Three views by Kriegsberichter Hermann Czirnich of Generalleutnant Dipl.Ing. Richard Schimpf pictured while commanding the 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division in Contances, St. Lo (Normandy), during June-July 1944. Note the unique 7.92mm FG42 paratrooper rifle with its side-mounted 20-round magazine slung over his back. In these views, Schimpf is wearing the Luftwaffe "splinter" pattern camouflage smock and the unit badge of the II. Fallschirm-Korps, also known as the Meindl badge, pinned to the left side of his M43 field cap.
3. Fallschirmjäger-Division were placed at the disposal of Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann’s 7. Armee in France in May of 1944. General der Fallschirmtruppe Eugen Meindl’s II. Fallschirmkorps oversaw the formation and training of the new 3. and 5. Fallschirmjäger-Divisions. Soon after the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, the II. Fallschirmkorps with the 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division and the 17. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division “Götz von Berlichingen” deployed from Brittany to counter U.S. forces in the area of St. Lô. Following an unsuccessful effort to recapture Carentan in mid-June, Meindl’s corps remained heavily engaged with American forces in the St. Lô sector for the next two months. With the German 5. Panzerarmee and 7. Armee almost completely encircled at Falaise by the advancing American and Anglo-Canadian-Polish forces, the remnants of Meindl’s corps desperately held open a narrow corridor that allowed thousands of German troops to escape. On the night of 19-20 August 1944, Meindl and his chief of staff, Oberst Ernst Blauensteiner, each led an assault group formed from the remnants of the 3. Fallschirmjäger Division, the 7. Armee staff and a few Waffen-SS tanks in a last chance bid to escape from the Falaise Pocket. On 20 August 1944 Schimpf was Severely wounded in the leg by a 20mm shell during the breakout from the Falaise Pocket in Normandy, and hospitalized until 5 January 1945. Following a brief period during which General der Fallschirmtruppe Meindl exercised direct control of the remnants of the 3. Fallschirmjäger Division, formal command passed to Generalmajor Walter Wadehn on 1 September 1944.
3. Fallschirmjäger-Division were placed at the disposal of Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann’s 7. Armee in France in May of 1944. General der Fallschirmtruppe Eugen Meindl’s II. Fallschirmkorps oversaw the formation and training of the new 3. and 5. Fallschirmjäger-Divisions. Soon after the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, the II. Fallschirmkorps with the 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division and the 17. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division “Götz von Berlichingen” deployed from Brittany to counter U.S. forces in the area of St. Lô. Following an unsuccessful effort to recapture Carentan in mid-June, Meindl’s corps remained heavily engaged with American forces in the St. Lô sector for the next two months. With the German 5. Panzerarmee and 7. Armee almost completely encircled at Falaise by the advancing American and Anglo-Canadian-Polish forces, the remnants of Meindl’s corps desperately held open a narrow corridor that allowed thousands of German troops to escape. On the night of 19-20 August 1944, Meindl and his chief of staff, Oberst Ernst Blauensteiner, each led an assault group formed from the remnants of the 3. Fallschirmjäger Division, the 7. Armee staff and a few Waffen-SS tanks in a last chance bid to escape from the Falaise Pocket. On 20 August 1944 Schimpf was Severely wounded in the leg by a 20mm shell during the breakout from the Falaise Pocket in Normandy, and hospitalized until 5 January 1945. Following a brief period during which General der Fallschirmtruppe Meindl exercised direct control of the remnants of the 3. Fallschirmjäger Division, formal command passed to Generalmajor Walter Wadehn on 1 September 1944.
Source :
https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?topicid=dcx-thes_fotograf_779xk33vg46qjdsu6kc&page=1#
http://www.specialcamp11.co.uk/Generalleutnant%20Dipl%20Ing%20Richard%20Schimpf%20(Luftwaffe).htm
