outstanding site, dani. I think i stumbled on this site about 2 years ago…
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I forgot that Tsolias posted already this link!
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I forgot that Tsolias posted already this link![/quote]
It was some time ago-I myself have forgotten about this.
Hosenfield wrote:
The german parachute was so bad that 3/4 of the german troops that landed had nothing but stickgrenades and a pistol. they had to find the ammo containers that had their rifles, mgs, and ammo inside!
The pictures on the link http://home.online.no/~vestil/crete/invasjon/index.htm posted by someone else seem to show the German paratroopers tooled up with carbines or MP40’s or such like. If these troops had something more significant than pistols then why not all of them?
I find it difficult to believe they parachuted with only pistols.
Also I find it difficult to believe that after “4 years training” they had not cottoned on to the fact that the weapons containers woudl fall at a different rate etc to the men and I’m sure they would have done something about it.
Whilst I hate to admit it I can’t believe the German Army would be so ill prepared.
I would imagine the casualties were so high due to some units falling right in the field of fire of multiple MGs.
Well, in terms of actual personnell losses, the english suffered much more losses. But the germans had more dead.
1/4 of the germans that attacked crete had MP40 submachine guns. While these weapons are good, they can only be used for close range work. the k98 rifles are still requried. A german para could jump with teh mp40 though.
The flawed parachute design necessitated a short drop, shorter than any in history to minimize landing time.
Also, thanks to ULTRA, the british knew the germans were coming and simply drove to the drop zones and ambushed them.
And, this was the FIRST mass parachute drop… Operation Market 'Garden was a similiar failure, even though the english first airborne were highly trained.
The harness design of the German parachute left a lot to be desired, even compared to the PX.
Anyone that has landed a round canopy, even the more modern designs, will attest to the ‘abrupt arrival’ that often occurs. :shock:
Jumping with wpns attached to one’s body can easily lead to injuries, negating the point of having the wpn readily to hand.
Smaller wpns are more easily carried though the risk obviously still exists.
As Hosenfield rightly says, not all Fallschirmjagers were issued with MP40s, nor were those with rifles issued pistols.
The Germans didn’t use eqpt containers attached to the parachutist himself, but rather a metal tube which was despatched seperately.
They were taught to jump unarmed, though it is natural that they’d try to obtain something to defend yourself.