German paratroopers of the Second World War. Airborne troops of the Wehrmacht: paratroopers without parachutes. Reformation and captivity

“If I had not seen all this with my own eyes, I would never have believed that such a thing could be done at all,” British Army officer Archibald Waveli said in his report. He prepared the report after he visited the major exercises of the Red Army in the autumn of 1935, at which, according to the approved scenario, a simply gigantic airborne operation was carried out at that time: a parachute assault force of about 1,000 people was dropped, and another 2,500 paratroopers and a heavy weapons were landed by landing method, with the help of gliders.

AS a RESULT of the offensive that followed the landing, the conditional enemy was conditionally destroyed. Nothing like this was carried out in the West then, not only that, then there was practically no one to carry out such operations. However, for a number of reasons, the airborne troops of Nazi Germany gained great fame during the Second World War.

Norway, Belgium and Holland, Crete - these names are strongly associated with the German paratroopers, and the operations carried out there were closely studied by military experts in the academies of many countries of the world and have already been repeatedly and in detail described in books and articles, documentaries and feature films were shot on them. However, there are pages in this kind of the German Armed Forces, little known to the general public. For example, the activities of the unit, which wore not only the sign of the flying eagle of the Luftwaffe, but also the SS “zig-runes”.

The 500th SS Airborne Battalion (500. SS-Fallschirmjgärbatallion; then reorganized into the 600th SS PDB) - this was the name of this unit, which was not subordinate to Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, like all other paratroopers, but to the Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler and was different at first one that was formed to a large extent from military personnel convicted by the SS for various crimes. Something like a "parachute penal battalion" with a rather interesting history.

Break Göring's monopoly

Western military historians have their own interpretation of why this unit was formed. So, in their opinion, the battalion owes its birth purely to "Himmler's unbridled desire to establish control over all spheres of life in the Thousand-Year Reich." Including in the sphere of the military organization of the state. And in the fall of 1943, the turn allegedly came to the patrimony of Goering, or rather, to the airborne troops. The Reichsmarschall was then in disgrace with Hitler - including for the recent failure of the operation to organize an air bridge to supply the Paulus army encircled in Stalingrad. So the Reichsfuehrer CC decided, they say, "to take the sky into their hands." And if earlier the words of Goering: “Everything that flies in the skies of Germany is under my control” were tantamount to a taboo, now “black Heinrich” decided to break it.

There is, however, another version of why a parachute battalion was formed as part of the SS. A number of historians argue that Himmler did this for a slightly different reason. The fact is that on September 12, 1943, a very daring operation "Oak" (Unternehmen Eiche) was successfully carried out, the purpose of which was to release the deposed man who had gone over to the side of the Allies and who had gone under house arrest. anti-Hitler coalition by the Italians of their former "beloved" head of state Benito Mussolini. Close friend of Hitler former dictator was kept under guard by Italian soldiers at the Campo Imperatore Hotel in Gran Sasso, one of the most famous ski resorts in Italy, located in the Apennine mountains, about 110 km from Rome. An operation planned and carried out active participation"the main saboteur of the Third Reich" Otto Skorzeny and units special purpose, selected by the “man with a scar” from the SS soldiers (divisions of the German airborne troops, pilots and several Italian officers were also involved in the operation), turned out to be very successful - during the fleeting battle, the resistance of the Italian garrison was broken, Mussolini was released and delivered in triumph to Adolf Hitler. It was then, according to a number of foreign historians, that Heinrich Himmler had the idea of ​​​​creating separate airborne units within the SS organization subordinate to him, and, they say, the moment with Goering's disgrace is just a lucky coincidence and a favorable combination of circumstances , which contributed to the speedy implementation of the plan of the Reichsfuehrer SS.

Whether this is true or not is not the topic of our material, but we will only consider the history of the formation of this battalion and briefly outline its short “combat chronicle”, in which, however, there are many interesting episodes.

Redeem with blood

The order to form a special 500th SS parachute battalion subordinate to the Reichsführer SS came directly from Hitler's headquarters. The main purpose of the new unit was to be the implementation of special operations and related actions. At the same time, most of the personnel of the battalion were to be volunteers. The rest of the candidates were to be recruited from SS soldiers convicted of various crimes and misdemeanors by military tribunals. Such convicts in the SS were given the code name “Bewahrungs-Soldaten” - they were not some hardened criminals, murderers or the like, mainly this category included “guilty” before the Reich: those who fell asleep on duty or failed to fulfill the order given to him , as well as other military personnel who committed misconduct by coincidence, and not knowingly committed a crime. Thus, they were given the opportunity to "redeem themselves with blood" by serving in the ranks of the SS paratrooper battalion.

It is interesting that at that time there was a 500th disciplinary battalion in the SS - SS-Bewührungsbataillon 500 - part of the personnel of which, probably, got into the new unit. On the other hand, this gave food for thought to those historians who claim that the formation of the 500th SS battalion was carried out in such the strictest secrecy that the unit itself was legendary as the 500th SS penal battalion. However, this version is still adhered to by a small number of historians, and most, based on the available captured documents, are confident that the 500th SS parachute battalion was still formed according to the principle: 50% were volunteers, and 50% were “guilty ”from the SS penal units.

The advantage in the selection for the 500th SS battalion was enjoyed by those who had already undergone parachute and other special training. However, then the entire battalion had to improve parachute training at the base of the airborne school in Kraljevo (also Kraljevo), a city in Serbia on the Ibar River. It should be noted here that the first attempt to organize a parachute training course for the personnel of a number of SS units was made long before the start of the war: in 1937, a group of volunteers from the SS was sent to the parachute training center in the city of Stendal, but they did not not completed (the main reason is the death of one of the volunteers during training). This suggests that Himmler may have been planning the creation of airborne troops within the SS at that time. After Kraljevo - and the formation of the battalion was started in the area of ​​​​the Czechoslovak, now Czech, city of Chlum - followed by the 3rd training school of the Luftwaffe airborne troops in the Madanrushka Banya area, near Sarajevo, and then The educational center and a training ground near the city of Papa, Hungary, and by the beginning of 1944 the 500th SS Parachute Battalion was ready for battle. The first battalion commander was SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Herbert Gilhofer, who had previously served in the 21st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg.

Before we move on to combat way battalion, it seems interesting to briefly consider its organization - as of the beginning of 1944, that is, the moment the combat training and combat coordination of the unit ended.

The 500th SS Parachute Battalion included:
- headquarters and headquarters company (platoons of communications, logistics, motorcycle, economic, propaganda and war correspondents, as well as a platoon of parachute stackers);
- three airborne companies, each of which included three airborne platoons and a platoon, although more precisely, a communications department (in turn, each airborne platoon had three "rifle" squads, three squads machine gunners and one mortar squad each);
- a reinforcement company, or, as it is also called, a "heavy weapons company", which included four platoons - machine gun, mortar, anti-tank - with four 75-mm Leichtgeschätz LG40 recoilless guns (since 1942, the Luftwaffe airborne troops have already 105-mm versions of this recoilless gun were received, but, allegedly, the SS battalion had guns of precisely 75 mm caliber), as well as a platoon of flamethrowers.

The total strength of the battalion was, according to various sources, from 800 to 1000 people. The personnel of the unit wore uniforms and equipment traditional for the Luftwaffe airborne troops - with the exception of the addition of insignia and special awards of the SS (although the traditional Luftwaffe eagle flaunted on the chest of the overalls of the SS paratroopers). The battalion used standard parachutes and weapons, its tactics were typical of the paratrooper units of the German airborne troops of that time. It is not known for certain whether a special sleeve patch was installed for SS paratroopers, but there is at least one photo in the archives where such a patch is present on the uniform of a serviceman of the battalion in question - however, it could have been homemade.

Baptism of fire "Himmler's eagles"

The 500th battalion was thrown into battle shortly after the completion of its combat coordination - at the beginning of 1944. However, the assignment given to his commander was nothing special, and should not have required his subordinates' skydiving skills. On the contrary, the task looked trivial for the SS - the battalion had to fight the partisans, first in Yugoslavia, and then in Greece and Albania. This went on for several months, it seemed that no one would remember the “special purpose” of the created unit, but that was not the case ...

In April 1944, instead of SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Herbert Gilhofer, SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Kurt Rybka was appointed battalion commander, commanding the 500th SS paratrooper battalion until June 26, 1944. It was SS Hauptsturmführer K. Rybka who happened to receive a secret and very promising - in terms of fame and honors - task, more "interesting" than performing ordinary security and police functions: the battalion commander received an order to parachute and land - using landing gliders - methods on a small mountain plateau near the Yugoslav city of Drvar, the Dinara mountain system, where, according to German intelligence, the headquarters of the leader of the Yugoslav liberation movement, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, was now located.

According to the plan developed by the German command, the first group - paratroopers - was supposed to land in the first echelon, capture the area and prepare a platform for receiving the main group, which was supposed to land with the help of landing gliders, along with heavy weapons, ammunition and necessary equipment and food. The main goal of the operation was Marshal Tito himself - the paratroopers needed to capture the "partisan commander", in extreme cases, his physical liquidation was allowed. After solving the main task of the operation, the paratroopers had to hold their positions and repel the attacks of the Yugoslav partisans until the battle group of the 373rd Infantry Division approached and rescued them from the encirclement.

It seems to be an understandable and not so difficult task. However, only at first glance. After all, what happened: a parachute battalion numbering less than a thousand people had to land under the very nose at the headquarters of Marshal Tito, in the very center of a mountainous region occupied by a huge partisan army, which at that time had more than 10 thousand fighters and commanders in its ranks, and even quite well armed and equipped. Of course, not all of this army was concentrated near the area of ​​operation, but Tito's headquarters was guarded very well. And in these conditions, the German paratroopers needed to capture the leader partisan movement, and then also hold the occupied positions for an incomprehensible amount of time - until the main forces of the 373rd division approach. Moreover, it must be taken into account that the year was 1944 - this is no longer the years 1939-1941, when the German army was considered invincible and inspired fear in opponents. By 1944, the Nazi war machine had already “worn out”, suffered a number of serious defeats and began to experience problems due to the lack of well-trained personnel, weapons, military and special equipment, as well as various equipment.
Even more remarkable was the fact that, due to the lack of a sufficient number of transport aircraft and landing gliders, the SS had to land - as already indicated above - in two passes, and at a large interval and, as it turned out during further more detailed planning, without heavy weapons and with a minimum of ammunition, equipment and food. The first group - 314 paratroopers - had to reach the target at exactly 7 o'clock in the morning, and only by noon the second group should have arrived to help them - about 400 people on DFS 230 landing gliders. The only positive thing was that the Luftwaffe was then still maintained air supremacy over Yugoslavia and could thus provide the necessary support for the landing.

Under such conditions, the 500th SS battalion was to engage in battle with the elite units of the Yugoslav partisan army of Marshal Tito. To say is a utopia means to say nothing. The military adventure of a man who has lost hope and grasps at any straw. However, this could have been a plan well calculated by the military genius, however, it did not end triumphantly. Although it was a rather unique operation for those times, and therefore it Short story was nevertheless awarded the attention of German propaganda - the raid was written in the daily news release of the German armed forces "Wehrmachtbericht" for June 6, 1944.

"Knight's move"

The operation to capture Marshal Josip Broz Tito received the code name "Unternehmen Rösselsprung", or, translated from German, operation "Knight's Move". Indeed, its successful outcome would allow the German command to delay the defeat in the Balkans - the decapitated army of Yugoslav partisans could well fall apart like a house of cards into separate parts that would no longer pose such a serious danger to the German military. Understanding the importance of this operation, the SS command also attracted a special SS unit, “Sonderverband z. b.V. Friedenthal "- created and led by Otto Skorzeny" Himmler's special forces ", which in the spring of 1944 was transformed into the 502nd SS Jaeger Battalion (SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502). True, Skorzeny himself, who commanded the 502nd SS battalion, refused to take command of the operation - having visited Zagreb, he came to the conclusion that the enemy already knew about its preparation and it would be almost impossible to achieve the surprise factor. Moreover, the “chief saboteur of the Third Reich” began to actively speak out against the operation in general. However, they did not listen to him - the temptation to destroy the Yugoslav partisan army with one blow was too great. And in vain ...

The area where the headquarters of Marshal Tito was located was located near the city of Drvar and was covered with numerous caves. Marshal Tito and his entourage settled in one of them - the headquarters was evacuated there as a result of the next, already the seventh, German counter-partisan offensive against the Yugoslav partisans. Before that, the headquarters was located in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe city of Jaice - about 80 km east of Drvar, and in total during 1942-1943, Tito, due to ongoing German operations, was forced to repeatedly change the location of his headquarters. It was here - in this stone bag - that they threw the 500th SS infantry regiment. Interestingly, at the time of the operation "Knight's Move" at the headquarters of Marshal Tito were representatives of the allied command, including Randolph Churchill, the son of Winston Churchill, as well as the Soviet and American military missions.

To ensure a positive outcome of the operation, the 15th mountain corps of the Wehrmacht, created in 1943 in Croatia and stationed there throughout the war, received an order to take positions along the perimeter of the Drvar region, cut key communications and knock out the partisans from the dominant heights, preventing them from such thus, the ability to transfer reinforcements or get out of the way. The group included: from the Wehrmacht - a regimental battle group and a reinforced reconnaissance battalion of the 373rd (Croatian) infantry division (PD), nicknamed the "Tiger Division"; reinforced reconnaissance battalion of the 369th (Croatian) infantry regiment, nicknamed the "Devil's Division"; 1st Regiment - without the 3rd Battalion - and a platoon battle group from the Brandenburg Special Forces Division; 92nd Grenadier Regiment; 54th mountain reconnaissance battalion and 2nd motorized assault battalion; from the SS - the 500th SS infantry brigade, which was temporarily attached to the battle group of the 1st parachute regiment of the 1st airborne division of the Luftwaffe and the Zawadil Sonderkommando; regimental combat group, the 13th SS Volunteer Mountain Regiment "Arthur Phleps" and the 7th Motorized Volunteer Mountain Reconnaissance Battalion from the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prince Eugene"; 105th SS reconnaissance battalion; from the Luftwaffe - in addition to the previously mentioned units of the airborne troops, Goering allocated up to 100 aircraft for various purposes; from the satellites of Germany - the 1st self-defense regiment from the 2nd jaeger brigade self-defense of Independent Croatia (a pro-German state on the territory of the Croatian part of Yugoslavia), as well as Bosnian and Dinaric Chetnik detachments.

Fiasco

The operation to capture Marshal Tito was scheduled for May 25, 1944, in such a peculiar way, the German command decided to “congratulate” the partisan marshal on his birthday. Literally a few minutes after 7 am that day - after a bombing attack by Luftwaffe aircraft - 314 paratroopers of the first group of the 500th SS battalion poured out of the sky on the city of Drvar. The battalion commander himself, SS Hauptsturmführer Kurt Rybka, landed in the first wave, as part of the "red" group - one of the three groups into which the paratroopers were divided.

The paratroopers, who suffered quite significant losses (even in the air, the partisans managed to shoot far more than one paratrooper) nevertheless quickly captured the city and the area assigned to receive the second group of landing troops, which almost died out: as Otto Skorzeny suggested, the partisan command learned about the impending operation and managed to organize evacuation and resistance in advance, concentrating additional forces south of Drvar. Nevertheless, Kurt Rybka organized additional reconnaissance of the area, identified the main targets for the subsequent assault, and began to expect reinforcements.

At the appointed time, the second landing group arrived in the area: gliders delivered, according to various sources, from 320 to 400 soldiers and officers (it is most likely that there were only 320 people from the 500th SS infantry brigade, and the rest belonged to other units - the Brandenburg division "and communications and air raid units of the Luftwaffe), divided into six detachments, each of which received its own specific task. The largest of the detachments, called "Panther" ("Panther", 110 people on six gliders), was to join the "red" group led by the battalion commander and attack directly the "Citadel", that is, Marshal Tito's headquarters hidden in the mountains, and carry out the capture of the latter, or its physical liquidation. They did not yet know that there was only one security company left in the headquarters area, and Tito himself and his entourage were safely evacuated on a train waiting for them to the area of ​​​​the city of Yajtse.

The rest of the detachments had the following goals: "Greifer" ("Invaders") - the capture of the British military mission, "Sturmer" ("Rebels") - the capture of the Soviet military mission, "Brecher" ("Wave" or, technical term, "Crusher") - the capture of an American military mission, "Draufgänger" ("Daredevils") - an intelligence group and "Beisser" (there are several translations of this word, including "biter", "mockery", "tooth" and - derived from the Austrian word - "dared man", but what exactly is meant in this case is unknown to the author of the material) - a radio communication group.

The pilots of the gliders of the main strike force landed the devices not far from the headquarters cave and almost immediately a “red” group led by SS Hauptsturmführer Rybka approached them (one of the British sources indicates that Kurt Rybka had already been promoted to the rank of Sturmbannfuehrer by that time SS). Seeing how close the Panther group landed, the battalion commander decided that the job was almost done, it only remained to break into the cave with a quick throw and capture the partisan "leader". However, after a few minutes everything changed - literally hell came for the paratroopers.

The remaining partisan guard company opened heavy fire on the landing gliders, the losses of the Germans began to grow rapidly. Rybka gave a red rocket - a signal to the rest of the groups and detachments to regroup and attack the main goal, the cave with Tito's headquarters. But the position of the 500th SS battalion became very unenviable: the partisans, as it turned out, were already pulling up reinforcements, and if initially there were only a security company and personnel of the school of partisan army commanders near Drvar, and even a few small detachments, then soon after the forced the march has already approached the detachments of the 1st partisan brigade and the 6th partisan division, who had rich experience in fighting the Nazi invaders. As a result, the defenders found themselves in much more than the attacking SS paratroopers, having more powerful weapons - up to artillery.

Regrouping, the German paratroopers rushed to the assault for the second time. However, by lunchtime it became clear that the “move” had failed: breaking into one of the caves, the Germans managed to capture ... only the marshal’s tunic, which was subsequently demonstrated in Vienna, but then the reinforcements of the partisans who arrived in time knocked out the paratroopers from the cave and threw them towards the city, for more open area. For battalion commander Kurt Rybka, the time has come to seriously think about retreat. And towards evening, he decided that it was time to evacuate the battalion, while there was still at least something left of it. But only late at night, the remnants of the landing force, retreating under continuous enemy fire, were able to concentrate in shelter - behind the stone wall of the city cemetery. But one could not count on the quick help of the combat group of the 373rd Infantry Division - it could not break into the given area.

The partisans fired almost continuously at the remnants of the SS battalion all night and repeatedly launched attacks. The ranks of the paratroopers were melting right before our eyes, but the resistance of the 500th SS paratroopers did not stop. And almost at dawn, salvation finally came - in the form of a combat group of the 13th SS Volunteer Mountain Regiment "Arthur Phleps" from the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prince Eugene", which managed to break through the defenses of the Yugoslav partisans surrounding the city of Drvar. The operation ended - it ended in complete failure, unless, of course, you count the tunic "stolen" from Marshal Tito on his birthday.

As a result of this operation, the German units, according to combat reports, lost a total of 213 people killed, 881 wounded and 51 missing. As for the 500th SS infantry brigade itself, its losses were the most serious - more than 500 people were killed and wounded, including the battalion commander Kurt Rybka. The German command was presented with a report stating that the partisans lost about 6,000 people killed on May 25-26, which, of course, is very, very much exaggerated. In reality, the losses of the Yugoslav partisans amounted to about 500 people killed and a little more than 1000 wounded, and for the most part as a result of a strong bombing attack by Luftwaffe aircraft. But commanders partisan detachments reported to Tito that in the area of ​​​​the city of Drvar, more than 2,000 civilians were killed by German paratroopers and other units. However, the partisans themselves reported that by the morning of May 26, no more than 20-25 German paratroopers were still alive at the Drvar cemetery, more precisely, they were firing, which, thus, allows us to talk about the almost complete destruction of the 500th SS infantry brigade - killed, probably there were by no means 213 people, but no less than 600-650 soldiers and officers.

Reformation and captivity

The SS paratroopers who survived after the Horse Walk, as well as the battalion servicemen, who did not directly participate in the battle, with a total number of about 200 people, were first sent to Petrovac (a settlement in present-day Montenegro, about 17 km from Budva), then to Ljubljana ( the capital of modern Slovenia), and at the end of June 1944, the remnants of the battalion were transferred to Gotenhafen (the current Polish city of Gdynia), in West Prussia, where they were supposed to join the military group assembled to capture the Aland Islands in the Baltic under the control of the Finnish troops, but the operation has been cancelled. In June 1944, SS Hauptsturmführer Siegfried Milius was appointed commander of the battalion, who commanded the battalion until the end of the war and was later promoted to the rank of SS Sturmbannfuehrer.

After the cancellation of the operation to capture the Aland Islands, the 500th SS infantry brigade was sent to the disposal of the 3rd SS Panzer Corps near Narva, but on July 9 received a new order - to proceed to the Kaunas area, where it, together with the 1st Panzer Regiment of the Great Panzer Division "Great Germany ”of the Wehrmacht became part of the Theodor Tolsdorf battle group, which received an order to ensure the exit of German troops, as well as refugees, from surrounded Vilnius. Then new tasks followed - the paratroopers held back the tank breakthrough of the Soviet troops to Vilnius from the southeast, took part in the battles near the town of Raseiniai, northwest of Kaunas, and in the battles near the Memel River (near Kaunas), so that in the end by August 20 In 1944, only 90 people remained in the 500th SS air brigade. But even they could not be withdrawn for replenishment and reorganization - the situation on the Soviet-German front was so tense, the Soviet troops were advancing so rapidly. Sometimes French military historians claim that the 500th SS bdb was involved in July 1944 in punitive actions against the French Resistance in the French Alps, but this, according to most American, British and German historians, is a complete fiction, since the personnel of the battalion never took part in such operations. But the German troops in the area of ​​​​the area fortified by French partisans on the Vercors plateau actually carried out such an operation - but a special unit from the second squadron of the top secret 200 squadron (II. / Kampfgeschwader 200) took part there. As part of this squadron, there was a special forces detachment, which took part in the action against the French Resistance.

On the other hand, the SS paratroopers participated in another interesting operation: on October 15, 1944, part of the personnel of the still unreformed 500th SS paratrooper unit entered the group under the command of Otto Skorzeny, which took part in Operation Panzerfaust, as a result of which the Hungarian regent Admiral M. Horthy was deposed and Hungary thus remained an ally of the Third Reich until the end of World War II.
Finally, at the end of October 1944, the battalion was nevertheless withdrawn to the rear - to the town of Zichenau in East Prussia, and then its remnants were sent to Deutsch-Wagram, in Austria, after which a new unit was formed on its basis - the 600th SS infantry brigade. The formation of a new battalion was finally completed in the city of Neustrelitz, and this time the command decided to refuse to send penalty boxers to the battalion and formed the unit completely on a voluntary basis. On November 9, 1944, a new unit with the number "600" appeared in the SS. The former penitentiaries, who atoned for their misdeeds with blood and enlisted in the 600th SS PDB, were given back their ranks and from now on they were allowed to wear "zig-runes" on their buttonholes again. The number of the battalion was again about 1000 people, its composition was probably the same as that of its predecessor.

For the remaining six months, the “black” paratroopers had to fight in different sectors of the front, sometimes solving special tasks, but for the most part they simply plugged holes - the battalion became, as they often say, a “fire brigade”. One of the most famous and interesting combat episodes of the 600th PDB SS was his participation in German counteroffensive in the Ardennes, the SS paratroopers of two companies of the battalion were part of the so-called 150th tank brigade, a special sabotage unit of about 3,000 people formed by Otto Skorzeny. The soldiers of this brigade were dressed in American army uniforms and had the task of imitating the “retreating part of the allied forces”, sowing panic and destruction behind enemy lines, disrupting communication and control lines, and also performing other sabotage actions.

After this offensive operation of the German armed forces also failed, the 600th SS infantry brigade was transferred to the Eastern Front, where the winter offensive of the Soviet troops was unfolding. The battalion was part of a task force formed to defend the approaches to an important bridge near the city of Schwedt, northeast of Berlin, on the west bank of the Oder River. The paratroopers took up positions on the opposite, eastern, bank of the Oder, and only on April 1, 1945, the remnants of the battalion were withdrawn to the rear to rest and receive reinforcements, which were volunteers from training schools SS and convalescent soldiers. Although even before the battalion was fully restored, it was again thrown towards the Soviet troops - the paratroopers participated in the counterattack on Bernau, not far from Berlin, and after the unit received replenishment and was restored in numbers almost to its original level, she took part in the defense of the city of Neuruppin, northwest of Berlin, ensuring the withdrawal of his troops. It was here that the 600th SS infantry brigade almost ceased to exist for the third time - as a result of a strong attack, it was practically crushed by Soviet tanks, no more than 10% of the original composition of the unit remained alive.

Already at the very end of the war, part of the battalion’s military personnel was involved in the training of personnel of sabotage detachments within the framework of the Zeppelin project, part fought and died in Berlin, and part - led by the last battalion commander SS Sturmbannführer Siegfried Milius - ended up in the area of ​​​​the city of Haguenau, on west of Germany, where she successfully surrendered to American troops, and Z. Milius himself subsequently moved to live in the United States and settled down quite well there, maintaining “mentoring” ties with a group of Americans who created the military-historical, uniformist club “500/600th parachute -SS airborne battalion.

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In April-May 1940, German paratroopers landed on airfields in Norway, captured the Belgian fort Eben-Emael and the bridges over the Albert Canal. All these were tactical victories, although they ensured the success of the Wehrmacht at the operational level. But in preparation for the May 1940 campaign, the German command also developed a larger airborne operation. Its goal was to ensure the fastest possible capture of Holland - a country with rich military traditions, strong fortifications, modern weapons and an army of 240,000.

Paratroopers ahead of tanks

Holland did not have such powerful fortifications as the Belgians, but its heart was protected by a network of rivers and canals, as well as by the Zuider Zee. The Dutch army did not plan to defend the entire country, hoping to take cover behind these barriers - according to tradition, the Dutch relied more on water than on land.

To get to The Hague (one of the main objectives of the offensive), the formations of the right-flank 18th german army Army Group B needed to overcome the lower course of the Meuse, Waal and Rhine. To capture the bridges in Moerdijk (across the Meuse), Dordrecht (across the Waal) and Rotterdam (across the Lower Rhine), the German command decided to use the forces of the 22nd Airborne Division (22. Infanterie-Division (Luftlande)). Finally, the planned airborne landing in The Hague itself offered a chance to capture the Dutch military leadership and government, decapitating the enemy army and forcing the Dutch to stop fighting.

General scheme of the German offensive in Holland
Source: waroverholland.nl

At Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Rotterdam, the paratroopers were to hold the bridges until the 9th Panzer Division, moving between Eindhoven and Boxtel, approached from the south. In the event of the success of the paratroopers, a free road to The Hague was opened for the German army. The entire 22nd Airborne Division (16th, 47th and 65th Infantry Regiments) with a total strength of up to 9500 people was intended for the operation. In addition, the main part of the 7th Aviation Division - the 1st and 2nd Parachute Regiments (about 3,000 people) was supposed to operate here. The paratroopers were ordered to land at key points along the highway from Moerdijk to The Hague, as well as at airfields around the city itself.

Only the 47th and 65th regiments were equipped with parachutes, which were supposed to be thrown out first to capture runways, bridges and key points of enemy defense. Reinforcements were delivered to them by landing method - on transport aircraft, which were supposed to land on captured airfields or suitable areas of the terrain. The main transport vehicle was the low-speed Ju.52 - only 430 of these aircraft were allocated for the operation, at a time they could take about 5500 people. Thus, the transfer of landing troops required at least three flights. In addition, over a thousand bombers and fighters were involved in the battles against the Dutch, including the twin-engine Me.110, capable of staying in the air for a long time and supporting the landing force, attacking ground targets. Unlike the landings in the areas of Eben-Emael and the Albert Canal, landing gliders were not supposed to be used.

Landing at Moerdijk

The Germans had no problems with the bridges in the village of Moerdijk - on the morning of May 10 they were captured by the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Regiment under the command of Captain Prager (numbering - about 600 people). By this time, Prager was already terminally ill - he was diagnosed with rectal cancer, and he literally ran away from the hospital when he learned that he did not have long to live. Prager was promoted to major on June 19, 1940, and died on December 3.

Major Prager with the Iron Cross
Source: Chris Ailsby. Hitler's Sky Warriors

At 5:40 Berlin time, Prager's paratroopers landed on both banks of the Hollandsche Diep River (as the mouth of the Meuse was called), which was about a kilometer wide here. To avoid scattering during landing, the paratroopers jumped from a very low height (about 200 m). Almost without a fight, they captured both parallel bridges - the old railway and highway bridges, built in 1936.

The bridges were defended by a Dutch infantry battalion of about 350 men, with two 57 mm infantry cannons and twelve heavy machine guns. In the event of a German attack, it was supposed to be replaced by the 6th border battalion (750 people), so the infantrymen were not ready for defense and, under German bombardment, did not even have time to take the trenches on the south side of the bridge.

Bridges at Moerdijk. German aerial photography, north down. Canopies of descending parachutes are visible from both ends of the bridge.
Source: waroverholland.nl

However, the Dutch were not going to defend the bridge - when the enemy attacked, it was supposed to blow it up, so the concrete fortifications were only on the northern side of the river and kept it under fire. In Moerdijk there was a three-gun 75-mm battery - however, one of the guns turned out to be faulty. To prevent a premature explosion, the fuses from the charges were removed, so the Germans got the bridges intact. In the battles for the bridges and the village, the Dutch lost 38 people killed, the Germans lost 24 paratroopers, and about 50 more were wounded. Of the 500 Dutch soldiers defending the Moerdijk area, 350 were taken prisoner.

Pillbox at the bridge in Moerdijk, armed with a 47 mm anti-tank gun and a machine gun. He resisted for six whole hours
Source: waroverholland.nl

At about 17:00, the bridges captured by the Germans tried to bomb three light Dutch Fokker T.V bombers (according to other sources - C.V) under the cover of six Fokker D.XXI fighters. The attempt failed - the Dutch aircraft were driven off by Messerschmitt Bf.110 fighters from the 1st group of the 1st squadron of heavy fighters. During a short-term battle, one bomber was hit and made an emergency landing, both pilots escaped.

The next was a raid by four Fokker C.X light bombers, under the cover of which the 6th Border Battalion, which had finally approached here from the south, went on the attack. The border guards managed to get closer to 500 m to the bridge, but then they were driven back (while the Germans lost one non-commissioned officer killed). Finally, at 18:30, fire was opened on the bridge coastal batteries, located at Huksvaard, 8 km to the west - one 125-mm and three 75-mm. Due to poor adjustment of the shooting, it was not possible to cause significant damage to the bridge, but several civilians died from the shells. As a result, the Dutch stopped firing, deciding to prepare an attack for the next morning ...

Bridge at Moerdijk, seen from German positions on May 10, 1940
Source: waroverholland.nl

Dordrecht: death of the 3rd company

Simultaneously with the landing in Moerdijk, on the highway between Moerdijk and Dordrecht, the main forces of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Parachute Regiment under the command of Hauptmann Erich Walter were thrown out - the 2nd and 4th companies, a medical company, a communications platoon and regimental headquarters. Here was the commander of the regiment, Colonel Bruno Breuer. The task of this group was to intercept the highway to Dordrecht and organize command post divisions to coordinate the actions of all landed forces. The 1st company of the 1st battalion was in Norway at that time, so only 400 of its fighters landed south of Dordrecht (another 200 people were regimental and divisional units).

The area between Moerdijk and Dordrecht and parachute landing sites along the highway
Source: waroverholland.nl

The landing on the highway was generally successful, although the paratroopers were scattered over a wide area and took a long time to assemble. But in Dordrecht itself, where the 3rd company of the 1st battalion was thrown out, the Germans began to fail. According to intelligence, the garrison of the city was about 500 people, but in reality it turned out to be three times as large. The 1st Battalion of the Dutch 28th Infantry Regiment was stationed here, reinforced with two more companies, as well as a number of other units belonging to various military structures. Of the artillery, the Dutch had only two 47-mm anti-tank guns. The commandant of the garrison was Lieutenant Colonel Josef Mussert, who was the older brother of the Dutch Nazi leader Anton Mussert, so many officers did not trust their commander.

Bridges over the Oude Maas (Old Maas) between Dordrecht and Zwijndrecht
Source: waroverholland.nl

The Dordrecht sector was subordinate to the commander of the "Fortress Holland", General Jan van Andel - this created problems in interaction with neighboring sectors that had a different subordination. The fact is that the territory south of Dordrecht was part of the Kiel sector, and all the artillery located on it was also subordinate to it: three batteries of 125-mm guns from the 14th artillery regiment and two batteries of new 75-mm field guns from the 17th artillery regiment (the latter were placed very close to the bridges).

The bridges were directly covered by four pillboxes - two artillery (with a machine gun and a 50-mm anti-tank gun each) and two machine guns; The bridge guard consisted of 275 people.

Bridges in Dordrecht, German aerial photography
Source: waroverholland.nl

The 3rd company was to land on both banks of the Oude Maas. Its 3rd platoon (36 people), thrown out on the northern side of the river, managed to suppress the resistance of the guards on its bank, take both bridges and the position of anti-aircraft machine guns that covered them. However, the main part of the 3rd company landed too far from the target, and most importantly - next to the Dutch barracks, one and a half kilometers east of the bridges. A heavy battle broke out here, the Dutch pulled up fresh forces. As a result, the 3rd company was defeated, its commander died. The Germans lost 14 people killed, 25 paratroopers were missing, and about 80 more were captured. Only ten paratroopers managed to break through to the north and join the 3rd platoon, which continued to fight desperately on the bridges.

Successes of Count von Blucher

In the meantime, the main body of the 1st Battalion finally came together. Losses during the landing turned out to be small - only the mortar platoon of the 4th company disappeared (later it turned out that it had been thrown out by mistake in the Eipenburg area). Moreover, the dispersal of paratroopers over a large area turned out to be an unexpected and anecdotal success. Part of the paratroopers, to their great surprise, landed on the positions of the Dutch artillery near the village of Tweede Tol. The guns were not guarded by anyone - the artillerymen slept peacefully in their barracks. Until 10 a.m., the Dutch unsuccessfully tried to recapture their guns, suffering serious losses in the process. The Germans were able to use some of the 75-mm guns in subsequent battles.

Plan of Dordrecht
Source: waroverholland.nl

By 10 o'clock in the morning, Colonel Breuer gathered his forces on the highway and launched an attack on Dordrecht. Finding that the main Dutch forces were concentrated in the park near the Amstelwijk estate (near the highway south of the city), Breuer sent forward a small group under the command of Lieutenant Count Wolfgang von Blücher. Blucher's group went around the estate from the rear and unexpectedly attacked it, shooting and throwing grenades. Panic arose among the Dutch - taking advantage of it, the Germans attacked the estate from the south along the highway. The demoralized Dutch garrison was defeated, losing 25 fighters killed (another 75 people, including the battalion commander, were captured). The Germans lost 5 people killed and captured several bunkers covering the approaches to Dordrecht from the south.

The next fortified point of the Dutch, located in a school near the highway, surrendered after shelling from mortars - about a hundred Dutch sappers were captured, the Germans lost four people killed. Around noon, the paratroopers finally reached the bridge, desperately defended by the remnants of the 3rd company.

Scheme of battles in Dordrecht on May 10, 1940
Source: waroverholland.nl

Now the bridges at Moerdijk and Dordrecht were firmly held by the Germans, but there was no communication between them - in the afternoon a strong Dutch detachment from the Keel sector (two companies of the 2nd battalion of the 28th infantry regiment and a company from the 1st battalion of the 34th regiment, reinforced with machine guns) crossed from a neighboring island and occupied the Amstelwijk left by the Germans. Now the main forces of the paratroopers were concentrated at three points - the bridges in Moerdijk, the bridges in Dordrecht and the village of Tweede Tol between them. Now the main task of the Germans was to hold their positions under the attacks of a many times superior enemy.

On the night of May 10-11, the commander of the airborne corps, Lieutenant-General Kurt Student, ordered that part of the reserves intended for dropping in the Rotterdam area be redirected to Dordrecht. In particular, one of the companies of the 16th Infantry Regiment, a platoon of anti-tank guns, a battery of 75-mm howitzers and half of a sapper company were supposed to land here.

Landing at Rotterdam

The landing in the area of ​​Rotterdam was not so successful. The first group to land here was Oberleutnant Herman-Albert Schrader - 120 people from the 11th and 12th companies of the 16th Infantry Regiment and the 22nd Engineer Battalion, deployed on twelve He.59 seaplanes. Their task was to occupy four bridges across the Nieuwe Maas, connecting the southern and northern parts of the city, as well as the island of Noordereiland located in the middle of the river.

Almost simultaneously, the 3rd battalion of the 1st parachute regiment (9th, 11th and 12th companies) under the command of Major Schultz and the 2nd battalion of the 2nd parachute regiment (without the 6th company) were thrown onto the Waalhaven airfield . 650 people of the first wave were to occupy the airfield and prepare it within 45 minutes to receive aircraft from the second wave of landing. The second wave landed at 5:30 Berlin time, it included the main part of the 16th regiment, part of the 2nd battalion of the 2nd parachute regiment, two battalions of the 72nd infantry regiment of the 46th division, as well as divisional units of the 22nd 1st Division, including two companies of anti-tank guns, a battery of six light anti-aircraft guns and three batteries of 75-mm mountain guns. In addition, one platoon of the 11th company was thrown out in the area of ​​​​the stadium and was supposed to go to the aid of the paratroopers who occupied the bridges. Air cover for the landing and subsequent patrols over the airfield were carried out by Meserschmitt Bf.110 heavy fighters of the operational group of Major General Richard Putzier from the 2nd Air Fleet.

Before landing, the airfield was attacked by He.111 bombers, led by the commander of the KG 4 bomber squadron, Colonel Martin Fiebig. Their task was to suppress fire resistance, but at the same time keep the runway and airfield facilities intact, so the attack was carried out with light 50-kg bombs. The large Waalhaven airfield before the war was used mainly as a civilian, so it air defense was relatively weak - 12 heavy anti-aircraft machine guns, two 20-mm machine guns and seven 75-mm anti-aircraft guns, the ammunition of which made it possible to fire at a distance of at least 1000 m. Bf.110).

Having landed from seaplanes, the paratroopers captured the bridges, but they did not succeed in occupying a bridgehead on the northern coast. True, the Dutch failed to knock the enemy down from their positions, despite artillery support. gunboat Z-5 and destroyer TM-51.

Battle for Waalhaven

German planes attacked the Waalhaven airfield around 4:00 am. Three Fokker G.1s were disabled by the first bombs, one more was out of order, but eight machines still managed to take off. They inflicted enormous damage on the Germans, shooting down at least eight bombers, three fighters and two Junkers transports. The Dutch lost only two aircraft in this battle - one was shot down and fell into the river, the other was damaged and made an emergency landing in the field. However, during the battle, the Dutch fighters used up all the fuel, were forced to land anywhere and eventually crashed or fell into the hands of the Germans. Only one fighter survived, which reached the De Cooy airfield in Den Helder in the north of Holland.

Willemsburg bridge in the center of Rotterdam, captured by German paratroopers on the morning of May 10, 1940
Source: waroverholland.nl

The landing of paratroopers began at about 4:45. The airfield was defended by the 3rd Dutch Jaeger Battalion - 750 people with twelve heavy machine guns and two Cardin-Lloyd wedges. It also offered strong resistance to the German paratroopers, inflicting heavy losses on them. The situation was saved by heavy Bf.110 fighters covering the landing - they stormed the positions of anti-aircraft artillery and forced it to cease fire. After that, the paratroopers made a desperate throw and took up the positions of the Dutch anti-aircraft gunners. The decisive factor was the capture of the Dutch major, the commander of the air base - under the muzzles of German pistols, he gave his soldiers the order to surrender, and most of the units carried it out. Part of the Dutch withdrew to Rotterdam.

Although not without difficulties, the airfield was eventually occupied. Immediately, transport vehicles with soldiers of the 3rd battalion of the 16th airborne regiment began to land here. On May 11, at about 9 o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant General Student arrived at Waalhaven to directly lead the troops. Toward evening, the 7th artillery battery of the 22nd division was airlifted here, in just a day about a thousand people were delivered to the airfield by landing method.

The arrived reinforcements Student immediately sent to the bridges across the Rhine - two of them were already controlled by German paratroopers, two more were under their fire. However, the Germans failed to move further north - moreover, part of the Dutch marines they knocked out paratroopers from several high-rise buildings on the northern bank of the river.

Meanwhile, the enemy went on the counterattack. Dutch artillery began shelling Waalhaven, supported by the gunboat Moritz van Nassau from the sea, and fresh infantry units sent here tried to drive the German paratroopers out of the airfield. Moreover, already an hour and a half after the start of the German landing, five Fokker C.X biplanes tried to bomb the airfield. Two of them were damaged by Bf.110 fighters and made an emergency landing, but the dropped bombs fell on a group of German transport aircraft and damaged several of them. Around noon, the raid was repeated - now the airfield was attacked by three twin-engine Fokker T.Vs from the 1st Squadron of the 1st Dutch Aviation Regiment. Having already been bombed, they were intercepted by Bf.109 Messerschmitts, which shot down two of the three vehicles.

German paratroopers from the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Regiment in Waalhaven, May 10, 1940
Source: I. M. Baxter, R. Volstad. Fallschirmjuger. German Paratroopers from Glory to Defeat 1939–1945

In the afternoon against Waalhaven were sent English planes- permission for their use was given by the British War Cabinet after desperate requests from the Dutch government. The first to attack the airfield were six heavy Blenheim IVF fighters from the 600th squadron, but they did not achieve any results (five aircraft were lost). The commander of the only returned Blenheim, Sergeant Mitchell, reported that twelve twin-engine Messerschmitts were covering the airfield. A little later, eight Blenheim bomber modifications from the 15th squadron attacked Waalhaven: they destroyed eight transport aircraft on the ground and did not suffer losses due to lack of fuel German fighters I had to return to my base.

Already on the night of May 10-11, Waalhaven was bombed by 36 Wellington bombers from the British Bomber Command. They dropped 58 tons of bombs on the airfield: some of them fell on the airfield, causing fires there, others hit residential areas outside it (killing at least two Dutch soldiers and an undetermined number of civilians). Other results of this raid are unknown, but it is obvious that at night, acting on point targets, it was hardly possible to achieve great success. For the whole day on May 10, the Germans lost up to thirty aircraft (fourteen of them Ju.52 at the airfield), 20 paratroopers and about the same number of pilots died. Dutch aviation losses amounted to 11 heavy fighters, 2 medium and 2 light bombers; 58 soldiers died, about 600 more were captured. The British lost six twin-engine Blenheims.

By the end of the first day of the operation, the German paratroopers held positions on the left bank of Rotterdam and bridges over the Nieuwe Maas, but their position remained extremely unreliable. The Dutch troops in the city and its environs totaled up to 7,000 people and were preparing for a counterattack ...

Literature:

1. D. M. Projector. War in Europe, 1939–1941 M.: Military Publishing, 1963
2. A. Gove. Attention skydivers! M.: Publishing house of foreign literature, 1957
3. D. Richards, H. Saunders. British Air Force in World War II 1939–1945 M.: Military Publishing, 1963
4. B. Quarry, M. Chappel. German paratroopers, 1939-1945. M.: AST, Astrel, 2003
5. A. Stepanov. Pyrrhic victory for the Luftwaffe in the West // History of Aviation, 2000, No. 3
6. Y. Pakhmurin. MLD goes to war. Naval aviation Holland on the defense of the mother country // naval war. People, ships, events, 2008, No. 2
7. Simon Dunstan. Fort Eben Emael. The key to Hitler's victory in the West. Osprey Publishing, 2005 (Fortress 030)
8. Chris McNab. Fallschirmjager. Nemecti vysadkari. Prague: Svojtla & Co, 2003
9. I. M. Baxter, R. Volstad. Fallschirmjuger. German Paratroopers from Glory to Defeat 1939–1945. Concord Publishing, 2001 (Concord 6505)
10. Chris Ailsby. Hitler's Sky Warriors. German Paratroopers in Action 1939–1945. London: Brown Partworks Ltd, 2000

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

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

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

Outfit

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

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

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

Sling cutter Fliegerkappmesser - FKM

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

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

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

German airborne helmet

Parachute helmet liner

Scheme of the device of the German landing helmet

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

German paratrooper with bandolier

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

Parachutes

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

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

Quick release buckle system on a German parachute RZ20

German parachute RZ-36

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

German landing containers

German container for landing equipment

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

Dug out of the ground landing containers

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

German landing equipment container found in the river by black diggers

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 storing a 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, at the same time there is not a single photograph of camouflage of this type dated 1940.
Luftwaffe-Splittermuster type camouflage clothing is limited to two basic types: jackets for paratroopers 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"

Rueckenpackung Zwangsausloesung I (RZ 20), contemporary photo after landing.

The German paratroopers used parachutes of a very simple design. The development of domestic models, deployed in the early 30s by professors Hoff (Hoff) and Madelung (Madelung), was successfully continued by the department of technical equipment of the imperial Ministry of Aviation. Work on the creation and testing of new systems was carried out in four experimental centers in Berlin, Rechlin, Darmstadt and Stuttgart. The test cycle made it possible to successfully fine-tune the new parachute and soon began mass production of the first landing model with forced opening - Rueckenpackung Zwangsausloesung I (RZ 1).

In early 1940, an improved RZ 16 model was adopted by the German paratroopers: the reason for this was regular reports of excessive swaying of the first sample in the air and fatal malfunctions in the forced opening system leading to tragedy. The modified RZ 16 was widely used, and the last mass-produced amphibious parachute was the RZ 20, which appeared in 1941, and was used until the end of the war as a standard one.

The white silk dome RZ 16 with a pole hole was 8.5 meters in diameter and consisted of 28 panels. From the moment of landing on Crete, the Germans began to use domes that had camouflage colors.

The Germans jumped with one parachute, located at the level of the waist in a square satchel. There were two slightly different models of parachute packs. An early version, known from pre-war photos, was intended for the first sample of the German landing parachute - RZ 1. The satchel for RZ 16 appeared in 1940, for RZ 20 - in the next. For both of these systems, as a rule, modified backpacks of the second model were used. The design of the straps of the suspension system, sewn from strips of durable light gray quilted fabric, practically did not differ in all three samples.

The folded dome was placed in a cloth bag, its top was tied with a special sling to the neck of the bag. The bag itself was rigidly connected to an exhaust halyard - a piece of thick braided cable with a massive carabiner at the opposite end. The folded dome and the slings neatly rolled into a spiral bay were packed in a strong cloth “envelope” fastened to the back wall of the knapsack. From the slots at its corners came out two segments of thick twin halyards - the free ends of the suspension system. The latter came from the point of connection of the parachute lines and were attached with carabiners to the D-rings on the waist strap of the circular strap.

Before the start of the landing, 12 - 18 soldiers sat facing each other on folding seats inside the cargo compartment of a transport aircraft. The release was carried out in the following order: when approaching the designated area, the issuer (Absetzer) gave the command to stand up and line up in a column along the compartment. At the same time, each paratrooper clamped the carbine of the exhaust line in his teeth so that his hands remained free. After the order, the paratroopers snapped the hooks of the carbines on the cable or longitudinal beam passing along the fuselage to the hatch. Approaching him, the parachutist spread his legs wide, took hold of the handrails on the sides of the opening with both hands and abruptly threw himself out, falling head down (this maneuver was constantly practiced in training). The exhaust halyard rolled into a bay began to unwind immediately after leaving the aircraft, and when it was etched to its full length (9 meters), the weight of the soldier and the momentum created by the opposite movement of the car forced the halyard to pull the contents of the satchel out, opening the folded neck valves. As the soldier continued to fall, the bag with the parachute dome jumped out: at this time, a small clasp holding the “package” with the parachute closed opened and the bag fell off the dome. The exhaust halyard, along with an empty bag, remained hanging in the hatch of the aircraft, and the spirally coiled lines continued to unfold for some time even after the canopy was completely filled with air. All this time, the paratrooper fell head down and only the straightened lines sharply “pulled” him to his normal position, which was accompanied by a very sensitive jerk.

This method of parachute opening was very different from that adopted in most countries of the world and was recognized by the allies as quite primitive (especially if we take into account the force of the dynamic impact when the canopy and lines are fully deployed in the Anglo-American-Soviet and German models). However, the German technique also had a number of advantages, including when landing from low altitudes. Unpleasant sensations during the jerk in this case were more than compensated by a short period of time until the dome was completely filled with air, and, consequently, by the ability to make a throw from heights much lower than, for example, the British could afford on their Hotspurs. In cases where a paratrooper came under fire from the ground, dangling helplessly under the dome, this advantage was difficult to overestimate. For German paratroopers, the echelon of 110 - 120 meters was considered the normal drop height (in Soviet army this height was called ultra-low and jumping from such heights was practiced extremely rarely, and then only in the brigades of the "special forces" of the GRU), however, in the face of strong opposition from the air defense forces (for example, in Crete), paratroopers were thrown out from 75 meters (there are currently no such heights) jump). In this case, the dome effectively slowed down the fall of the parachutist no more than 35 meters from the ground.

The suspension system was standard for all countries and was a classic "Irwin" scheme - an early version provided for the presence of a wide circular strap, passing along the sides and under the buttocks and crossing the free ends behind the back in the area of ​​​​the shoulder blades. Above the intersection point, one D-ring was sewn to each end of the strap for attaching parachute pack carabiners.

Pre-war samples of knapsacks were distinguished by a bay of an exhaust halyard fixed in a vertical position (located on the front surface of the knapsack on its right side) with a white check label holding the coils in the bay and fixed on the left side surface or left edge of the front side. In front there were chest and waist jumpers with fasteners, and below - two leg loops.

Late model knapsacks were distinguished by the presence of a wide fabric collar, which integrated the ends of the circular strap. The exhaust halyard, as a rule, was wound in a horizontal plane and laid in the upper part of the knapsack, partially covering it with side flaps. The free ends of the suspension system from carabiners fastened on the side D-shaped rings were passed vertically upwards and hidden under the knapsack valves in its upper corners. These improvements were caused by frequent accidents associated with the unreliable design of the previous parachute packs. The halves of the narrow chest strap were fastened with a draw buckle; the left, longer end, was wrapped around the strap so as not to dangle. A wider belt jumper was connected similarly. The ends of the leg loops were fastened with carabiners to the D-rings on the circular strap.

In 1941, a simplified model of the suspension system was developed. Instead of difficult-to-handle D-rings and carabiners on the chest and waist straps, as well as on the leg loops, a system of massive single-prong latches was introduced, held in the sockets by elastic retainer plates. This allowed faster release from the straps after landing.

The main difference between the German harness system and the American, British or Soviet one was that on the RZ the free ends of the harness system did not pass over the shoulders, like the rest of the systems, but according to the scheme adopted in the old Italian parachute of the Salvatore system: all the lines converged to one point, located behind the paratrooper's back above shoulder level. The slings were connected to the suspension system with only two halyards of the free ends, passing from their ligament to the D-rings on the waist jumper.

There were several direct consequences of such a constructive decision, and all of them are inherently negative. The “dive” of the paratrooper described above upside down after leaving the plane was not an indicator of bravado, but an urgent need: if at the moment the dome was opened the fighter was in a horizontal position, the jerk in the lumbar region would be so strong that it could break the body of the paratrooper into the “head” position. to the legs” with very painful sensations and a serious risk of injury. If the paratrooper at that time was falling down like a “soldier”, a dynamic jerk would easily turn him upside down with a good chance of getting tangled in the slings with his foot or wrapping them around himself.

Any statement that a German paratrooper could not control his parachute does not mean that the Germans did not want their paratroopers to have a "good" parachute, but that the Germans were dropping from extremely low altitudes, which is explained above all, tactical expediency and common sense. Since 1936, the Germans have not made or trained throws from 700 - 800 meters. Perfectly aware of the fact that in such a case, the paratroopers will be shot by anti-aircraft gunners while still in the air.

To reduce the level of risk, paratroopers were taught to land in the “lean forward” position: in the last seconds before touching the ground, the paratrooper could try to turn around in the wind, making convulsive “floating” movements with his arms and legs. After that, he was faced with the need to land with a fall on his side and a rapid roll forward. This, by the way, explains the presence in the equipment of the German paratroopers of massive shields-shock absorbers on the knees and elbows, completely unknown to the paratroopers of the allied armies. Because the German paratroopers on RZ parachutes landed at a speed of 3.5 - 6.5 m / s even in calm weather.

PS. In this regard, it is absolutely incomprehensible why parachutes with a "normal" suspension were used in the Air Force. In addition, even for the remaining 5-10 seconds before landing, the paratrooper could at least turn downwind without convulsive "floating" movements. Well, of course, it would be immeasurably easier to extinguish the dome even with a sufficiently strong wind, believe my experience.