What is depicted on the belt buckle of the German paratroopers. Airborne troops of the Wehrmacht: paratroopers without parachutes. Successes of Count von Blucher

Airborne troops of the Wehrmacht more than other military structures Nazi Germany covered in myths. About airborne assaults Eastern Front mentioned in both fiction and non-fiction books. In films about the Great Patriotic War, massed German parachute landings are repeatedly shown.

And although at the present time there are enough sources to learn about the real activities of the Wehrmacht paratroopers, the myths about the whole airborne armada in german army are still distributed to a wide audience.

Large airborne operation in World War II, Germany was carried out only once. In 1941 in Crete. Before that, there were several more operations in Norway, Belgium, Greece. According to early Soviet sources, three divisions landed on Crete by parachute and two divisions by landing. But in fact, the entire operation was carried out by the forces of a single German 7th aviation division. The division had three parachute regiments, and Soviet historians, perhaps they simply confused regiments with divisions. Moreover, a landing assault on Crete was also planned by the forces of the 5th mountain infantry division, in which there were just two regiments.

The airborne troops of the Wehrmacht consisted of one division, for landing by parachute - it was the 7th aviation, and one division for landing by landing - the 22nd airborne. The 22nd Division differed from conventional infantry formations in that the personnel were trained to quickly leave transport aircraft after landing. And when the 22nd division was unable to take part in the landing on Crete, it was easily replaced by another one that happened to be nearby.

Especially for the Crete operation, an assault landing regiment was formed, whose personnel were to land from gliders. After Crete, the regiment fought as ordinary infantry. For the planned capture of the island of Malta in 1942, the 1st Parachute Brigade was formed, but she had to fight in North Africa as a regular infantry.

Airborne landings have never been used on the Soviet-German front. The 7th Aviation Division was indeed sent to the Eastern Front after recovering from losses in Crete, but also fought as ordinary infantry.

The history of the German parachute troops does not end there. Since 1943, eleven parachute divisions have been formed, fighting on all fronts.

But the peculiarity of all these units, formations and even associations was that no one planned to land them. Their appearance was due to the presence in the German air force of a large number of unused personnel, due to huge losses in aircraft. And at the front, infantry was needed, which was not enough. It would be reasonable to transfer the released people to the ground forces, but the commander of the Luftwaffe Goering wanted to have his own ground army.

First, airfield divisions were formed from airfield technicians, signalmen, security guards, and anti-aircraft gunners, which turned out to be completely incapable of combat. But negative experience with avifield divisions did not cancel Goering's idea, and the formation of new formations began, which were called parachute, more precisely parachute-chasseurs. This name did not speak of the possibility of landing, but that they were organizationally part of the Luftwaffe. They were not limited to infantry, and even parachute-tank and parachute-motorized divisions were formed.

The first divisions were formed on the basis of the already existing ones: the 7th division, the 1st parachute brigade, the assault regiment and other separate units, and could be considered elite formations. At the front, these divisions performed well, which was also appreciated by the enemy. The rest of the formations were already formed from a very different contingent and did not belong to the elite in terms of their level.

In 1944, a parachute army was formed to fight on the Western Front. But, unlike the Anglo-American 1st Airborne Army, which carried out strategic airborne landings, the German Fallschirm-Armee fought only on the ground. And this army included a variety of formations and units, both parachute and conventional field troops.

In the Second World War, the Wehrmacht formally created parachute troops, second only to the Soviet ones in terms of numbers. But they had nothing to do with real airborne troops. They did not have any special equipment and weapons, there was no military transport aviation, and there were not even parachutes.

Introduction.

I. 1. The origin of the Wehrmacht.

2. Appearance and formation of landing units.

II. 1. Preparation.

2. Equipment.

A. Parachutes and gliders. The scheme of the jump of paratroopers.

B. Airplanes.

B. Weapons and personal equipment.

III. Fighting in 1939-1940

1. Poland, Norway and Denmark.

2. Belgium and Holland; Greece.

IV. Landing on Crete.

1. Alignment of forces.

2. Landing paratroopers.

3. Disembarkation of rangers.

4. The final phase.

V. The results and significance of the Crete operation.

VI. Bibliography.

INTRODUCTION.

“Our shirts are thin, our blood is wild, we are not afraid of the enemy and death” - these are the words of the patriotic “Song of the Parachutist” by Friedrich Schaefer, which was printed in Germany during the war even on postcards, clearly show the admiration of the nation for the feats of arms of German paratroopers, their role in Nazi propaganda military power. Indeed, in the Wehrmacht, paratroopers became a model of combat training, courage and stamina, inscribing more than one bright page in the history of the Second World War.

I'm generally interested in military history. And the Wehrmacht, in my opinion, left a noticeable mark on it. This is one of the greatest military vehicles in military history. Being a model of discipline, training, stamina, fighting to the very end, the Wehrmacht was an almost perfect military machine. Their middle command level was the best in the world, the soldiers are well trained and well armed. And the more I feel a sense of pride for my ancestors who managed to stop this death machine. After all, it was Russia that broke the back of Nazi Germany. And no historian can prove to me that the Allied landings in Normandy played any significant role. Who opposed the Americans and the British in the West? Untrained youths and old men and elite divisions were all in the East trying to stop the Russians.

Now they say that the Russians defeated a weak enemy, that the Germans fought very ineptly, sending their soldiers in frontal attacks on fortified positions, under machine guns. This is the impression that can be formed after watching our films about the war. It remains to be wondered why our army fiddled with the Germans for so long. I would like to dispel this myth a little. This essay tells about the German paratroopers, reveals their training, equipment and several major operations. At the end - the crown of German landing operations - landing on Crete. More than 10 thousand people took part in the landing. Even during the landing, half were killed or wounded. Around many times superior enemy forces. Ordinary troops would have surrendered under such circumstances, but not the German paratroopers ... They dug in and began to resist fiercely, from time to time attacking just as fiercely. And in the end, their fanaticism, aggressiveness and comprehensive training took over the British. The paratroopers held out until reinforcements approached and completely defeated the enemy.

A typical example of the quality of German paratroopers: Max Schmeling, nicknamed "Siegfird", a two-time heavyweight boxing world champion in 1930-32, landed in the forefront on Crete. He successfully passed through the whole war and after it became an entrepreneur 1 .

And although after Crete there were no more large landing operations (it is for this reason that I do not write about the further participation of paratroopers in the war), nevertheless, what they managed to do makes them almost heroes. Yes, namely heroes, although they are Nazis. In my opinion, the Wehrmacht, for the most part, was not infected with the ideas of Nazism. His officers honestly performed their duty and it was not their fault that they were on the side of the losers. I'm not trying to idealize the Germans as some kind of knights. I just want to say that I feel admiration for them, about the same as our ancestors who fought against them.

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I .1. THE ORIGIN OF THE WEHRMACHT. 2

Wehrmacht (“Wehrmacht”, from “Wehr” - weapons, defense and “Macht” - strength) - the armed forces of Nazi Germany in 1935-1945. The basis for the creation and deployment of the Wehrmacht was the Reichswehr, renamed after the introduction on March 16, 1935 of universal military service. According to the "Law on the construction of the Wehrmacht", the number of divisions was to increase to 36, and the total number land army reach 500 thousand people.

Headed the Wehrmacht Supreme High Command the German Armed Forces (OKW), which was subordinate to the ground forces, air force, and navy. The OKW included: the operational department (A. Jodl), military intelligence and counterintelligence - Abwehr (V. Canaris), the economic department, which was in charge of supplying and arming the army

(G. Thomas) and general purpose management. W. Keitel was the chief of staff of the OKW. Another supreme military body was the OKH - the command of the ground forces (V. Brauchitsch,

F. Halder, F. Paulus). Commander of the Air Force (Luftwaffe) -

G. Goering. Navy (Kriegsmarine) - E. Raeder. But the most important were the OKW and OKH, which, in fact, competed with each other. Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler was the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht.

On the eve of World War II, the Wehrmacht numbered 3 million people; its maximum strength was 11 million (December 1943).

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I.2. APPEARANCE AND FORMATION OF AIRBOARDING UNITS.

The German military command was interested in the possibility of combat use of the airborne forces from the mid-30s. The locomotive for the creation of paratroopers was Field Marshal Goering, commander of the Air Force. The capabilities inherent in the new kind of troops were perfectly suited for the strategy of "blitzkrieg": conducting lightning offensive operations with the massive use of tanks to break through enemy defenses. The task of the paratroopers was to quickly capture strategically important objects: bridges, communication centers, fortified points, etc.

An additional impetus for the creation of such units was the famous Kyiv exercises of 1935, when, in front of stunned observers from around the world, including Germany, the Soviet Airborne Forces landed 2,500 people. It is worth adding that the German command, forced to start from scratch when forming the Wehrmacht, was free from inert ideas about the conduct of a modern war, unlike other countries except the USSR.

The formation of the Airborne Forces began simultaneously, both in the ground units and in the Air Force. On September 1, 1935, a special elite police detachment from Goering's guard was sent to the city of Altengrabow, where the 1st parachute regiment was being staffed. It was headed by Major (later Colonel) Bruno Brauer. Many fighters received serious combat training in the Spanish civil war, as part of the Condor Legion. The selection for the regiment itself was very cruel: 1 person out of 3 candidates. This system continued until 1940. OKH, in turn, created a battalion of paratroopers in the spring of 1936. Unlike the paratroopers of the Air Force, who had only rifles, they were armed with heavy machine guns and mortars. Major Richard Heidrich became commander, later major general.

Severe physical and shooting training, the imperfection of the parachute system, numerous trams during landing and even deaths as a result of non-opening of the parachute contributed to the creation of informal relations between officers and soldiers, a special atmosphere of belonging to special units and the strengthening of morale in general.

Officially, the Airborne Forces were "legalized" by decree of the Minister of Aviation E. Milch and with the blessing of Goering on January 29, 1936. In the same year, they announced admission to the parachute school in Stendal. However, at that time, German military thought had not yet fully decided on the concept of using paratroopers. The staff of the Air Force wanted to use them to capture enemy airfields at the beginning of the war, as well as for sabotage. The OKH believed that the Airborne Forces should also be used as ordinary infantry. To this end, they must be landed behind enemy lines in large formations, thereby placing the enemy between two fires. In general, both points of view prevailed, which was the reason for the bilateral preparation.

In 1938, Major General Kurt Student, the future commander of the Airborne Forces, a former flight training inspector of the Luftwaffe, received an order to form large units of the Airborne Forces. By September 1939, such a unit was created, although not fully staffed - the 27th air division, its commander was K. Student. For this reason, another landing unit, the Heidrich battalion, participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Based on this experience, this battalion was transferred to the Air Force, with the renaming of the 2nd Parachute Regiment, with the same commander. Almost all parts of the Airborne Forces were transferred to the Air Force, which will play a disservice to the paratroopers in the future, since the conduct of ground operations requires close coordination with the ground forces, and cannot be carried out only by the forces of the Luftwaffe alone. At the same time, another important element of the Airborne Forces, the airborne (glider) units, remained under the command of the army. The pilots of these gliders were ordinary infantrymen trained to fly gliders.

Thus, by the spring of 1940, after comprehensive training, the Wehrmacht had at its disposal two divisions: the 7th Aviation and the 22nd Infantry. The latter was, in fact, an ordinary infantry formation, trained and equipped for airlift. Yes, and it was intended to quickly strengthen the first wave of landing in the event of the capture and retention of paratroopers in the hands of sites suitable for landing.

II.1. PREPARATION.

Great importance was attached to the training of German paratroopers in the skills of parachute jumps. Insufficiently developed and primitive equipment for jumping made it necessary for especially thorough training of personnel. The main techniques, in particular landing, were practiced during long-term sports training. These trainings, together with the study of the parachute, amounted to First stage training of a fighter, after which a course of studying materiel and training in laying a parachute began. In the future, the soldier began training in making a jump from a mock-up aircraft, and also studied foreign samples of materiel. By the time this part was completed, the cadets were required to fully master the skills of handling a parachute.

At first, both soldiers and officers trained together, according to identical standards, and subsequently classes for officers became much more complicated. Much attention was paid to the development of initiative among the private rank and file, since the complete failure of all officers and non-commissioned officers in battle was not ruled out. Under these conditions, the private had to actively act at his own discretion.

After this stage, the paratroopers are sent to a school near Stendal to complete parachute training - jumps were made from real aircraft from a height of a maximum of 200 meters. A paratrooper was one who completed at least 6 jumps and completed a special training course. The first jump was carried out alone from a height of 180 meters. Others were group and produced from lower and lower altitudes. The course was crowned by a jump of a platoon (36 people) from a height of less than 120 meters. Upon completion of the landing, the group proceeded to carry out a tactical training task. To confirm qualifications, an annual recertification was required. Unfortunately, by 1944, these standards had to be changed, due to the changing nature of the tasks of the paratroopers and their numbers. Any soldier who jumped with a parachute at least once began to be considered a paratrooper.

II.2. EQUIPMENT.

A. LANDING EQUIPMENT.

German soldiers used domestic parachutes, very simple in design - RZ. In early 1940, improved RZ16 parachutes entered service. The reason was the constant reports of dangerous swaying in the air and intermittent failures in deployment, quite often leading to tragedy. The RZ16 was widely used, and the last mass-produced parachute was the RZ20 released in 1941.

The culture of making parachutes in Germany was not as high as in England or the USA, so their primitive design did not allow them to be controlled in the air. In addition, the fighter descended at high speed and could easily be injured. By the way, reserve parachutes were not provided.

The white dome of the parachute (in Crete they were already used with camouflage coloring) had a length of 8.5 meters and consisted of 28 parts. The folded dome was placed in a cloth bag, the top of the dome was connected to its neck with a thin sling, and the bag itself was rigidly connected to a halyard - a piece of braid with a carabiner at the end. No rings were provided for pulling out - the bag with the halyard was torn off the parachute and it opened due to a strong jerk at the moment the halyard was completely unwound.

Another means of landing was a glider. The main model was DFS230. Invented in 1937. It was piloted by one person, in the landing - 8-9 people. It was delivered to the target in tow Ju52, after which they were unhooked and they planned for the target. In order to dampen the speed near the ground, a brake parachute was issued. He had a glider and weapons - 1 machine gun, MG15. As the war progressed, the Air Force saw fit to replace it with a more advanced model. They became Go 242. He carried 21 paratroopers on board, and was also supplied with a braking parachute. For protection, there were 4 MG 15s, in addition, the paratroopers could shoot from personal weapons through the windows in the cargo compartment. During operation, the glider was equipped with 2 engines, thereby saving them from towing aircraft. This model was used from 1942 until the end of the war.

In preparation for the failed landing in England, paratroopers were supposed to be used to capture key points. But they, according to analysts, lacked heavy weapons to securely hold a bridgehead. In order to deliver such weapons, a giant glider was developed - Me 321, weighing 40 tons. It could carry an 88 mm anti-aircraft gun with a tractor and a main german tank T-IV or up to 200 troops. This glider was flown by two pilots. In addition to them, there were 2 gunners, a radio operator and a loading technician. The takeoff was carried out with the help of 8 rocket boosters and a bunch of three Me 110 fighters. This bulky and clumsy bunch required fantastic skill from the crews. Catastrophes during the tests followed one after another, and the list of victims exceeded well over a hundred (during one takeoff, 129 people died - the crews of the glider and tugboats, plus 120 landing personnel) 3 . Fortunately, their use as landing craft was abandoned, but as a transport glider, the Me 321 was used in Africa and near Stalingrad. Given the difficulties during takeoff, it was equipped with 6 motors, which also made it possible to do without tugs.

The real revolution was the Fa 223, the first Nazi helicopter. It could carry 12 people and a mountain gun. Unfortunately (or fortunately), since the model was found to be unstable in the air, it was never used in a real combat situation.

There were many more magnificent models of gliders and towing aircraft, but none of them were completed to the end - Germany simply did not have enough time.

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SCHEME OF A PARACHUTE JUMP.

During the flight in the Yu-52, the main landing aircraft, which will be discussed below, 12 or 18 people were sitting inside the cargo compartment facing each other. When approaching the landing area, the issuer gave the order to stand up and line up along the fuselage. At the same time, the fighters clamped the end of the exhaust halyard in their teeth so that their hands remained free. After the appropriate order, the paratroopers hooked the hooks of the carbine to the longitudinal beam. The carbine moved freely along it, as the fighter approached the exit from the aircraft. Having approached the door, the parachutist spread his legs wide, with both hands he took hold of the handrails on both sides of the door and abruptly threw himself head down (this maneuver was practiced for quite a long time in training). When the tether was unwound to its full length (9 meters), the weight of the soldier and the momentum created by the opposite movement of the aircraft made him abruptly tear out the contents of the satchel, opening the neck valves. In the ongoing fall, the bag with the parachute dome jumped out - at this moment the small clasp that held the bag together with the parachute came off and the bag was pulled off the parachute with a halyard. They remained hanging in the door of the aircraft, and the spirally coiled lines continued to unwind after the canopy was completely filled with air. All this time, the fighter was flying to the ground upside down and only the straightened lines sharply “pulled” him to the normal position, which was accompanied by a rather sensitive jerk.

This method of opening a parachute was very different from that adopted in the British and Soviet Airborne Forces, and was recognized by them as quite primitive, especially if we compare the force of impact when opening a parachute. Besides, head-down diving was not bravado, but a necessary element. If the fighter, during the opening of the parachute, were in a horizontal position, then a jerk in the waist area would “break” him (head to feet) with very painful sensations and with the danger of injury. And if he was flying like a soldier, then the same jerk would have thrown him upside down with a good chance of getting tangled in the lines.

However, the German method had its advantages. Unpleasant sensations were more than offset by the short parachute opening time, which allowed the Germans to jump from a lower height than their colleagues from England could afford. In the case when a paratrooper came under fire from the ground, dangling helplessly under the dome, this played an invaluable role. In the German airborne forces, the interval between 110 and 120 meters was considered normal. But in Crete, in the face of strong opposition from enemy air defenses, paratroopers were also thrown from a height of 75 meters.

But that is not all. German parachutes did not allow to regulate the speed and place of the fall. To reduce the risk of landing, skydivers were taught to land in a "lean forward" position. In the last seconds before touching the ground, the paratrooper had to turn around in the wind, making convulsive “floating” movements with his arms and legs. After that, he fell on his side and quickly rolled forward. This explains the presence of massive shock absorbers-shields on the knees and elbows of the fighter, for the most part completely unknown to the Allied Airborne Forces. However, even with them, for a heavily loaded German paratrooper who used a primitive parachute (the falling speed even in calm weather was 3-6 m / s), the “roll landing” was fraught with great risk - trams and bruises during jumps were common and common occurrence.

After landing, the paratrooper could not immediately get rid of the parachute straps: he had to unfasten 4 rather uncomfortable buckles. Quite difficult was the extinguishing of the dome after landing: the lines were behind the back of the paratrooper. While he was trying to reach them, the wind could blow and drag him aside. Not without reason, in the training of German paratroopers, there was such a technique as extinguishing a comrade's canopy by throwing one's body onto his canopy.

However, all the problems of paratroopers did not end there. All their equipment: weapons, grenades, ammunition, walkie-talkies and first-aid kits were in special landing containers. This was due to the fear of incomplete opening of the parachute due to a snag on the lines for items of equipment on the parachutist's body.

The containers were dropped simultaneously with the personnel. After landing, the fighter had to find the first container that came across as quickly as possible, open it and arm himself. Prior to that, his only weapon was the LUGER_08 pistol, colloquially - "Parabellum". Therefore, without exaggeration, the rapid discovery of the container was a matter of life and death.

II.2. EQUIPMENT.

B. Airborne paratroopers.

Transportation and landing was carried out using Ju52 military transport aircraft, developed back in 1931. Takeoff weight - 10500 kg, speed - 305 km / h, ceiling - 5500 km, range - up to 1200 km, crew - 3 people (in the landing option) 4 . In the early 30s, this machine was the main bomber of the Luftwaffe. In this capacity, the car took part in the Spanish War, after which they began to be transferred to military transport aviation. The landing version was designated by the letter F and carried 14 people on board, and in addition to them, a 37-mm cannon or a motorcycle under the fuselage. All machines were equipped with a device for towing gliders. Defensive armament consisted of 3 MG15s. The aircraft was in the series until 1944, a total of 3900 Ju52s of various modifications were produced.

The reliable and unpretentious aircraft was nicknamed "Aunt Yu" and "Iron Anna" in the Air Force. On April 1, 1939, the first airborne squadron was formed from these aircraft. Soon two more squadrons were added to it. By the summer of 1940, they were transferred to the XI Air Corps - a unit that united everything that had to do with the paratroopers.

By the end of the war, in order to replace the obsolete Ju52, a transport modification of the new German He111 bomber, the He111H-20 / R-1, was developed. Take-off weight - 15000 kg, speed - 430 km / h, ceiling - 6700 m, range - 1920 km, crew of 4-5 people and 16 paratroopers on board 5 . Their serial production was started at the end of 1944 and they did not have a noticeable impact on military operations - the Germans ended the war, mainly with the "Aunts Yu".

II.2. EQUIPMENT.

B. WEAPONS AND PERSONAL EQUIPMENT.

The soldiers of the first parachute units were armed with a Czech-made 16/33 rifle, which, after the capture of Czechoslovakia, entered the mountain rifle units under the designation Gew 33/40. The option for the Airborne Forces provided for a folding wooden butt. The rifle was equipped with a bayonet.

In 1938, the MP-38 submachine gun, developed by ERMA for a 9-mm cartridge, was put into service especially for paratroopers. The weapon is made taking into account the need for its compactness and lightness. It allowed only continuous fire. A special device inside the drummer slowed down the rate of fire, which gave the shooter, after some practice, to get the hang of shooting from it in short bursts. The sight is cut to a distance of 200 meters, the front sight is located on a high base and is equipped with a ring-shaped front sight. The heating of the barrel during firing made it necessary to hold on to the magazine, therefore, in order to avoid its distortion, the neck of the magazine was made long. This sample became so successful that it was immediately adopted by the Wehrmacht, becoming its kind of symbol. It is this submachine gun that our historians will call "Schmeisser", although H. Schmeisser himself had nothing to do with its development 6 . The saturation of the Airborne Forces with these weapons was very high - if during the Crete operation of 1941 every fourth paratrooper was armed with them, then subsequently all paratroopers had them.

Due to the impossibility of using at long distances and the weakness of the pistol cartridge, a special automatic rifle was developed - for the 7.92 mm rifle cartridge - FG42. It was supplied only to the landing units. In essence, the FG42 was a light machine gun. The rifle was equipped with a bipod and a bayonet, a box magazine adjoined horizontally on the left. It had 20 rounds. There was a fire extinguisher.

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To enhance the firepower, light and heavy machine guns were in service - MG34, designer L. Shtange. Caliber 7.92 mm, weight 11 kg, technical rate of fire 800-1000 rounds per minute. This machine gun is considered the best machine gun of the entire Second World War 7 .

Of the heavy weapons, the paratroopers had very original samples. 28/20 mm sPzB is an anti-tank rifle. It was used at the beginning of the war, and then it was removed from service, since the armor of the tanks was no longer under its power. Mortar grenade launchers screwed onto rifles up to 60 mm in caliber, as well as knapsack flamethrowers, were also used. Among the latter, a model of 1944 stands out, which even an untrained soldier could use - releasing a fiery stream of 27 meters in 0.5 seconds. By the end of the war, disposable grenade launchers of various types began to be widely used, infantry 50, 81 and 120 mm mortars were also actively used.

Artillerymen also had unusual samples - 75 and 105 mm recoilless guns - the world's first guns of such a system. Its essence is that the jet of powder gases after the shot does not rest against the breech, but is partially or completely retracted back through special holes - therefore, there is almost no recoil. Due to this system, the weight of the gun decreased by 50-60 percent, since there was no need for recoil devices. Of course, she also had a drawback - the exhaust jet, which had a high temperature, was a danger to the calculation of the gun.

Of the conventional guns, a 75 mm mountain gun was used, plus 37 and 50 mm anti-tank guns. Anti-aircraft gunners had a quadruple version of the 20 mm Flak 38 automatic gun. In addition to it, a 20 mm MG 151/20 machine gun was used.

The main drawback of the German Airborne Forces was their insufficient, even for those times, mobility. Their only transport was a BMW R75 motorcycle with a sidecar and its half-track modification. It was believed that the paratroopers would immediately land in the desired area, capture it and wait for reinforcements. Therefore, in some situations, for example in Crete, where paratroopers were left to their own devices, they had to use captured vehicles to achieve at least minimal mobility.

III. COMBAT ACTIONS IN 1939-1940

1. POLAND, DENMARK AND NORWAY.

For the first time, German paratroopers went into battle during the 1939 campaign against Poland. True, due to insufficient staffing, the 7th air division was not used. Only separate landing units were involved, thrown into the rear of the Poles with sabotage and reconnaissance purposes. Nevertheless, some experience of actual combat operations was obtained and taken into account in the ongoing development of plans for future campaigns.

When Student in July 1939 reported to Hitler on the state of the units entrusted to him and said that the paratroopers were waiting for an order to participate in the Polish campaign, he heard in response: “They will still see a few battles in the West!” 8 Hitler believed that it was too early to spend the precious and small cadre of paratroopers. In addition, the German command did not want to reveal its trump card (the possibility of a sudden attack from the air on strong enemy fortifications). Therefore, paratroopers received a real baptism during the Norwegian campaign (“Teachings on the Weser”). Although their participation was very limited, its results were evaluated very positively.

The need for the occupation of the Scandinavian states was determined by the urgent need to ensure uninterrupted supplies of scarce Swedish ore through the territories of Norway and Denmark. The features of the future battlefield (the presence of densely populated islands in Denmark and the narrow strip of Norwegian territory extended from north to south) clearly showed that ground forces alone could not do here. The German Navy, inferior in size to the Allied Navy, also could not provide significant support. For this reason, special hopes were placed on paratroopers.

At the very beginning of the invasion, the 1st parachute battalion of Major Walter entered into action. The headquarters and 2nd companies were supposed to capture the Forneby airfield, in the Norwegian capital Oslo, and hold it until transport vehicles arrived.

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aircraft with the 163rd Infantry Division on board. 3rd company,

Lieutenant von Brandis, was to capture the Sola airfield, the main base of the Norwegian Air Force, and the 4th company, Captain Gerike, was to capture two airfields in Aalborg and the Danish Vordinbur bridge. The need to capture it was due to the fact that it was the only way to the capital of Denmark - Copenhagen. Finally, the 1st company, Lieutenant Schmidt, remained in reserve.

On the morning of April 9, 1940, the landing began. Walter was unlucky from the very beginning - because of bad weather collided in the air 2 Yu52 and died. But it was not possible to land on the airfield - it was closed by a dense landing force and the paratroopers had to return. The planes of the 163rd division found a gap in the clouds and they had to land by landing method in enemy-controlled Forneby. The Germans suffered heavy losses, but captured the airfield.

Von Brandis was more fortunate. His unit made a successful landing, though they suffered losses from ground fire, and captured Sol. And what's more - they managed to take control of two important bridges that were nearby.

Guericke carried out the part of the task entrusted to him even more successfully. The Danish units guarding Vordingbore Bridge were so shocked by the sight of paratroopers landing on both ends of the bridge that they surrendered without a fight. The capture of both airfields in Aalborg was also successful. Without a single shot, the guards were disarmed - as it turned out, they were sleeping (!), disbelieving in the threat of a landing.

Schmidt's company got the most heroic and, at the same time, the saddest fate. The German mountain division in Narvik (Norway) (see Appendix 2, photo 1), was cut off from support from the sea when the covering ships, one and all, were sunk by the British. The next day after that, the British cut it off from the main forces, landing troops on the coast. Therefore, the supply of the division fell on the shoulders of the Luftwaffe, which dropped reinforcements and ammunition to it. Schmidt's company was dropped to release the British on a mountain hanging over the strategic Oslo-Narvik highway. Unfortunately for the Germans, they were immediately discovered by the retreating Norwegian units. The determined Norwegians fought back. Most of the paratroopers died in downed planes.

The survivors (about 60 people), having dug in on the slope of the mountain, which they were supposed to capture, continued to fight in the most difficult conditions for another 4 days, until all the ammunition came out. And then they gave up. By this time, there were 34 of them left. Schmidt himself, seriously wounded in the thigh and stomach, led his men to the end.

Since Schmidt's operation failed, the command of the Navy declared that the grouping in Narvik could be destroyed. And Goering informed Hitler that the supply of units by air was impossible due to bad weather. Soon the British took Narvik. The surviving mountain rangers, airborne paratroopers and sailors from the sunken ships withdrew to the mountains, where they entrenched themselves and repelled all attacks. A week later, the British, under the influence of news from France about heavy fighting, evacuated their corps.

The Germans returned to the city victorious. After the surrender of Norway, Schmidt returned to Germany (he was awarded the Knight's Iron Cross) 9 and his people.

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III.2. BELGIUM AND HOLLAND; GREECE.

The invasion of Belgium in May 1940 was the most impressive triumph of the German paratroopers. Under the command of Student, they carried out a carefully planned operation to punch a hole in the system of powerful defensive fortifications on the Belgian border. This system was built taking into account the experience of the First World War. Its core was the border semi-underground fort Eben-Emael and the powerful fortresses of Liege and Antwerp. The Eben-Emael garrison had 18 artillery pieces placed in concrete casemates with walls two meters thick. Its eastern front was one with the canal embankment, and the other three sides were surrounded by an anti-tank ditch four meters thick. The armament of the fort consisted of 2 x 120 mm, 16 x 75 mm guns and a significant number of positions with anti-tank weapons, mortars and machine gun points. In the event of a bombing, the gun turrets could completely descend underground with the help of electric motors. There was protection against gas attacks. This fort could be a tough nut to crack for any army, especially considering that maintaining a high rate of advance was a major factor in the blitzkrieg strategy. We add that the guns of this monster were covered by three strategically important bridges leading from the Ruhr basin to the Belgian coast - the Veldweselt, Wrenhoven and Cannes. All bridges were prepared for the explosion, remotely controlled from the Eben-Emael command post.

The calculation of the Belgians was based on the fact that the Wehrmacht would get bogged down in this web of fortifications, and there the Anglo-French army would come up. In addition to the fortifications on the way of the Germans, there was a network of canals and rivers equipped with a system of emergency flooding of coastal areas. Without mastering the aforementioned crossings, the Germans would not have been able to maintain the set pace of the offensive. In this case, the replaced "Run to the Sea" of thirty years ago could be repeated, followed by a positional war with known results. That lesson was well learned in the German headquarters. In view of the threat of a disruption in the timing of the offensive, the 7th Air Division was tasked with capturing the enemy's fortifications and waiting for the arrival of the main forces. A total of 6,800 paratroopers were involved.

To capture Fort Eben Emael, a special assault group was created, led by Captain V. Koch. To carry out the operation, he received his company from the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment and the company of Lieutenant Witzig from the 2nd Battalion. A total of 438 people. In preparation, an exact model of the fort was made on a scale of 1: 1. Training on it began in the winter of 1939.

The detachment was divided into 4 groups. Only the group "Granite", numbering 85 people, under the command of Witzig, was intended to storm the fort. In addition to conventional small arms, it was armed with 4 flamethrowers, anti-tank rifles, sticks of dynamite and shaped charges weighing up to 50 kg. The Steel group, Lieutenant Altman, was aimed at capturing the Veldweselt bridge, the Concrete group, Lieutenant Shakht, - the Vrenhoven bridge, the Iron group, Lieutenant Shekhter, - the Cannes bridge. In case of successful capture of these points, the groups were ordered to hold them at all costs until the main forces arrived. All actions were to be carried out with the help of gliders - in contrast to Holland, where they intended to be thrown out with parachutes. This was explained by the fact that the area of ​​the fort did not exceed one square kilometer, and there was a need for a targeted drop of paratroopers, without wasting time collecting. Everything was decided in a few seconds - the Belgians would not have given more time.

It was May 10, 1940. Before the gliders arrived in the Eben-Emael area, German aircraft dropped a large number of smoke bombs on the fort, placing a dense curtain. The first groups to land were "Concrete" and "Steel", at 5:15 and 5:20 am, respectively. They took their targets relatively easily, but their joy was premature - all day they had to repel the furious counterattacks of the Belgians. Only at 21:40 the main forces approached them and took over the baton.

In Eben-Emael, they knew about the German advance, but they believed that they were safe - the fort was far from the front line. The group "Granit" was built at the airfield at 3:30 am, and at 5:20 am 11 DFS230 gliders were uncoupled from Yu52 over the fort. The landing was successful - only 2 gliders, including the one on which Witzig was, missed the fort. In this regard, the attack was led by Chief Sergeant Wenzel. The Belgians did not expect anything like this at all - they did not even open fire on the gliders that landed on the roof of the fort. Despite the absence of the commander, the attack began without delay. The gliders had not yet completely stopped, as the doors opened and paratroopers poured out of them, hung with weapons and shaped charges. From that moment on, real hell began for the Eben-Emael garrison. The Germans first of all filled up the exits from the bunkers with explosions of dynamite sticks, after which they dealt with the artillerymen, throwing grenades into the loopholes and ventilation wells. In armor caps, gaps were pierced with shaped charges, then they acted with grenades or flamethrowers. Protruding guns were disabled by inserting explosive charges inside, which ripped the barrels to the breech. Thus, in a matter of minutes, 7 casemates and 13 guns, including all 120 mm ones, were destroyed. All this happened with minimal opposition from the defenders of Eben-Emael - only in one place the paratroopers were held up by machine-gun fire from the bunker, but the neighboring group eliminated it by entering from the other side. In an open battle with an enemy many times superior in number (1200 people), the Eben-Emaelya garrison could not - all exits were destroyed. At 5:40 a.m., Wenzel radioed Koch: “We safely reached the target of the attack. Everything is developing according to plan. True, most of the fort was still in the hands of the Belgians. One tower fired all day on the Cannes bridge. At 8:30, Witzig finally arrived and took command. The situation has already worsened. Belgian troops stationed in the vicinity came to their senses and launched a counterattack, supported by guns. Witzig's men had to take cover in abandoned casemates, leaving the cover planes to deal with the attacking Belgians themselves. At the same time, the XI Air Corps, a unit that directly included the entire transport aviation of paratroopers and cover bombers, proved to be especially active.

After sitting underground, the Germans held out in the fort all night from 10 to 11 May, after which a sapper battalion approached them to the rescue. Having received reinforcements from the Germans

10 /9/, page 308

launched an assault on the remaining shelters and guns of the enemy. Soon advanced units approached and the fort capitulated, just 24 hours after the start of the invasion of Belgium, opening the way for German troops inland.

The last group of "Iron" had the hardest fate. The bridge had already been blown up when they landed, and then immediately the group came under fire from the last towers of Eben-Emael. Schechter was killed, he was replaced by Lieutenant Meisner. His unit withstood several major counterattacks before the advanced units approached them at 23:30.

So, the crossings over the Albert Canal and most of the bridges were taken and saved from destruction during the day, along them the infantry and tanks rushed to the open French border.

In the “Holland fortress”, replete with natural obstacles convenient for defense, such as rivers, canals and locks, it was decided to drop several landings. The number of Koch's group thrown against Belgium did not exceed 500 people, but 4 times more paratroopers were dropped into the Netherlands, not counting the 22nd air division, which, as we remember, was intended to reinforce the landing of the first wave. The main landing targets were the bridges at Moerdijk and Dordrecht, as well as the airfields at Waalhaven and Valkenburg. For this, the following were allocated: the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 1st regiment - to capture bridges; 3rd Battalion - Waalhaven; 6 companies of the 2nd regiment and the 47th infantry regiment - Valkenburg. When planning, the Germans did not know that the Dutch had drawn the right conclusions from the Scandinavian campaign and pulled significant forces into the Valkenburg region.

The first to go into battle was the 3rd Battalion, Captain Schultz. The capture of the airfield was very important because it was on it that the 22nd air division was supposed to land. Despite the fact that the paratroopers came under fire right during the landing, they managed to capture the target during a short battle. The groups landed to capture the bridges acted most successfully of all (although the hero of the capture, Sol von Brandis, died during the landing). They almost instantly took the bridges and held them in their hands until the arrival of the main forces.

Things went much worse in Valkenburg. The Dutch, who were expecting an air attack, opened fire on the paratroopers' planes when they came into view. Having lost several dozen aircraft, the Germans began landing the second echelon by landing, landing aircraft near the airfield. However, the forest soil of the airfield was too soft to support the weight of the transport. The runway was filled with stuck planes and was packed. Several planes tried to land directly on the airfield, but the runway was blocked by bundles of logs, prudently installed by the Dutch. After overturning several aircraft, the Germans were forced to retreat. And since the Dutch continued to resist fiercely, those paratroopers who managed to land had to retreat.

Immediately after the capture of Waalhaven, Student arrived there, personally taking part in the battle. And on May 14, Holland capitulated. It was not possible to capture the Dutch queen - the British evacuated her on a destroyer. In general, the operation was a success - the country was captured in the shortest possible time. Even the newest British Spitfire fighters were captured. Ironically, Student could not share the triumph of his people - on May 14, he and a group of accompanying officers were mistakenly fired upon by soldiers from SS units. The general was wounded in the head and sent to the hospital in serious condition.

Thus, the use of the Airborne Forces in the war against the countries of the West was crowned with complete success, achieved at the cost of small losses - 290 killed, 480 wounded and 439 missing. Strong support from the paratroopers was the main factor in the success of the blitzkrieg. The main conclusion from this campaign - the success factor was the timely approach of the main forces to help the landed units. Transport aviation lost 150 aircraft, which even then made us think about the possibility of landing in the face of opposition from unsuppressed enemy air defense.

Since Student was in the hospital, General R. Putzier was temporarily appointed to his post. Also, the Airborne Forces underwent reorganization. As part of the 7th division, another one appeared, the 3rd regiment. The Koch group was turned into a Separate Parachute Assault Regiment under the command of Colonel Eugen Maindal. It consisted of 4 battalions. The XI Corps was officially created, uniting both divisions. In addition to them, the corps included the Mayndal regiment, a bomber air group, transport aviation and various auxiliary units. Student was appointed commander, who received the rank of full general of aviation, but he returned to service only in January 1941. Major General Wilhelm Susman was appointed to the post of commander of the 7th division.

In April 1941, paratroopers were sent to the Mediterranean Theater, where they took part in the invasion of Greece. After the defeat of the combined English and Greek forces, the British retreated to southbound- on the Peloponnese peninsula, connected to the mainland by the narrow isthmus of Isthm. The latter was cut by the deep Corinth Canal. The British units sought to cross the canal along the only bridge, blow it up and dig in on the other side. In case of successful implementation of this plan, it would be almost impossible to knock them out of there - the channel was too deep, and its steep high banks, “dressed” in granite, did not allow them to quickly rise. Based on this, the German command decided to thwart the enemy’s plan and seal it north of the Corinth Canal, riding the isthmus before the British. The 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2nd regiment took part in the operation, which were supposed to land from opposite sides of the bridge.

2nd Battalion, Lieutenant Toizen, boarded 6 gliders at 4:30. Their task was to directly capture the bridge. Two hours later, the bombers struck the British troops, and at 07:40, six gliders landed on the bridge under heavy fire. The paratroopers quickly dealt with the guards, taking 80 prisoners and 6 guns. However, the Germans did not disable the system for undermining the bridge, hoping to blow it up in the event of an unsuccessful outcome of the operation. At that time, 40 Yu52 landed troops on the northern and southern shores in order to delay the enemy and provide support to the Toyzen group. The operation was almost completed when fortune suddenly betrayed the Germans - a camouflaged British gun, which was 200 meters from the bridge, opened fire on the bridge. One of the shells detonated an explosive charge mounted on a support and the bridge collapsed into the water along with the paratroopers. The explosion killed many of Toyzen's men and wounded him. Surrounded by superior British forces, the group of surviving prachutists could easily be destroyed. But the enemy, informed of the appearance of new groups of paratroopers in his rear, was nervous. Toyzen took advantage of the situation - meeting with the British officer who led the units near the bridge, he cheekily announced that his group was the vanguard of the invasion, and the division was expected to arrive soon, supported by U87 dive bombers. The British believed this threat, and as a result, the wounded and deified Teuzen triumphantly accepted the surrender of the garrison. The result of the operation was the awarding of Toyzen with the Knight's Cross and the capture of 12,000 British and Greeks. Unfortunately, the order for the operation was given too late - the main British forces (50,000 people) managed to evacuate to Crete. If the landing order had been given earlier, then the capture of the entire British corps in the Middle East would have greatly influenced the further outcome of the North African campaign.

IV. LANDING ON CRETE.

1. POSITION OF FORCES.

Control of Greece did not mean control of the eastern Mediterranean as long as Crete, a strategically important island and a natural springboard for a possible Allied invasion of the Balkans, remained in British hands.

The German command, faced with the need to capture Crete and not having sufficient naval forces for an amphibious assault, decided to conduct an airborne operation unprecedented in scale. The plans for landing on Malta, at the mouth of the Suez Canal and in Alexandria, developed earlier by the Student's headquarters, were postponed - all attention was turned to Crete. By this time, the composition of the XI Corps had changed: the 22nd Division was sent to guard the oil fields in Ploiesti. Instead, the Student received the 5th Mountain Division of Major General Yu. Ringel. The forces intended for the assault on Crete in the early morning of May 20, 1941 looked like this:

Assault Airborne Regiment, Major General Maindal. The composition of the regiment: 1st battalion - Major Koch, 2nd battalion. - Major Stenzler, 3rd Battalion. - Major Sherber, 4th Battalion. - Captain Gerike.

7th Division, Lieutenant General Zusman. The composition of the division: 1st regiment - Colonel Brauer (1st battalion, Major Walter, 2nd battalion, captain Burkhard, 3rd battalion captain Schultz), 2nd regiment - colonel Shturm (1st battalion ., Major Krokh, 2nd Battalion, Captain Pitsonki, 3rd Battalion, Captain Wiedemann) and the 3rd Regiment - Colonel Heidrich (1st Battalion, Captain von Heidte, 2nd Battalion, Major Derpy , 3rd Battalion, Major Heilman) 11 .

5th Division, Major General Ringel. Composition: 85th, 100th and 95th regiments. We will not dwell on their composition in detail, since the main actions were carried out by paratroopers, and mountain shooters only strengthened them. There were also auxiliary units, but they did not play any significant role in the capture of Crete. Only 23 thousand people, and about 10 thousand landed from gliders and with parachutes.

11 /5/, page 117

Air support was assigned to more than 500 aircraft of the VIII Air Corps under the command of General von Richthofen. The general leadership was carried out by the headquarters of the 4th Air Fleet under the command of Major General von Lehr. The total number of aircraft reached 433 bombers and 235 fighters. Transport aviation included 520 Yu52, 72 DFS230 airframes. In total, this armada transported, in addition to people, 353 guns, 771 motorcycles, 5358 landing containers with equipment and 1090 tons of various cargoes.

4 main landing zones were planned on the island, 3 of them fell on the main airfields. The landing was supposed to be carried out in three waves: the first to enter Crete were the paratroopers of Maindal, whose task was to capture and hold the airfield in Maleme and numerous roads, bridges and anti-aircraft artillery positions located in the vicinity of the local capital - the city of Chania. They were supported by Heidrich's 3rd Regiment, 7th Division. The need to capture Chania was determined by the location of the English headquarters and the residence of the Greek king there.

The 2nd regiment of the 7th division was to capture the airfield and the town of Rethymno, and the 1st regiment - the airfield near the village of Heraklion. The goal of capturing all the landing strips was to create a reliable foothold and place for unloading heavy weapons and the 5th division during the third wave of landing. Until this task was completed, the support of paratroopers was entrusted to the Air Force.

The plan of operation was called "Mercury". It looked simple enough, especially against the background of the overwhelming success of the Airborne Forces in the West. On April 25, the order to storm was given. However, as events have shown, everything was not so simple ...

Firstly, not 25-30 thousand garrison turned out to be on the island, as expected, but, no less than 32 thousand British, Australians (part of the 2nd brigade) and New Zealanders (4th, 5th and 10 th brigade), and 11 thousand Greek soldiers (this does not include the personal protection of the king). In addition, anticipating the landing, the British transferred to the island their best units in the Middle East - the Leicester battalion and about 700 Scottish Highlanders from the Argyll and Sutherland regiments. There were also 45 guns and 9 tanks. There was no aviation at all. The commandant of the island was General Freiberg, an experienced and determined military leader. He had previously reconnoitered areas where paratroopers could be landed and ordered to cover them with an almost impenetrable network of barriers (both against paratroopers and against gliders). No less erroneous was the opinion in the German headquarters that the British and Greeks were demoralized by the defeat on the continent.

The mistake of the British was to underestimate the security of the island. They knew about the impending landing on Crete, but did not believe that such territory could be captured by paratroopers alone. Therefore, they expected a landing from the sea with a force of up to 10 thousand people. A whole fleet was deployed to cover from the sea: 4 battleships, 9 cruisers and more than 20 destroyers.

Based on the situation, Freiberg expected a landing of 20-25 thousand people, so the soldiers of the garrison felt quite confident. But, in the end, the protection of the island was still insufficient. For example, the Greeks, who left all heavy weapons on the continent, had one rifle for 6 people, and 3 clips for a rifle (!) 12 .

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IV.2. LANDING PARACHUTISTS.

Early in the morning of May 20, 1941, after the bombing of the island, the first Yu52 and Yu87 appeared over Crete (see Appendix 2, Photo 2). Their target was the town of Maleme. Despite the fact that the strip was only 600 meters long, mastering it was vital to the operation. Another condition was the elimination of anti-aircraft guns near the strip. The company of Lieutenant Gents (90 people) landed first. The clock was 7:00. Intense fire was opened on the gliders from the ground. Despite heavy losses (two hours later there were about 60 killed and wounded), the paratroopers successfully attacked anti-aircraft gun positions south of the airfield. The vanguard was followed by Koch's 1st Battalion in gliders. Unfortunately, due to a mistake, the 1st and 4th companies were uncoupled by tugboats directly above the British positions. Major Koch and most of his men were wounded in the first minutes of the battle. Under the circumstances, the assault on the air base was not possible. And the 3rd company was landed where necessary, and connected with the remnants of the scattered and defeated units (the survivors gradually gathered in groups throughout the day) and successfully suppressed resistance on the northern and western sides of the airfield.

The 3rd battalion of the Assault Regiment, dropped with parachutes in the northeastern part of Maleme, during the landing was very dispersed and failed to concentrate, as its fighters landed under a flurry of very dense machine-gun fire from the British from a camp located on the dominating airfield altitude 107. Paratroopers were shot in the air, and after landing they were destroyed in hand-to-hand combat.

The regimental headquarters and the 4th battalion successfully landed west of the landing strip, but in this battle the commander of the regiment, Maindal, was wounded in the chest and stomach. The command of the regiment was taken over by the commander of the 2nd Battalion. Major Stenzler (his unit was in reserve, but due to the difficult situation, everyone was thrown into battle). The battle went on all day. Positions around the airfield changed hands. The Germans captured almost all anti-aircraft guns, after which they shot trucks hurrying to the airfield with reinforcements. By the end of the first day, paratroopers captured the landing strip. Since the next counterattack was expected at any moment, even the descending moonless night did not ease the tension of the Germans preparing for battle.

Heidrich's 3rd Regiment, detached to support Maindal's forces, landed to the west of the objective. They were supposed to capture Chania and Galatas - small settlements, as well as the Souda Bay, suitable for landing seaplanes. The 3rd Battalion landed at the forefront. Heilman, dropped directly on the positions of the New Zealand soldiers. The latter opened very well-aimed fire. Many paratroopers landed dead. Some of the Germans were blown into the sea by the wind, where they drowned. One company in full strength fell into the reservoir, where almost all the soldiers drowned. Most of the soldiers landed in the center of the enemy camp and were captured. Only one company (9th) landed where needed. As a result of such losses, the assault on Chania became impossible. After a bloody battle for a very important height in the Galatas region, the 9th company was forced to retreat deep into the island.

The release of the 1st and 2nd battalions was carried out in the area of ​​the Agya prison, adapted by the British for a fortified point and controlling the road to Chania. The paratroopers immediately joined the battle. The sounds of battle attracted the attention of George II, the Greek king, who was located in a village nearby. Looking out the window, the monarch saw about a hundred meters landing Germans. The king was immediately evacuated from the unsafe zone, and later taken from the island on the destroyer 12.

Meanwhile, von Heirdt's soldiers cleared the prison building and turned it into a regimental headquarters. By evening, the remnants of the 9th company joined them.

Almost all the circumstances associated with the actions of the first wave turned out to be gloomy. None of the planned points was held securely by the Germans. Several battalion and company commanders were killed, the loss of personnel was simply monstrous.

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On top of everything else, due to pilot error, the glider crashed and killed the commander of the 7th division, Zusman. His deputy, Maindal, was badly wounded. However, the headquarters in Athens did not know about this ...

The second wave of landings flew up to Crete at 13:30. She moved towards Rethymnon and Heraklion. The 2nd regiment, with the exception of the 2nd battalion attached to the 1st regiment, landed at Rethymnon. Two companies were thrown out successfully, but were pinned down by enemy fire. And the 3rd company, oddly enough, was blown away by the wind 7 km from the target. Despite all these interferences, the units were able to get together and capture the hill dominating the Rethymnon airfield. Since the assault was not yet possible due to the strong fortifications of the enemy, the paratroopers dug in and began to wait for reinforcements.

1st regiment with 2nd battalion. went to the island later than all.

Since the area was covered by a significant amount of air defense systems, the fighters had to jump from a great height. Because of this, Brouwer's men suffered heavy losses from machine-gun fire. And two companies that landed on the western side of the airfield were exterminated before last man Only five survived. All other parts were scattered and only after dark were they able to assemble. Assessing the situation, Brower avoided the attack and devoted the rest of the day to collecting the survivors.

Thus, the situation of 7 thousand paratroopers looked extremely deplorable. Having almost completely used up ammunition, detachments of tired, wounded and discouraged Germans were preparing for their last battle. In the advancing darkness, detachments of paratroopers desperately tried to find places of concentration. It seemed that their destruction was only a matter of time, but the British command, completely confused in the situation, did nothing. The outcome of the battle was still uncertain, but the British lost their main advantage - the sea separating them from the mainland. The gates to the island are already ajar...

On the morning of the next day, the 1st Battalion, which fought at the Maleme airfield. finally took Hill 107. The Germans failed to completely capture the strip, and planes loaded with ammunition tried to land right on the coast. But they crashed. Only one successfully landed, which, taking on board the wounded, including Mayndal, flew back to the mainland.

By the end of the first day of the operation, Student finally received reports of the plight of the paratroopers and the death of Ziusman, who was supposed to lead the operation on the spot. The student realized the real threat of a complete failure of the operation. The general resolutely rejected the proposal to stop the invasion of Crete, thereby leaving to the mercy of fate several thousand selected soldiers who had dug in near the British airfields. After a short meeting, he decided on the urgent delivery to Malem of the third echelon of landing forces - mountain shooters (see Appendix 2, photo 3). The order was given, despite the real state of affairs: the planes would have to land on a small airfield that was actually in the hands of the enemy.

1IV.2. LANDING THE JAGERS.

At 14:00, two companies of paratroopers were rapidly landed in Maleme - the last parachute reserve. With their help, the airfield was taken, although the strip was still shot through from all types of weapons. At about 15:00, the first Yu52s, heavily loaded with mountain shooters, appeared, and, to the enthusiastic roar of paratroopers fighting along the entire perimeter of the runway, they went to land. But the celebration quickly turned into tragedy.

After landing the first planes, they were hit by a strong fire. The huntsmen who were inside the planes barely had time to jump out, as they found themselves inside a hellish fire from which few managed to get out. Having received many hits while still in the air, many Yu52s fell on the runway in flames, others crashed after jumping out of the airfield. Landing planes had to make incredible maneuvers to avoid colliding with debris. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Maleme airfield was not adapted to receive such a large number of heavy aircraft. Now it was chaos. The paratroopers tried to free the runway, dragging the debris with the help of tractors.

No matter how hard the fate of the mountain shooters sent by air, the fate of 2 battalions sent by sea was much more tragic. Their convoy was intercepted by the English fleet 27 km from Chania and destroyed. The intervention of the dive bombers of the VIII Corps saved the case, but from 2 full-blooded battalions. 52 left. However, by this time, German aviation had declared itself in full force - the departing British ships were attacked by dive bombers. As a result, 2 cruisers and 1 destroyer were sunk, two battleships and two cruisers were heavily damaged.

In Maleme, littered with corpses and rubble, the battle continued. Reinforced by mountain riflemen, the Assault Regiment went on the attack and entrenched itself on the outskirts of the city and the airport. The shelling of the airstrip ceased and the gates to Crete were fully opened. General Ringel took charge of the operation. The arrival of mountain shooters decided the outcome of the battle - soon the Germans captured Suda Bay, where hydroplanes with ammunition began to arrive immediately. By May 27, despite the fierce resistance of the British, Chania was taken. Assessing the situation as satisfactory, Ringel ordered a move to Rethymnon, where reinforcements were needed.

Near Rethymno on May 21, units of the 2nd regiment were forced out of their positions from the hill, where they held out for more than a day. They retreated to an abandoned olive oil factory. For the next 4 days, the paratroopers held out there, repulsing attack after attack under almost continuous artillery fire. By this time, two bloodless battalions held their positions under the onslaught of 7 thousand allied soldiers. The struggle was too unequal, and on the night of May 26, 250 German soldiers - all the survivors, breaking through the ring, went to Heraklion. However, the next evening they were radioed an order to immediately stop and organize defenses in order to tie down the enemy forces in the area. The Australians, who tried to eliminate the detachment, managed to break through the defenses, but were immediately driven back by a desperate counterattack. On May 29, the soldiers of the 2nd regiment, inspired by the panic that had begun in the ranks of the enemy and having received ammunition with food, resumed their movement towards Rethymnon, where it was the turn of the British to frantically build fortifications near the long-suffering factory. As soon as the remnants of the paratroopers went on the attack on the morning of May 30, units of the 85th Jaeger Regiment approached them and took both the plant and the city together.

At this time, at the third airfield - Heraklion - the 1st Regiment of Brauer, by the morning of May 21, began an attack on the city. Unfortunately, the colonel did not know that he was opposed by 8,000 British and Greeks, who were abundantly supplied with artillery. The advance quickly fizzled out. Colonel Brower was ordered to stop the offensive, to gain a foothold in positions and prevent the outflow of allied forces to Rethymnon. On May 24, he received reinforcements - another battalion. In the morning, the 1st Regiment launched an offensive, successfully capturing the dominant height above Heraklion. With the arrival of the vanguard of the 5th Division on May 27, the fate of the last stronghold of British resistance was sealed. In fact, this meant the end of the battle for Crete. On the same day, Freiberg ordered the evacuation of troops to Egypt.

May 23, due to heavy losses from the bombing (in total, 3 cruisers, 6 destroyers were lost, 17 ships were badly damaged) british navy went to Alexandria. Taking advantage of this, on May 28, a 6,000-strong detachment of Italian troops was landed on the island.

V. RESULTS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRET OPERATION.

What were the results of the Cretan landing - one of the greatest operations of the landing troops?

The British managed to take out no more than 15 thousand people from the island. Specifically, the British lost 612 killed, 5,135 captured and 1,224 wounded; New Zealanders - 671 killed, 2180 captured and 967 wounded; Australians - 450 killed, 3,000 captured. The Greeks suffered the greatest losses - only 4 thousand people out of 11 thousand were taken away from the island ... And about 2 thousand people died on the warships of the British Navy.

The victory came at a high cost to the Germans: 3,022 killed in the 7th Division and the Assault Regiment, 652 in the 5th Division, and 126 air support men. In addition to them, 3400 wounded. Of the 520 Yu52s, 185 remained in service ... After the completion of the operation, the 7th division was sent to reorganize and rest in the zone of the Eastern Front (at that time the war with the USSR was not yet in progress).

The capture of Crete led to the most severe weakening of the British position in the Mediterranean basin since 1797. In addition, it was one of the most brilliant successes of the parachute troops in general, and I applaud them as heroes. But the losses suffered by them were so heavy that Hitler forbade any further large-scale landings. In one of his conversations with Kurt Student, Hitler said: "Crete has shown that the days of paratroopers are over." As a result, the elite troops were out of work and fought as elite infantry until the end of the war.

The last major operation of the German Airborne Forces gave impetus to the birth of similar units in other countries, in particular in England and the United States, where previously this branch of the military was treated with contempt.

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1. I.A. Andreev "Combat and transport aircraft",

Young Guard, Volgograd, 1979.

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Military Publishing, M, 1957.

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Military Publishing, M, 1957.

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Military Publishing, M. 1987.

7. Kotelnikov V. "Heavenly cabmen of war". "Wings of the Motherland". No. 3, 1997.

8. D. Miller "Commandos - formation, training,

outstanding operations”, Harvest, Minsk, 1997.

9. Yu. Nenakhov "Airborne Forces in World War II",

Harvest, Minsk, 1998.

10. Plotnikov S. "Hands". Technique of Youth. No. 1-2, 1992.

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 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, boots with fur. 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"

Initially, paratrooper units were created in the Wehrmacht, but later they were transferred to the Luftwaffe.
In the German army there were parachute landing (Fallschirmtruppen) and air landing (Luftlandentruppen) divisions.
The personnel of the paratrooper division landed with parachutes or gliders. The divisions of the air landing division were delivered by transport aircraft, such as Ju-52 / Зm directly to the landing site, by landing method.
In German military sources, parachute troops are officially referred to as "parachute chasseurs" (Fallschirmjager).
The color of the German paratroopers (Waffenfarbe) was golden yellow - golden yellow buttonholes and a border on shoulder straps of the same color.
The background of shoulder straps is bluish-gray.

general of the parachute troops (General der Fallschirmtruppe)
Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant)
major general (Generalmajor)
Oberst (Oberst)
Oberst Lieutenant(Oberstleutnant)
Major
hauptmann (Hauptmann)
Oberleutnant (Oberleutnant)
Lieutenant (Leutnant)
staff sergeant major (Stabsfeldwebel)
chief sergeant major (Oberfeldwebel)
sergeant major (Feldwebel)
non-commissioned officer (unterfeldwebel)
non-commissioned officer
staff corporal (Stabsgefreiter)
Corporal (Hauptgefreiter)
chief corporal (Obergefreiter)
Corporal (Gefreiter)
Private

The German paratroopers wore the uniform adopted by the Luftwaffe. They were supposed to wear white dress and gray-blue or sand-colored (tropical) casual uniforms.
A peculiar distinctive symbol of the German paratrooper was a yellow neckerchief, which first appeared in North Africa. However, these shawls or scarves did not always have the color of yellow gold, but always bright.

The jackets of the German paratroopers were also standard for the Luftwaffe. The paratroopers also wore quilted flight jackets or casual uniforms with four pockets.

The uniforms were tied with a belt, all paratroopers, regardless of rank, were armed with pistols, knives and hand grenades.

A jumpsuit (Fallschirmkittel) was worn over the uniform - practical clothing made of thick cotton.
Hinged to the bottom, with a concealed button closure, and later with a zip, the field gray jump suit with a low stand-up collar was nicknamed the "bone bag".
At first there were no pockets on the upper part of the chest and on the trousers shortened to the middle of the thighs. Then horizontal welt pockets with "lightning" appeared on the hips, and two vertical chest pockets beveled to the shoulders had leaves that covered the "lightning".
The sleeves were fastened with buttoned cuffs.

With overalls worn over field uniforms, straight-cut field gray trousers were worn. On the side seams at the knees there were pockets with flaps not three buttons, intended for a knife, dressing material and other essentials.
Quadrangular kapka shock absorbers were sewn into the knee parts of the trousers, and during landing, in order to avoid injuries, they put on thick kapka or rubber knee pads, stitched with rollers, with long ribbons and buckles.
Both the knee pads and the jumpsuit itself were usually disposed of after landing, although the overalls were sometimes left to be worn over it with a harness.

Until 1940, on the overalls of the paratroopers, an army eagle was sewn on the chest, or nothing was sewn on. In the future, it became mandatory to use the Air Force emblem, embroidered on a blue, and later on a green or plain gray background.

Insignia - chevrons of corporals, flaps with wings - were sewn over the elbows.
In a number of cases, the collar of the fleece blouse worn under it was laid out on the collar of the overalls, which had become a turn-down, so that the buttonholes were visible in order.
Early model overalls were easy to put on and take off thanks to the cropped legs. After landing, the parachutist was first released from
tethered parachute system, then dumped overalls.

Later versions of the overalls had a more practical design, two large pockets, and the floors wrapped around the legs and fastened before the jump.
These clothes were sewn from a fabric with a two-tone green or sandy-brown camouflage pattern. Later, trousers were also sewn from the same material.
In 1942, after paratroopers were no longer used for their intended purpose, Fallschirmtruppen personnel began to wear single-breasted field jackets (Kampfjacke), which were sewn from viscose-cotton fabric with a camouflage pattern.
Similar jackets were worn by the personnel of the Luftwaffe airfield divisions.
A minimum of symbolism was worn on the field uniform - the breast emblem adopted in the Luftwaffe in the form of an eagle and buttonholes, insignia were attached to the buttonholes.

For most of the Second World War, German paratroopers wore solid gray-green wide trousers, darker than the jumpsuits of the early versions. Wide trousers did not hamper the movements of the paratrooper.
The trousers had two side and two hip pockets with small flaps on the buttons, and they were tied with ribbons at the ankles.
A knife was attached to the right thigh, which opened thanks to a weighted blade, under the influence of gravity.

In North Africa, German paratroopers wore heavy cotton trousers or shorts. Pants were made somewhat baggy for better ventilation of the body and prevention of sweating.
There were three pockets in the trousers: two regular ones, the third one on the left thigh was intended for storage topographic map.

The German parachutist relied on gloves and jump boots.
Parachutists' gloves had elongated wrists with lingering elastic bands. Shock-absorbing glove pads protected the back and palm sides of the hands.
Gloves were made of black leather, although the lower ranks could also have textile ones.
Jumping boots, under which woolen socks were worn, were made of black leather with rubber soles, which had developed lugs.

The high, ankle boots had thick rubber soles, very comfortable, although not suitable for long marches on foot, and provided good traction on the floor inside the fuselage of the aircraft (because they did not use the large shoe nails that are usually characteristic of this kind of shoes supplied to soldiers of other military branches).
The lacing of these boots was located on the side, then it was mistakenly believed that the side lacing kept the shoes on the foot better than the traditional one.
There were samples with ordinary lacing.

The lows of the legs and the tops of the boots were grasped by swing leggings made of gray canvas with leather overlays and fasteners on straps with buckles.
In parades and field conditions, German paratroopers wore ordinary military-style boots.
The field equipment of the paratrooper corresponded to the field equipment of the infantryman, only, at first, paratroopers used bags to store gas masks, and not metal cylindrical containers, since a metal container could cause injury when jumping from an airplane or landing.
In addition, a special harness was developed for the Fallschirtruppen.

After the first winter campaign in the USSR, another type of field uniform appeared - quilted insulated trousers and a jacket, white on one side and gray on the other. They could be worn in any color outside, depending on the dominant color of the surrounding area.
However, such a uniform was sewn in limited quantities.
Insulated clothing was not worn over jumpsuits.

The landing helmet - Fallschirmhelme - was developed on the basis of the steel helmet of the Wehrmacht by simply removing the rims that slowed down the airflow in free burning.
In addition, a torn helmet could get tangled in the lines or crush the canopy.

Initially, the landing helmet was painted in the gray-blue color of the Luftwaffe, and the national tricolor and the image of the Luftwaffe eagle were applied on the sides.
However, combat experience forced these helmets to be painted green or dull yellow (Italy, North Africa) colors, and beautiful emblems were abandoned.
IN winter time helmets were painted white with improvised materials.
There were several camouflage paint schemes. Very often, the paratroopers wound handicraft nets around their helmets for attaching branches and other camouflage.
The helmet was produced in three sizes, its weight was 1000 grams.
After 1941, there was a transition to the steel helmet of the Wehrmacht.

Also, the German paratroopers had the following headgear:
Fligermutze caps common to the Luftwaffe;
kepi with lapels Einheitsmutze;
officer's caps of both samples (Schirmutze) bluish gray or tropical sand colors.
In winter, especially on the Eastern Front, they wore knitted hats that completely covered the head and neck with a cutout for the face.
Mountain rifle caps were also popular among paratroopers.
Presumably, the Luftwaffe camouflage pattern first appeared in 1941, when Knochensack paratrooper jackets began to be sewn from camouflage fabric. "Cretan" photographs of German paratroopers in such camouflage are well known, while at the same time there is not a single photograph of this type of camouflage dated 1940.
Camouflage clothing of the Luftwaffe-Splittermuster type is limited to two basic types: paratrooper jackets and jackets for personnel of the Luftwaffe aviation divisions.
There were at least two types of paratrooper jackets, made from camouflage fabric in the Luftwaffe-Splittermuster pattern. The rarest is the earliest type with sewn-in shoulders.
The second type of cut was not much different from a regular jacket, but the floors could wrap around the legs and be fixed for the convenience of making a parachute jump.

Information sources:
1. Information: "German paratroopers 1935-1945." ("New Soldier #4")
2. McNab "Military uniform of the XX century"
3. Davis "German Uniforms of the Third Reich 1933-1945"
4. Darman "Uniform of the Second World War"
5. McNab "Fallschirmjager: Paratroopers of the III Reich"
6. Kverri, Chappel "German paratroopers 1939-1945"
7. Radovic "German helmets of the Second world war"
8. Lagarde "Serman soldiers of World War Two"
9. "Zielone Diaably" (Militaria 05)
10. “Wehrmacht camouflage uniform in color photographs” (“Soldier at the Front No. 16”)
11. Shunkov "Wehrmacht"
12. Kurylev “Army of the Third Reich 1933-1945. Illustrated Atlas»
13. Lipatov "Luftwaffe"

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 take independent solutions 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 in full force 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 to 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 Oslo street, 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 general situation in Norway, although a relatively small force was landed from the air - about 2,000 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 canvas railway 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:

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