The 3rd Parachute Division was an elite military unit of
Nazi Germany's ''
Luftwaffe'' that was active during
World War II. Its formation began in October 1943 in
France near
Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
. From February 1944 near
Brest. In March 1944 division was reinforced by soldiers from the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Regiment.
Operational history
The 3rd Parachute Division was an
airborne
Airborne or Airborn may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis
* ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film
* ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
division which fought during World War II. It was formed during 1943–44 around a cadre consisting of the veteran 3rd Battalion, 1st Parachute Regiment. The Division was well equipped with 930
MG42s. Each
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
had 20 MG 42s and 43
sub machine guns while a
squad
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...
had 2 MG42s and 5 sub machine guns.
It arrived in Normandy on 10 June, by
truck after a night drive from
Brittany. It was at full strength and consisted of young German volunteers, and numbered 15,976 soldiers and officers. Its level of training and excellent weapon systems prompted the commander of the US 29th Infantry Division to remark, "Those Germans are the best damned soldiers I ever saw. They're smart and they don't know what 'fear' means. They come in and they keep coming until they get their job done or you kill 'em."
The division went into combat in June 1944 in
Normandy and inflicted heavy losses on the Allied forces opposing them. Nominally, the unit was to be motorised, but by June it still had no more than 40% of its authorised motor transport, even after seizing vehicles from French civilians. This was to have an impact when trying to move the division towards the invasion front.
In August it was near virtually destroyed by mass aerial bombing in the area of
Falaise. Formed again in
Belgium from replacements from 22nd, 51st, 53rd
Luftwaffe Field Regiments. During September 1944 it fought as a part of Kampfgruppe "Becker" in
Arnhem area before participating in the
Battle of Hürtgen Forest. It surrendered in April 1945 to
American
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* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
troops in
Ruhr
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
.
Commanding officers
* Generalmajor Walter Barenthin, 13 September 1943 – 14 February 1944
* Generalleutnant Dipl.Ing.
Richard Schimpf, 17 February 1944 – 20 August 1944
* General der Fallschirmtruppe
Eugen Meindl (acting), 20 August 1944 – 22 August 1944
* Generalmajor
Walter Wadehn, 22 August 1944 – 5 January 1945
* Generalleutnant Dipl.Ing. Richard Schimpf, 6 January 1945 – 1 March 1945
* Oberst Helmut von Hoffmann, 1 March 1945 – 8 March 1945
* Oberst
Karl-Heinz Becker, 8 March 1945 – 8 April 1945
* Oberst Hummel, 8 April 1945 – 16 April 1945
Organization in June 1944
Commander: General Major Schimpf
[Nowakowski Tomasz, Skotnicki Mariusz, Zbiegniewski Jerzy page 182,183]
*HQ Staff
** 3rd Mortar Battalion
** 3rd Anti-Tank Battalion
** 3rd Artillery Battalion
** 3rd Engineer Battalion
** 3rd Signal Battalion
* 5th Fallschirmjäger Regiment
* 8th Fallschirmjäger Regiment
* 9th Fallschirmjäger Regiment
* Supply troops
References
Further reading
*
* Hans Wijers:
Battle of the Bulge, Vol. 3: The 3rd Fallschirmjager Division in Action, December 1944 – January 1945 Stackpole 2014, .''
{{Authority control
Fallschirmjäger divisions
Military units and formations established in 1943
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945