Fallschirmjäger leaders, men of action
Adrian Nisbett highlights three of the German paratroops’ best-known commanders and explores their styles of leadership
What we would today describe as special operations troops came of age in World War II. Of these, the pioneering paratroops – the Fallschirmjäger – of the Luftwaffe were among the best known and arguably the most capable. For most of the war they were all volunteers, highly trained and expected to be able to exercise individual initiative at all times. Paratroops were often isolated from headquarters in the critical phases of an attack and the nature of their transport to battle often meant the loss of leadership groups before the fighting began. Operating far from higher command, lightly armed and without artillery or armour meant that far more would be expected of these men than of ordinary infantry. To meet these unique demands a very intense and searching selection process was developed for both officers and men. Their training produced not only fighting men with strong esprit de corps, but also a bond between officers and men absent in other services.
Careful selection, intensive and innovative training and excellent weapons contributed much to the Fallschirmjägers’ reputation, but the quality of their leaders was also a major factor. To command, intelligent highly-motivated and capable men in often desperately fought actions called for leaders with special qualities. Men who could claim the total respect of their troops, demonstrate the ability to make the right battlefield decisions quickly and lead by personal example. Fallschirmjäger officers were generally excellent and earned the lasting respect and admiration of their men. From junior officer to general, these men invariably exhibited great courage, but in other respects their leadership was marked by distinctly individual traits.
Bruno Bräuer
Bruno Bräuer deserves to be at the head of the list, if only because he was Number One, the first German paratrooper to jump from an aircraft, on 11 May 1936. Courageous to the point of foolhardiness, he was an inspiration to his men and a legend within the paratroop fraternity.
Bräuer was born in 1893 and joined the Army as an officer cadet in 1905. He served with distinction in World War I, in which he was awarded both the First and Second classes of the
Iron Cross. After the war he joined the Reichswehr, then the police, in 1920. When, in 1933, police units were formed along military lines, he became a company commander. Bräuer’s unit became a battalion of the
General Göring Regiment, from which the first paratroopers were drawn.
The Luftwaffe soon assumed control of paratroops and in November 1938 Bräuer was appointed Commander of the 1st Parachute Regiment, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Bräuer’s war began early and he received bars to his Iron Crosses for his participation in the Polish campaign in 1939. His reputation for fearlessness in the face of the enemy was quickly established. Despite having a stutter and a slight physique, his presence was that of an experienced combat soldier whose coolness under fire inspired those around him. He preferred his peaked cap to a helmet and belittled enemy marksmanship by standing under fire, selecting a cigarette from his gold case and casually lighting it. His courage and leadership were recognised after the invasion of the Netherlands and he was awarded the Knight’s Cross in June 1940.
The real test of his abilities came in May 1941, when his regiment was assigned the task of taking the airfield adjoining the town of Heraklion, on the island of Crete. His men quickly came under sustained Allied defensive fire and for several days the issue was very much in doubt.
In the end, a night-time British evacuation delivered victory to Bräuer (known as Daddy to his men) and his troops. In truth, he would probably not rank as one of the great tacticians of the war – his preference was for immediate, decisive action and this did not allow for reconnaissance and considered assessment of the opposition.
He was Commandant of Fortress Crete in 1943 and 1944, during which time he established a reputation with local citizens as a tough but fair man who treated them with respect and demonstrated considerable restraint in his dealing with resistance groups. After Crete, Bräuer spent a lengthy period in reserve, probably as a result of the strains of combat. However, in March 1945, he was appointed commanding officer of the 9th Fallschirmjäger Division, facing the
Red Army. He was promoted to General der Fallschirmtruppe, but suffered a breakdown in early April 1945 and was relieved of his command. After the war he was tried in Greece for war crimes on Crete. He was found guilty and executed by firing squad on 20
May 1947. The conduct of the trial was widely criticised with historian Antony Beevor, in Crete, the battle and the resistance, commenting, ‘a truly unfortunate man, executed for crimes committed under another general.’
Photographs of Bräuer rarely show him smiling as he was very conscious of projecting himself as a tough, uncompromising leader. Despite this persona, he was regarded with great warmth by those who served with him, and was a father figure to the young men of his regiment.
His qualities were summed up by his former commander, Kurt Student, “He was a complex and prickly personality, a real man who feared neither death nor the devil. He was courageous, upright and straight, proper and faultless. As he behaved throughout his life, he also met his death.”
Eugen Meindl
Eugen Meindl was one of the best known and accomplished of the Fallschirmjäger leaders. But he was also a man of many accomplishments in other spheres of his life.
Meindl was 47 years old when the war began, an old man by the standards of his youthful troops. His military career began in 1912, in the artillery, and he served throughout World War I in a variety of command appointments in which he gained invaluable experience leading troops and also as an adjutant where he gained experience in administration and staff duties. He continued military service with the Reichswehr after the war, both as an artilleryman and a staff officer.
At the beginning of World War
II he was in command of the 112th Mountain Artillery Regiment as a Lieutenant Colonel. He made his first parachute jump over Narvik and officially transferred to the Luftwaffe in November 1940, apparently having enjoyed his first jump, despite having had only the most rudimentary preflight instruction.
As Commander of the 1st Parachute-Glider Assault Regiment
for the Crete operation, he landed near the Platanias Bridge. Here he was seriously wounded in the chest and his command was eventually assumed by Colonel Bernhard Ramcke. After his recovery Meindl was promoted to Major General and assumed command of Luftwaffe Division Meindl in February 1942, serving in Russia.
Later that year he became a corps commander and demonstrated his mastery of the battlefield. His varied past experience meant that he had an excellent appreciation of the roles artillery could play in various combat situations; he had commanded infantry and his staff assignments enabled him to have a confident grasp of all manner of logistical problems.
In November 1943 his successes led to a further promotion, as the Commander of II Parachute Corps. In this role, he distinguished himself as a clever and calm tactician and proved a formidable thorn in the side of his American and British opponents in France, Belgium and Germany.
Eugen Meindl was awarded the Knight’s Cross in June 1941 for his bravery and leadership on Crete.
In 1942 he received the German
Cross in Gold and in August 1944 won the coveted Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross for his performance in France after the D-Day invasion. The generalship he exhibited in extricating his corps from the Falaise Pocket was arguably his greatest achievement of the war. Finally, he was given the Swords to his Knight’s Cross, in May 1945, though it appears that the necessary paperwork was never completed in the chaotic last days of the war. He was a prisoner of war until September 1947 and died in 1951.
Meindl was undoubtedly one of the most capable, reliable and charismatic German generals of the war. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring described him as, “A man of action,” and the great physical bravery he displayed in both World Wars would be sufficient to justify that description, but there was much more to his life and character.
At the 1912 Paris Olympic Games, Meindl represented Germany in track and field. Other physical pursuits at which he excelled were mountain climbing, horsemanship and skiing.
As a balance to his physical exertions he also became an accomplished watercolour artist and wood carver. Despite all of these interests and achievements he was by all accounts a man of simple tastes with a straightforward view of life.
The welfare of his men was always uppermost in his concerns, a quality that many generals did not possess. He was, according to General Günther Blumentritt, “stern and tough”, but these attributes suited paratroopers perfectly. They expected to be given the tough assignments and they certainly wanted their leaders to be experienced and tough enough to withstand the
stresses of hard combat. They also expected their leaders to lead by personal example and in each of these areas, Meindl excelled. If he had a fault it was to limit the freedom of action he gave to his subordinates.
His explanation was simple: he felt responsible for everything.
It is difficult to think of too many generals on either side who could match Meindl in the qualities that made him both a totally professional and capable commander in the field and a man who was revered by his men for his generalship and concern for them. On his own initiative he decided to devise an award for men under his command. This would be a personal commendation, out of the scope of official awards. It was a unique way of demonstrating his personal gratitude for and pride in the work of his men. The award, a small silver badge with an eagle and a stylised M, was to be worn on soft caps. Meindl himself designed the badge and used his family’s own silver to make them. These badges are highly prized by collectors today.
A final example of Meindl’s style and character: he prepared a 1941 Christmas message to his troops and their families, the main purpose of which was to remember the fallen from his regiment. Meindl also wrote the memorial poem printed on the document. In the example reproduced here he has written a personal greeting to the widow of one of his men who fell in action.
He was, in short, a man of admirable personal qualities and great achievements, in both his professional and private lives.
Bernhard Ramcke
Though short in stature Bernhard Ramcke had become a larger-thanlife figure by the time he established his reputation as a Fallschirmjäger commander. He was the man who could always be thrust into an impossible situation and be counted on to emerge victorious. His swashbuckling style quickly became legendary and the message, ‘Ramcke’s coming!’ was enough to inject new spirit into troops under extreme pressure.
Bernhard Hermann Ramcke was born in 1889 and at the age of 16 he joined the Imperial Navy as a cabin boy. In his autobiography he describes his seagoing days in some detail and it is clear that, having entered military service at such a young age, he was forced to develop traits that would be his trademarks in years to come: physical and mental toughness; a bold and enterprising outlook; self-confidence; a persona that appealed to men under his command. His reputation for courage and determination was cemented early in World War I when he served in the Marine Assault Battalion.
After promotion to Lieutenant he transferred to the Army in 1919 and served in a variety of command positions culminating in promotion to Major and assignment as an infantry battalion commander. In July 1940, as a Lieutenant Colonel, he transferred to the Luftwaffe (parachute troops) and earned his parachute qualification badge at the age of 51.
His baptism of fire and the birth of his legend as the man to go to in a crisis came on Crete. He took over command from the wounded Eugen Meindl and was awarded the Knight’s Cross for his bravery and leadership. The situation around Canea required determined, aggressive leadership and at short notice Ramcke assembled 500 men to fly in with him; their presence on the battlefield resulted in an immediate lift in the morale of the troops under pressure. Ramcke’s decisive leadership and a rare ability to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances won the day. He was promoted to Major General in recognition of these qualities. For the remainder of the war his commands were distinguished by swift, decisive action, often from poor positions.
An incident from North Africa illustrates his risk-taking style. He commanded the Fallschirmjäger (Ramcke) brigade. During the retreat from El Alamein, Ramcke’s men became separated from other Afrika Korps units. They captured a British supply column, commandeered the trucks and drove the convoy through British lines to reach the safety of Afrika Korps
defensive positions.
Thereafter he served with distinction in Italy where his troops conducted several successful parachute drops, including the rescue of Mussolini and the capture of the Italian Army HQ following the Italian surrender. He was then assigned to Russia with his 2nd Parachute Division, where it suffered very heavy casualties, a recurring feature of Ramcke’s battles and one which has attracted criticism from post-war historians. The division was withdrawn and, after rebuilding, relocated to Brittany in anticipation of the Allied invasion. After a period of heavy combat the division retreated to Brest, where Ramcke was appointed Fortress Brest commander.
This phase of Ramcke’s career was marked by several significant events, not least his surrender to the US
Army in September 1944. Now the holder of the Knight’s Cross with
Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (awarded to fewer than 30 men), he held out defiantly after negotiating with his opponent, Lieutenant General Troy Middleton, the safe passage of 40,000 civilians from the city. Only when American troops approached the entrance to his own HQ did he surrender. This event attracted the attention of the press and his surrender was recorded for posterity on both still and movie film.
The scene shows Ramcke, immaculately turned out as always, accompanied by his aide, carrying the General’s personal effects, and by his beloved dog (his walking stick features a beautifully carved head of his dog on its handle). They are seen exchanging salutes and pleasantries with General Middleton. Such was the mutual respect between these two men that they became friends and maintained a frequent correspondence.
Ramcke was confined to prison camps in Britain and the United States, where the final act in his adventuresome life occurred. Concerned that his men were not being treated appropriately after war’s end, Ramcke wrote a long letter to a US senator with oversight of German prisoners. To avoid having his letter confiscated by camp authorities, he escaped from the camp one evening and made his way into the nearby town to post his letter. While in town he spent a convivial time in the lobby of a local hotel, smoking cigars and enjoying a drink. He returned to camp undiscovered and his letter did subsequently result in improved conditions for German POWs.
Following his release Ramcke was imprisoned by the French for alleged war crimes against the citizens of Brest. He escaped to Germany but returned voluntarily. General Middleton provided supporting testimony for him but Ramcke was sentenced to five years imprisonment. He was freed after three months and returned to Germany, where he died in 1968. Never one to back away from a fight, his strongly held opinions were increasingly out of step with post-war German thinking. He found a more friendly reception at Fallschirmjäger reunions where he enjoyed undiminished popularity and affection among his former soldiers, who recalled a fighting general whose presence on the battlefield invariably inspired confidence.