1st Parachute Army

the German unit First Allied Airborne Army January 2013 1st Parachute Army de 1. Fallschirm-Armee General der Fallschirmjäger Kurt Student.jpg General Kurt Student commanded the 1st Parachute Army during the Allied Operation Market Garden September 1944 – 5 May 1945 Nazi Germany Nazi Germany 30,000 in September, 1944 Western Front 5 May 1945 Generaloberst Kurt Student The 1st Parachute Army (de 1. Fallschirm-Armee) was a combined forces between airborne forces (Fallschirmjäger), armoured, and mechanized infantry unit of German Army, formed in September, 1944, comprising 30,000 men. History Its first commander was Colonel General Kurt Student, the Wehrmachts airborne pioneer. During the Allied Operation Market Garden, Student's men delayed the Allied advance across the south of the Netherlands. The 30,000 soldiers were likely the only combat-ready reserve forces in Germany at the time.Ryan, Cornelius A Bridge Too Far. 1974. p. 49 However, only two of the Army's units were paratrooper divisions. Student was transferred to the Eastern Front, and on 18 November 1944, command of the First Parachute Army passed to General der Fallschirmtruppe Alfred Schlemm, who opposed the Canadian First Army during the Battle of the Reichswald. The Canadian First Army and Lieutenant-General William Hood Simpson’s Ninth Army compressed Schlemm’s forces into a small bridgehead on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Wesel. On 10 March 1945, the rearguard of the 1st Parachute Army evacuated their bridgehead, destroying the bridge behind them. Schlemm was wounded in an air attack on his command post at Haltern eleven days later and on 20 March 1945, command passed to General Günther Blumentritt. Just before Operation Varsity, First Parachute Army had three corps stationed along the river; II Parachute Corps to the north, LXXXVI Corps in the centre, LXIII Corps in the south.Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H (1990). The Second World War 1939-1945 Army - Airborne Forces. Imperial War Museum. 0-901627-57-7, p. 298 Of these formations, II Parachute Corps and LXXXVI Corps had a shared boundary which ran through the proposed landing-zones for the Allied airborne divisions, meaning that the leading formation of each corps would face the airborne assault operations — these being 7th Parachute Division and 84th Infantry Division.Otway, p. 299 After their retreat to the Rhine both divisions were under-strength and did not number more than 4,000 men each, with 84th Infantry Division supported by only 50 or so medium artillery pieces. In the final days of the war, command passed once more to Student (10 April) and finally to Erich Straube. Commanding officers y y Commander y n n 1 Kurt Student.png Generaloberst Kurt Student Student, Kurt 1890 1978 1 March 1944 4 November 1944 1944 03 01 1944 11 04 2 Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-579-1962-23, Italien, Alfred Schlemm (cropped).jpg General der Fallschirmtruppe Alfred Schlemm Schlemm, Alfred 1894 1986 4 November 1944 28 March 1945 1944 11 04 1945 03 28 3 General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt Blumentritt, Günther 1892 1967 28 March 1945 10 April 1945 1945 03 28 1945 04 10 (1) Kurt Student.png Generaloberst Kurt Student Student, Kurt 1890 1978 10 April 1945 28 April 1945 1945 04 10 1945 04 28 4 General der Infanterie Erich Straube Straube, Erich 1887 1971 28 April 1945 8 May 1945 1945 04 28 1945 05 08 Subunits German 1st Parachute Corps German 2nd Parachute Corps References June 2017 Parachute Army 01 Parachute Army 01 Germany 01 Parachute Army 01 Parachute Army (Wehrmacht) Parachute Army (Wehrmacht)