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?
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.
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.
General
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