Fallschirmjäger
Sign in to saveThe '''''' () were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-command.
Key facts
- Military unit.image
- 200px|Eagle used as the Symbol of the Fallschirmjäger during the Second World War
- Military unit.caption
- Eagle of the German Paratroopers
- Military unit.dates
- January 29 1936 – May 2 1945
- Military unit.country
- Nazi Germany
- Military unit.branch
- Luftwaffe
- Military unit.type
- Airborne forces
- Military unit.battles
- World War II
- Military unit.notable_commanders
- Kurt StudentRichard HeidrichHermann-Bernhard Ramcke
via Wikipedia infobox
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Encyclopedic overview
18 sectionsContents
- Between the wars
- Formation
- World War II
- Poland
- Norway
- Belgium and the Netherlands
- Greece and Crete
- Eastern Front
- North Africa
- Mediterranean and Italy
- Western Front
- Casualties
- List of units
- War crimes
- See also
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
The '''''' () were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-command.
==Between the wars== During the interwar years, the rapid development of aircraft and aviation technology drew the attention of imaginative military planners. The idea of aerially inserting a large body of troops inside enemy territory was proposed during World War I by Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps in France. However, the Entente High Command was forced to abandon the idea, as it was unprepared for such an undertaking, both logistically and in materiel.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Fallschirmjäger” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.