WW II Paratrooper question

On the subject of Germans who fought against the allies, there is a 2 book series call 'D-day through German Eyes. The hidden story of June 6th' by Holger Eckhertz

A journalist in the 50s had recorded interviews with German veterans who were at D-Day. His grandson transcribed and translated those interviews into those 2 books. They are fascinating reads.
 
Another good book is "INVASION They're Coming!" by Paul Carrel. It tells the story of Normandy and the 80 days battle of France following from the German point of view.

One of the lines in it has stuck with me. On seeing the Americans continuing to land in the face of the defensive fire, the author states "I realized then that the war was lost...You could not get Germans to do that!"

Another example of some Germans seeing the reality comes from a book I no longer remember the name of, but it was written by a German about the DAK, and specifically the final months. I remember he recounted an incident around the time of the Kasserine pass fighting, some Germans overran a US command post, and among other things, they captured the units mail.

In that mail was a package, a birthday cake, sent from the States to one of the soldiers, and still fresh enough to eat.

The author commented on how, at that point, he realized they could not win the war. If the Americans had the capacity to send a birthday cake to a frontline troop AND it arrived still fresh enough to eat, he knew Germany could not match that. He was quite envious of America having that much capability. He said we didn't use it well, and at the time, he was right, but he knew we would learn, and in that, he was also right. We did learn and the more we learned, the better we got.

Yes, we also kept making tons of mistakes, but as the Axis found out, the more we practiced, the better we got.
 
I think I read in Currahee that the paratroopers dropping into Normandy had their rifles in a leg bag that was often lost.
Whether another system was developed before Market Garden or whether other systems were tried ad hoc within units instead of the one that failed I can't say.
 
DMK said:
That they were. And they were all volunteers.

Were all Army Paras Rangers in WWII, or did that come later or just with certain units?
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Pretty a majority of paratroopers were not rangers and only a minority of rangers were parachute qualified before the end of WWII, especially since "Rangers" predate the Revolutionary War.

Willing to bet most paras are still not ranger qualified. Believe the current 75th Ranger Regiment is pretty much all airborne qualified though and that a post-1980 requirement.
 
If I remember right, one of our Airborne divisions (101st??) was reclassified to "Airmobile" decades ago...

Actual parachute drops seem to be a rare thing today, other than spec ops groups in the movies.

Almost everything is now done with helicopters...
or sometimes that magical bird they call the Osprey...
 
Who knows what other operations have been carried out that haven't been declassified?
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No way to know, for now, of course. But small unit drops with 21st century tech and tactics is not even remotely comparable to Normandy or Operation Market-Garden (A Bridge Too Far) or Operation Varsity (last and biggest drop of the war, over the Rhine with over 16,000 troops in one operation on one day 3/24/45)
 
The only exercise I ever worked with significant numbers of 101st was in the early 80's and they were air mobile at that time.

Air drops in an area with significant air defenses are likely not a "good idea".
 
Willing to bet most paras are still not ranger qualified. Believe the current 75th Ranger Regiment is pretty much all airborne qualified though and that a post-1980 requirement.
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Thanks. You're right. I had it backwards. I thought that there was an association between the two.
 
No way to know, for now, of course. But small unit drops with 21st century tech and tactics is not even remotely comparable to Normandy or Operation Market-Garden (A Bridge Too Far) or Operation Varsity (last and biggest drop of the war, over the Rhine with over 16,000 troops in one operation on one day 3/24/45)
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We'll likely never see amphibious invasions like those in WWII (and Inchon Korea) either.
 
We'll likely never see amphibious invasions like those in WWII (and Inchon Korea) either.
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Assaulting a defended beach from the sea? using boats??? :eek: Not likely. Today, we FLY! :D

Air dropped (or more likely air delivered) troops will secure an LZ which would be expanded until enough force is on the ground to secure a beach or more likely a port to use for the really heavy stuff.

Assuming we didn't have a nearby country friendly enough to allow us to base and build up ground combat forces there,....
 
The Grandson continues his journey through his Army career by starting Airborne school this past Monday.

They now drop with their ruck, clothing, rifle, food and ammo in a bag that hangs between their legs until after they jump. That is tethered to their harness by a 20 ft cord.

They anticipate no re-supply for 2 weeks.

If anyone has questions about how they operate today I can ask.
 
ghbucky said:
The Grandson continues his journey through his Army career by starting Airborne school this past Monday.

They now drop with their ruck, clothing, rifle, food and ammo in a bag that hangs between their legs until after they jump. That is tethered to their harness by a 20 ft cord.

They anticipate no re-supply for 2 weeks.

If anyone has questions about how they operate today I can ask.
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I would be curious about water. They plan to purify 2 weeks worth of water? In a lot of places we fight today, you can't find 2 weeks worth anywhere.
 
Direct quote from him via text message:
"idk find a river"

Never ask a private a that involves planning.

I'm guessing the real answer is simply that there would have to be water available in an area for them to at least be able to filter.
 
They plan to purify 2 weeks worth of water? In a lot of places we fight today, you can't find 2 weeks worth anywhere.
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I think its not purify 2 weeks worth of water its purify water for two weeks without resupply of purification materials (chemicals/filters).
 
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