Luftwaffe Field Division

[Custermen]

I thought the Luftwaffe Field Division was another fine name for the Herman Goering Division. Was the Luftwaffe Field Division an infantry unit or did it include Anti-Aircraft or ___?___

Below is a Death Card of a soldier from the Luftwaffe Field Division. The eagle on his breast pocket appears to be Wehrmacht. What type of uniform did they wear? Is this uniform incorrect? (or more precisely, out of date with his current unit).

Custermen

[Marcus]

The Luftwaffe-Feld-Divisionen were basically infantry divisions made up of Luftwaffe personnell (with the addition of ncos and officers from the Heer if I remember correctly).

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See http://www.skalman.nu/third-reich/luftw ... ld-div.htm for more info.

/Marcus

[Custermen]

Front of the card that identifies him as member of Luftwaffe Field Division.
What is translation of the 2nd line below his name??

Custermen

[Phil V]

Farmer John of .....?

Not sure of last word. Cannot read it well enough. Possible a location.

[Christoph Awender]

Hello Custerman!

Members of Lw.F.Div. had the Luftwaffe breast-eagle so maybe the photo is from a time before he was transferred from the Heer.

He could have been in the 19. or 20.Lw.Sturm-Division which were in Italy.

Christoph

[Custermen]

So, which type of Eagle should he have on his uniform? Luftwaffe?

[Custermen]

Thanks Christopher.

Speaking of the 20th L.F.D., I read that the commander was killed by partisans. I don't have his name handy, but it might have been Cruisli (sounds Italian).

Anyone know When, Where or How he was killed?

I'll try to find my reference somewhere in one of my books.

Custermen
(Let's try this again. Sometimes it doesn't take my Submital.)

[JC]

His name was Crisolli, Generalmajor Wilhelm Crisolli. He as killed in a partisan ambush near Bologna on September 12, 1944. BTW, he was born in Berlin.

Jeff

[Custermen]

Jeff - - Thank you, thank you.

Interesting that his death closely precedes the massacre on Monte Sole area during 29 Sept to 1 Oct 1944. This was when the German SS and the local Fascist authorities launched an attack against the partisans and civilians of the mountanious region around Marzabotta, just south of Bologna. The best estimate is that 1830 were killed.

Custermen

[Wolf]

I thought the Luftwaffe Field Division was another fine name for the Herman Goering Division. Was the Luftwaffe Field Division an infantry unit or did it include Anti-Aircraft or ___?___

The Luftwaffe Feld Divisionen became a sort of private army. Raised from volunteers of the Luftwaffe the LwFDs began forming in 1942. There had already been some Luftwaffe field regiments and the Division Meindl in Russia and Göring, ever the collector of positions, saw a chance to have his own ground army.

These divisions did not give a good account of themselves. High casualty rates and poor performance gave led to the nickname 'Luftwaffen Fehlkonstrutions Divisionen'. Lack of training, equipment and proper leadership led to low self esteem among the troops who questioned themselves as being neither fliers nor soldiers.

Meindl wanted to reform the divisions into Luftlande or Sturm divisions, to do work in offensive operations with the Panzer divisions. Ramcke jumped on the train, wanting to rebuild Germanys airborne capabilities. In the end nothing came out of this and the LwFDs were taken over by the army in November 1943.

All in all, the Luftwaffe Feld Divisionen had a limited value as emergency troops, but were no real substitute for regular army troops. The men sacrificed in these units could have been better used elsewhere.

[Custermen]

Thanks, Wolf.

That helped understand how they were formed and evolved. What became of them? Posted on this site, there is a bio of each LwFD which says they surrendered at the end of the war.
But I don't see any LwFD units in most of the German Org tables for Army Group C in Italy. I will find mention of them in some books but nothing about their organization.

For example: Carlo d'Este "FATAL DECISION" has a basic Org Table in the appendix and the only Luftwaffe units are the HG Division and the Parachute Infantry Regiments. During Anzio the only paratroopers in Italy were Heidrich's 1st Parachute Division, consisting of the 1st, 3d, 4th Para Regiments and the 4th Parachute Division, consisting of the 10th, 11th, 12th Para Regiments.

FYI--Here is an Org Table that I put on my website.
http://members.aol.com/Custermen85/Units/GermanOrg.htm

Why did the Paratrooper units survive when the LwFD's did not? Method of training?

Custermen

[cpittman]

Members of Lw.F.Div. had the Luftwaffe breast-eagle so maybe the photo is from a time before he was transferred from the Heer.

Beginning in the Fall of 1943, the complete command of the Luftwaffe field divisions was assumed by the Heer. From my research, it seems that FD troops were issued new uniform and equipment items from Heer stocks when their old items ran out. So it seems possible that he could have been wearing a Heer tunic by the time of his death.

Chris Pittman

[Christoph Awender]

Hello Chris!

Never heard or saw a foto of that. As far as I know they kept Luftwaffe breast and helmet eagles until the end. Do you have a foto of a mixture? Maybe someone else can clarify...

Christoph

[cpittman]

Christoph,

I have seen a photo of an original Luftwaffe soldbuch for a LFD soldat, in the photo inside (presumably added after the book was issued) he is wearing a Heer M43 tunic with a Heer breast eagle and Luftwaffe gulls pinned directly to the collar. I will try to find the picture and post it later today.

Chris Pittman

[Wolf]

Why did the Paratrooper units survive when the LwFD's did not? Method of training?

The two last LwFDs, 19th and 20th, were sent to Italy. Both were sent to reinforce the Fallschirmpanzer Korps HG. The 20th arrived first, in May 1944 followed by the 19th the following month.

Both were used in combat. Losses in the 19th Division led to that most of the remaining troops being absorbed into the 20th (July 1944).

In september (1944) the CO of 20th Division was mortally wounded by Italian partizans and the division 'broken up', it's regiments fighting alongside other German units in Italy. (note also that the 20th were allowed to carry titles and honours of a regular German cavalry unit).

In December 1944 the 20th was briefly reconstituted but quickly converted to the 155. Feldausbildung Division.


The Luftwaffe Feld Divisionen does not compare to the Fallschirmjäger units when it comes to training, equipment, spirit or leadership.