German Special Forces of World War II (Elite)
Gordon Williamson
Language: English
Pages: 64
ISBN: B01DPPTM2I
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
A fascinating and long overdue study of the troops that made up Germany's elite special forces of World War II. Such forces included the legenday Skorzeny Commandos who carried out audacious tasks such as the glider-borne rescue of Mussolini, and the kidnapping of the son of the Hungarian regent, Admiral Horthy. This book also includes details of lesser-known units such as the Brandenburgers, who operated behind enemy lines in captured uniforms, and the Kleinkampfverbände who were the forerunners of modern-day naval combat troops like the US Navy SEALs. Complete with uniform and kit detail together with action accounts of many of these daring operations, this book is a must-have for any special forces enthusiast.
T-34/76 Medium Tank 1941-45 (New Vanguard, Volume 9)
Resistance Warfare 1940-45 (Men-at-Arms, Volume 169)
No Ordinary Joes: The Extraordinary True Story of Four Submariners in War and Love and Life
n after his d e c o r a t i o n w i t h t h e K n i g h t ' s C r o s s for t h e r e s c u e o f M u s s o l i n i a n d p r o m o t i o n t o m a j o r ' s rank. T h e p r o m i n e n t facial scars w e r e inflicted d u r i n g d u e l l i n g c o n t e s t s w h i l s t S k o r z e n y w a s a s t u d e n t in p r e - w a r V i e n n a ; h e w o u l d suffer t w o more head w o u n d s during t h e war. (Josef Charita) THE EASTERN FRONT: WALTER GIRG One of Skorzeny's most able officers at
number about 150 officers and men. Training was carried out under conditions of total secrecy, including instruction from - amongst others - special forces troops from the Army's Brandenburgers. As well as training in the use of the new weapons, instruction was given in escape and evasion and in languages, particularly English. The standards were extremely high, being comparable with those demanded of, for example, the British Commandos, SAS or SBS; any trainee who failed was returned to his
Grade 6 marked participation in seven operations, and Grade 7 in ten or more. The insignia of 1st to 4th Grades were to be worn on the upper right sleeve, and the metal clasps on the left breast above the pocket and any ribbon bar. It is known from entries in original paybooks that awards of the lower grades were made, but very late in the war; there were, however, no known awards of the metal clasps. n o n e o f t h e g r a d e s in t h i s s e r i e s f e a t u r e d t h e s w a s t i k a in t
pilot; by the outbreak of war he had gained his commission as a Leutnant and was flying the Heinkel H e l l l bomber with Kampfgeschwader 30. An attack on a Polish air base in September 1939 gained Baumbach the Iron Cross 2nd Class, and shortly afterwards his 'Adler Geschwader' was re-equipped with the aircraft in which Baumbach was to gain the reputation of an 'expert', the Junkers Ju88 twin-engined dive-bomber. Flying successful anti-shipping operations during the 1940 Western campaign,
were forced to beat off several counter-attacks before the arrival of German reinforcements swung the balance; the British were finally forced to surrender on 17 November. By late 1943, the Brandenburg Division had the following order of battle: divisional headquarters; Jager (light infantry) regiments 1 & 2; artillery regiment; Panzer regiment; engineer battalion; anti-tank battalion; Flak battalion; signals battalion, and reconnaissance battalion. There was a parachute company, later raised
