy, Maindal, was badly wounded. However, the headquarters in Athens did not know about this ...

The second wave of landings flew up to Crete at 13:30. She moved towards Rethymnon and Heraklion. The 2nd regiment, with the exception of the 2nd battalion attached to the 1st regiment, landed at Rethymnon. Two companies were thrown out successfully, but were pinned down by enemy fire. And the 3rd company, oddly enough, was blown away by the wind 7 km from the target. Despite all these interferences, the units were able to get together and capture the hill dominating the Rethymnon airfield. Since the assault was not yet possible due to the strong fortifications of the enemy, the paratroopers dug in and began to wait for reinforcements.

1st regiment with 2nd battalion. went to the island later than all.

Since the area was covered by a significant amount of air defense systems, the fighters had to jump from a great height. Because of this, Brouwer's men suffered heavy losses from machine-gun fire. And the two companies that landed on the western side of the airfield were exterminated to the last man - only five survived. All other parts were scattered and only after dark were they able to assemble. Assessing the situation, Brower avoided the attack and devoted the rest of the day to collecting the survivors.

Thus, the situation of 7 thousand paratroopers looked extremely deplorable. Having almost completely used up ammunition, detachments of tired, wounded and discouraged Germans were preparing for their last battle. In the advancing darkness, detachments of paratroopers desperately tried to find places of concentration. It seemed that their destruction was only a matter of time, but the British command, completely confused in the situation, did nothing. The outcome of the battle was still uncertain, but the British lost their main advantage - the sea separating them from the mainland. The gates to the island are already ajar...

On the morning of the next day, the 1st Battalion, which fought at the Maleme airfield. finally took Hill 107. The Germans failed to completely capture the strip, and planes loaded with ammunition tried to land right on the coast. But they crashed. Only one successfully landed, which, taking on board the wounded, including Mayndal, flew back to the mainland.

By the end of the first day of the operation, Student finally received reports of the plight of the paratroopers and the death of Ziusman, who was supposed to lead the operation on the spot. The student realized the real threat of a complete failure of the operation. The general resolutely rejected the proposal to stop the invasion of Crete, thereby leaving to the mercy of fate several thousand selected soldiers who had dug in near the British airfields. After a short meeting, he decided on the urgent delivery to Malem of the third echelon of landing forces - mountain shooters (see Appendix 2, photo 3). The order was given, despite the real state of affairs: the planes would have to land on a small airfield that was actually in the hands of the enemy.

1IV.2. LANDING THE JAGERS.

At 14:00, two companies of paratroopers were rapidly landed in Maleme - the last parachute reserve. With their help, the airfield was taken, although the strip was still shot through from all types of weapons. At about 15:00, the first Yu52s appeared, heavily loaded with mountain shooters, and, to the enthusiastic roar of paratroopers fighting along the entire perimeter of the runway, they went to land. But the celebration quickly turned into tragedy.

After landing the first planes, they were hit by a strong fire. The huntsmen who were inside the planes barely had time to jump out, as they found themselves inside a hellish fire from which few managed to get out. Having received many hits while still in the air, many Yu52s fell on the runway in flames, others crashed after jumping out of the airfield. Landing planes had to make incredible maneuvers to avoid colliding with debris. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Maleme airfield was not adapted to receive such a large number of heavy aircraft. Now it was chaos. The paratroopers tried to free the runway, dragging the debris with the help of tractors.

No matter how hard the fate of the mountain shooters sent by air, the fate of 2 battalions sent by sea was much more tragic. Their convoy was intercepted by the English fleet 27 km from Chania and destroyed. The intervention of the dive bombers of the VIII Corps saved the case, but from 2 full-blooded battalions. 52 left. However, by this time, German aviation had declared itself in full force - the departing British ships were attacked by dive bombers. As a result, 2 cruisers and 1 destroyer were sunk, two battleships and two cruisers were heavily damaged.

In Maleme, littered with corpses and rubble, the battle continued. Reinforced by mountain riflemen, the Assault Regiment went on the attack and entrenched itself on the outskirts of the city and the airport. The shelling of the airstrip ceased and the gates to Crete were fully opened. General Ringel took charge of the operation. The arrival of mountain shooters decided the outcome of the battle - soon the Germans captured Suda Bay, where hydroplanes with ammunition began to arrive immediately. By May 27, despite the fierce resistance of the British, Chania was taken. Assessing the situation as satisfactory, Ringel ordered a move to Rethymnon, where reinforcements were needed.

Near Rethymno on May 21, units of the 2nd regiment were forced out of their positions from the hill, where they held out for more than a day. They retreated to an abandoned olive oil factory. For the next 4 days, the paratroopers held out there, repulsing attack after attack under almost continuous artillery fire. By this time, two bloodless battalions held their positions under the onslaught of 7 thousand allied soldiers. The struggle was too unequal, and on the night of May 26, 250 German soldiers - all the survivors, breaking through the ring, went to Heraklion. However, the next evening they were radioed an order to immediately stop and organize defenses in order to tie down the enemy forces in the area. The Australians, who tried to eliminate the detachment, managed to break through the defenses, but were immediately driven back by a desperate counterattack. On May 29, the soldiers of the 2nd regiment, inspired by the panic that had begun in the ranks of the enemy and having received ammunition with food, resumed their movement towards Rethymnon, where it was the turn of the British to frantically build fortifications near the long-suffering factory. As soon as the remnants of the paratroopers went on the attack on the morning of May 30, units of the 85th Jaeger Regiment approached them and took both the plant and the city together.

At this time, at the third airfield - Heraklion - the 1st Regiment of Brauer, by the morning of May 21, began an attack on the city. Unfortunately, the colonel did not know that he was opposed by 8,000 British and Greeks, who were abundantly supplied with artillery. The advance quickly fizzled out. Colonel Brower was ordered to stop the offensive, to gain a foothold in positions and prevent the outflow of allied forces to Rethymnon. On May 24, he received reinforcements - another battalion. In the morning, the 1st Regiment launched an offensive, successfully capturing the dominant height above Heraklion. With the arrival of the vanguard of the 5th Division on May 27, the fate of the last stronghold of British resistance was sealed. In fact, this meant the end of the battle for Crete. On the same day, Freiberg ordered the evacuation of troops to Egypt.

On May 23, due to heavy losses from the bombing (in total, 3 cruisers, 6 destroyers were lost, 17 ships were badly damaged), the British fleet withdrew to Alexandria. Taking advantage of this, on May 28, a 6,000-strong detachment of Italian troops was landed on the island.

V. RESULTS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRET OPERATION.

What were the results of the Cretan landing - one of the greatest operations of the landing troops?

The British managed to take out no more than 15 thousand people from the island. Specifically, the British lost 612 killed, 5,135 captured and 1,224 wounded; New Zealanders - 671 killed, 2180 captured and 967 wounded; Australians - 450 killed, 3,000 captured. The Greeks suffered the greatest losses - only 4 thousand people out of 11 thousand were taken away from the island ... And about 2 thousand people died on the warships of the British Navy.

The victory came at a high cost to the Germans: 3,022 killed in the 7th Division and the Assault Regiment, 652 in the 5th Division, and 126 air support men. In addition to them, 3400 wounded. Of the 520 Yu52s, 185 remained in service ... After the completion of the operation, the 7th division was sent to reorganize and rest in the zone of the Eastern Front (at that time the war with the USSR was not yet in progress).

The capture of Crete led to the most severe weakening of the British position in the Mediterranean basin since 1797. In addition, it was one of the most brilliant successes of the parachute troops in general, and I applaud them as heroes. But the losses suffered by them were so heavy that Hitler forbade any further large-scale landings. In one of his conversations with Kurt Student, Hitler said: "Crete has shown that the days of paratroopers are over." As a result, the elite troops were out of work and fought as elite infantry until the end of the war.

The last major operation of the German Airborne Forces gave impetus to the birth of similar units in other countries, in particular in England and the United States, where previously this branch of the military was treated with contempt.

13 /9/, page 336

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. I.A. Andreev "Combat and transport aircraft",

Young Guard, Volgograd, 1979.

2. S. Voropaev, A. Egazarov "Encyclopedia of the III Reich",

Lokid, M, 1996.

3. Citizen S. "Iron Anna". "Wings of the Motherland". No. 7, 1995.

4. D.M. Gavin "Airborne Warfare"

Military Publishing, M, 1957.

5. A. Gove "Attention, paratroopers!",

Military Publishing, M, 1957.

6. A.B. Beetle "Rifles and machine guns",

Military Publishing, M. 1987.

7. Kotelnikov V. "Heavenly cabmen of war". "Wings of the Motherland". No. 3, 1997.

8. D. Miller "Commandos - formation, training,

outstanding operations”, Harvest, Minsk, 1997.

9. Yu. Nenakhov "Airborne Forces in World War II",

Harvest, Minsk, 1998.

10. Plotnikov S. "Hands". Technique of Youth. No. 1-2, 1992.

Plan. Introduction. I. 1. The origin of the Wehrmacht. 2. Appearance and formation of landing units. II. 1. Preparation. 2. Equipment. A. Parachutes and gliders. The scheme of the jump of paratroopers. B. Airplanes. B. Weapons and personal equipment.

“If I had not seen all this with my own eyes, I would never have believed that such a thing could be done at all,” British Army officer Archibald Waveli said in his report. He prepared the report after he visited the major exercises of the Red Army in the fall of 1935, at which, according to the approved scenario, a simply gigantic airborne operation was carried out at that time: a parachute assault force of about 1,000 people was dropped, and another 2,500 paratroopers and a heavy weapons were landed by landing method, with the help of gliders.

AS a RESULT of the offensive that followed the landing, the conditional enemy was conditionally destroyed. Nothing like this was carried out in the West then, not only that, then there was practically no one to carry out such operations. However, for a number of reasons, the airborne troops of Nazi Germany gained great fame during the Second World War.

Norway, Belgium and Holland, Crete - these names are firmly associated with the German paratroopers, and the operations carried out there were closely studied by military experts in the academies of many countries of the world and have been repeatedly and in detail described in books and articles, documentaries and feature films were shot on them. However, there are pages in this kind of the German Armed Forces, little known to the general public. For example, the activities of the unit, which wore not only the sign of the flying eagle of the Luftwaffe, but also the SS “zig-runes”.

The 500th SS Airborne Battalion (500. SS-Fallschirmjgärbatallion; then reorganized into the 600th SS PDB) - this was the name of this unit, which was not subordinate to Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, like all other paratroopers, but to the Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler and was different at first one that was formed to a large extent from military personnel convicted by the SS for various crimes. Something like a "parachute penal battalion" with a rather interesting history.

Break Göring's monopoly

Western military historians have their own interpretation of why this unit was formed. So, in their opinion, the battalion owes its birth purely to "Himmler's unbridled desire to establish control over all spheres of life in the Thousand-Year Reich." Including in the sphere of the military organization of the state. And in the fall of 1943, the turn allegedly came to the patrimony of Goering, or rather, to the airborne troops. The Reichsmarschall was then in disgrace with Hitler - including for the recent failure of the operation to organize an air bridge to supply the Paulus army encircled in Stalingrad. So the Reichsfuehrer CC decided, they say, "to take the sky into their hands." And if earlier the words of Goering: “Everything that flies in the skies of Germany is under my control” were tantamount to a taboo, now “black Heinrich” decided to break it.

There is, however, another version of why a parachute battalion was formed as part of the SS. A number of historians argue that Himmler did this for a slightly different reason. The fact is that on September 12, 1943, a very bold operation “Oak” (Unternehmen Eiche) was successfully carried out, the purpose of which was to release the former “beloved” head of state Benito Mussolini, who was overthrown by the Italians who had defected to the side of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition . A close friend of Hitler, the former dictator was kept under guard by Italian soldiers at the Campo Imperatore Hotel in Gran Sasso, one of Italy's most famous ski resorts, located in the Apennine mountains, about 110 km from Rome. The operation, planned and carried out with the active participation of the “chief saboteur of the Third Reich” Otto Skorzeny and a special forces unit selected by the “man with a scar” from the SS soldiers (German airborne units, pilots and several Italian officers were also involved in the operation), turned out to be very successful - in the course of a fleeting battle, the resistance of the Italian garrison was broken, Mussolini was released and triumphantly delivered to Adolf Hitler. It was then, according to a number of foreign historians, that Heinrich Himmler had the idea of ​​​​creating separate airborne units within the SS organization subordinate to him, and, they say, the moment with Goering's disgrace is just a lucky coincidence and a favorable combination of circumstances , which contributed to the speedy implementation of the plan of the Reichsfuehrer SS.

Whether this is true or not is not the subject of our material, but we will only consider the history of the formation of this battalion and briefly outline its short “combat chronicle”, in which, however, there are many interesting episodes.

Redeem with blood

The order to form a special 500th SS parachute battalion subordinate to the Reichsführer SS came directly from Hitler's headquarters. The main purpose of the new unit was to be the implementation of special operations and related actions. At the same time, most of the personnel of the battalion were to be volunteers. The rest of the candidates were to be recruited from SS soldiers convicted of various crimes and misdemeanors by military tribunals. Such convicts in the SS were given the code name “Bewahrungs-Soldaten” - these were not some hardened criminals, murderers or the like, mainly this category included “guilty” before the Reich: those who fell asleep on duty or failed to fulfill the order given to him , as well as other military personnel who committed misconduct by coincidence, and not knowingly committed a crime. Thus, they were given the opportunity to "redeem themselves with blood" by serving in the ranks of the SS paratrooper battalion.

It is interesting that at that time there was a 500th disciplinary battalion in the SS - SS-Bewührungsbataillon 500 - part of the personnel of which, probably, got into the new unit. On the other hand, this gave food for thought to those historians who claim that the formation of the 500th SS battalion was carried out in such the strictest secrecy that the unit itself was legendary as the 500th SS penal battalion. However, this version is still adhered to by a small number of historians, and most, based on the available captured documents, are confident that the 500th SS paratrooper battalion was still formed according to the principle: 50% were volunteers, and 50% were “guilty ”from the SS penal units.

The advantage in the selection for the 500th SS battalion was enjoyed by those who had already undergone parachute and other special training. However, then the entire battalion had to improve parachute training at the base of the airborne school in Kraljevo (also Kraljevo), a city in Serbia on the Ibar River. It should be noted here that the first attempt to organize a parachute training course for the personnel of a number of SS units was made long before the start of the war: in 1937, a group of volunteers from the SS was sent to the parachute training center in the city of Stendal, but they did not not completed (the main reason is the death of one of the volunteers during training). This suggests that Himmler may have been planning the creation of airborne troops within the SS at that time. After Kraljevo - and the formation of the battalion was started in the area of ​​​​the Czechoslovak, now Czech, city of Chlum - followed by the 3rd training school of the Luftwaffe airborne troops in the Madanrushka Banya area, near Sarajevo, and then a training center and training ground near the city of Papa, Hungary , and by the beginning of 1944, the 500th SS Parachute Battalion was ready for battle. The first battalion commander was SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Herbert Gilhofer, who had previously served in the 21st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg.

Before we turn to the combat path of the battalion, it seems interesting to briefly review its organization - as of the beginning of 1944, that is, the moment the combat training and combat coordination of the unit ended.

The 500th SS Parachute Battalion included:
- headquarters and headquarters company (platoons of communications, logistics, motorcycle, economic, propaganda and war correspondents, as well as a platoon of parachute stackers);
- three airborne companies, each of which included three airborne platoons and a platoon, although more precisely, a communications department (in turn, each airborne platoon had three "rifle" squads, three squads machine gunners and one mortar squad each);
- a reinforcement company, or, as it is also called, a “heavy weapons company”, which included four platoons - machine gun, mortar, anti-tank - with four 75-mm Leichtgeschätz LG40 recoilless guns (since 1942, the Luftwaffe airborne troops have already 105-mm versions of this recoilless gun were received, but, allegedly, the SS battalion had guns of precisely 75 mm caliber), as well as a platoon of flamethrowers.

The total strength of the battalion was, according to various sources, from 800 to 1000 people. The personnel of the unit wore uniforms and equipment traditional for the airborne troops of the Luftwaffe - with the exception of the addition of insignia and special awards of the SS (although the traditional Luftwaffe eagle flaunted on the chest of the overalls of the SS paratroopers). The battalion used standard parachutes and weapons, its tactics were typical of the paratrooper units of the German airborne troops of that time. It is not known for certain whether a special sleeve patch was installed for SS paratroopers, but there is at least one photo in the archives where such a patch is present on the uniform of a serviceman of the battalion in question - however, it could have been homemade.

Baptism of fire "Himmler's eagles"

The 500th battalion was thrown into battle shortly after the completion of its combat coordination - at the beginning of 1944. However, the assignment given to his commander was nothing special, and should not have required his subordinates' skydiving skills. On the contrary, the task looked trivial for the SS - the battalion had to fight the partisans, first in Yugoslavia, and then in Greece and Albania. This went on for several months, it seemed that no one would remember the “special purpose” of the created unit, but that was not the case ...

In April 1944, instead of SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Herbert Gilhofer, SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Kurt Rybka was appointed battalion commander, commanding the 500th SS paratrooper battalion until June 26, 1944. It was SS Hauptsturmführer K. Rybka who happened to receive a secret and very promising - in terms of glory and honors - task, more "interesting" than performing ordinary security and police functions: the battalion commander received an order to parachute and land - using landing gliders - methods on a small mountain plateau near the Yugoslav city of Drvar, the Dinara mountain system, where, according to German intelligence, the headquarters of the leader of the Yugoslav liberation movement, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, was now located.

According to the plan developed by the German command, the first group - parachute assault - was supposed to land in the first echelon, capture the area and prepare a platform for receiving the main group, which was supposed to land with the help of landing gliders, along with heavy weapons, ammunition and necessary equipment and food. The main goal of the operation was Marshal Tito himself - the paratroopers needed to capture the "partisan commander", in extreme cases, his physical liquidation was allowed. After solving the main task of the operation, the paratroopers had to hold their positions and repel the attacks of the Yugoslav partisans until the battle group of the 373rd Infantry Division approached and rescued them from the encirclement.

It seems to be an understandable and not so difficult task. However, only at first glance. After all, what happened: a parachute battalion numbering less than a thousand people had to land under the very nose at the headquarters of Marshal Tito, in the very center of a mountainous region occupied by a huge partisan army, which at that time had more than 10 thousand fighters and commanders in its ranks, and even quite well armed and equipped. Of course, not all of this army was concentrated near the area of ​​operation, but Tito's headquarters was guarded very well. And in these conditions, the German paratroopers had to capture the leader of the partisan movement, and then also hold the positions occupied for an incomprehensible amount of time - until the main forces of the 373rd division approached. Moreover, it must be taken into account that the year was 1944 - this is no longer the years 1939-1941, when the German army was considered invincible and inspired fear in opponents. By 1944, the Nazi war machine had already “worn out”, suffered a number of serious defeats and began to experience problems due to the lack of well-trained personnel, weapons, military and special equipment, as well as various equipment.
Even more remarkable was the fact that in view of the lack of a sufficient number of transport aircraft and landing gliders, the SS had to land - as already indicated above - in two passes, and at a large interval and, as it turned out during further more detailed planning, without heavy weapons and with a minimum of ammunition, equipment and food. The first group - 314 paratroopers - had to reach the target at exactly 7 o'clock in the morning, and only by noon the second group should have arrived to help them - about 400 people on landing gliders DFS 230. The only positive thing was that the Luftwaffe was then still maintained air supremacy over Yugoslavia and could thus provide the necessary support for the landing.

Under such conditions, the 500th SS battalion was to engage in battle with the elite units of the Yugoslav partisan army of Marshal Tito. To say is a utopia means to say nothing. The military adventure of a man who has lost hope and grasps at any straw. However, this could have been a plan well calculated by the military genius, however, it did not end triumphantly. Although it was a rather unique operation for those times, and therefore its brief history was nevertheless awarded the attention of German propaganda - the raid was written in the daily news release of the German armed forces "Wehrmachtbericht" for June 6, 1944.

"Knight's move"

The operation to capture Marshal Josip Broz Tito received the code name "Unternehmen Rösselsprung", or, translated from German, operation "Knight's Move". Indeed, its successful outcome would allow the German command to delay the defeat in the Balkans - the decapitated army of Yugoslav partisans could well fall apart like a house of cards into separate parts that would no longer pose such a serious danger to the German military. Understanding the importance of this operation, the SS command also attracted a special SS unit, “Sonderverband z. b.V. Friedenthal "- created and led by Otto Skorzeny" Himmler's special forces ", which in the spring of 1944 was transformed into the 502nd SS Jaeger Battalion (SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502). True, Skorzeny himself, who commanded the 502nd SS battalion, refused to take command of the operation - having visited Zagreb, he came to the conclusion that the enemy already knew about its preparation and it would be almost impossible to achieve the surprise factor. Moreover, the “chief saboteur of the Third Reich” began to actively speak out against the operation in general. However, they did not listen to him - the temptation to destroy the Yugoslav partisan army with one blow was too great. And in vain ...

The area where the headquarters of Marshal Tito was located was located near the city of Drvar and was covered with numerous caves. Marshal Tito and his entourage settled in one of them - the headquarters was evacuated there as a result of the next, already the seventh, German counter-partisan offensive against the Yugoslav partisans. Prior to this, the headquarters was located in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe city of Jaice - about 80 km east of Drvar, and only during 1942-1943, Tito, due to ongoing German operations, was forced to repeatedly change the location of his headquarters. It was here - in this stone bag - that they threw the 500th SS infantry regiment. It is interesting that at the time of the operation "Knight's Move" at the headquarters of Marshal Tito were representatives of the allied command, including Randolph Churchill, the son of Winston Churchill, as well as the Soviet and American military missions.

To ensure a positive outcome of the operation, the 15th mountain corps of the Wehrmacht, created in 1943 in Croatia and stationed there throughout the war, received an order to take positions along the perimeter of the Drvar region, cut key communications and knock out the partisans from the dominant heights, preventing them from such Thus, the ability to transfer reinforcements or get out of the way. The group included: from the Wehrmacht - a regimental battle group and a reinforced reconnaissance battalion of the 373rd (Croatian) infantry division (PD), nicknamed the "Tiger Division"; reinforced reconnaissance battalion of the 369th (Croatian) infantry regiment, nicknamed the "Devil's Division"; 1st Regiment - without the 3rd Battalion - and a platoon battle group from the Brandenburg Special Forces Division; 92nd Grenadier Regiment; 54th mountain reconnaissance battalion and 2nd motorized assault battalion; from the SS - the 500th SS infantry brigade, which was temporarily attached to the battle group of the 1st parachute regiment of the 1st airborne division of the Luftwaffe and the Zawadil Sonderkommando; regimental battle group, the 13th SS Volunteer Mountain Regiment "Arthur Phleps" and the 7th Motorized Volunteer Mountain Reconnaissance Battalion from the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prince Eugene"; 105th SS reconnaissance battalion; from the Luftwaffe - in addition to the previously mentioned units of the airborne troops, Goering allocated up to 100 aircraft for various purposes; from the satellites of Germany - the 1st self-defense regiment from the 2nd Jaeger self-defense brigade of Independent Croatia (a pro-German state on the territory of the Croatian part of Yugoslavia), as well as the Bosnian and Dinaric Chetnik detachments.

Fiasco

The operation to capture Marshal Tito was scheduled for May 25, 1944, in such a peculiar way, the German command decided to “congratulate” the partisan marshal on his birthday. Literally a few minutes after 7 am that day - after a bombing attack by Luftwaffe aircraft - 314 paratroopers of the first group of the 500th SS battalion poured out of the sky on the city of Drvar. The battalion commander himself, SS Hauptsturmführer Kurt Rybka, landed in the first wave, as part of the "red" group - one of the three groups into which the paratroopers were divided.

The paratroopers, who suffered quite significant losses (even in the air, the partisans managed to shoot far more than one paratrooper) nevertheless quickly captured the city and the area assigned to receive the second group of landing troops, which almost died out: as Otto Skorzeny suggested, the partisan command learned about the impending operation and managed to organize evacuation and resistance in advance, concentrating additional forces south of Drvar. Nevertheless, Kurt Rybka organized additional reconnaissance of the area, identified the main targets for the subsequent assault, and began to expect reinforcements.

At the appointed time, the second landing group arrived in the area: gliders delivered, according to various sources, from 320 to 400 soldiers and officers (it is most likely that there were only 320 people from the 500th SS infantry brigade, and the rest belonged to other units - the Brandenburg division "and communications and air raid units of the Luftwaffe), divided into six detachments, each of which received its own specific task. The largest of the detachments, called "Panther" ("Panther", 110 people on six gliders), was to join the "red" group led by the battalion commander and attack directly the "Citadel", that is, Marshal Tito's headquarters hidden in the mountains, and carry out the capture of the latter, or its physical liquidation. They did not yet know that there was only one security company left in the headquarters area, and Tito himself and his entourage were safely evacuated on a train waiting for them to the area of ​​​​the city of Yajtse.

The rest of the detachments had the following goals: "Greifer" ("Invaders") - the capture of the British military mission, "Sturmer" ("Rebels") - the capture of the Soviet military mission, "Brecher" ("Wave" or, in the technical term, "Crusher") - the capture of an American military mission, "Draufgänger" ("Daredevils") - an intelligence group and "Beisser" (there are several translations of this word, including "biter", "mockery", "tooth" and - derived from the Austrian word - “dared man”, but what exactly is meant in this case is unknown to the author of the material) - a radio communication group.

The pilots of the gliders of the main strike force landed the vehicles not far from the headquarters cave and almost immediately a “red” group led by SS Hauptsturmführer Rybka approached them (one of the British sources indicates that Kurt Rybka had already been promoted to the rank of Sturmbannfuehrer by that time SS). Seeing how close the Panther group landed, the battalion commander decided that the job was almost done, it only remained to break into the cave with a quick throw and capture the partisan "leader". However, after a few minutes everything changed - literally hell came for the paratroopers.

The remaining partisan guard company opened heavy fire on the landing gliders, the losses of the Germans began to grow rapidly. Rybka gave a red rocket - a signal to the rest of the groups and detachments to regroup and attack the main goal, the cave with Tito's headquarters. But the situation of the 500th SS battalion became very unenviable: the partisans, as it turned out, were already pulling up reinforcements, and if initially there were only a security company and personnel of the school of partisan army commanders near Drvar, and even a few small detachments, then soon after the forced The march was already approached by detachments of the 1st partisan brigade and the 6th partisan division, which had extensive experience in fighting the Nazi invaders. As a result, the defenders turned out to be in much larger numbers than the attacking SS paratroopers, having more powerful weapons - up to artillery.

Regrouping, the German paratroopers rushed to the assault for the second time. However, by lunchtime it became clear that the “move” had failed: breaking into one of the caves, the Germans managed to capture ... only the marshal’s tunic, which was later demonstrated in Vienna, but then the reinforcements of the partisans who arrived in time knocked out the paratroopers from the cave and threw them towards the city, for more open area. For battalion commander Kurt Rybka, the time has come to seriously think about retreat. And towards evening, he decided that it was time to evacuate the battalion, while there was still at least something left of it. But only in the dead of night, the remnants of the landing force, retreating under continuous enemy fire, were able to concentrate in shelter - behind the stone wall of the city cemetery. But one could not count on the quick help of the combat group of the 373rd Infantry Division - it could not break into the given area.

The partisans fired almost continuously at the remnants of the SS battalion all night and repeatedly launched attacks. The ranks of the paratroopers were melting right before our eyes, but the resistance of the 500th SS paratroopers did not stop. And almost at dawn, salvation finally came - in the form of a battle group of the 13th SS Volunteer Mountain Regiment "Arthur Phleps" from the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prince Eugene", who managed to break through the defenses of the Yugoslav partisans surrounding the city of Drvar. The operation ended - it ended in complete failure, unless, of course, you count the tunic "stolen" from Marshal Tito on his birthday.

As a result of this operation, the German units, according to combat reports, lost a total of 213 people killed, 881 wounded and 51 missing. As for the 500th SS infantry brigade itself, its losses were the most serious - more than 500 people were killed and wounded, including the battalion commander Kurt Rybka. The German command was presented with a report stating that the partisans lost about 6,000 people killed on May 25-26, which, of course, is very, very much exaggerated. In reality, the losses of the Yugoslav partisans amounted to about 500 people killed and a little more than 1000 wounded, mostly as a result of a strong bombing attack by Luftwaffe aircraft. On the other hand, the commanders of the partisan detachments reported to Tito that in the area of ​​​​the city of Drvar, more than 2,000 civilians were killed by German paratroopers and other units. However, the partisans themselves reported that by the morning of May 26, no more than 20-25 German paratroopers were still alive at the Drvar cemetery, more precisely, they were firing, which, thus, allows us to talk about the almost complete destruction of the 500th SS infantry brigade - killed, probably there were by no means 213 people, but no less than 600-650 soldiers and officers.

Reformation and captivity

The SS paratroopers who survived after the “Knight’s Walk”, as well as the battalion’s military personnel with a total strength of about 200 people who did not directly participate in the battle, were first sent to Petrovac (a settlement in present-day Montenegro, about 17 km from Budva), then to Ljubljana ( the capital of modern Slovenia), and at the end of June 1944, the remnants of the battalion were transferred to Gotenhafen (the current Polish city of Gdynia), in West Prussia, where they were supposed to join the military group assembled to capture the Aland Islands in the Baltic under the control of the Finnish troops, but the operation has been cancelled. In June 1944, SS Hauptsturmführer Siegfried Milius was appointed commander of the battalion, who commanded the battalion until the end of the war and was later promoted to the rank of SS Sturmbannfuehrer.

After the cancellation of the operation to capture the Aland Islands, the 500th SS infantry brigade was sent to the disposal of the 3rd SS Panzer Corps near Narva, but on July 9 received a new order - to proceed to the Kaunas region, where it, together with the 1st Panzer Regiment of the Great Panzer Division "Great Germany ”of the Wehrmacht became part of the Theodor Tolsdorf battle group, which received an order to ensure the exit of German troops, as well as refugees, from surrounded Vilnius. Then new tasks followed - the paratroopers held back the tank breakthrough of the Soviet troops to Vilnius from the southeast, took part in the battles near the town of Raseiniai, northwest of Kaunas, and in the battles near the Memel River (in the Kaunas region), so that in the end by August 20 In 1944, only 90 people remained in the 500th SS air brigade. But even they could not be withdrawn for replenishment and reorganization - the situation on the Soviet-German front was so tense, the Soviet troops were advancing so rapidly. Sometimes French military historians claim that the 500th SS bdb was involved in July 1944 in punitive actions against the French Resistance in the French Alps, but this, according to most American, British and German historians, is a complete fiction, since the personnel of the battalion never took part in such operations. But the German troops in the area of ​​​​the area fortified by French partisans on the Vercors plateau actually carried out such an operation - but a special unit from the second squadron of the top secret 200 squadron (II. / Kampfgeschwader 200) took part there. As part of this squadron, there was a special forces detachment, which took part in the action against the French Resistance.

On the other hand, the SS paratroopers participated in another interesting operation: on October 15, 1944, part of the personnel of the still not reorganized 500th SS paratrooper unit entered the group under the command of Otto Skorzeny, which took part in Operation Panzerfaust, as a result of which the Hungarian regent Admiral M. Horthy was deposed and Hungary thus remained an ally of the Third Reich until the end of World War II.
Finally, at the end of October 1944, the battalion was nevertheless withdrawn to the rear - to the town of Zichenau in East Prussia, and then its remnants were sent to Deutsch-Wagram, in Austria, after which a new unit was formed on its basis - the 600th SS infantry brigade. The formation of a new battalion was finally completed in the city of Neustrelitz, and this time the command decided to refuse to send penalty boxers to the battalion and formed the unit completely on a voluntary basis. On November 9, 1944, a new unit with the number "600" appeared in the SS. The former penitentiaries, who atoned for their misdeeds with blood and enlisted in the 600th SS PDB, were given back their ranks and from now on they were allowed to wear "zig-runes" on their buttonholes again. The number of the battalion was again about 1000 people, its composition was probably the same as that of its predecessor.

For the remaining six months, the “black” paratroopers had to fight in different sectors of the front, sometimes solving special tasks, but for the most part they simply plugged holes - the battalion became, as they often say, a “fire brigade”. One of the most famous and interesting combat episodes of the 600th SS infantry brigade was its participation in the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes - the SS paratroopers of two companies of the battalion were part of the so-called 150th tank brigade, a special sabotage unit of about 3000 people, formed by Otto Skorzeny . The soldiers of this brigade were dressed in American army uniforms and had the task of imitating the “retreating part of the allied forces”, sowing panic and destruction behind enemy lines, disrupting communication and control lines, and also performing other sabotage actions.

After this offensive operation of the German armed forces also failed, the 600th SS infantry brigade was transferred to the Eastern Front, where the winter offensive of the Soviet troops was unfolding. The battalion was part of a task force formed to defend the approaches to an important bridge near the city of Schwedt, northeast of Berlin, on the west bank of the Oder River. The paratroopers took up positions on the opposite, eastern, bank of the Oder, and only on April 1, 1945, the remnants of the battalion were withdrawn to the rear to rest and receive reinforcements, which were volunteers from SS training schools and convalescent soldiers. Although even before the battalion was fully restored, it was again thrown towards the Soviet troops - the paratroopers participated in the counterattack on Bernau, not far from Berlin, and after the unit received replenishment and was restored in numbers almost to its original level, she took part in the defense of the city of Neuruppin, northwest of Berlin, ensuring the withdrawal of his troops. It was here that the 600th SS infantry brigade almost ceased to exist for the third time - as a result of a strong attack, it was practically crushed by Soviet tanks, no more than 10% of the original composition of the unit remained alive.

Already at the very end of the war, part of the battalion’s military personnel was involved in the training of personnel of sabotage detachments within the framework of the Zeppelin project, part fought and died in Berlin, and part - led by the last battalion commander SS Sturmbannführer Siegfried Milius - ended up in the area of ​​​​the city of Haguenau, on west of Germany, where she safely surrendered to American troops, and Z. Milius himself subsequently moved to live in the United States and settled down quite well there, maintaining "mentoring" ties with a group of Americans who created the military-historical, uniformist club "500/600th parachute -SS airborne battalion.

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German paratroopers 1939-1945 Kverri B

OPERATIONS OF THE GERMAN PARACHUTE FORCES

The photo allows you to clearly see the details of the cut of the jump jacket, made of camouflage fabric. These soldiers are lined up for a parade somewhere in the Mediterranean. Their helmets are sand-coloured with gray or green patches on top. The paratrooper in the foreground wears the Spanish Cross with Swords signifying his service in the Condor Legion (580/1995/29).

The paratroopers were not included in any of the Wehrmacht or Luftwaffe groups that ensured the capture of Poland. It is known, however, that the soldiers of the 7th Aviation Division, for the purpose of training, were involved in a reconnaissance raid beyond the Vistula, during which they suffered serious losses near Wola Gulovskaya. General Student informed Hitler that the paratroopers were disappointed that they had not taken part in the Polish campaign. This was followed by the answer: "They will no doubt enter the battles in the West!"

Norway and Denmark, 1940

The 1st Battalion of the 1st Parachute Regiment (I / FJR1) under the command of Major Erich Walter was involved in the first operations of paratroopers in Denmark and Norway. Four companies of the battalion were assigned various tasks. The headquarters and 2nd companies were instructed to capture the Forneby airport in Oslo and hold it until the landing of units of the 163rd Infantry Division, which was supposed to be airborne. The 3rd company under the command of Lieutenant Baron von Brandis was to capture and hold the Sola airfield in Stavanger in the same way. At this time, one of the platoons of the 4th company of Captain Walter Gerike captured two airfields in Aalborg, and the rest of the company's forces captured the dam that connected the islands of Falster and Zeeland. The 1st company of Lieutenant Herbert Schmidt remained in reserve, but was later thrown out to reinforce the troops of General Dietl in the Narvik area.

Major Walter failed: Forneby was hidden by fog, and the paratroopers had to turn back. However, the Ju.52 transport aircraft of the second wave, carrying soldiers of the 163rd division, found a gap in the clouds and were able to land. The paratroopers suffered serious losses, but the airfield was captured. Lieutenant von Brandis was luckier: his men landed safely on the edge of Sola's airfield and quickly overwhelmed scattered pockets of guard resistance, so that a second wave of assault troops could land unhindered. Captain Guericke was also doing well: the Danish soldiers guarding the dam were so stunned by the appearance of enemy paratroopers that they did not even resist and surrendered. A separate platoon, thrown out to capture two airfields in Aalborg, also did without bloodshed. The company of Lieutenant Schmidt in the morning twilight was thrown into the snow-covered Gudbransdal valley, about 140 km from Oslo. The rangers of the company suffered losses from the fire of the Norwegian soldiers even during the drop, but then defended for four whole days, until the lack of ammunition forced them to surrender. Schmidt himself was severely wounded in the thigh and stomach, but did not surrender command throughout the operation: he was later awarded the Knight's Cross.

Despite the losses, the April 1940 operations in Scandinavia showed the validity of the use of paratroopers against an unprepared enemy, when the surprise factor favors the attackers. But only a few months later, skydivers earned a serious reputation.

West, 1940

Most likely, this is a staged photograph taken in Crete after the end of the fighting in May 1941. Here you can clearly see the sand-colored helmets and gray-green jump jackets. The sergeant major (left) has dropped the collar of his flight blouse over his jacket to show his non-commissioned officer rank, but he has no sleeve insignia. This combination was rare (569/1579/15).

To participate in the invasion of France, Belgium and Holland, the 7th Student Air Division was brought into one group with the 22nd Air Landing Division. (22. Luftland Division), which was the usual infantry transported by aircraft. Organizationally, the group was part of the 2nd air fleet of Albert Kesselring. The group's most important target was the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael, one of the key fortifications in the chain of fortifications along the Albert Canal. The fort had 18 artillery installations located in casemates with walls almost two meters thick, as well as a number of anti-tank and machine-gun nests. Eben-Emael was practically digging one of the banks of the canal and could seriously slow down the advance of the Wehrmacht - and the whole German concept of blitzkrieg was based on a quick maneuver.

After discussing the problem with Breuer, Student decided to form a special assault group led by 29-year-old Captain Walter Koch, formerly of the Prussian secret police and the Hermann Göring regiment. To solve the task, Koch was allocated his own company from the 1st battalion of the 1st parachute regiment, and in addition - the sapper company of Lieutenant Witzig from the 2nd battalion, a total of 11 officers and 427 soldiers. At Heidelsheim the soldiers began serious training; the entire personnel was divided into four assault groups. Only one of them was to carry out a direct attack on Eben-Emael: the group "Granite" (Granite) of 85 people under the command of Lieutenant Witzig. Assault group "Steel" (Steel) Lieutenant Altmann had the Feldweselt bridge as the object of the offensive. Assault group "Concrete" (Concrete) Lieutenant Mine was in charge of the Froenhoven bridge; finally, the assault group "Iron" (Iron) Lieutenant Miner was supposed to ensure the capture of the Cannes bridge. After capturing the objects, the assault groups were supposed to hold them until the approach of the advancing columns of the Wehrmacht, namely the 4th Panzer Division. The delivery of all groups was to be carried out by gliders, in contrast to the paratroopers involved in the same month in operations in Holland: they were supposed to be thrown out with parachutes.

From the same series: machine gunner with MG15 in the hatch on the roof of the airframe DFS-230 (568/1529/28).

The assault group "Concrete" was the first to land. This happened at 5.15 on May 10, 1940. At the time of landing, the gliders were under heavy fire from the Belgians, and the paratroopers remained pressed to the ground all day: they were able to withdraw only at 21.40, when a Wehrmacht infantry battalion approached them to help.

Assault groups "Steel" and "Granite" landed almost simultaneously, at 5.20. During the attack on the Feldweselt bridge, Lieutenant Altmann discovered that the Belgians had removed explosive charges from the bridge, and at 15.30 he reported that the object was captured. This message was somewhat premature: Altmann's paratroopers had to fight off several heavy counterattacks, but by the end of the day, at 21.30, reinforcements arrived in time for the Germans.

The Eben-Emael garrison was alerted at 00.30: the Belgians received a message about the movements of German troops near the border; however, the fort was located in the interior of the country, and its defenders considered themselves safe. Meanwhile, at 0330, Witzig's Granite Assault Group was lined up at the German airfield, and exactly an hour later their gliders were hooked up with tow lines, and the sappers with bags full of explosives took their places. At 5.20 they reached the object of attack and began their descent. The Belgians were so unprepared for an air attack that they opened fire only when the German DFS-230 landing gliders were practically on the ground.

The landing was successful, only two gliders did not reach the target (one of them was Lieutenant Witzig himself). Ober-Sergeant Wenzel took command, and the attack was carried out without delay. Even during the run of the gliders during landing, the paratroopers opened the landing hatches of the fuselage and began disembarking, and then immediately rushed to the attack, operating with flamethrowers and hollow charges under the cover of machine-gun fire, which was conducted by their comrades through the hatches in the roofs of the gliders. A few minutes later, seven casemates and 14 Belgian guns were put out of action, and the attackers entered the premises of the fort. At 5.40, Wenzel radioed Kokha: “The object has been reached. All according to plan". Meanwhile, most of the fort was still in Belgian hands.

Bearded skydiver in the desert. He is dressed in a tropical Luftwaffe tunic, a steel helmet is covered with a cover with a "comminuted" camouflage pattern, a bluish-gray ammunition belt. Dustproof goggles with dark glasses (550/761/4a) hang around the neck.

At 0830, Lieutenant Witzig's group, which had meanwhile changed the towline of their glider and also reached the fort, landed next to their comrades. The lieutenant assessed the situation on the spot. Despite the initial success of the Germans, the Belgians clearly recovered from the shock: the attackers were forced to take up defensive positions in the casemates they captured, where they remained the night of May 10-11. In the morning, an engineering battalion arrived to help them. This help was of decisive importance, and soon a white flag was raised over the fort - the main stronghold of the Belgian defense was captured.

The capture of Fort Eben-Emael was undoubtedly an impressive German victory. Of the 85 people of the Witzig group, only six were killed (although 20 were injured). The suddenness of the attack broke Belgian morale—and the fort garrison numbered over 1,000—and, as Kurt Student later remarked, it was "an enterprise carried out with exemplary courage and determination".

The last group, "Iron", was not lucky. A German mechanized column advanced over time and the Belgian defenders of Cannes detonated their explosives, destroying the bridge. German gliders landed under fierce fire. The miner was killed, Lieutenant Joachim Meissner took command, who had to fight off two major counterattacks until reinforcements approached the Germans.

At its core, the operation in Belgium was a variant of exactly the use of paratroopers that the Luftwaffe insisted on - small groups operated here, as opposed to how paratrooper units were used in Holland. Koch's group included barely 500 people; four times as many were involved against Fortress Holland. In addition, the 22nd air landing division under the command of Major General Count von Sponeck operated here in full force.

The campaign plan called for the use of paratroopers to capture the most important crossings and airfields in the interior of Holland in the early stages of the operation; success was to be developed by the paratroopers, together with the foot soldiers of the 22nd air landing division, who were ordered to get involved in street fighting, capture The Hague and neutralize the Dutch high military command. The paratroopers' main targets were the Moerdeck and Dordrecht bridges and the airports at Waalhaven and Falkenburg. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Parachute Regiment were to capture the first two targets; 3rd - third. Six companies of the 2nd Parachute Regiment in cooperation with the 47th Infantry Regiment - Falkenburg (47th Infantry Regiment, together with the 16th and 65th, was part of the 22nd division of von Sponeck).

General Ramcke (his exact rank is impossible to determine in this photo) is rewarding a paratrooper non-commissioned officer somewhere in the Mediterranean theater of operations. Both are dressed in tropical uniforms, a non-commissioned officer in a shirt with turned up sleeves and shorts. Frame - in a tunic and wide trousers. Cap general light blue with gold piping (166/52/19).

On May 10, 1940, the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Parachute (III / FJR1), commanded by Captain Karl-Lothar Schultz, was the first to enter the battle. The paratroopers began operations to capture the airfield at Waalhaven, which was critical for the arrival of reinforcements from von Sponeck's division. The airfield, like other important Dutch installations,

was subjected to severe bombardment, but nevertheless the paratroopers were met by dense machine-gun fire. Immediately after landing, the Germans resolutely rushed to storm the airport building (in which the commandant gave a protracted banquet on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his service) and captured it. Messerschmites Bf.109 drove away the British "Hurricanes", which tried to prevent the landing of the transport Ju.52 of the 22nd division. The only Dutch anti-aircraft battery bravely continued to fire, but the German paratroopers soon captured it too. After the completion of this short but bloody battle, the paratroopers and the reinforcements that arrived to them were ready to cover the approaches to Rotterdam.

The release of six companies of paratroopers of the 2nd regiment in the area of ​​​​Falkenburg airport was successful; they were already expecting the arrival of von Sponeck's 47th Infantry Regiment, but then an unforeseen complication arose. The field around the runways turned out to be too swampy, and the first Ju.52s to arrive literally blocked the airfield. The Dutch, meanwhile, recovered from the surprise and launched a counterattack, forcing the German troops to take up defensive positions. Thus, this stage of the plan to capture The Hague remained unfinished.

The battalions, intended to capture the critical bridges at Moerdeck and Dordrecht, landed north and south of their objectives and quickly surrounded them. At the same time, however, Lieutenant Baron von Brandis died (the same one who captured the Sola airfield during the Norwegian operation). The bridge at Moerdek was captured quickly and without complications. Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment, under the command of Captain Prager, guarded the bridge until three days later they were approached by vehicles of the 9th Panzer Division. The next day at 17.30, the Student, who arrived in Waalhaven immediately after his capture, received a message about another success of his rangers, this time in Dordrecht. Although the Dutch units as a whole fought much better than the Belgians, the factor of surprise and the creation of a numerical superiority at the right point ensured the success of the German paratroopers. On May 14, the Netherlands capitulated. In the last hours of the operation, however, Student was seriously wounded in the head by an SS soldier from the detachment disarming the Dutch units.

Motorcyclists of the reconnaissance detachment of the parachute chasseur unit in Tunisia, winter 1942-1943. All wear standard oilcloth motorcycle raincoats (549/742/17).

While the doctors in the hospital fought for Student's life, the command of the 7th Aviation Division was taken by General Richard Putzier, who was in charge of transport aviation during the operation in Belgium and Holland. Meanwhile, the division, which actually showed its combat capabilities, was reinforced, receiving a third regiment - FJR3. In addition, Koch's assault group was also deployed into an assault regiment ( Fallschirmjager-Sturmregiment) four-battalion under the command of Colonel Eigen Meindl. All these transformations took place in preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the planned landing in Britain.

Colonel-General Stumpf in a white summer uniform of a Luftwaffe officer inspects a 37-mm anti-tank gun, which was in service with parachute units. The officer on the left is wearing a flight blouse and greyish-green jump pants. Stumpf's adjutant in full service uniform (543/562/20).

In the end, this operation was abandoned, and the paratroopers had to fight their next battles in the much more pleasant climatic conditions of the Mediterranean. In January 1941, the student, who had recovered from his wound, returned to duty, taking command of all German airborne troops: the 7th Aviation Division, the 22nd Airborne Division and the assault regiment (FJStR). These units were consolidated into the XI Aviation Corps.

Greece, 1941

Despiennes, Tunisia, November 1943. Chaplain Gavin Cadden (right) was one of those who came to the defense of the British wounded during the incident described in the text of the book. On the left is Captain Hans Jungwirth of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Parachute Regiment. He wears a Hermann Meyer cap with the cords switched over (Gavin Gadden).

During the Greek campaign, the 2nd Parachute Regiment stationed in Bulgaria was ordered to prepare to attack the British Imperial Expeditionary Force, commanded by General Maitland Wilson. The Greek troops in the north of the country, at first successfully resisting the attacks of the Italians, were eventually forced to capitulate to the Duce's German allies. Wilson's forces retreated to the Peloponnese. The only escape route for the English and Greeks was the narrow isthmus west of Athens, cut through by the deep Corinth Canal. The paratroopers of the 2nd regiment were ordered to block this passage. Unfortunately for them, they were ordered to act a couple of days later than was necessary. As a result, although considerable tactical success was achieved during the operation (and more than 2,000 British and Greek soldiers were taken prisoner), the victory was not as complete as it could have been: most of the Expeditionary Force was evacuated by sea.

The operation began at 05:00 on April 26, 1941, when a platoon of the 6th company of the 2nd battalion of the 2nd parachute regiment under the command of Lieutenant Hans Teusen took up places in gliders at the Larissa airfield. The goal of the paratroopers was to capture the most important bridge across the canal. Two hours later, the gliders landed, and although they landed under heavy enemy fire, the paratroopers managed to quickly make their way to the bridge and disable most of the explosives planted by the British. Here, however, an accident intervened: a stray shell from a British Bofors hit a stack of ammunition boxes; the explosion destroyed the bridge, and many paratroopers of Teuzen died. Soon, however, the gliders brought in the main body of the 2nd Airborne Battalion, which cut off the retreating British from the bridge. Toyzen, whose strength was incomparably smaller than that of the enemy, called in a senior officer of the British troops for negotiations and told him that his detachment was the first wave of the advancing division, supported by dive bombers. The trick worked: the British surrendered. For this battle, Toyzen, who did not surrender command after being wounded, was presented to the Knight's Cross.

Crete, 1941

Major Walter Koch after being shot in the head shortly after he saved two wounded British paratroopers from execution. He is dressed in a service uniform with two chest and two side pockets. An early Luftwaffe breast eagle, distinguished by its lowered tail (Gavin Cadden).

The next battle truly became the legend of the airborne troops: it was the battle for Crete. Although Student's plans for operations against the northern end of the Suez Canal, Alexandria and Malta were never carried out (as was the earlier plan to capture Gibraltar from the air as part of Operation Sea Lion), the battle for Crete itself became unique.

On April 20, 1941, Student presented his views to the Luftwaffe High Command. According to the general, the capture of Crete was a necessary continuation of the Balkan campaign, since the British airfields on the island provided enemy bombers with the opportunity to raid the oil wells of Ploiesti. Goering agreed with these arguments, then they convinced Hitler, although the Wehrmacht command insisted that paratroopers first be used to capture Malta.

Meanwhile, the XI Air Corps was hastily reorganizing itself. The 22nd air landing division was transferred to protect the oil regions of Ploiesti; Instead, Student received Major General Ringel's 5th Mountain Division. As of May 20, 1941, Student's forces assigned to Operation Mercury included:

firstly, the air landing assault regiment (Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment, LLStR, former parachute assault) under the command of Major General Meindl (battalion commanders: I / LLStR - Major Koch, II / LLStR - Major Shtenzler, III / LLStR - Major Sherber, IV / LLStR - Captain Guericke);

secondly, the 7th Aviation Division of Lieutenant General Wilhelm Süssmann, which included the 1st Parachute Regiment of Colonel Breuer (battalion commanders: I / FJR1 - Major Walter, II / FJR1 - Captain Burckhardt, III / FJR1 - Major Schultz); 2nd Parachute Regiment of Colonel Alfred Sturm (I / FJR2 - Major Krokh,

Paratroopers with a PaK-36 anti-tank gun. The calculation is dressed in jackets with? fragmentation? camouflage patterns and jump pants, but the boots are regular infantry boots (544/588/20A).

II / FJR2 - Captain Pietzonka, III / FJR2 - Captain Wiedemann); and the 3rd Parachute Regiment of Colonel Heydrich (I / FJR3 - Captain Baron von der Heidte, II / FJR3 - Major Derpa, III / FJR3 - Major Heilman);

thirdly, the 5th Mountain Rifle Division of Major General Ringel, consisting of: 85th Mountain Rifle Regiment (GebirgsjagerRegiment 85) Colonel Krakau (battalion commanders: I / GJR85 - major dr Track, II / GJR85 - Major Esh, III / GJR85 - Major Fett); 100th mountain rifle regiment of Colonel Utz (I / GJR100 - Major Schrank, II / GJR100 - Major Friedman, III / GJR100 - Major Ehall); 95th Mountain Artillery Regiment ( Gebirgs-Artillerie-Regiment) Lieutenant Colonel Wittmann (division commanders: I / GartR95 - Major von Sternbach, II / GartR95 - Major Reitel). In addition, the division included the 95th mountain motorcycle, pioneer, anti-tank and reconnaissance battalions under the command of Majors Nolte, Schatte, Binderman and Count Castel zu Castel, respectively.

In addition to these units, the forces of the XI Aviation Corps will include a light anti-aircraft division, and the 7th Aviation Division included pioneer, artillery, machine gun and anti-tank battalions.

According to the plans to capture the island, all these forces were to fall in two waves on four main objects, three of which were airfields. Meindl's assault regiment captured the airfield in Malemes, and also, with the support of the 3rd parachute regiment of Heydrich, roads, bridges and air defense positions in the region of Kania, the capital of the island. This completed the first phase of the operation. During the second wave of landings, the 2nd Sturm Regiment captured the airfield and the city of Rethymno, while the 1st Breuer Regiment was thrown a few miles closer to the coast and attacked the airfield and the city of Heraklion. Ringel's 5th Mountain Division was airlifted to support the operation after the capture of airfields.

However, these plans were based on German intelligence data, which turned out to be extremely inaccurate.

To begin with, the Abwehr of Admiral Canaris erroneously concluded that more than 50,000 troops evacuated from Greece were transferred by the British to Egypt. This was a mistake - the troops were left in Crete. Secondly, the British garrison of the island not only actively prepared for defense, but also built its plans on the fact that the most likely attack option was an airborne assault. And finally, thirdly, the Abwehr did not know that New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg, the highest-ranking British military officer of the allied forces in Crete and a very active commander, accurately guessed the main German landing sites.

paratroopers and strengthened them well, having even prepared "wolf pits" in the zone of possible landing of gliders and paratroopers.

And that's not all. The Germans expected to meet on the island only British and Greek troops, demoralized by the defeat on the Greek mainland - and this was a serious miscalculation.

Due to a military intelligence error, the main part of the invasion plan included the capture of the airfields at Malemes and Heraklion, the landing of a limited contingent of paratroopers at Rethymno, and an operation against the headquarters and main forces of General Freiberg, which was supposed to be found in Cania.

105-mm recoilless gun LG-40 with the crew of rangers-paratroopers. The paratroopers are dressed in gray-green jackets. Please note that the chief corporal (on the right) wears chevrons from the service uniform (546/668/7) on the sleeve of the jacket.

A paratrooper fires from an FG-42 automatic rifle mounted on a bipod. Over the rain jacket he put on a raincoat: two of these raincoats could be fastened together, turning them into a shelter from the rain for several people (738/289/16).

Malemes, surrounded by terraces of olive trees, is located on the northwestern tip of the island. Today it is a famous tourist center, but on May 20, 1941, both the British and the Germans saw in it only a dusty province scorched by the sun. Although the landing strip of the airfield was only 600 meters long, its capture was vital to the progress of the entire operation. And the prelude to the assault on the airfield was to be the destruction of a well-camouflaged and dug into the ground British air defense battery. After a raid by dive bombers, at about 0700, the vanguard of the air landing assault regiment (a company of 90 people under the command of Lieutenant Gents) successfully landed their DFS-230 gliders under heavy fire from the defenders. Despite serious losses, the paratroopers were able to capture the positions of anti-aircraft gunners south of the airstrip. Following the vanguard, the rest of Major Koch's I / LLStR forces were to land. According to the order of the battalion commander, the soldiers were to concentrate immediately after landing and launch an attack directly on the airfield. The 3rd company of the battalion landed as planned, but the 4th and headquarters companies veered off course and landed in the very center of the British lines. In the very first minutes of the battle, Major Koch was wounded, and with him half of his soldiers. In such a situation, it was impossible to carry out the planned attack. Nevertheless, the 3rd company, which landed on the western edge of the airfield, was able to dig in in a dry riverbed. Throughout the morning, the surviving paratroopers arrived to the paratroopers of the 3rd company, and by joint efforts they were able to capture the enemy's fortifications to the west and south of the airstrip.

The 3rd battalion of the assault regiment was dropped with parachutes northeast of the airfield. Like the 1st battalion, it was pressed to the ground by strong machine-gun and artillery fire from "height 107" that dominated the area. The paratroopers were dispersed during the release and for some time after that they could not gather in groups. The regimental headquarters and the 4th battalion successfully landed near the large bridge west of the airfield. At the same time, however, Major General Meindl was seriously wounded, and Major Shtenzler, commander of the 2nd battalion, took command of the regiment (according to the plan, this battalion remained in the reserve of the regiment). By the end of the first day of fighting, the assault regiment thus reached the airfield, but was unable to establish control over it. At the same time, an enemy counterattack could be expected at any moment; the exhausted paratroopers had a sleepless night.

Colonel Heydrich's 3rd Parachute Regiment landed west of the Assault Regiment with the task of capturing Galata, Cania and Souda Bay.

The vanguard of the regiment was Major Heilman's 3rd Battalion; his paratroopers landed unsuccessfully right in the center of the location of the surprised, but immediately opened fire, New Zealanders. Only one company (9th) made a landing on the planned site, the rest were carried further into the mountains. Part of the paratroopers descended into the reservoir, from which the soldiers could no longer get out, and the rest went straight to the location of the New Zealand military camp, where they were captured. After a full day of fighting and an unsuccessful attempt to capture the high ground above the Galatians, the badly battered 9th Company had to retreat.

The 1st Battalion of the 3rd Parachute Regiment was thrown out near the fortress of Agia, an important stronghold that allowed control of the Alicianon-Kania road. The paratroopers landed in the designated area, but immediately came under heavy machine-gun fire: nearby was the country villa of the King of Greece, George II, who, unfortunately for himself, fled from the mainland to Alicianon! With the support of the 2nd battalion, the 1st battalion captured the fortress and deployed the headquarters of the regiment in it, but the paratroopers did not succeed in advancing to Cania. By evening, a third joined the two battalions of the regiment.

An interesting photograph of a group of paratroopers, taken in 1944. The rangers have special fabric gas mask bags on their chests on the left and in the center. On the right, the details of the FG-42 stock are clearly visible. Two rangers wear field caps, which replaced caps (582/2105/16).

During the landing of the first wave of troops, almost everything did not go as expected. None of the primary targets was completely taken under control, several battalions and companies lost their commanders killed. The division commander himself, Lieutenant General Süssmann, lay dead in a crashed glider, while Major General Meindl was seriously wounded. The German command in Greece did not know about this, but the second wave of landings had its own difficulties. Too little time was allowed for refueling and return of transport aircraft; in the terrible heat, the planes had to be refueled manually from canisters. In addition, the landing of cars returning from Crete was complicated by clouds of dust over the runway of the airfield. As a result, the planes of the second wave were forced to take off in small groups instead of providing a massive transfer of reinforcements.

At 1330 hours, the 2nd Parachute Regiment began to land with the aim of capturing Rethymnon, while the 2nd Battalion was assigned to solve another task - the assault on Heraklion. Two companies made a landing in the intended place, but were immediately pinned to the ground by heavy fire; the third company, which landed five miles further, hit a rocky area, causing many of the paratroopers to be seriously injured. However, the companies managed to link up and capture the vine-covered hill that dominated the airfield of Rethymnon. It was not possible to capture the airfield itself, so the paratroopers dug in to hold out until the next morning.

This parachutist with MG-42 light machine guns has a helmet covered with a classic fabric cover: a wide tape for attaching leafy camouflage is clearly visible; narrower ribbons that cross at the top; fastening the cover to the edges of the steel helmet with hooks. In addition to German egg-shaped grenades, he is armed with an American "lemon" (579/1957/26A).

The 1st parachute regiment, reinforced by the second battalion of the 2nd regiment, was supposed to capture the airfield in Heraklion. The anti-aircraft defense in this area was strong, so the Ju.52 transports had to drop at a much higher height than usual. As a result, many of Breuer's paratroopers were machine-gunned while descending. Two companies, flowing to the western edge of the airfield, were shot almost to the last (only five people survived, head over heels rolling down the coastal cliffs). The rest of the units were heavily dispersed, and Breuer had to give up any thought of capturing the airfield on the first day. The entire night was spent gathering the disparate fighters.

By the end of the first day, the situation seemed almost hopeless to the seven thousand surviving paratroopers. The only reason why General Student continued the operation was the hope of somehow saving the survivors. Fortunately for the Germans trapped on the island, the British commander, General Freiberg, did not launch a massive night counterattack. Instead of powerful pressure, the British carried out only a few local counterattacks, which the paratroopers repulsed without much difficulty. As a result, at a moment when the battle for Crete was frozen in an unstable balance, the British and Greek forces missed a real opportunity to throw the Germans into the sea. The result of this delay was a rout.

General Kurt Student inspects a detachment of paratroopers somewhere in the Mediterranean. Soldiers are dressed in jump jackets of the "second sample" with a "comminuted" camouflage pattern and trousers of a faded sand-colored tropical uniform. The details of the Student's outfit are described in the comments to the color illustrations (569/1589/8).

In the ruins of Cassino, 1944. Two paratroopers on the left are dressed in army windproof anorak jackets, worn over the head: the second on the left has a breast pocket that is clearly visible. This photo shows three variants of steel helmets: bluish-gray without a cover, painted with sand-yellow paint, and covered with a cloth cover with "comminuted" camouflage patterns (578/1926/34).

Early on the morning of May 21, in the Malemes area, the 1st Battalion of the Assault Regiment again stormed Hill 107, and this time successfully. The Germans captured two anti-aircraft guns and immediately deployed them against targets on the airfield. At this time, a lone Ju.52 successfully landed on an airfield under fire. A pile of ammunition was pushed out of the plane onto the field, the most seriously wounded were hastily loaded into the car, and the pilot immediately raised the plane. This happened after another German air raid on the airfield, and, to the surprise of the paratroopers, their opponents did not even try to interfere with this "unloading and loading operation."

In the zone of operations of the 3rd battalion of the assault regiment, the situation was extremely difficult. The Cretan partisans, under cover of night, mutilated the corpses of all the Germans they could find and killed all the wounded. The response of the paratroopers was terrible, which is confirmed by the photographs of the German archive in Koblenz (the administration flatly refused to provide the author with these photos for the book). Of the 580 soldiers of the battalion who landed on the island, the partisans killed at least 135 rangers, and their bodies were never found.

At 1400 hours on May 21, German bombers made another raid on Malemes, and immediately after that the Germans landed two more companies of the assault regiment. With their support, the defenders of the airfield were finally overturned. A little later, Colonel Ramcke landed at the head of another 550 paratroopers, followed by Ringel's mountain riflemen. The first unit landed by transport aircraft was the 100th Mountain Rifle Regiment, which the paratroopers joyfully greeted. But soon the triumph turned into chaos: the small airfield could not accept so many planes at once, the landing cars rammed each other, the entire perimeter of the airfield was littered with debris and damaged aircraft.

And yet the situation in which the mountain shooters found themselves in Malemes was better than the mess in which their comrades found themselves. The 3rd Battalion of the 100th Mountain Rifles and the 2nd Battalion of the 85th Mountain Rifles were sent to Crete by sea, two caravans of small fishing boats, under cover of only two old Italian destroyers Lupo and Sagitario. Both caravans were intercepted by British warships and sunk. Retribution came too late: the next morning, German dive bombers sank two British cruisers and a destroyer, and damaged two more warships and two cruisers. But of the two German battalions, only one officer and 51 soldiers escaped. And yet the most difficult period of the battle for Crete for the Germans was already behind.

The Reinforced Assault Regiment, on the afternoon of May 21, quickly concentrated its forces around Malemes and launched an attack on Cania.

True, it was not possible to take the city until May 27 - the enemy's resistance was so strong. The mountain rangers, meanwhile, were ordered to advance to Rethymno by a forced march: their support was urgently needed here.

This skydiver, photographed in Italy, has a clearly visible "hour" pocket in his jump pants. Pay attention to the helmet cover, made of Italian camouflage fabric (579/1953/20).

In the area of ​​​​Rethymnon, soldiers of the 2nd Parachute Regiment early in the morning of May 21 were driven back by an attack of Australian infantry from positions occupied the day before by one and a half kilometers. The paratroopers were able to gain a foothold in the factory building in the middle of the olive groves, and for the next four days, two battalions held off the onslaught of almost 7,000 British, supported by artillery. On the night of May 25-26, 250 paratroopers tried to retreat to Heraklion under cover of darkness, but were already stopped a few kilometers to the east. The Australians, meanwhile, occupied the factory building left by the Germans, and when the remnants of the paratrooper detachment tried to return to their previous position, they were met with a tough counterattack.

On May 29, the paratroopers of the 2nd regiment received information that their enemy had begun to withdraw. The paratroopers, having received containers of ammunition dropped by transport aircraft, again began to move back to Rethymnon, in turn trying to drive the Australians out of the factory. On the morning of May 30, as soon as the paratroopers began to storm the building, they were approached by the rangers of the 85th Mountain Rifle Regiment. By joint efforts, the Germans finally took the enemy stronghold, capturing 1,200 Australians in the process.

Near Heraklion in the first days, from May 20 to May 23, the situation for the rangers-paratroopers also developed not in the best way. Despite the difficulties in landing, by the morning of May 21, units of the 1st Parachute Regiment were able to connect with each other and begin advancing towards the city. However, they faced resistance from nearly 8,000 British and Greek soldiers, who also had ample artillery support. The attack on the city and the airport stalled. The next day, the paratroopers refused the offer of the British command to surrender. At this time, the huntsmen finally established radio contact with their command. To their delight, an order was received canceling the capture of the Heraklion airfield: the paratroopers were only to hold the line reached, preventing British attempts to send reinforcements west of Rethymnon. To do this, however, the Germans had to capture the enemy artillery positions on the hill, designated as "height 491". That same night, Schultz's 3rd Battalion advanced up the hillside in secret and was attacked by the British. The unexpected attack stunned the gunners and they left their positions.

On May 24, Breuer strengthened his positions, and the next day he received reinforcements - another battalion was airlifted. On May 26, the regiment launched an offensive and successfully captured "hill 296", which dominated Heraklion. Thus, everything was prepared for the development of the offensive; in addition, the next day, new units of the 5th Mountain Rifle Division began to approach the regiment. By this time, the British and Greeks were already so demoralized that only a small rearguard group, in fact, suicide bombers, was left to defend the airfield. Basically, it was the end. On the same day, General Freiberg announced the evacuation of troops, and the allies on ships began to leave the island, heading south. During the pursuit of the retreating British, Greeks, New Zealanders and Australians, mountain shooters captured about 10,000 prisoners. Approximately 17,000 Freiberg was able to evacuate through Sfakia.

German paratroopers talking with Italian (right). It is not clear whether the Italians are in the service of the Italian army, or whether they are from the personnel of the Folgiore or Nembo divisions, reassigned to the German 4th Parachute Jaeger Division when it was formed in the winter of 1943/44. The German on the left wears an army steel helmet and an old greyish-green jacket. Second from the left - in the helmet of an Italian paratrooper and a German jacket with "comminuted" camouflage (578/1931/7A).

Operation Mercury was successfully completed, but at a high cost. Of the 22,000 people involved in the invasion, the Germans lost 3,250 killed and missing, and another 3,400 were wounded. Allied losses in killed and wounded reached 2,500 people, however, five times more British and Greeks were captured. A few days later, Hitler told Student: "Crete has shown that the days of paratroopers are a thing of the past." And yet the paratroopers continued the war, fighting on the ground next to the soldiers of the Wehrmacht.

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