Fallschirmjäger

[ItsTimeForChange]

Which front had the biggest concentration of Fallschirmjäger used ?

Adom

[Sarge]

What time period???
Sarge

[ItsTimeForChange]

Around late 1943 and 1944.
Adom

[Kingfish]

According to the Axis History Forum of the 13 formed FJ divisions 9 fought in NWE, 2 fought in Italy and 2 in the last months of the war in Austria.

[spannermann]

Hi Adom'

Normandy 1944 is a good candidate for having the most Fallschirm units, there were;-

II Fallschirm Korps, which contained Fs StuG Brig 12, Fs Aufkl Abt 12, Fs Art Rgt 12, Fs Flak Rgt 12, etc., etc.,
2 Fs Division
3 Fs Division
5 Fs Division

Although the grouping of Fallschirm units in Holland in late 1944 as the 1st Fallschirm Armee, may well beat this for numbers, but I do not have its full unit content.

cheers leonard paul

[ItsTimeForChange]

Interesting, thank you Leonard Paul ! I was aware that the Falschirmjäger were present in Normandy, but I always thought that Italy had the most Falschirmjäger units. Outskirts of Saint-Lo and hill 192, and the Falaise Pocket disasters, these elite units put up a very brave performance.
Adom

[spannermann]

Hi Adom,

For the 1st Falschirm Armee in Holland late 44 facing British and Canadians they had;-

II Fallschirm Korps
2 Fs Div
6 Fs Div
7 Fs Div
8 Fs Div

And although this is more divisions, it is almost for sure there are less men and equipment than the one Korps and three divisions that were in Normandy. 2 FJD was massively rebuilt after Normandy, whilst 6, 7 and 8 FJD's were brand new formations, and all of them were largely made up of ex-Luftwaffe flying and ground personnel.
(A friend of mine was an ex-trainee fighter pilot reassigned as an MG42 gunner to the 7th FJD, the other two in the MG crew were both ex-bomber pilots carrying StuG 44's).

On the East Front and Italy there were never these many units at one time.

cheers leonard paul

[ItsTimeForChange]

The friend of yours, was he straight assigned to I Fallschirm Armee or did he serve in a Luftwaffe Feld Division first ?
Just out of interest
Adom

[spannermann]

Hello Adom,

He was training as a fighter pilot, and at the time of the Arnhem battle he was in a flying school at Groningen in the north of Holland, and one day in late September 44, all 300 trainees were assembled and re-assigned a ground troops.

They marched to Arnhem (the battle was over by then) and did some small arms training, so he became an MG 42 gunner.

They were very high ranks for such weapons, as you then had an Unterfelbwebel as the MG42 gunner and two Hauptfeldwebel as the other two men of the MG team, their weapons were good, and MG42 and PO8 plus two StuG 44, and plenty of ammunition.

They were then sent to the Reichwald as part of Battalion Erdmann, he was in a Radfaher MG Zug, but they never got the bicycles, later in the Battle of the Reichwald he taken prisoner in late February 45, and then to England as a POW.

He had no idea in WWII who Battalion Erdmann was attached too, but as Erdmann was the commander of the 7th FJDiv, that is where he was.

And as we are on Fallschirmjager subjects, his older brother was a trumpeter in the Fallschirmjager band, and after being in Russia with the 7th Flieger Div, when the 7th was disbanded he was sent to the new 4th FJDiv and eventually taken prisoner at Anzio (?) in Italy and sent as a POW to the USA. I have seen a photo of him in uniform with his trumpet and "Swallows nest" shoulder boards, as worn by bandsmen..

hope you find this of interest, cheers leonard paul

[ItsTimeForChange]

Must of have been daunting, training as a fighter pilot, and then transferred into the heat of the battle as ground troops. Interesting Thank you !
Adom

[spannermann]

Hello Adom,

Actually he was most pleased, with post-war hindsight, to be in the infantry, he believed it saved his life, as very few rookie fighter pilots survived the last few months of the war, something a bit like being between a rock and a hard place for him.

He remembered that of his final 6th form technical school class, of the 35 boys in mid 44 most of whom were called up into the forces, 22 were killed in the last few months in various branches of the armed forces, Heer, W-SS etc.,, but most were killed as fighter pilots over Germany.

grim times, cheers leonard paul

[ItsTimeForChange]

What a terrible statistic. The late war recruitment was a mess. Being a fighter pilot always sounded like a very frightful military job. I always wondered did the young Luftwaffe chaps who were forced to take part in ground warfare, did they only receive small arms training, or like the infantry were they trained properly.
Adom

[Sarge]

I have a friend who was training to be a Stuka pilot. In mid/late 44 his entire class was transferred to the Fallschirmjäger. He ended up in FJR1 and survived the war. He now lives in Colorado.
Sarge

[spannermann]

Hi Adom and Sarge,

Your Colorado friend was also a lucky guy, imagine flying Stukas later in the war, I think the term "sitting duck" comes into play here, and a very short life with it. Like my guy, being in the infantry at least seems to have given them a better chance of survival..

As regards my guy, he definitely had small arms and infantry training, like nearly all of his age, he had completed about 6 years in the Hitler Jugend, then came the mandatory RAD service, where he again got infantry training and ended up serving his six months RAD service in Prussia on airfield guard duties, then the start of the Luftwaffe flight training..

After the initial small arms training around Arnhem, he went to the 7th FJdiv in the Reichwald, and there was still a couple of months before the Battle of the Reichwald started I believe in Jan/Feb 34, so by the standards of the time, he got a few months before action started for real.

He always said they were well equipped and supplied as infantry, and stood their ground well, they just lacked heavy support, artillery, flak, pak and panzers.

cheers leonard paul

[ItsTimeForChange]

Regarding the ignominious ability to provide weaponry, I always thought that late war units such as FJdiv were equipped better than your normal Heer soldat. Its very impressive how the FJ units performed in the appalling circumstances they had to contend with.
Adom