The Fallschirmjäger formed the airborne forces of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War and were the first paratroopers committed in large-scale operations, earning the nickname “Green Devils” from their opponents for their tenacity and distinctive esprit de corps under the overall command of General der Fallschirmtruppe Kurt Student. Originating from volunteers of the Regiment General Göring in the mid-1930s, they were organised into the 7. Flieger-Division in 1938 and later expanded into successive Fallschirmjäger-Divisionen, with specialised units such as the Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment and Fallschirmjäger-Regimenter 1, 2 and 3. Their early successes included the unopposed seizure of airfields and bridges during the occupation of Denmark and Norway in April 1940, the dramatic glider-borne capture of Fort Ében-Émael by Sturmgruppe Granit in May 1940, and the securing of key bridges and airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium during the Western Campaign. The culminating airborne assault was Unternehmen Merkur on Crete in May 1941, when elements of the 7. Flieger-Division and supporting Gebirgsjäger landed by parachute and glider to seize the island; although successful, the operation cost the Fallschirmjäger roughly 3,000 to 4,000 killed or missing and led Adolf Hitler to forbid further large-scale airborne operations. Thereafter the Fallschirmjäger fought primarily as elite ground infantry, with the Fallschirmjäger-Brigade “Ramcke” operating in North Africa during the Second Battle of El Alamein, the 1. Fallschirmjäger-Division defending Monte Cassino in Italy, and the 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division under Generalleutnant Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke holding Festung Brest against American forces in 1944. Additional divisions including the 3., 4. and 5. Fallschirmjäger-Division saw heavy combat in Normandy, the Falaise Pocket, Arnhem and the Ardennes, while later formations raised in 1944–45 were often understrength and used as ordinary infantry. Equipped with distinctive jump smocks, the Fallschirmjäger-Stahlhelm and specialised weapons such as the FG 42, they maintained high combat value until the final surrender of remaining units in May 1945, having suffered tens of thousands of casualties across every major theatre.
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BRILLANTENTRÄGER
General der Fallschirmtruppe Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (1889-1968) was born on 24 January 1889 in Schleswig into a farming family and entered the Kaiserliche Marine in 1905 as a Schiffsjunge, later serving as a Matrose and rising through non-commissioned ranks before the First World War. During that conflict he transferred to the Marine-Infanterie and fought mainly in Flanders, earning the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse and 1. Klasse as well as the Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross for distinguished actions as an Offiziers-Stellvertreter. After the war he remained in the Reichswehr, advancing steadily to Oberstleutnant by 1937, and in 1940, at the age of fifty-one, volunteered for the Fallschirmtruppe of the Luftwaffe, completing parachute training and receiving the Fallschirmschützenabzeichen. In May 1941, as Oberst and Kommandeur of Fallschirmjäger-Sturm-Regiment 1, he took part in the airborne invasion of Crete; after Generalmajor Meindl was wounded he assumed command of the Westgruppe, leading the capture of Maleme airfield and the town of Chania, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 August 1941 and promoted to Generalmajor. In 1942 he commanded the Fallschirmjäger-Brigade “Ramcke” attached to the Afrikakorps in North Africa; during the Second Battle of El Alamein his isolated force refused surrender, captured a British supply column, and marched roughly 350 kilometres through the desert to rejoin Rommel’s troops, an exploit that earned him the Eichenlaub on 13 November 1942 and promotion to Generalleutnant. He later raised and led the 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division in Italy and briefly on the Eastern Front before taking command of Festung Brest in Brittany in August 1944. There, as Kommandant, he directed a stubborn defence of the vital port against superior American forces for more than a month, delaying its capture until 19 September 1944, the same day he received both the Schwerter and the Brillanten to his Ritterkreuz and was promoted to General der Fallschirmtruppe. Captured that day, Ramcke spent years as a prisoner of war, was later convicted by a French court of war crimes committed during the Brest fighting, and after release lived quietly until his death on 4 July 1968 in Kappeln.
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SCHWERTERTRÄGER
General der Fallschirmtruppe Richard Heidrich (1896-1947) was born on 27 July 1896 in Lawalde, Saxony, and entered the Sächsische Armee on 18 August 1914 as Kriegsfreiwilliger in Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 101, receiving promotion to Leutnant in August 1915 and serving as Zugführer, Kompanieführer and later Regimentsadjutant, earning both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz as well as the Ritterkreuz II. Klasse of the Sächsischer Verdienstorden and Albrechts-Orden with Schwertern. After the war he served in a Freikorps and was accepted into the Reichswehr. In 1938 he formed a Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon as Major and transferred with it to the Luftwaffe on 1 January 1939. Promoted to Oberstleutnant and then Oberst on 1 April 1940, he became Kommandeur of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 of the 7. Flieger-Division. During Operation Merkur on Crete in May 1941 his regiment played a decisive role in the hard fighting that secured the island’s capture; for this achievement he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 June 1941. He received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 31 March 1942. In August 1942 he was promoted to Generalmajor and given command of the 7. Flieger-Division, which was redesignated 1. Fallschirmjäger-Division in 1943; he was advanced to Generalleutnant on 1 July 1943. After service on the Eastern Front and in Sicily, his division fought in Italy. For the exemplary steadfastness of the 1. Fallschirmjäger-Division under his leadership during the bitter defence of Ortona in late 1943 he was awarded the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (382nd award) on 5 February 1944. On 15 March 1944, during the early fighting at Monte Cassino, he effectively concentrated artillery fire on Allied assembly areas in Cassino itself, disrupting the impending attack; for this leadership and the division’s successful defence he received the Schwerter zum Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub (55th award) on 25 March 1944. Promoted to General der Fallschirmtruppe in October 1944, he became Kommandierender General of the I. Fallschirm-Korps. Severely wounded on 23 January 1945, he was captured by British forces on 3 May 1945 near St. Christofore and released in 1947. He died of his wounds in Hamburg-Bergedorf on 22 December 1947. Additional awards included the Ärmelband Kreta, Fallschirmschützenabzeichen and Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber.
Generalmajor Ludwig Heilmann (1903-1959) was born on 9 August 1903 in Würzburg and entered the Reichswehr on 3 February 1921 with the Infanterie-Regiment 21, rising through the ranks from Oberschütze to Feldwebel by 1929 before leaving service in 1933 and being reactivated in 1934 as Leutnant and soon Oberleutnant, then Hauptmann in 1935 while serving with units including Infanterie-Regiment 91 during the campaigns in Poland and France. On 1 August 1940 he transferred to the Luftwaffe and assumed command of the III. Bataillon of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3, being promoted to Major that year. During Operation Merkur on Crete he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 June 1941 as Major and Kommandeur of the III./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 when, on 20 May 1941, he captured the hill south of Galatas with his Bataillon staff and the remnants of his 9. Kompanie, and two days later led about 100 men to break the New Zealand forces’ encirclement near Stalos, establishing contact with advancing Fallschirmjäger and Gebirgsjäger from the west. He received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 26 February 1942 as Major in the same unit, was promoted to Oberstleutnant in 1942 and took command of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3, becoming Oberst in December 1943. For actions on Sicily he was awarded the Eichenlaub (412th) on 2 March 1944 as Oberst and Kommandeur of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 after leading his troops to escape destruction by fighting across the heavily trafficked Malati bridge on the night of 15/16 July 1943 to reach friendly lines on the Catania plain. The Schwerter (67th) followed on 15 May 1944 for his leadership and the bitter defensive resistance of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 during the Second Battle of Monte Cassino. Promoted to Generalmajor on 22 December 1944, he commanded the 5. Fallschirmjäger-Division from mid-October 1944 through the Ardennes offensive until his capture in March 1945, from which he was released in 1947; he died on 26 October 1959 in Kempten, having attained the last rank of Generalmajor and the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern along with the Eisernes Kreuz (1939) second and first class, Ärmelband Kreta, and other decorations.
Generalmajor Erich Walther (1903-1948) was born on 5 August 1903 in Gorden and joined the Schutzpolizei in Berlin as Polizeianwärter on 1 April 1924, later serving in Oppeln and Berlin before transferring to the Luftwaffe as Hauptmann on 1 October 1935, where he commanded companies and battalions in the Luftwaffen-Regiment General Göring and its Fallschirm units. During the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940 as a company commander he led bold maneuvers with the reinforced 2./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 toward Hamar and Elverum that disrupted Norwegian mobilization, and in the Westfeldzug as Kommandeur of I. Bataillon, Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 he captured and held the bridges at Dordrecht against repeated counterattacks until relief arrived, earning the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 18 April and I. Klasse on 26 April 1940, followed by the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 May 1940 as Major. He took part in the airborne assault on Crete in May 1941, receiving the Ärmelband Kreta and Narvikschild, then fought on the Eastern Front near Leningrad from September 1941, where as Major and Kommandeur of I. Bataillon he was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 31 March 1942; promotions followed to Oberstleutnant on 1 January 1942 and Oberst on 1 April 1943 (or 20 April in some records). Appointed Kommandeur of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 4 on 17 September 1942 (formal from April 1943), he led it in Sicily in 1943, where his Kampfgruppe held the Simeto bridges for three days against strong Allied pressure, and earlier actions included capturing a critical railway section for Swedish iron ore transport with two companies of his battalion and four of Marines; these achievements, together with defensive successes of the regiment at Monte Cassino, brought the Eichenlaub (411st award) on 2 March 1944 as Oberst and Kommandeur Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 4. In September 1944 he commanded Kampfgruppe Walther during Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Overloon in the southern Netherlands, then from mid-October 1944 led Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier-Division 2 “Hermann Göring” on the Eastern Front in East Prussia, successfully directing it in the first battle from the Gumbinnen–Ebenrode road to Großwaltersdorf and in the second beginning 13 January 1945, where the division resisted repeated Soviet breakthrough attempts for days; for this leadership he received the Schwerter (131st award) on 1 February 1945 as Oberst and Führer of the division. Promoted to Generalmajor on 30 January 1945 and appointed full Kommandeur, he was severely wounded by a shell splinter shortly afterward but resumed command of the remnants in northern Germany until the surrender on 8 May 1945; captured by Soviet forces, he was later imprisoned in Speziallager Nr. 2 Buchenwald, where he died on 26 December 1948 of hunger and tuberculosis. His last rank was Generalmajor.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
General der Fallschirmtruppe Paul Conrath (1896-1979) was born on 22 November 1896 in Rudow near Berlin and entered military service on 10 August 1914 as a Kriegsfreiwilliger and Offiziersanwärter in the 4. Garde-Feldartillerie-Regiment in Potsdam, transferring in October 1914 to the Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 44 on the Western Front where he saw action at Verdun, the Somme and in Flanders; promoted to Leutnant on 1 March 1917 he served as Abteilungs-Ordonnanz-Offizier in the 4. Badischen Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 66 until the war’s end. After leaving the army in January 1919 he joined the Prussian Security Police in Berlin in 1920, rising through platoon and Hundertschaft command to Major by the early 1930s, and on 1 April 1935 was transferred as Major into the Luftwaffe, serving as Adjutant to Hermann Göring before commanding batteries in Flak-Regiment 12 and the III. leichte Flakabteilung of the Luftwaffen-Regiment “General Göring.” Reappointed Chefadjutant and promoted to Oberstleutnant in 1938 and Oberst in March 1940, he assumed command of the Luftwaffen-Regiment “General Göring” on 1 June 1940, leading it through the campaign in the West and then, redesignated Regiment (mot.) Hermann Göring, into Operation Barbarossa from 22 June 1941; for his successful leadership of the Flak-Regiment (mot) “General Göring” on the Eastern Front, including actions in the Battle of Brody and the tank fighting at Dubno where one of his Batterien was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 4 September 1941 as Oberst. Promoted Generalmajor on 15 June 1942 he expanded the formation into the Luftwaffen-Brigade and then Division “Hermann Göring,” later Panzer-Division “Hermann Göring,” which fought in Tunisia and Sicily; for the division’s achievements there he was awarded the Eichenlaub (276th) on 21 August 1943 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the Panzer-Division “Hermann Göring.” Advanced to Generalleutnant on 1 September 1943 he continued to lead the unit, renamed Fallschirm-Panzer-Division “Hermann Göring,” in the Italian campaign including Monte Cassino until relieved on 15 April 1944 and appointed Kommandierender General of the Ausbildungs- und Ersatztruppen of the Fallschirm-Armee and Inspekteur der Fallschirmtruppe; promoted General der Fallschirmtruppe on 1 January 1945, he entered brief American captivity after the capitulation of 8 May 1945 and was soon released, dying in Hamburg on 15 January 1979.
Generaloberst Kurt Student (1890-1978) was born on 12 May 1890 in Birkholz in the Prussian province of Brandenburg and died on 1 July 1978 in Lemgo, West Germany. Entering the Prussian Army as a Fähnrich in 1910, he was commissioned Leutnant in 1911, qualified as a pilot in 1913 and during the First World War scored six aerial victories while commanding Jagdstaffel 9. After the war he remained in the Reichswehr, studied gliding and observed Soviet airborne exercises. When the Luftwaffe was re-established he transferred to it and in 1938 was appointed commander of airborne forces and of the 7. Flieger-Division, Germany’s first Fallschirmjäger formation. In the Western Campaign of May 1940 his troops seized the fortress of Eben-Emael with a small glider force and captured vital bridges and airfields in the Netherlands; for these successes Student, then Generalleutnant and Kommandeur of the 7. Flieger-Division, received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 12 May 1940. Wounded in the head at Rotterdam, he returned to duty in 1941 as Kommandierender General of the XI. Fliegerkorps and directed Unternehmen Merkur, the airborne invasion of Crete, the last major German parachute operation of the war. In September 1943, as General der Flieger commanding the XI. Fliegerkorps, he ordered the planning of Unternehmen Eiche, the glider-borne rescue of Mussolini from Gran Sasso, and for the overall performance of his forces in the Mediterranean that summer—including Sicily, the disarmament of Italian units around Rome and the Mussolini operation—he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 27 September 1943 as the 305th recipient. Later he commanded the 1. Fallschirm-Armee and briefly Heeresgruppe H, reaching the rank of Generaloberst in 1944. Captured in 1945, he was tried in 1947 for war crimes committed by his men on Crete, convicted on three counts relating to prisoners of war and sentenced to five years, but released in 1948.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Knight%27s_Cross_of_the_Iron_Cross_recipients_of_the_Fallschirmj%C3%A4ger
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