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Authors: John Sadler
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considerable numbers.
The 7th Flieger division was to take three bridges at Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Rotterdam. In the first and third instance the attacks were completely successful but, in the centre, the paratroops succeeded in gaining only a foothold and this was lost to spirited counter-attacks, the German commander being amongst the casualties. Despite substantial local counter-attacks Studentâs men clung to their gains until relieved on 12 May by 7th Panzer.
One of the German casualties was Student himself whose bravery in the field nearly proved his undoing. He suffered a very serious head wound which kept him out of the action for months. Although he seemed to recover there were those who felt his capacity to command had been impaired. 8
While Student was incapacitated his temporary replacement, General Putzier, was involved in the planning of Operation Seelöwe (Sealion) the projected invasion of Britain but the paratroop regiments were not destined for further action until Marita and an attempt to prevent the retreating Allies from gaining the ports on the Peloponnese.
Colonel Albert Sturmâs 2 Parachute Regiment was tasked, on 26 April, to seize the bridge over the Corinth Canal. In the event this came too late to hamstring Wilsonâs army as hoped but the bridge was wired for demolition. A dawn descent by three DFS 230 gliders landed assault engineers who succeeded in seizing the bridge and set about defusing the explosives. The 1st and 2nd Battalions dropped north and south to hold off the defenders.
To the north the relatively few British were quickly overrun, though resistance to the south proved more formidable. In the heat of the fight a Bofors, firing on the engineers swarming over the bridge, set off an explosion which caused the main span to collapse dramatically into the Canal below. In one sense the operation was successful but German casualties at around 240, sixty-three of whom had been killed, had been high. Nonetheless Operation Hannibal as this was named, captured twenty-one officers and 900 other ranks of the British and Dominion forces and 1,450 Greeks.
Student, substantively recovered from his wounds, was furious â the operation had revealed the existence of paratroopers in Greece, something he had been at great pains to conceal. Surprise, the vital element, was therefore sacrificed and the General had now set his sights on Crete.
Here was the perfect opportunity for a definitive campaign of vertical envelopment, one which would guarantee Studentâs place in the Pantheon of strategic genius, silence his critics with a single blow and cement his relationships with both Goering and Hitler. It was a dazzling prospect.
He jumps through the air with the greatest of ease,
His feet are together and so are his knees.
If his âchute doesnât open, heâll fall like a stone,
And weâll cart him away on a spoon. 9
The parachutist is taken on a short flight directly from his base camp, and without any middle act is plunged straight into close combat with his adversary. Without reconnaissance, without close contact with other forces or formations, he jumps into absolutely unknown territory. The only support he can expect is from his own bombers which drop according to a rigid plan which may even endanger his own life ⦠he does not fight on a single front but on all sides. Fundamentally he starts fighting in a situation which most infantrymen would regard as hopeless, for he ventures voluntarily, without tanks or artillery, into a total encirclement. 10
For Student the casual ease with which von Listâs panzers had brushed aside the Greeks and their British allies was a source of considerable frustration. Early in the planning stage for Marita, Crete had been identified as a potential target for airborne assault. As such, it was the perfect opportunity for the Fallschirmjäger to consolidate their reputation and silence any critics for good. For Student
The 7th Flieger division was to take three bridges at Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Rotterdam. In the first and third instance the attacks were completely successful but, in the centre, the paratroops succeeded in gaining only a foothold and this was lost to spirited counter-attacks, the German commander being amongst the casualties. Despite substantial local counter-attacks Studentâs men clung to their gains until relieved on 12 May by 7th Panzer.
One of the German casualties was Student himself whose bravery in the field nearly proved his undoing. He suffered a very serious head wound which kept him out of the action for months. Although he seemed to recover there were those who felt his capacity to command had been impaired. 8
While Student was incapacitated his temporary replacement, General Putzier, was involved in the planning of Operation Seelöwe (Sealion) the projected invasion of Britain but the paratroop regiments were not destined for further action until Marita and an attempt to prevent the retreating Allies from gaining the ports on the Peloponnese.
Colonel Albert Sturmâs 2 Parachute Regiment was tasked, on 26 April, to seize the bridge over the Corinth Canal. In the event this came too late to hamstring Wilsonâs army as hoped but the bridge was wired for demolition. A dawn descent by three DFS 230 gliders landed assault engineers who succeeded in seizing the bridge and set about defusing the explosives. The 1st and 2nd Battalions dropped north and south to hold off the defenders.
To the north the relatively few British were quickly overrun, though resistance to the south proved more formidable. In the heat of the fight a Bofors, firing on the engineers swarming over the bridge, set off an explosion which caused the main span to collapse dramatically into the Canal below. In one sense the operation was successful but German casualties at around 240, sixty-three of whom had been killed, had been high. Nonetheless Operation Hannibal as this was named, captured twenty-one officers and 900 other ranks of the British and Dominion forces and 1,450 Greeks.
Student, substantively recovered from his wounds, was furious â the operation had revealed the existence of paratroopers in Greece, something he had been at great pains to conceal. Surprise, the vital element, was therefore sacrificed and the General had now set his sights on Crete.
Here was the perfect opportunity for a definitive campaign of vertical envelopment, one which would guarantee Studentâs place in the Pantheon of strategic genius, silence his critics with a single blow and cement his relationships with both Goering and Hitler. It was a dazzling prospect.
He jumps through the air with the greatest of ease,
His feet are together and so are his knees.
If his âchute doesnât open, heâll fall like a stone,
And weâll cart him away on a spoon. 9
The parachutist is taken on a short flight directly from his base camp, and without any middle act is plunged straight into close combat with his adversary. Without reconnaissance, without close contact with other forces or formations, he jumps into absolutely unknown territory. The only support he can expect is from his own bombers which drop according to a rigid plan which may even endanger his own life ⦠he does not fight on a single front but on all sides. Fundamentally he starts fighting in a situation which most infantrymen would regard as hopeless, for he ventures voluntarily, without tanks or artillery, into a total encirclement. 10
For Student the casual ease with which von Listâs panzers had brushed aside the Greeks and their British allies was a source of considerable frustration. Early in the planning stage for Marita, Crete had been identified as a potential target for airborne assault. As such, it was the perfect opportunity for the Fallschirmjäger to consolidate their reputation and silence any critics for good. For Student
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