Paratroopers of the Brandenburg Unit

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Edward,

There were always Brandenburger specialists with parachute training for special missions. I was taking the question to refer not to them, but to paratroops.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Poot]

Robert,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! The Abwehr/Wehrmacht (mis)use of the Brandenburgers seems like a profligate waste of otherwise talented but undertrained men for high risk missions that probably required a greater commitment of personnel and resources. Not the first or last time, but sad.

Best,
Pat

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Edward,

Could you give us the exact quote from "Brandenburgers in the East" from the book "The History of the Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland Vol.3" by Helmut Spaeter."?

I can't find any reference to these drops anywhere else. Nor can I even find the phrase "Brandenburgers in the East" anywhere else on Google.

Many thanks,

Sid.

[Tamari]

Hello to all of you,


in the document KV-2-400_1 Kurt Wieland/ Heinz Hecht on page 45 you can find some lines about an Oberleutnant Werner Siegfried Frank who came originally from Haifa/ Palestine and later joined the Parachute unit of the Brandenburgers as a signal-officer.

KV-2-400_1 page 45 Oberleutnant Werner Siegfried Frank.JPG (67.72 KiB) Viewed 605 times

page 49

KV-2-400_1 page 45 Oberleutnant Werner Siegfried Frank 2.JPG (38.57 KiB) Viewed 605 times

Best regards

Robert

[Ypenburg]

Hi Edward,

The only one I can think of was when the Brandenburger Parachute Battalion tried to land on Romanian airfields in late August 1944 in order to destroy German aircraft previously delivered to Romania. The operation was a total failure and the entire battalion was wiped out by the Romanians in short order.

It is a feature of special forces operations that the successes are massively hyped, but the failures find little place in the historiography.

I mentioned this incudent to you three years ago in your thread "Brandenburgers in the Russian Front".

Cheers,

Sid.

In connection with the putsch in Romania, the Battalion was moved to Otopeni airfield in support of General Gerstenberg. Gerstenberg's mission was to restore order in Bucharest, to liberate Antonescu and to imprison the king of Romania. A "Vorkommando" (12 men strong), including battalion commander Major Weithöher, Leutenant Burmeister were the first to leave to make contact with Gerstenberg. In a forest near the airport Gerstenberg was found in a German encampment, together with the Ic of the German encampment Oberst Rehe. Weithöher was put in command of the troops present, mainly poorly trained soldiers not suitable for combat action, total strength about 2000 men.

Weithöher planned a surprise attack on Bucharest, despite knowing he had not enough trained soldiers. They also had a shortage of weapons and ammunition and no idea where to get them. During the preparation a "Gigant" landed with 60 men from the 1st company. Around 8:00 PM another 2 "Giant" landed with another 120 men. The next day, August 25, 1944, General Stahel of the Ob.Kdo der Wehrmacht arrived. Stahel ordered the defense of the airfield. On August 26, 1944, a heavy bombardment by the American air force followed, resulting in much destruction, deaths and injuries. With this, the chance of an attack on Bucharest was over. The German troops located in and around Bucharest were surrounded by Romanian troops and began to surrender one by one. The airfield was bombarded by Romanian artillery and tanks.

On August 30, 1944, Romanian negotiators led by a Lt.-Col. Ionescus arrived. He promised that the German troops, with their weapons etc., would be given a free retreat to the border with Yugoslavia. On 1 September at 02:20 am the German troops left in column. However, these were intercepted by Romanian troops who forced them into captivity by order of the Russians. Weithöher, commanding the troops since Gerstenberg and Stahel already left, realized that opposing the force majeure made no sense and capitulated. From the FS.Btl. "BR" only 20 mennaged to escape, all others were POW in POW-Camp Targoviste, together with the other German troops.

Best regards,

Ypenburg

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Ypenburg,

You omit the failed assault landings on the airfields.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Ypenburg]

You omit the failed assault landings on the airfields.

Hi Sid,

According to Lt. Burmeister, whose statement (BaMa Freiburg) I have summarized here, the Vorkommando and the 3 Giants landed at Otopeni airfield. No mentionning of landings on multiple airfields, no mentionning of orders to destroy German aircraft, no mentionning of the wipe out of the entire Battalion.

More to it here: viewtopic.php?t=7554

Best regards,

Ypenburg