Fallschirmjäger (World War II)

Fallschirmjäger
Fallschirmjäger with MG 42 in the Soviet Union, 1943.
Active	1935–1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Luftwaffe
Type	Paratrooper Air Force Infantry Special Operations
Part of	Luftwaffe
Garrison/HQ	Berlin
Nickname(s)	"Green devils"
Engagements	World War II

The Fallschirmjäger (German: [ˈfalʃɪʁmˌjɛːɡə]) were the paratrooper (German: Fallschirmjäger) branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations and came to be known as the "green devils" by the Allied forces they fought against. The Fallschirmjäger were very effective when used in commando style raids. The Fallschirmjäger were famous for their willingness to give every effort unwaveringly even in the grimmest of situations. The Fallschirmjäger were seldom used as parachutists. Instead, they were prized for their combat abilities and frequently acted in a "fire brigade" role as roving elite infantrymen. Throughout World War II the Fallschirmjäger commander was Kurt Student.

During the interwar years the rapid development of aircraft and aviation technology drew the attention of imaginative military planners. The idea of inserting a large body of troops inside enemy territory was first proposed during World War I by commander of the U.S. Air Corps in France—Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. However the Allied High Command was forced to abandon the idea as it was wholly unprepared for such an undertaking, both logistically and in materiel. Among the first to recognize the potential of airborne forces were Italy and the Soviet Union. The first effective means of supporting massed infantry airborne operations came with the development of the static-line parachute in Italy in the 1920s, whereby parachutes are attached to the inside of the aircraft and deployed automatically upon departure. This technique allowed the jumps to occur at lower altitudes, limiting exposure to enemy fire, and providing a tighter drop zone grouping than individually deployed rip-cord type parachutes. The word Fallschirmjäger is from the German Fallschirm "parachute" and Jäger "hunter", the elite light infantry of the Prussian army.