An elite division force of the Luftwaffe were Fallschirmjäger – the German paratrooper force (called the Green Devils) They took part in almost all campaigns of WWII. Battle-experienced, skilled and relentless, they saw combat in Norway, Belgium, in the Netherlands, Italy, on the Eastern Front and in North Africa. The unit’s first deployment was in the 1939 Polish Campaign battle at Kock (Wola Gułowska). Their biggest campaign was an airborne landing in Crete in 1943. Thousands of paratroopers on parachutes and in gliders landed to fight with the New Zealand, British, Australian and Greek troops. The most daring raid was the rescue of the Italian fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, on 12 September 1943 from his confinement in a remote mountain hotel. Fallschirmjäger were able to operate in unconventional ways, using combat tactics that often surprised the Allied forces.
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