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    Falling From Grace: The German Airborne In World War II
    Falling From Grace: The German Airborne In World War II
    Falling From Grace: The German Airborne In World War II
    Ebook94 pages1 hour

    Falling From Grace: The German Airborne In World War II

    By Chris Mason

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    In the late 1930’s, an aggressive and innovative rearmament program in Nazi Germany gave rise to the tactics of vertical envelopment. Pioneering the use of gliders as troop carriers, parachutists, and the air landing of reinforcements to exploit tactical success, the German Wehrmacht used the new technique of airborne warfare with startling success as part of the Blitzkrieg campaign against the Low Countries and France in 1940.
    -When the tactical doctrine used to seize bridges, strong points and road junctions in Fall Gelb was transferred to the seizure of an entire island that was heavily defended in 1941, however, the German airborne effectively committed suicide.
    -In ten days in May 1941, half the airborne forces in the entire German army were killed or wounded on Crete. Hitler wrongly ascribed the disaster to a playing out of the surprise factor, and banned further parachute operations until 1943.
    -The right conclusions were arrived at by the commander of the German airborne himself, General Kurt Student, in post-battle analysis. His own insistence on faulty tactics was devastating...
    The German innovation of vertical envelopment in the 1930’s was as revolutionary to modern military tactics as the simultaneous development of the integrated combined arms offensive known today as the Blitzkrieg. In putting Billy Mitchell’s ideas into practice, Luftwaffe General Student demonstrated vision, innovative thinking and practical military skill. Poor intelligence and reliance on his “spreading oil drops” tactics for the deployment of his paratroopers, the Fallschirmtruppe, on Crete, however, led directly to their removal as a significant weapon from the German arsenal in World War II.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucknow Books
    Release dateAug 15, 2014
    ISBN9781782898078
    Falling From Grace: The German Airborne In World War II
    Author

    Chris Mason

    Chris Mason is a software engineer who would rather have been a writer, but he is addicted to coding and couldn't figure out how to support himself writing obscure novels. He worked as a programmer and programming manager for 18 years -- including 10 years at Microsoft, where he was involved with Word and Office for Macintosh. He has three software patents stashed in the back of his closet. After leaving Microsoft for good he founded GrowlyBird Software, which develops free Macintosh applications. He has written ten novels, four of which are available here. Three of his other novels are for sale on Amazon (as ebooks and paperbacks, at the link shown below), and another will be available there soon. Because he's a workaholic curmudgeon with hermit tendencies, he doesn't engage in social media. But you can contact him at chris@growlybird.com.

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      Book preview

      Falling From Grace - Chris Mason

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2001 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      Falling from Grace: German Airborne Forces in World War II

      By

      M. Chris Mason, FS-3, United States Department of State

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      Executive Summary 5

      Part I: Introduction 6

      Part II: Genesis 1936-1938 6

      Part III: The Use of Paratroops: The First Great Debate, 1936-1938 8

      Part IV: Deployment Doctrine: The Second Great Debate, 1939 11

      Part V: Testing the Doctrine: Early Airborne Operations, 1939-1940 14

      Part V: 1941: The Turning Point: Crete or Malta? 16

      Part VI: Pride Goeth Before Destruction: Crete 1941 18

      Part VIII: The Battle Plan 20

      Part IX: Pyrrhic Victory 22

      Part X: The Aftermath of Crete: Two Year Hiatus, 1941-1943 25

      Part XI: A Fighting Reputation 29

      Part XII: Final Airborne Operations 1943-1945 31

      Part XIII: What Might Have Been 34

      Part XIV: Final Thoughts 35

      German Parachute Operations Through Crete 38

      German Post-Crete Parachute Operations 39

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 40

      Bibliography 41

      Books 41

      Magazine Articles 44

      Reports 44

      Interviews 44

      Other Resources 45

      Executive Summary

      Thesis:—Nazi Germany pioneered the use of airborne forces in the 20th century and used them effectively early in the war as part of integrated, combined-arms offensives. Yet the German airborne branch literally self-destructed in 1941. What happened, how did the Germans react, and what historical insights in the use of airborne forces can modern day planners derive from the German experience?

      Discussion:—In the late 1930’s, an aggressive and innovative rearmament program in Nazi Germany gave rise to the tactics of vertical envelopment. Pioneering the use of gliders as troop carriers, parachutists, and the air landing of reinforcements to exploit tactical success, the German Wehrmacht used the new technique of airborne warfare with startling success as part of the Blitzkrieg campaign against the Low Countries and France in 1940.

      —When the tactical doctrine used to seize bridges, strong points and road junctions in Fall Gelb was transferred to the seizure of an entire island that was heavily defended in 1941, however, the German airborne effectively committed suicide.

      —In ten days in May 1941, half the airborne forces in the entire German army were killed or wounded on Crete. Hitler wrongly ascribed the disaster to a playing out of the surprise factor, and banned further parachute operations until 1943.

      —The right conclusions were arrived at by the commander of the German airborne himself, General Kurt Student, in post-battle analysis. His own insistence on faulty tactics was devastating. Although they remained a potent and professional force, Hitler’s effective ban on the future use of airborne forces lasted until 1943, when it was clear the Allies still very much considered paratroops a viable form of warfare. By then, Germany’s ability to conduct airborne operations on a significant scale had long since passed.

      Conclusion:—The German innovation of vertical envelopment in the 1930’s was as revolutionary to modern military tactics as the simultaneous development of the integrated combined arms offensive known today as the Blitzkrieg. In putting Billy Mitchell’s ideas into practice, Luftwaffe General Student demonstrated vision, innovative thinking and practical military skill. Poor intelligence and reliance on his spreading oil drops tactics for the deployment of his paratroopers, the Fallschirmtruppe, on Crete, however, led directly to their removal as a significant weapon from the German arsenal in World War II. Nevertheless, Student proved that airborne troops have unique capabilities as a force multiplier in both offensive and defensive warfare. The German experience, which also demonstrated the limitations of airborne forces, was studied in depth by the U.S. Army after the war and incorporated into airborne doctrine.

      Part I: Introduction

      Where is the prince who can afford to so cover his country with troops for its defense, as that 10,000 men descending from the clouds might not, in many places, do an infinite deal of mischief before a force could be brought to repel them?— Benjamin Franklin, 1784{1}

      In the late 1930’s, an aggressive and innovative rearmament program in Nazi Germany gave rise to the tactics of vertical envelopment. Luftwaffe General Kurt Student pioneered the use of gliders and airborne forces, and the Wehrmacht used them effectively early in the war as part of integrated, combined-arms offensives. Yet the German airborne branch literally self-destructed in May 1941 during the invasion of the island of Crete. This paper examines the development of German airborne doctrine and addresses the questions of what happened on Crete, how the Germans reacted, and what historical insights modern day planners can derive from the German experience.

      Part II: Genesis 1936-1938

      The idea was risky, but if it worked, it could make it possible to overrun all of France in a matter of

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