Wehrmacht paratroopers. Operations of the German parachute troops

The first mass use of airborne assault forces in world history was carried out by the Germans at the very beginning of World War II. The experience of these amphibious operations still causes much controversy. Were they really effective, and to what extent was their subsequent evaluation influenced by the propaganda of both belligerents?

German airborne troops at the beginning of the war

Due to the limited number of transport aircraft, the main operational unit of the Wehrmacht's airborne forces was the parachute battalion, which had the following organization:

headquarters with a communications platoon;
three rifle companies - three platoons of three squads each (18 light machine guns, 3 light 50-mm mortars and 3 anti-tank rifles);
a company of heavy infantry weapons (12 heavy machine guns and 6 medium 81-mm mortars).

The main transport vehicle of the German airborne troops was the three-engine Junkers Ju.52, which has been in production since the early 30s. The carrying capacity of this aircraft was 1.5-2 tons (with a payload of up to 4.5 tons in overload), it could take on board one squad of paratroopers - 13 soldiers and a commander. Thus, for the transfer of one battalion, 40 aircraft were required, and a minimum supply of equipment and supplies required a dozen more aircraft.

German paratrooper with RZ.1 parachute
Source - Fallschirmjager: German Paratroopers from Glory to Defeat 1939–1945. Concord Publications, 2001 (Concord 6505)

A parachute drop required special training for fighters, including the ability to navigate unfamiliar terrain and quickly make independent decisions in a constantly changing environment. Finally, there were problems with personal weapons - it was inconvenient to jump with a heavy carbine, so by the beginning of World War II, the tactics of German paratroopers involved dropping weapons in a separate container, and paratroopers carried only pistols (usually automatic Sauer 38 (H) ).

Transport aircraft "Junkers" Ju.52
Source - waralbum.ru

Therefore, there were few paratroopers in the German Airborne Forces before the war - they made up the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2nd airborne regiment. Paratroopers were supposed to be used, first of all, to capture airfields or places convenient for landing aircraft (for example, flat and straight sections of the highway). The main part of the landing troops landed by landing method (from landing aircraft), which made it possible to improve the control of the landing, but fraught with the risk of the death of valuable transport vehicles from accidents or enemy fire.

Landing gliders, which were not a pity to lose, became a partial solution to the problem; in addition, a large glider could theoretically lift much more than a transport aircraft - for example, the Me.321 "Giant", produced since the beginning of 1941, could accommodate up to 200 paratroopers or one medium tank. The main German landing glider DFS.230, which was in service by 1940, had much more modest characteristics: 1200 kg of cargo or 10 paratroopers and 270 kg of equipment for them. However, such a glider cost only DM 7,500 - the equivalent of the cost of ten standard RZI6 parachutes. By the spring of 1940, the 1st regiment of the 1st airborne squadron was formed from DFS.230 vehicles.

Landing glider DFS.230
Source - aviastar.org

Thus, the effectiveness of the landing depended on the number of aircraft involved and the ability to use each of them several times. It was obvious that in large-scale hostilities it was desirable to use landing forces not to capture territory as such, but to occupy individual points, control over which would help the advancement of friendly troops and complicate the actions of the enemy.

Preparing for Operation Weserübung

The first airborne assault of World War II was the landing of German paratroopers in Denmark and Norway. The basis of Operation Weserubung was a chain of amphibious assaults in the main ports of Norway, but it was decided to use paratroopers to support landings from the sea and, above all, to capture enemy airfields. For the first strike, the German command allocated relatively small forces - the 1st battalion of the 1st airborne regiment (I / FJR1) under the command of Major Erich Walter (a total of five companies).

In Denmark, the paratroopers of the 4th company of Captain Walter Gerike were supposed to take possession of the Aalborg airfield, preventing the enemy from using it. Further, the company was ordered to take the bridges across the Storstremmen Strait between the islands of Falster and Zeeland, along which the road from Gesser to Copenhagen passes, as well as the island of Masnedo lying in this strait, where the coastal batteries were located.

Operation "Weserübung" - the capture by the Germans of Denmark and Norway

In Norway, the 3rd company of Lieutenant von Brandis was supposed to capture the Sola airfield near Stavanger - the only air base on the entire western coast of Norway. At the same time, the headquarters and 2nd companies under the command of Major Walter parachuted into the Forneby airfield near Oslo and prepared it to receive landing troops. The 1st company of Lieutenant Herbert Schmidt remained in reserve.

In total, by the beginning of the operation, the Luftwaffe had 571 Ju.52 vehicles. The first wave of landings on April 9, 1940 involved ten air transport groups and four squadrons, which transferred one battalion and two companies of paratroopers. Another airborne battalion and three battalions of conventional infantry were to be landed along with six airfield service companies, an air force headquarters and an infantry regiment headquarters. It was supposed to immediately transfer fighters to the captured airfields, so 168 tons of fuel were unloaded for them in advance.

April 9, 1940: Sola airfield

The landing in Denmark was uneventful and more like maneuvers - the Danish troops preferred not to resist even before receiving the surrender order. Bridges over Storstremmen were quickly captured by paratroopers, landing troops immediately landed at Aalborg airfield.

But in Norway, the Germans immediately stumbled upon stiff resistance. The detachment that attacked the airfield of Sola, troubles began even on the approach. The landing party (a company of paratroopers, the 1st battalion of the 193rd infantry regiment and an anti-aircraft artillery unit, about 800 people in total) were supposed to land two groups of transport vehicles from the 7th squadron of the 1st special air squadron under the cover of twin-engine Messerschmitt vehicles » Bf.110 from the 3rd Squadron of the 76th Heavy Fighter Squadron. But due to dense low clouds, one of the groups with the landing force turned back, and soon the fighters did the same (after two of them collided with each other in the fog and crashed into the water).

As a result, at 09:50 (according to other sources - at 09:20), only twelve Ju.52s reached the target under the cover of a pair of fighters that did not notice the signal from their commander to return. In total, about 150 paratroopers were dropped under the command of Lieutenant von Brandis, but the wind carried part of the paratroopers away from the runway. The defenders of the airfield, under the command of Lieutenant Tur Tangval, resisted fiercely, their firing points were suppressed only by the attack of both heavy fighters. As a result, the losses of the landing force turned out to be relatively small - three killed and about a dozen wounded. Soon the airfield was captured, although some of the strongholds continued to resist.

The airfield team landed together with the landing party prepared the airfield for receiving aircraft in 4 hours, after which the transfer of reinforcements and anti-aircraft artillery began here. In total, 180 transport vehicles landed in Sola on the first day of the operation, two battalions of the 193rd Infantry Regiment, a supply of fuel, ground personnel of the 1st Squadron of the 1st Dive Bomber Group, as well as personnel of the 4th Battery of the 33rd anti-aircraft regiment with 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.

Having occupied the airfield, the paratroopers moved towards Stavanger and captured the city and port without any problems. Soon three German transports entered here, delivering reinforcements and ammunition (including the materiel of three anti-aircraft batteries); the anti-aircraft gunners themselves were deployed a little earlier with the help of seaplanes. Another transport (“Roda”) was intercepted and sunk by the Norwegian destroyer “Aegir” in the morning, after which the destroyer itself was destroyed in Stavanger by an attack by German bombers. A more serious loss for the Germans was the death of the tanker Posidonia, which was on its way here, torpedoed by the British submarine Triton the night before.

By the evening of April 9, 22 Ju.87 dive bombers, as well as 4 long-range Bf.110 fighters, arrived in Sola; 15 He.115 float bombers from the 106th coastal air group splashed down in the harbor of Stavanger. In the shortest possible time, a powerful air group was created here, capable of supporting the amphibious assault forces landed to the north.

April 9: Forneby airfield - a series of surprises

The Norwegian capital Oslo and the Horten naval base, located closer to the mouth of the Oslo Fjord, were to be captured by a combined attack from the sea and from the air. Simultaneously with the landing of the amphibious assault, two parachute companies were thrown into the airfield near Oslo, after which two battalions from the 169th Infantry Division landed here by landing method.

Large forces of the Norwegian army were located in this area - the 1st and 2nd infantry divisions, in full strength numbering about 17,000 soldiers and officers. However, by the beginning of the German invasion, the troops had not yet been mobilized, so their combat power turned out to be much less. But the coastal defense of the Oslo Fjord proved to be very effective - at Drebak, in the narrowest point of the fjord, it sank the heavy cruiser Blucher, which was marching with part of the amphibious assault. Due to the loss of the ship, the naval landing in Oslo was temporarily delayed, and the airborne assault suddenly became the main one.

The actions of the German fleet in the Oslo Fjord on April 9, 1940
Source - A.M. Noskov. Scandinavian foothold in World War II. Moscow: Nauka, 1977

Due to the cloudiness and fog that stood over Northern Germany, 29 Ju.52 transports took off from the Schleswig airfield with a very long delay. On the approach to the Oslo Fjord, one of the cars lagged behind the group and was shot down by Norwegian fighters - the entire crew and 12 paratroopers were killed. At the moment when, according to the plan, paratroopers were supposed to be thrown out, the commander of the 2nd group of the 1st air squadron for special purposes (the first wave of landing), Lieutenant Colonel Drewes, ordered his cars to turn back on their course. The clock was 8:20. Drewes decided not to risk throwing out paratroopers in the fog, but to land them in the Danish Aalborg, already captured by the Germans, and reported this to the command of the 10th Air Corps in Hamburg.

A furious argument flared up in the headquarters of the corps. The commander of the air corps, Lieutenant General Hans Geisler, demanded that an order be given for the return of the second landing wave of the landing force (it started 20 minutes after the first). At the same time, the commander of the army transport aviation, Colonel Karl-August von Gablenz, believed that the operation should be continued: with a sudden landing, even on an airfield that was not occupied by paratroopers, the landing party had a chance of success. In addition, the Aalborg airfield was already packed to capacity, and the landing of new aircraft here could lead to trouble.

After a message came from the Vidder reconnaissance ship in the harbor of Oslo that there was also fog over the Norwegian capital, Goering intervened in the dispute, who personally ordered the return of all the planes. But here the “human factor” came into play. The commander of the 103rd Special Purpose Air Group, Captain Richard Wagner, who led the transport aircraft of the second wave, decided ... to ignore the order. Later, he stated that since he was subordinate to the head of the army transport aviation, he took the order on behalf of the 10th Air Corps for enemy disinformation. The planes were on course, experienced pilots did not lose their bearings, and Wagner decided that his group would cope with the task. The decision turned out to be unexpectedly correct: soon the fog began to dissipate, and then disappeared altogether.

Heavy fighter "Messerschmitt" Bf.110
Source: John Vasco, Fernando Estanislau. The Messerschmitt Bf.110 in color profile. 1939–1945 Schiffer Military History, 2005

Another coincidence was that the eight Bf.110 heavy fighters from the 1st Squadron of the 76th Fighter Squadron under the command of Lieutenant Werner Hansen, who accompanied the second wave, also did not turn off the route and reached Forneby. The airfield was outside the radius of their flight, so the cars could only wait for its capture and land here - the Messerschmitts could no longer return home.

A fighter squadron of the Norwegian Army Aviation was based at the Forneby airfield - seven combat-ready Gladiator biplanes. Having received information about the approach of a large group of enemy aircraft to the capital, five of them took to the air and at 8:37 clashed with Lieutenant Hansen's Messerschmitts. The Norwegians managed to shoot down two "Messerschmitts" and one transport "Junkers", losing only one aircraft in battle. The fact that the German pilots could not conduct a maneuverable battle due to a lack of fuel also played a role. Having reached the Forneby airfield, they managed to storm it once, destroying two fighters stationed here (one of them had just landed after an air battle), after which they went to land.

Almost simultaneously with the fighters, at 9:05 (instead of 8:45 according to plan), transport vehicles began to land on the airfield. The air defense of the airfield was partially suppressed, but still the anti-aircraft machine guns opened fire. His only victim was Captain Wagner, who was flying in the lead aircraft. The Norwegians hurriedly tried to barricade the runway with motor vehicles, but all German transport planes were able to land, although three of them were damaged.

Killed German paratrooper at Forneby airfield

On the ground, resistance was weak, the paratroopers quickly occupied the airfield, the positions of anti-aircraft guns and the mission control center. Soon, the German air attaché, Captain Eberhard Spiller, arrived here from Oslo. By radio, he sent a signal about the occupation of the airfield and readiness to receive the rest of the landing echelons. By noon, about five infantry companies had already landed here - though without heavy weapons, except for captured anti-aircraft guns and machine guns. If the Norwegians had organized a counterattack, they could have caused the Germans big trouble. But the airfield garrison under the command of Captain Munte-Dal retreated to the Akershus fortress and did not show any more initiative.

The command of the Norwegian army and the leadership of the country were demoralized by the news of the landing of the Germans at several points at once. At 09:30, the government and the royal family left the capital, going by car to the center of the country; the gold of the National Bank was also taken here. Around noon on April 9, the first German soldiers appeared on the streets of Oslo, and at 15:30, troops of the invaders, up to a battalion in number, entered here with an orchestra. The Norwegian troops, demoralized by the flight of command and the lack of orders, offered no resistance: in Oslo, the Germans took about 1,300 prisoners, most of whom did not even have weapons (only 300 rifles were captured).

Meanwhile, the Kriegsmarine was still trying to occupy the Norwegian fortifications on the islands and along the shores of the Oslo Fjord. This succeeded only in the evening, after the commander of the fortified area of the Oslo Fjord gave the order to surrender. German ships entered the harbor of Oslo only at 11:45 the next day - more than a day later than it was supposed to be in the operation plan ...

German soldiers on the streets of Oslo, April 1940
Source - History of the Second World War. In 12 volumes. Volume 3. M .: Military Publishing House, 1974

The landings on the airfields of Sola and Forneby were successful and had a serious impact on the general situation in Norway, although relatively small forces were landed from the air - about 2000 soldiers. However, it is easy to see that their success was largely the result of chance, as well as the determination of the German commanders and the apathy of the Norwegian commanders. The total losses of German aircraft in the first day of the Norwegian campaign amounted to 20 vehicles of all types - mainly from accidents and fire from the ground.

April 14: Landing in Dombos

However, the Norwegian operation did not end with the capture of the capital. The government that fled from Oslo offered unexpected and effective resistance to the Germans. On April 11, King Haakon VII removed the commander of the ground forces, Major General Christian Locke, and appointed Inspector General of the Infantry, Colonel Otto Rüge, who was promoted to major general on this occasion, in his place. Rüge had already distinguished himself on the night of April 9-10 by organizing the cover of the road leading from Oslo to Hamar (the Norwegian government went there). It was he who, having gathered scattered groups of soldiers, near Midtskog gave the Germans the first successful battle, during which the German air force aviation attache Spiller, who led the vanguard of the paratroopers, died. And on April 14, the landing of Anglo-French troops (up to 40,000 people) began in Namsus and Harstad, after which the Allies got the impression that Norway could be held. On April 17–19, two British divisions were landed in the Ondalsnes area, on August 29 the allied landing took place in Bodø, and on May 4 in Mu.

In order to separate the Norwegian troops and cut off their grouping, located north of Oslo, from the rest of the forces, the German command decided to land an airborne assault in Dombos. This town lay 250 km from the German positions, halfway from Hamar to Trondheim, where highways and railways from Trondheim, Oslo and Åndalsnes connected. The capture of such an important communications center would have disrupted the coherence of the entire newly created Norwegian defense.

On April 14 at 17:15, fifteen transport "Junkers" from the 2nd group of the 1st special air squadron of Lieutenant Colonel Drewes took off from the Forneby airfield, having on board 168 paratroopers from the 1st company of the 1st parachute regiment under the command of Oberleutnant Herbert Schmidt. But due to bad weather, some of the vehicles could not find landmarks for dropping, in addition, another part of them came under anti-aircraft fire. As a result, one plane was shot down, two crashed during an emergency landing, seven returned to Forneby, three more landed in Trondheim, and one sat down in Sweden due to damage. Only six vehicles were able to drop the paratroopers, but in the wrong place eight kilometers south of the city.

Haakon VII, King of Norway from 1905 to 1957. Photo from 1915
Source - flickr.com

In the dark forest, covered with snow, it was very difficult for paratroopers to find each other. By the morning of April 15, only 63 people had gathered, including two officers (one of them was Lieutenant Schmidt). The rest of the paratroopers got lost, some of them were captured. Schmidt's detachment saddled the highway five kilometers from Dombos and blew up the railway track leading to Lillehammer and further to Oslo. He could no longer do anything more, although it was here that incredible luck could smile at the paratroopers. The fact is that it was on April 14 that King Haakon VII and the commander-in-chief, Major General Ryge, for security reasons, decided to move from Hamar to Ondalsnes, where the Allied landing was being prepared. The royal convoy miraculously did not fall into the hands of the enemy: just a few kilometers from the landing site of the Germans, the king was warned by local children who reported that they had seen parachutes in the sky, and people in unfamiliar uniforms on the highway.

The Norwegians threw the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Infantry Regiment against the paratroopers. Despite the multiple superiority in forces and the presence of mortars, he acted extremely indecisively. The Germans retreated step by step to the south, leaving the blows, and on April 18 they were even able to receive ammunition and supplies dropped from the air. Only on April 19 did the Norwegians finally manage to surround them in a mountain hollow, after which the surviving 34 paratroopers, led by the seriously wounded Schmidt, laid down their arms.

May: paratroopers in the battles for Narvik

More in this campaign, the Germans did not land airborne assaults, although such plans existed. On May 30, Hitler ordered the dispatch to Northern Norway of parts of the 7th Airborne Division, which had been released after the end of hostilities in Holland. Now it was supposed to be used in a new operation to capture Narvik, left on May 28 under the onslaught of British troops. The operation received the code designation "Naumburg". For its implementation, two parachute battalions and about a thousand mountain shooters who underwent airborne training were allocated. However, the need for the operation soon disappeared due to the withdrawal of the allies from Narvik (June 8).

Transport "Junkers" drops paratroopers near Narvik, May 30, 1940
Source: Chris McNab. Fallschirmjager. Nemecti vysadkari

Nevertheless, the airborne paratroopers nevertheless took part in the battles for Narvik - as reinforcements to the mountain rangers of Lieutenant General Dietl who fought here. The German troops, who landed in Narvik from destroyers on April 9, were blocked by the Allied landing and found themselves in a desperate situation. Five thousand soldiers, loudly referred to as the "Narvik" group of troops, were actually surrounded, communication with them was maintained only by air. To reinforce the Dietl group, it was decided to use paratroopers sent on transport Junkers and seaplanes. On April 13, one seaplane delivered ammunition to Dietl's people, and three Ju.52s that landed on the ice of Lake Hartwig delivered a battery of mountain artillery.

German paratroopers in the mountains near Narvik
Source: Chris McNab. Fallschirmjager. Nemecti vysadkari

On May 8, two flying boats that landed in Rumbaks Fjord delivered 36 reinforcements. On May 14, 60 paratroopers were dropped off Narvik, on May 15, another 22, on May 17, another 60. On May 20, 12 soldiers and 2 officers were delivered to Rumbaks Fjord by seaplanes. On May 22, an entire airborne company jumped out with parachutes near Narvik, the next day - a company of mountain rangers who had specially completed a course of parachute training. From May 24 to May 30, the parachute battalion of Captain Walter was landed here, and another mountain gun was delivered (on a flying boat).

Operation results

For the entire Norwegian campaign, transport Ju.52s made 3018 sorties, transported 29,280 people, 1,177 tons of fuel and 2,376 tons of other cargo to Norway. At the same time, only a small part of people and cargo was intended for dropping with parachutes. In general, the airborne troops proved to be a kind of "surgical tool" - an effective, dangerous, but very fragile and unreliable tool. The niche of their application in practice turned out to be quite narrow, and success each time depended on a huge number of accidents and the determination of individuals - from a general to a soldier.

Sources and literature:

S. V. Patyanin. Blitzkrieg in Western Europe: Norway, Denmark. M.: AST, 2004
A. Gove. Attention skydivers! M.: Publishing house of foreign literature, 1957
B. Quarry, M. Chappel. German paratroopers, 1939-1945. M.: AST, Astrel, 2003
Marine Atlas. Volume III. Part two. Descriptions for cards. General Staff of the Navy, 1966
Wings of the Luftwaffe. Warplanes of the Third Reich. Part one: Arado - Dornier (Series: History of aviation technology. Supplement to the technical information bulletin, issue No. 4). M.: TsAGI, 1994
Chris McNab. Fallschirmjager. Nemecti vysadkari. Prague: Svojtla & Co, 2003
I. M. Baxter, R. Volstad. Fallschirmjuger. German Paratroopers from Glory to Defeat 1939–1945. Concord Publishing, 2001 (Concord 6505)
Chris Ailsby. Hitler's Sky Warriors. German Paratroopers in Action 1939–1945. London: Brown Partworks Ltd, 2000

“The paratroopers guess that the order to send to Russia is imminent. Soon they leave the barracks and go to the nearest airfield. The Junkers are already waiting for them. This is not a landing operation, but simply a transfer to Konigsberg, the capital of East Prussia. After a brief stop transport planes will deliver them to Shlisselburg.

The Soviet units manage to hold one bridgehead on the right bank of the Neva, where they clung to the terrain. “We must definitely take this bridgehead,” they say to Major Shtenzler, as soon as the 2nd battalion of the assault regiment arrives at the front.
And the paratroopers immediately enter the battle. The main enemy foothold is the village of Petroshino. The Russian defense can be broken very quickly. But the enemy immediately vigorously counterattacks, and the paratroopers are forced to retreat and return to their original positions. “We attack again,” Stenzler decides.
His paratroopers again take possession of the area already once conquered, and then given away. They are surrounded by hostile nature, there are only swamps and forests and it is very difficult to advance.
Six days and nights without respite will fight the 2nd battalion. Outcome is terrible. Of the 24 officers of the battalion, 21 were disabled - killed or wounded. Major Shtenzler himself will receive a bullet wound in the head and on October 19 he will die in a hospital in Tilsit, where he will be taken in a hopeless condition.
The almost completely defeated 2nd Battalion nevertheless completed its task. But only a small number of surviving paratroopers from the assault regiment had a chance to celebrate the victory.

Now a unit is commanded by a battalion doctor, and in each company there are only a few dozen soldiers under the command of non-commissioned officers, mostly sergeants. But the surviving soldiers from Stenzler's battalion learn that now they will not be alone in the Neva sector.
- Your comrades, - tell them, - the paratroopers of the 7th aviation division of General Petersen, will join you on the Leningrad front.
- Soon the cold will begin, but our paratroopers have endured the sun of Crete and will not be afraid of the Russian winter, - says General Breuer.

Captain Knoche takes advantage of the respite to gather his dead between the lines and bury them. Special squads are engaged in this sinister business, but they are often fired upon.
Knoche himself participates in such expeditions. He wants at all costs to find the body of his officer - Lieutenant Alex Dick. He was from a German family living in Russia, born in St. Petersburg, where he was interned as a child during the First World War. Now his body will rest on the banks of the Neva, a few tens of kilometers from his hometown, which has become Leningrad.

But soon an invaluable ally, winter, comes to the aid of the Soviet soldiers. The Neva and Lake Ladoga are covered with ice, and the Russians can now bring reinforcements and food across this vast expanse of ice.
“The morale of the Russians has risen, Mr. Captain,” says Sergeant Major Stolz Knoche. - Sergeant Chancellor and I can continue to seduce them, but they don't show up anymore. In vain we promise them bread, potatoes and even vodka, it doesn't work anymore.
Now in front of the German paratroopers are Soviet soldiers in white winter camouflage, well armed and equipped. They are not from Central Asia, but from Siberia, and their morale was not affected by the defeats that the Red Army suffered in the first months of the war.
The equipment of their opponents is slightly improved. German paratroopers receive headphones, warm underwear, and fur-lined boots. They never had a shortage of food and shells.
However, winter begins to cruelly pester them. The weather is bad. The days are getting shorter and the nights longer. Their positions are fired upon both night and day. The Russians have installed rocket launchers that make a deafening noise, the Germans call them "Stalin's organs".

While many German paratroopers were fighting on the Neva sector between Leningrad and Lake Ladoga in Army Group North, other paratroopers were in Army Group Center, on the way to Moscow.
So, for example, support units of the 7th Aviation Division are the machine-gun battalion of paratroopers of Captain Werner Schmidt, called MG-Schmidt, and several companies of the anti-aircraft battalion of Major Bayer. However, these two battalions go to the Eastern Front in a scattered order, and their companies are distributed in different sectors, sometimes very far from each other.

Jacques Mabire: "War in the White Hell. German Paratroopers on the Eastern Front 1941 - 1945"

The unusual nature of airborne operations dictated the development of the necessary specialized equipment, which in turn led to the expansion of the possibilities of military art in general.

The operations of the German paratroopers in World War II presented contradictory requirements for weapons and equipment. On the one hand, paratroopers needed high firepower, which they could demonstrate in battle in order to act decisively and with maximum efficiency, but, on the other hand, the arsenal available to them
was limited by the extremely low carrying capacity of landing equipment - both aircraft, parachutes and gliders.

During the landing operation, the paratrooper jumped from the plane practically unarmed, except for a pistol and additional bandoliers. When the paratroopers were introduced into battle by glider landing, the capacity and aerodynamic characteristics of the Gotha DFS-230 gliders dictated their limitations - the aircraft could accommodate 10 people and 275 kg of equipment.
This contradiction has never been overcome, especially in the part that concerns field artillery pieces and anti-aircraft guns. However, German companies with powerful technical resources, such as the Rheinmetall and Krupp concerns, found many innovative solutions to the problems associated with the mobility and shock firepower of parachute units. On the ground, it was often difficult to distinguish the equipment of paratroopers from that adopted in the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, however, specialized weapons did appear, and it not only increased the combat potential of paratroopers, but also influenced the development of military equipment and weapons in the coming half of the 20th century.

Outfit

Protective clothing is very important for someone who is skydiving, and for skydivers it began with high, ankle-covering boots. They had thick rubber soles that were very comfortable, though not suitable for long walks, and provided good traction on the floor inside the aircraft fuselage (because they did not use the large shoe nails commonly found on the kind of shoes supplied to soldiers of other branches of the military). Initially, the lacing was on the sides to avoid snagging with parachute lines, but it was gradually figured out that this was not necessary, and after operations in Crete in 1941, manufacturers began to supply paratroopers with boots with traditional lacing.

Over the combat uniform, the paratroopers wore a waterproof tarpaulin overalls up to the hips. It has undergone various improvements and was designed to provide additional protection against moisture when jumping, and was also more suitable for putting on a suspension system.

Since landing has always been one of the most risky stages of a skydiver's jump, his uniform was supplied with special knee and elbow pads. The trousers of the combat uniform set had small slits on the sides at the level of the knees, into which tarpaulin thickenings lined with vegetable fluff were inserted. Additional protection was given by external "shock absorbers" made of leather-covered porous rubber, which were fixed with straps or ties. (Both the thickenings and the jumpsuit itself were usually disposed of after landing, although the overalls were sometimes left to put on a harness over it.) The trousers had a small pocket just above the level of the knees, in which an important sling knife was placed for the paratrooper.

Sling cutter Fliegerkappmesser - FKM

1 - Helmet M38
2 - Jumping blouse with a "comminuted" pattern with sleeve insignia
3 - Trousers M-37
4 - Gas mask M-38 in canvas bag
5 - 9 mm MP-40 SMG
6 - Magazine pouches for MP-40 on the belt
7 - Flask
8 - Bread bag M-31
9 - Folding shovel
10 - Binoculars Ziess 6x30
11 - Boots

As the war picked up pace, paratrooper uniforms took on more and more distinctive features of the uniforms of ground forces soldiers. This well-worn soldier, however, still wears his special paratrooper helmet, by which the paratroopers were easily recognized among other German units.

Probably the most important piece of protective gear. indispensable for both jumping and combat was a specific landing helmet. In general, it was an ordinary helmet of a German infantryman. but without a visor and falling down fields that protected the ears and neck, equipped with a shock-absorbing balaclava and firmly fixing it on the fighter's head with a chin strap.

German airborne helmet

Parachute helmet liner

Scheme of the device of the German landing helmet

Since in most cases paratroopers had to fight for quite a long time without being able to get supplies, the ability to carry a large amount of additional ammunition was considered important for them.

German paratrooper with bandolier

The paratrooper bandolier of a special design had 12 pockets connected in the center with a canvas strap that was thrown over the neck, and the bandolier itself hung over the chest so that the fighter had access to the pockets on both sides. The bandolier allowed the paratrooper to carry about 100 cartridges for the Kag-98k rifle, which should have been enough for him until the next drop of equipment or the arrival of reinforcements. Later in the war, bandoliers appeared with four large pockets, which contained up to four magazines for the FG-42 rifle.

Parachutes

The first parachute that entered service with the German paratroopers was the RZ-1 forced-opening backpack parachute. Commissioned by the Department of Technical Equipment of the Ministry of Aviation in 1937, the RZ-1 had a dome with a diameter of 8.5 m and an area of 56 square meters. meters. When developing this means of landing, the Italian Salvatore model was taken as the basis, in which the parachute strands converged at one point and from it, with a V-shaped braid, were attached to the belt at the waist of the paratrooper with two half rings. An unfortunate consequence of this design was that the parachutist hung from the lines in an absurdly inclined position facing the ground - this also led to the technique of making a head-first jump from the aircraft in order to reduce the impact of the jerk when opening the parachute. The design was noticeably inferior to the Irwin parachute, which was used by Allied paratroopers and Luftwaffe pilots and which allowed a person to be in an upright position, being supported by four vertical straps. Among other things, such a parachute could be controlled by pulling up the supporting lines of the suspension system, which made it possible to turn into the wind and control the direction of descent. Unlike the paratroopers of most other countries, the German paratrooper could not have any influence on the behavior of the parachute, since he could not even reach the straps behind him.

Another drawback of the RZ-1 was the four buckles that the paratrooper had to unfasten in order to free himself from the parachute, which, unlike the similar kind of Allied products, was not equipped with a quick release system. In practice, this meant that the skydiver was often dragged along the ground by the wind while he made desperate efforts to quickly unfasten the buckles. In such situations, it would be easier to cut the parachute lines. To this end, since 1937, every paratrooper had a "kappmesser" (knife-strop cutter), which was stored in a special pocket of combat uniform trousers. The blade was hidden in the handle and opened by simply turning it down and pressing the latch, after which the blade would fall into place under the influence of gravity. This meant that the knife could be used with one hand, making it an essential item in a paratrooper kit.
The RZ-1 was followed in 1940 by the RZ-16, which featured a slightly improved suspension system and hauling technique. Meanwhile, the RZ-20, which entered service in 1941, remained the main parachute until the end of the war. One of its main advantages was a simpler buckle system, which at the same time was based on the same problematic Salvatore design.

Quick release buckle system on a German parachute RZ20

German parachute RZ-36

Later, another parachute was produced, the RZ-36, which, however, found only limited use during the operation in the Ardennes. The triangular shape of the RZ-36 helped control the "pendulum swing" typical of previous parachutes.
The imperfection of the RZ series parachutes could not but slip into the effectiveness of landing operations carried out with their use, especially with regard to injuries received during landing, as a result of which the number of fighters capable of taking part in hostilities after landing was reduced.

German landing containers

German container for landing equipment

During airborne operations, almost all weapons and supplies were dropped in containers. Prior to Operation Mercury, there were three sizes of containers, with the smaller ones used to transport heavier military supplies, such as, say, ammunition, and the larger ones for larger, but lighter ones. After Crete, these containers were standardized - length 4.6 m, diameter 0.4 m and cargo weight 118 kg. To protect the contents of the container, it had a corrugated iron bottom, which collapsed on impact and acted as a shock absorber. In addition, the loads were laid with rubber or felt, and the containers themselves were supported in a predetermined position by suspension or placed inside other containers.

Dug out of the ground landing containers

A platoon of 43 people needed 14 containers. If there was no need to open the container immediately, it could be carried by the handles (four in all) or rolled on a trolley with rubber wheels included with each container. One version was a bomb-shaped container, used for light cargo that was difficult to damage. They were dropped from aircraft like conventional bombs and, although equipped with a drag parachute, did not have a shock absorber system.

German landing equipment container found in the river by black diggers

The unusual nature of airborne operations dictated the development of the necessary specialized equipment, which in turn led to the expansion of the possibilities of military art in general.

Outfit

Sling cutter Fliegerkappmesser - FKM

German airborne helmet

Parachute helmet liner

Scheme of the device of the German landing helmet

Since in most cases paratroopers had to fight for quite a long time without being able to get supplies, the ability to carry a large amount of additional ammunition was considered important for them.

German paratrooper with bandolier

Parachutes

Quick release buckle system on a German parachute RZ20

German parachute RZ-36

German landing containers

German container for landing equipment

Dug out of the ground landing containers

German landing equipment container found in the river by black diggers

In the modern world, offensive operations after artillery preparation, as a rule, are carried out with the help of dropping airborne troops from aircraft. The Germans carried out the first such operation "Mercury" during the Great Patriotic War, dropping it in 1941 during the capture of the island of Crete. But what should have been a triumph suddenly turned into a tragedy.

Capture Crete

In the spring of 1941, when there were still a few months left before the attack on the Soviet Union, Hitler's headquarters increasingly began to talk about the need to help allied Italy in its actions in Africa and southern Europe. As a result, the Germans decided to conduct a military operation in Africa. But soon after it began, they realized that it was not at all easy to fight on another continent. It was not so much the resistance to the Wehrmacht troops of the African states and the opposition of the British, but the lack of a reliable rear. Constant shortages of fuel, ammunition and provisions were felt literally every day. German caravans going to Africa sank English ships. At the same time, the main base of the British fleet in the Mediterranean Sea was the island of Crete. He had to be taken, no matter what. To solve this problem, the Fuhrer was offered to arrange not a sea, but an airborne assault to capture the island. Hitler was skeptical about this proposal, but after much persuasion, he agreed.

Doomed landing

It was assumed that the manpower of the 7th Parachute Division would be thrown into Crete. Moreover, this was not the first such operation among the Germans. Previously, the forces of this 7th division captured objects in Norway, Holland and Belgium. But, the Germans have not yet carried out such a large-scale landing. About 10,000 paratroopers were supposed to fall on the heads of the defenders of Crete with lightning speed. Additionally, a landing force consisting of 7,000 people was supposed to be landed from the sea. The Germans did not even have enough aircraft to carry out such a large-scale operation. The landing was to be delivered to the island in three visits. Crete was defended, according to German intelligence, only 5,000 British. According to preliminary calculations, they could not hold out even one hour. The Germans thought so. In reality, the island was garrisoned by 40,000 well-trained soldiers and officers. This fact dramatically changed the balance of power in the event of an air-sea attack on the island. Moreover, British intelligence learned the plans for Operation Mercury a few days before it began and managed to thoroughly prepare. The landing turned into a real massacre. Air defense guns of the island hit the planes, and paratroopers were mowed down from machine guns. In addition, the paratroopers, in fact, were unarmed. Each of them had only a knife and a gun. They should have received machine guns and machine guns already on the ground from boxes of weapons dropped simultaneously with the landing. Of course, they couldn't do this. Of the 10,000 thousand paratroopers, only 6,000 made it to the ground alive. But a sad fate awaited them. The English troops surrounded them and pressed them against the rocks to throw them into the sea.

Deadly Attack

However, the Germans did not accept defeat. Jaegers and amphibious assault forces were thrown onto the island to help the remnants of the paratroopers who were standing still. Junkers with rangers brazenly landed right on the English airfield. They were shot. The planes were on fire, but huntsmen jumped out of them under the bullets and instantly joined the battle. At the cost of incredible losses, the Germans literally miraculously captured the airfield. The transfer of reinforcements from the continent began. Despite the numerical superiority, the British are forced to retreat, and evacuate from the island a day later. The operation ended, as planned, with the victory of the Nazis. But the price paid for it was too high. Of the 22,000 people who stormed Crete, 6,500 died. During the day, 500 German planes flew towards the island, of which 270 were shot down or burned on the ground. Hitler was furious, but he could not do anything ...