Post by Deleted on May 13, 2014 20:09:38 GMT
This app was begun when the old format was still in effect. I haven't finished the writing sample yet, and figured I would send this since I have to do some work on my laptop and don't want to lose what I have so far
Account E-Mail:
fredfreddie1@gmail.com
Name:
Ernst Bahn
Nationality:
German
What Army will Your Character Serve Beneath?
Nazi/German
Character History:
Early Life
Born in Bonn on March 28, 1916, Ernst joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 as an officer cadet. He proved to be a superb pilot, and was even selected to fly some of the aircraft under development. The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch and Messerschmitt Bf 110 were flown by him in 1936, and the Henschel Hs 126 in 1937. A unique opportunity came in 1937 with the arrival of the DFS 230 glider. Leutnant Bahn was offered a chance to demonstrate the craft, and he accepted. The glider, loaded with eight light infantrymen from the 7. Fligerdivision, was towed by a Junkers Ju 52/3m. Released at 1000m, all Ernst had to do was to guide the craft to a grassy field where senior officers were observing through binoculars.
Touchdown was bumpy but without incident. The glider was undamaged, and all eight men deployed quickly and efficiently, impressing the observers. The experience thrilled Ernst, who requested reassignment to the 7. Fliegerdivision. This was approved, and he struggled through training which was unfamiliar and alien in comparison to his past experiences. He was placed in II./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment-1 as second-in-command of the Engineer Platoon there. He still did some occasional test flights, such as the Arado Ar 196 in 1938, and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in mid-1939.
Fall Gelb
Shortly after Germany invaded Poland, his platoon and the 1st Company of I./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment-1 were brought together to form Research Battalion Friedrichafen at Hildesheim. On April 9 1940, four companies of 7. Fliegerdivision under General Kurt Student parachuted for the first time in battle, landing in Norway and Denmark, seizing airfields from surprised defenders as part of Operation Weserübung.
A month later, on May 10 1940, a small glider-borne force under Hauptmann Walter Koch captured Fort Eben-Emael defending the Albert Canal. Ernst was one of the few who would be made famous by landing his glider right on top of the 'impregnable' Belgian fortress. At the same time, a mass parachute drop was made to vault the defenses of Fortress Holland. Fallschirmjäger troops seized three bridges over the Canal and struck unsuccessfully at the Dutch High Command in The Hague.
Student's victorious 7. Fliegerdivision was expanded for Operation Sealion, the planned invasion of Great Britain. Koch's glider assault group was personally decorated by Hitler for the vital role they had played in the conquest of the West. With the death of his platoon commander in Belgium, Leutnant Bahn was ordered to take over. This was due more to his reputation as a hard-charger than any proven tactical ability or political connections, of which he had little.
When Operation Sealion was cancelled, Sturmbataillon Koch was redeployed to the Mediterranean. The Italians were in full retreat as Greek forces not only stopped the invaders, but succeeded in pushing them far beyond the Albanian border. In short, they were checked at the door and given a good kick in the nuts before being thrown into the street.
Operation Marita
Forced to intervene on behalf of their humiliated ally, Germany prepared to invade Greece. Two main attacks were launched from Bulgaria on April 6 1941. The first was based around XL Panzerkorps, which sped across the border into Yugoslavia at dawn, capturing important towns in the south and arriving near the Greek border in just three short days. XVII Gebirgskorps invaded closer to the Greek border and veered south toward the Greeks' Metaxas Line in Thrace.
The Metaxas Line
Covering 350km in continuous lines across Thrace and Macedonia, the Metaxas Line consisted of 24 major fortresses and hundreds of small fortified positions. Situation in Greece's most hostile geography, these were armed with either light or heavy weapons, depending on the individual stronghold's strategic importance. Even elite German mountain infantry found the Metaxas Line extremely difficult to break. Greek defenders held on even after their lines were flanked, finally surrendering on April 9.
Leibstandarte
XL Panzerkorps quickly seized the Montasir Gap leading through the mountains of southern Yugoslavia, but were stopped at the Klidi Pass by a join Commonwealth-Greek force called the Mackay Force.
Leibstandarte SS 'Adolf Hitler', recently expanded from a regiment-sized unit to a strong brigade, had participated in the blitzkrieg of Poland and France in 1939-40. The SS troops slowly forced their way through the Mackay Force and were soon across the border.
Following the events at Klidi Pass the British and Greek troops fell back to Mount Olympus. As they withdrew, LSSAH exploited an opening in the lines, cutting of the Greek Eprius Army facing the Italians. At Kastoria Pass the Greeks attempted to clear a path out, and the fighting escalated sharply. Mobilized SS troops quickly surrounded the Greeks, who surrendered on April 20.
Mount Olympus
While LSSAH and XL Panzerkorps pushed west, the rest of the German forces attacked the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps positioned around Mount Olympus. The Germans were delayed a few days due to the actions of the ANZACs, but the German mountain troops outflanked the Allies.
The battle for Greece had turned into a chase, and by April 16 the British were in full retreat. The Germans sent their infantry divisions to the rear, keeping mountain-trained and fully mechanized units at the front to keep up. Halftracks, armored cars, tanks, and aircraft hounded the British all the way to their new defenses.
Thermopylae
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps made its next stand at the old battlefield of Thermopylae to buy time for remaining Allies to withdraw. The 2. Panzerdivision and parts of 6. Gebirgsdivision attacked early on April 24. ANZAC resistance was tough, inflicting serious casualties and destroying over a dozen tanks before withdrawing to Thebes.
Athens and Corinth
German forces harassed the retreating Allies all the way to Thebes, where a weak defensive line was hurriedly prepared. Motorcycle troops from 2. Panzerdivision succeeded in outflanking the line and dashing for Athens. Marching into the Greek capital on April 27 1941, the 2. Panzerdivision headed straight for the ancient Acropolis and raised the Nazi flag. One Greek soldier chose to wrap himself in his country's flag and throw himself off the Acropolis rather than surrender.
On the same day, Fallschirmjäger were dropped to cut off the Allied retreat. They seized the bridge across the Corinth Canal just as it blew up. Even then, three battalions of 7. Fliegerdivision were successful in capturing 12,000 British and Greek troops. Sturmbataillon Koch did not participate in this action, but would soon see more than its share of action in Crete.
Three days later, the British evacuation of Greece was called off. Of 62,000 Allied troops sent to Greece, 50,000 were safely evacuated, the other either captured or killed. The Balkans Blitzkrieg had overcome the mountains of Greece and Yugoslavia and achieved victory in three weeks.
Operation Merkur
Although Greece was in German hands, the victory was not yet complete. The island of Crete threatened the vital Romanian oil fields and the convoy routes to North Africa. Major-General Bernard Freyberg was placed in command of a motley collection of evacuees from Greece. A seaborne invasion was very risky, the Royal Navy was too strong. Even though the paratroopers would be desperately outnumbered, the most promising option was an airborne assault!
Code-named Operation Merkur (Mercury), the assault would use the entire 7. Fliegerdivision (7th Flying Division) for the assault, and fly a mountain division, 5. Gebirgsdivision, in as reinforcements. Merkur was scheduled for 20 May 1941.
Maleme
The gliders of Sturmbataillon Koch were the first to land, capturing the bridge over the dry bed of the Tavronitis River and the anti-aircraft guns protecting the Maleme airfield beside it at 1710 hours. Ernst was with this group, and suffered heavy losses to his 23-man platoon. The rest of the Luftlandesturmregiment followed by parachute minutes later, coming down right on top of the New Zealand defenders.
Sturmbataillon Scherber landed to the east of the riverbed, and was almost wiped out. Sturmbataillon Gericke came down further east and suffered heavy casualties. Sturmbataillon Stentzler alone landed with relatively few casualties, coming down in the south. Aside from the initial success of Sturmbataillon Koch, no objectives had been taken. The men were stretched thin on the line, and any counterattack would have meant defeat. Poor communications among the defenders led them to withdraw instead, and so the Fallschirmjäger survived.
Galatas
One company of Sturmbataillon Koch glider infantry were dropped on the anti-aircraft defenses protecting Chania and the port of Suda Bay. The defenders held firm however, and so 3. Fallschirmjägerregiment (3rd Parachute Regiment) was dropped unprotected around the town of Galatas. Casualties were high as unarmed paratroopers ran through Greek and New Zealand machine guns to reach their weapons. The 3rd Parachute Regiment had managed to capture little more than the town's prison. Losses were heavy, and none of the objectives had been taken.
Rethymnon and Heraklion
A second wave planned for the afternoon was delayed by returning Ju 52s straggling back to the airfields. 2. Fallschirmjägerregiment gradually jumped over the town of Rethymnon between 1500 and 1630 hours. As at Maleme and Galatas, they landed right on top of the enemy, this time Australians. As at Maleme and Galatas, the result was a slaughter. 1. Fallschirmjägerregiment landed at Heraklion several hours later, meeting the same fate. The Diving Eagles faced defeat.
Chania
Dawn brought new hope to the Luftlandesturmregiment around Maleme airfield. Commonwealth forces launched a half-hearted counterattack during the night which was repelled. Throughout the day, reinforcements arrived in more assault landings east of Maleme. The airfield was declared secure by nightfall.
For the next few days a nonstop stream of Junkers transports landed heavy weapons and transport for the paratroopers, often under heavy fire. The 5. Gebirgsdivision (5th Mountain Division) also landed at Maleme airfield at this time. While the two paratroper regiments around Rethymnon and Heraklion pinned the Aussies in place, reinforcements from Maleme pushed eastward to Galatas.
Sphakia
The exhausted survivors of 3. Fallschirmjägerregiment led by Hauptmann Von der Heydte captured Chania on May 27. Major-General Freyberg ordered the remaining defenders to withdraw to Sphakia. They had no choice but to evacuate the island. The last of the Commonwealth troops to leave went on May 30, leaving behind thousands who could not make it to Royal Navy ships in time. Crete had been taken from the air!
Operation Barbarossa
With many of Student's most experienced commanders wounded or dead, Ernst was not surprised when he was promoted to Oberleutnant. He had performed well on Crete, despite losing 18 of the 26 men under his command. He was given an understrength company and sent to France to rebuild. After only three months, they were sent east. There was a war on, and it needed them.
Barely recovered from their ordeal at Crete, they were dispatched to the Leningrad area. Like the elite Grossdeutschland and SS divisions, his unit was constantly rushed from one sector to another as a 'fire brigade'. Soviets attempted to break the siege of Leningrad and were repulsed. There was heavy and almost nonstop fighting along the Neva River. In December 1941, Ernst's company was withdrawn once again to France, just as other Fallschirmjäger joined Army Group South in Ukraine. They were relied upon to stiffen the German defenders against repeated Soviet attacks, all during the coldest winter in fifty years.
In early 1942 Ernst was once more thrown into heavy fighting, around the town of Viazma and then north on the Leningrad front. His company felt like they had never left as they took up positions on the Volkhov River, stopping repeated Soviet attempts to break through to Leningrad. The numerically superior forces of the Soviet Union were thrown back again and again by the ferocity and determination of the Fallschirmjäger, who had to be withdrawn once more in July 1942
Desert Ghosts
The 7. Fliegerdivision was renamed 1. Fallschirmjägerdivision. Ernst was with this unit when it was sent to North Africa in late July 1942. They were part of a new battlegroup designated the Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke after its commander, Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke. General Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika had stalled before formidable Allied positions at El Alamein. Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke prepared a position in the south of the front line and waited for an attack by the British Eighth Army.
The attack finally came on October 23 1942. Within a week, battered German forces were in retreat. The Ramcke Brigade had no transport of its own, and was abandoned deep in the desert. Refusing to surrender, Ramcke led the paratroopers in one of the greatest fighting withdrawals in history. After a terrible march, Fallschirmjäger captured an entire column of trucks from the British. After travelling some 200 miles, Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke appeared from the desert like phantoms to rejoin their astonished brothers of the Panzerarmee Afrika.
Holding Back The Juggernaut
In March 1943, the German airborne arm was expanded and a new division was created, designated 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision, The two paratrooper divisions were joined together under XI Fliegerkorps and sent East.
The Red Army counteroffensives had intensified during the summer and were beginning to gain momentum. A large effort was coordinated to stem the Soviet advance. A large part of 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision returned to the Soviet Union in early November. 1.SS-Panzerdivision 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' was relieved from the area around the town of Zhitomir. The Red Army attempted to break through to the Dniester River, and a brutal fight erupted.
The Soviets suffered heavily during this action, and the enormous casualties could not be sustained. The Fallschirmjäger held the line once more. When the Soviets succeeded in breaking through German lines in the south, the 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision was airlifted to the town of Kirovgrad to plug the breach. The rest of the year was spent in constant fighting, even as another atrocious winter set in.
North African Disaster
Back in Africa, Ernst was in trouble. The British Eighth Army pushed the survivors of Panzerarmee Afrika into Tunisia just as the Allies launched the invasion of Morocco and Algeria, Operation Torch. German High Command reacted quickly, scrambling small units of Fallschirmjäger across the Mediterranean to hold vital ports and airfields in Tunisia. Two battalions under Major Walter Koch and a battalion under Major Rudolf Witzig threw back the Allied spearhead in mid-November.
The next Allied offensive needed to be stalled, so an airborne assault was planned against crucial bridges and airfields in enemy-held Algeria. A company of Major Witzig's Fallschirmpionierbataillon was given the task. Inexperienced Luftwaffe pilots dropped Witzig's men miles from the planned drop zone, and the survivors were captured well short of their objectives.
Another disaster soon followed, as a glider assault on Allied supply routes was shot apart well short of the intended targets. This was the last airborne operation in North Africa. Ernst was in this assault, and survived the loss of his glider with only minor injuries. Despite these demoralizing losses, battle-weary Fallschirmjäger fought on until the surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia on May 12 1943. Ernst was among the lucky few who were evacuated before the surrender.
Diving Eagles versus Red Devils
In an attempt to establish a foothold in Southern Europe, the Allies launched Operation Husky on July 9 1943. The invasion of Sicily had begun. German High Command realized the danger early on, and quickly moved to reinforce the Italian defenders. A Fallschirmjäger regiment and Machine-gun Battalion assaulted via glider and transport aircraft in the area around Syracuse and Catania. On July 14 another regiment followed, jumping under fire over the airfield at Catania to aid the defense against attacking British paratroopers.
The defense of the Primasole Bridge across the Simento River was given to the Machine-Gun Battalion. Two hundred British paratroopers made a surprise airborne assault on July 14. The Fallschirmjäger held their fire at first, believing the attackers to be reinforcements. Seizing the opportunity, the British captured the bridge and managed to hold it for several hours before Fallschirmjäger troops could regain control. The British spent four days assaulting the bridge before they could recapture it.
The troubles for the Fallschirmjäger were not over as Mussolini resigned on July 25, leaving many Italian units with little choice but to lay down their weapons. German troops were forced to withdraw from Sicily to prepare for a new battle on the mainland. The Fallschirmjäger acted as a rearguard to cover the evacuation, and were the last Germans off Sicily.
Operation Leopard
The Allies were on the offensive again, capturing several small islands in the Dodecanese in September. German shipping lanes between Rhodes and Greece were immediately threatened, and a move was swiflty made to recapture them. Ernst took part in the successful glider-borne assault of the island of Kos. Operation Leopard began shortly after, and Airborne Fallschirmjäger, supported by seaborne force, assaulted the strategically important island of Leros. The result was a stunning success, resulting in the capture of 8500 Allied troops in just four days.
The Rescue Of Il Duce
About the same time as Operation Leopard a small unit of Fallschirmjäger conducted a risky assault to free Benito Mussolini, the deposed Italian dictator. The Fallschirmjäger landed by glider and rescued Mussolini from his imprisonment atop the mountain of Gran Sasso. This and other successes by airborne forces helped raise German morale following the recent defeats in Africa and Russia.
The Gustav Line
The Allies invaded the Italian mainland on September 3 1943. German defenders fell back to the Gustav Line after failing to stop the Allied landings. The Gustav Line was a series of trench lines, gun pits, and bunkers commanding a killing zone of flooded marshland cleared of vegetation. Heavy machine-guns backed up by mortars and artillery hidden in the mountains were all coordinated to maximize enemy casualties.
In December, 1, Fallschirmjägerdivision was charged with the defense of Ortona from the 1st Canadian Division. Brutal house-to-house fighting erupted, which lasted until the end of the year when the Fallschirmjäger troops were relieved. Ernst was promoted to Hauptmann and sent to Normandy to await orders.
The Green Devils Of Cassino
While Ernst was resting in France, the 1, Fallschirmjägerdivision was fighting for survival in Italy. For the first five months of 1944, 1. Fallschirmjägerdivision held the town and monastery at Cassino against attacks from over a dozen Allied nations. The Allies used artillery and bombing raids to reduce the old town to rubble, to no avail. By the time the defenders withdrew from Cassino the Allied advance had been significantly delayed, and morale across Germany lifted.
At the same time, the newly-raised 4. Fallschirmjägerdivision held an Allied invasion force on the beaches of Anzio, only withdrawing when the front at Cassino dissolved.
Defense Of Normandy
As Ernst settled into 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision in Normandy, all hell broke loose. American Airborne forces dropped on the town of Carentan where Hauptmann Bahn was taking over a platoon from 6. Fallschirmjägerregiment for transfer to his own company in 5. Fallschirmjägerregiment. US and German paratroopers were locked in battle immediately. The town was a vital link between Utah and Omaha invasion beaches, and so 6. Fallschirmjägerregiment held the town as long as possible, finally withdrawing after several days when ammunition and supplies were critically low on June 11.
On June 12, the regiment was joined by the 17. SS-Panzergrenadierdivision 'Gotz Von Berlichingen'. Ernst took this opportunity to take what was left of his new platoon, and make for Brittany, where the rest of 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision was sent. He was fortunate once more, since an assault to retake Carentan was launched immediately, resulting in heavy German losses.
Kampfgruppe Bahn
And so Ernst marched. They had plenty of food and ammunition, but no transport. Ernst wouldn't have wanted to drive on the road during the day anyway. Allied planes strafed the shit out of anything larger than a wheelbarrow. They gradually picked up bits and pieces of other units as they marched. They had become separated or cut off from their divisions through misfortune and plain bad luck. They stuck with Ernst because he was the only one they had met with a plan. Get to Brittany.
One SS man from the 1.SS-Panzerdivision 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' had an entire platoon to offer, which Ernst readily accepted. The war was turning sour in Normandy, and they stood a much better chance of surviving if they stuck together. If the Allies landed in Brittany as well, the entire German defense of France would be useless.
It was some two weeks after the D-Day landings that Ernst ran into his unit. A good portion of the division's heavy equipment had been lost, including most of the artillery regiment and anti-aircraft guns. Ernst was given a platoon of 5. Fallschirmjägerregiment infantry to add to his odd mix. A few of the men were already jokingly calling it Kampfgruppe Bahn.
Brittany
They reached the peninsula in July, taking up positions north of Brest under the command of 343. Infanteriedivision. It soon became obvious that a second Allied invasion in Brittany was not likely. The division was sent back to Normandy, but Ernst was left in Brest to reorganize and resupply the men under his command. The 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision took a week to reach the front lines due to harassment from Allied aircraft. They met the Americans as they broke out of Avranches.
Generalmajor Ramcke, the commander of 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision and an old acquaintance of Ernst's, ordered a speedy withdrawal. They barely managed to sneak around the northern flank of the US 6th Armored Division and return to Brest. The division was surrounded by the end of July, but they had been allowed time to prepare and were now dug in behind fortifications all around Brest.
Ramcke had been known for his bold and mostly-successful raids on the Allies in North Africa, and continued this tradition in Brittany. The division launched several raids out of the city between 13 to 18 August, one of which attempting to relieve the 266. Infanteriedivision.The US 6th Armored Division cut off 266. Infanteriedivision.before it could reach Brest, so Ramcke led an attack to break through the siege and open a lane of escape. Kampfgruppe Bahn participated in this action. Two small Fallschirmjäger companies and two non-Fallschirmjäger platoons armed with Panzerfaust anti-tank rockets were granted artillery support from the Army along with flak batteries manned by naval personnel.
The Kampfgruppe attacked north and fought their way into Gouesnou. They ran into trouble there as naval flak batteries were untrained in supporting ground operations, accidentally firing on Ernst's troops. The city was captured in spite of this, but the 266. Infanteriedivision could not be reached. The Kampfgruppe withdrew into Brest, demoralized at the destruction of the 266th.
Ramcke was soon placed in command of Festung (Fortress) Brest, as it was now called. Ramcke made attempts to reinforce the city, despite the wide variety in troops types and fighting capabilities. There were navy men in Brest who had never seen combat and were still wearing pre-war uniforms! Ramcke placed his own Fallschirmjäger alongside the lesser-quality troops to remedy this. This worked very well, and when the Americans first hit the fortifications around the city they were thrown back.
Supplies became scare as the battle wore on. Everyone was running low on ammunition. The Luftwaffe snuck a few night supply mission into Brest, and defenders began using captured American vehicles and weapons when possible, otherwise launching salvage raids. The fortress could not hold out forever, and so surrendered on September 18 1944.
The main objective of the campaign had been the capture of the port, and the defenders had made sure to demolish anything usable before surrender. Vital docks and bridges were destroyed. During the course of the battle, US artillery were draining significant quanitities of ammunition and were always on the verge of running out. Festung Brest tied up three enemy infantry divisions, one armoured division, and a large portion of Allied air power, keeping them from focusing on German forces elsewhere.
Ernst survived the siege of Brest, one of the few who had seen most aspects of the European Theater. Belgium. Holland. Greece and Crete. Russia. North Africa and Tunisia. Sicily and Italy. Normandy and Brittany.
Military Rank:
Hauptmann (Luftwaffe)
Account E-Mail:
fredfreddie1@gmail.com
Name:
Ernst Bahn
Nationality:
German
What Army will Your Character Serve Beneath?
Nazi/German
Character History:
Early Life
Born in Bonn on March 28, 1916, Ernst joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 as an officer cadet. He proved to be a superb pilot, and was even selected to fly some of the aircraft under development. The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch and Messerschmitt Bf 110 were flown by him in 1936, and the Henschel Hs 126 in 1937. A unique opportunity came in 1937 with the arrival of the DFS 230 glider. Leutnant Bahn was offered a chance to demonstrate the craft, and he accepted. The glider, loaded with eight light infantrymen from the 7. Fligerdivision, was towed by a Junkers Ju 52/3m. Released at 1000m, all Ernst had to do was to guide the craft to a grassy field where senior officers were observing through binoculars.
Touchdown was bumpy but without incident. The glider was undamaged, and all eight men deployed quickly and efficiently, impressing the observers. The experience thrilled Ernst, who requested reassignment to the 7. Fliegerdivision. This was approved, and he struggled through training which was unfamiliar and alien in comparison to his past experiences. He was placed in II./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment-1 as second-in-command of the Engineer Platoon there. He still did some occasional test flights, such as the Arado Ar 196 in 1938, and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in mid-1939.
Fall Gelb
Shortly after Germany invaded Poland, his platoon and the 1st Company of I./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment-1 were brought together to form Research Battalion Friedrichafen at Hildesheim. On April 9 1940, four companies of 7. Fliegerdivision under General Kurt Student parachuted for the first time in battle, landing in Norway and Denmark, seizing airfields from surprised defenders as part of Operation Weserübung.
A month later, on May 10 1940, a small glider-borne force under Hauptmann Walter Koch captured Fort Eben-Emael defending the Albert Canal. Ernst was one of the few who would be made famous by landing his glider right on top of the 'impregnable' Belgian fortress. At the same time, a mass parachute drop was made to vault the defenses of Fortress Holland. Fallschirmjäger troops seized three bridges over the Canal and struck unsuccessfully at the Dutch High Command in The Hague.
Student's victorious 7. Fliegerdivision was expanded for Operation Sealion, the planned invasion of Great Britain. Koch's glider assault group was personally decorated by Hitler for the vital role they had played in the conquest of the West. With the death of his platoon commander in Belgium, Leutnant Bahn was ordered to take over. This was due more to his reputation as a hard-charger than any proven tactical ability or political connections, of which he had little.
When Operation Sealion was cancelled, Sturmbataillon Koch was redeployed to the Mediterranean. The Italians were in full retreat as Greek forces not only stopped the invaders, but succeeded in pushing them far beyond the Albanian border. In short, they were checked at the door and given a good kick in the nuts before being thrown into the street.
Operation Marita
Forced to intervene on behalf of their humiliated ally, Germany prepared to invade Greece. Two main attacks were launched from Bulgaria on April 6 1941. The first was based around XL Panzerkorps, which sped across the border into Yugoslavia at dawn, capturing important towns in the south and arriving near the Greek border in just three short days. XVII Gebirgskorps invaded closer to the Greek border and veered south toward the Greeks' Metaxas Line in Thrace.
The Metaxas Line
Covering 350km in continuous lines across Thrace and Macedonia, the Metaxas Line consisted of 24 major fortresses and hundreds of small fortified positions. Situation in Greece's most hostile geography, these were armed with either light or heavy weapons, depending on the individual stronghold's strategic importance. Even elite German mountain infantry found the Metaxas Line extremely difficult to break. Greek defenders held on even after their lines were flanked, finally surrendering on April 9.
Leibstandarte
XL Panzerkorps quickly seized the Montasir Gap leading through the mountains of southern Yugoslavia, but were stopped at the Klidi Pass by a join Commonwealth-Greek force called the Mackay Force.
Leibstandarte SS 'Adolf Hitler', recently expanded from a regiment-sized unit to a strong brigade, had participated in the blitzkrieg of Poland and France in 1939-40. The SS troops slowly forced their way through the Mackay Force and were soon across the border.
Following the events at Klidi Pass the British and Greek troops fell back to Mount Olympus. As they withdrew, LSSAH exploited an opening in the lines, cutting of the Greek Eprius Army facing the Italians. At Kastoria Pass the Greeks attempted to clear a path out, and the fighting escalated sharply. Mobilized SS troops quickly surrounded the Greeks, who surrendered on April 20.
Mount Olympus
While LSSAH and XL Panzerkorps pushed west, the rest of the German forces attacked the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps positioned around Mount Olympus. The Germans were delayed a few days due to the actions of the ANZACs, but the German mountain troops outflanked the Allies.
The battle for Greece had turned into a chase, and by April 16 the British were in full retreat. The Germans sent their infantry divisions to the rear, keeping mountain-trained and fully mechanized units at the front to keep up. Halftracks, armored cars, tanks, and aircraft hounded the British all the way to their new defenses.
Thermopylae
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps made its next stand at the old battlefield of Thermopylae to buy time for remaining Allies to withdraw. The 2. Panzerdivision and parts of 6. Gebirgsdivision attacked early on April 24. ANZAC resistance was tough, inflicting serious casualties and destroying over a dozen tanks before withdrawing to Thebes.
Athens and Corinth
German forces harassed the retreating Allies all the way to Thebes, where a weak defensive line was hurriedly prepared. Motorcycle troops from 2. Panzerdivision succeeded in outflanking the line and dashing for Athens. Marching into the Greek capital on April 27 1941, the 2. Panzerdivision headed straight for the ancient Acropolis and raised the Nazi flag. One Greek soldier chose to wrap himself in his country's flag and throw himself off the Acropolis rather than surrender.
On the same day, Fallschirmjäger were dropped to cut off the Allied retreat. They seized the bridge across the Corinth Canal just as it blew up. Even then, three battalions of 7. Fliegerdivision were successful in capturing 12,000 British and Greek troops. Sturmbataillon Koch did not participate in this action, but would soon see more than its share of action in Crete.
Three days later, the British evacuation of Greece was called off. Of 62,000 Allied troops sent to Greece, 50,000 were safely evacuated, the other either captured or killed. The Balkans Blitzkrieg had overcome the mountains of Greece and Yugoslavia and achieved victory in three weeks.
Operation Merkur
Although Greece was in German hands, the victory was not yet complete. The island of Crete threatened the vital Romanian oil fields and the convoy routes to North Africa. Major-General Bernard Freyberg was placed in command of a motley collection of evacuees from Greece. A seaborne invasion was very risky, the Royal Navy was too strong. Even though the paratroopers would be desperately outnumbered, the most promising option was an airborne assault!
Code-named Operation Merkur (Mercury), the assault would use the entire 7. Fliegerdivision (7th Flying Division) for the assault, and fly a mountain division, 5. Gebirgsdivision, in as reinforcements. Merkur was scheduled for 20 May 1941.
Maleme
The gliders of Sturmbataillon Koch were the first to land, capturing the bridge over the dry bed of the Tavronitis River and the anti-aircraft guns protecting the Maleme airfield beside it at 1710 hours. Ernst was with this group, and suffered heavy losses to his 23-man platoon. The rest of the Luftlandesturmregiment followed by parachute minutes later, coming down right on top of the New Zealand defenders.
Sturmbataillon Scherber landed to the east of the riverbed, and was almost wiped out. Sturmbataillon Gericke came down further east and suffered heavy casualties. Sturmbataillon Stentzler alone landed with relatively few casualties, coming down in the south. Aside from the initial success of Sturmbataillon Koch, no objectives had been taken. The men were stretched thin on the line, and any counterattack would have meant defeat. Poor communications among the defenders led them to withdraw instead, and so the Fallschirmjäger survived.
Galatas
One company of Sturmbataillon Koch glider infantry were dropped on the anti-aircraft defenses protecting Chania and the port of Suda Bay. The defenders held firm however, and so 3. Fallschirmjägerregiment (3rd Parachute Regiment) was dropped unprotected around the town of Galatas. Casualties were high as unarmed paratroopers ran through Greek and New Zealand machine guns to reach their weapons. The 3rd Parachute Regiment had managed to capture little more than the town's prison. Losses were heavy, and none of the objectives had been taken.
Rethymnon and Heraklion
A second wave planned for the afternoon was delayed by returning Ju 52s straggling back to the airfields. 2. Fallschirmjägerregiment gradually jumped over the town of Rethymnon between 1500 and 1630 hours. As at Maleme and Galatas, they landed right on top of the enemy, this time Australians. As at Maleme and Galatas, the result was a slaughter. 1. Fallschirmjägerregiment landed at Heraklion several hours later, meeting the same fate. The Diving Eagles faced defeat.
Chania
Dawn brought new hope to the Luftlandesturmregiment around Maleme airfield. Commonwealth forces launched a half-hearted counterattack during the night which was repelled. Throughout the day, reinforcements arrived in more assault landings east of Maleme. The airfield was declared secure by nightfall.
For the next few days a nonstop stream of Junkers transports landed heavy weapons and transport for the paratroopers, often under heavy fire. The 5. Gebirgsdivision (5th Mountain Division) also landed at Maleme airfield at this time. While the two paratroper regiments around Rethymnon and Heraklion pinned the Aussies in place, reinforcements from Maleme pushed eastward to Galatas.
Sphakia
The exhausted survivors of 3. Fallschirmjägerregiment led by Hauptmann Von der Heydte captured Chania on May 27. Major-General Freyberg ordered the remaining defenders to withdraw to Sphakia. They had no choice but to evacuate the island. The last of the Commonwealth troops to leave went on May 30, leaving behind thousands who could not make it to Royal Navy ships in time. Crete had been taken from the air!
Operation Barbarossa
With many of Student's most experienced commanders wounded or dead, Ernst was not surprised when he was promoted to Oberleutnant. He had performed well on Crete, despite losing 18 of the 26 men under his command. He was given an understrength company and sent to France to rebuild. After only three months, they were sent east. There was a war on, and it needed them.
Barely recovered from their ordeal at Crete, they were dispatched to the Leningrad area. Like the elite Grossdeutschland and SS divisions, his unit was constantly rushed from one sector to another as a 'fire brigade'. Soviets attempted to break the siege of Leningrad and were repulsed. There was heavy and almost nonstop fighting along the Neva River. In December 1941, Ernst's company was withdrawn once again to France, just as other Fallschirmjäger joined Army Group South in Ukraine. They were relied upon to stiffen the German defenders against repeated Soviet attacks, all during the coldest winter in fifty years.
In early 1942 Ernst was once more thrown into heavy fighting, around the town of Viazma and then north on the Leningrad front. His company felt like they had never left as they took up positions on the Volkhov River, stopping repeated Soviet attempts to break through to Leningrad. The numerically superior forces of the Soviet Union were thrown back again and again by the ferocity and determination of the Fallschirmjäger, who had to be withdrawn once more in July 1942
Desert Ghosts
The 7. Fliegerdivision was renamed 1. Fallschirmjägerdivision. Ernst was with this unit when it was sent to North Africa in late July 1942. They were part of a new battlegroup designated the Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke after its commander, Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke. General Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika had stalled before formidable Allied positions at El Alamein. Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke prepared a position in the south of the front line and waited for an attack by the British Eighth Army.
The attack finally came on October 23 1942. Within a week, battered German forces were in retreat. The Ramcke Brigade had no transport of its own, and was abandoned deep in the desert. Refusing to surrender, Ramcke led the paratroopers in one of the greatest fighting withdrawals in history. After a terrible march, Fallschirmjäger captured an entire column of trucks from the British. After travelling some 200 miles, Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke appeared from the desert like phantoms to rejoin their astonished brothers of the Panzerarmee Afrika.
Holding Back The Juggernaut
In March 1943, the German airborne arm was expanded and a new division was created, designated 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision, The two paratrooper divisions were joined together under XI Fliegerkorps and sent East.
The Red Army counteroffensives had intensified during the summer and were beginning to gain momentum. A large effort was coordinated to stem the Soviet advance. A large part of 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision returned to the Soviet Union in early November. 1.SS-Panzerdivision 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' was relieved from the area around the town of Zhitomir. The Red Army attempted to break through to the Dniester River, and a brutal fight erupted.
The Soviets suffered heavily during this action, and the enormous casualties could not be sustained. The Fallschirmjäger held the line once more. When the Soviets succeeded in breaking through German lines in the south, the 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision was airlifted to the town of Kirovgrad to plug the breach. The rest of the year was spent in constant fighting, even as another atrocious winter set in.
North African Disaster
Back in Africa, Ernst was in trouble. The British Eighth Army pushed the survivors of Panzerarmee Afrika into Tunisia just as the Allies launched the invasion of Morocco and Algeria, Operation Torch. German High Command reacted quickly, scrambling small units of Fallschirmjäger across the Mediterranean to hold vital ports and airfields in Tunisia. Two battalions under Major Walter Koch and a battalion under Major Rudolf Witzig threw back the Allied spearhead in mid-November.
The next Allied offensive needed to be stalled, so an airborne assault was planned against crucial bridges and airfields in enemy-held Algeria. A company of Major Witzig's Fallschirmpionierbataillon was given the task. Inexperienced Luftwaffe pilots dropped Witzig's men miles from the planned drop zone, and the survivors were captured well short of their objectives.
Another disaster soon followed, as a glider assault on Allied supply routes was shot apart well short of the intended targets. This was the last airborne operation in North Africa. Ernst was in this assault, and survived the loss of his glider with only minor injuries. Despite these demoralizing losses, battle-weary Fallschirmjäger fought on until the surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia on May 12 1943. Ernst was among the lucky few who were evacuated before the surrender.
Diving Eagles versus Red Devils
In an attempt to establish a foothold in Southern Europe, the Allies launched Operation Husky on July 9 1943. The invasion of Sicily had begun. German High Command realized the danger early on, and quickly moved to reinforce the Italian defenders. A Fallschirmjäger regiment and Machine-gun Battalion assaulted via glider and transport aircraft in the area around Syracuse and Catania. On July 14 another regiment followed, jumping under fire over the airfield at Catania to aid the defense against attacking British paratroopers.
The defense of the Primasole Bridge across the Simento River was given to the Machine-Gun Battalion. Two hundred British paratroopers made a surprise airborne assault on July 14. The Fallschirmjäger held their fire at first, believing the attackers to be reinforcements. Seizing the opportunity, the British captured the bridge and managed to hold it for several hours before Fallschirmjäger troops could regain control. The British spent four days assaulting the bridge before they could recapture it.
The troubles for the Fallschirmjäger were not over as Mussolini resigned on July 25, leaving many Italian units with little choice but to lay down their weapons. German troops were forced to withdraw from Sicily to prepare for a new battle on the mainland. The Fallschirmjäger acted as a rearguard to cover the evacuation, and were the last Germans off Sicily.
Operation Leopard
The Allies were on the offensive again, capturing several small islands in the Dodecanese in September. German shipping lanes between Rhodes and Greece were immediately threatened, and a move was swiflty made to recapture them. Ernst took part in the successful glider-borne assault of the island of Kos. Operation Leopard began shortly after, and Airborne Fallschirmjäger, supported by seaborne force, assaulted the strategically important island of Leros. The result was a stunning success, resulting in the capture of 8500 Allied troops in just four days.
The Rescue Of Il Duce
About the same time as Operation Leopard a small unit of Fallschirmjäger conducted a risky assault to free Benito Mussolini, the deposed Italian dictator. The Fallschirmjäger landed by glider and rescued Mussolini from his imprisonment atop the mountain of Gran Sasso. This and other successes by airborne forces helped raise German morale following the recent defeats in Africa and Russia.
The Gustav Line
The Allies invaded the Italian mainland on September 3 1943. German defenders fell back to the Gustav Line after failing to stop the Allied landings. The Gustav Line was a series of trench lines, gun pits, and bunkers commanding a killing zone of flooded marshland cleared of vegetation. Heavy machine-guns backed up by mortars and artillery hidden in the mountains were all coordinated to maximize enemy casualties.
In December, 1, Fallschirmjägerdivision was charged with the defense of Ortona from the 1st Canadian Division. Brutal house-to-house fighting erupted, which lasted until the end of the year when the Fallschirmjäger troops were relieved. Ernst was promoted to Hauptmann and sent to Normandy to await orders.
The Green Devils Of Cassino
While Ernst was resting in France, the 1, Fallschirmjägerdivision was fighting for survival in Italy. For the first five months of 1944, 1. Fallschirmjägerdivision held the town and monastery at Cassino against attacks from over a dozen Allied nations. The Allies used artillery and bombing raids to reduce the old town to rubble, to no avail. By the time the defenders withdrew from Cassino the Allied advance had been significantly delayed, and morale across Germany lifted.
At the same time, the newly-raised 4. Fallschirmjägerdivision held an Allied invasion force on the beaches of Anzio, only withdrawing when the front at Cassino dissolved.
Defense Of Normandy
As Ernst settled into 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision in Normandy, all hell broke loose. American Airborne forces dropped on the town of Carentan where Hauptmann Bahn was taking over a platoon from 6. Fallschirmjägerregiment for transfer to his own company in 5. Fallschirmjägerregiment. US and German paratroopers were locked in battle immediately. The town was a vital link between Utah and Omaha invasion beaches, and so 6. Fallschirmjägerregiment held the town as long as possible, finally withdrawing after several days when ammunition and supplies were critically low on June 11.
On June 12, the regiment was joined by the 17. SS-Panzergrenadierdivision 'Gotz Von Berlichingen'. Ernst took this opportunity to take what was left of his new platoon, and make for Brittany, where the rest of 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision was sent. He was fortunate once more, since an assault to retake Carentan was launched immediately, resulting in heavy German losses.
Kampfgruppe Bahn
And so Ernst marched. They had plenty of food and ammunition, but no transport. Ernst wouldn't have wanted to drive on the road during the day anyway. Allied planes strafed the shit out of anything larger than a wheelbarrow. They gradually picked up bits and pieces of other units as they marched. They had become separated or cut off from their divisions through misfortune and plain bad luck. They stuck with Ernst because he was the only one they had met with a plan. Get to Brittany.
One SS man from the 1.SS-Panzerdivision 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' had an entire platoon to offer, which Ernst readily accepted. The war was turning sour in Normandy, and they stood a much better chance of surviving if they stuck together. If the Allies landed in Brittany as well, the entire German defense of France would be useless.
It was some two weeks after the D-Day landings that Ernst ran into his unit. A good portion of the division's heavy equipment had been lost, including most of the artillery regiment and anti-aircraft guns. Ernst was given a platoon of 5. Fallschirmjägerregiment infantry to add to his odd mix. A few of the men were already jokingly calling it Kampfgruppe Bahn.
Brittany
They reached the peninsula in July, taking up positions north of Brest under the command of 343. Infanteriedivision. It soon became obvious that a second Allied invasion in Brittany was not likely. The division was sent back to Normandy, but Ernst was left in Brest to reorganize and resupply the men under his command. The 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision took a week to reach the front lines due to harassment from Allied aircraft. They met the Americans as they broke out of Avranches.
Generalmajor Ramcke, the commander of 2. Fallschirmjägerdivision and an old acquaintance of Ernst's, ordered a speedy withdrawal. They barely managed to sneak around the northern flank of the US 6th Armored Division and return to Brest. The division was surrounded by the end of July, but they had been allowed time to prepare and were now dug in behind fortifications all around Brest.
Ramcke had been known for his bold and mostly-successful raids on the Allies in North Africa, and continued this tradition in Brittany. The division launched several raids out of the city between 13 to 18 August, one of which attempting to relieve the 266. Infanteriedivision.The US 6th Armored Division cut off 266. Infanteriedivision.before it could reach Brest, so Ramcke led an attack to break through the siege and open a lane of escape. Kampfgruppe Bahn participated in this action. Two small Fallschirmjäger companies and two non-Fallschirmjäger platoons armed with Panzerfaust anti-tank rockets were granted artillery support from the Army along with flak batteries manned by naval personnel.
The Kampfgruppe attacked north and fought their way into Gouesnou. They ran into trouble there as naval flak batteries were untrained in supporting ground operations, accidentally firing on Ernst's troops. The city was captured in spite of this, but the 266. Infanteriedivision could not be reached. The Kampfgruppe withdrew into Brest, demoralized at the destruction of the 266th.
Ramcke was soon placed in command of Festung (Fortress) Brest, as it was now called. Ramcke made attempts to reinforce the city, despite the wide variety in troops types and fighting capabilities. There were navy men in Brest who had never seen combat and were still wearing pre-war uniforms! Ramcke placed his own Fallschirmjäger alongside the lesser-quality troops to remedy this. This worked very well, and when the Americans first hit the fortifications around the city they were thrown back.
Supplies became scare as the battle wore on. Everyone was running low on ammunition. The Luftwaffe snuck a few night supply mission into Brest, and defenders began using captured American vehicles and weapons when possible, otherwise launching salvage raids. The fortress could not hold out forever, and so surrendered on September 18 1944.
The main objective of the campaign had been the capture of the port, and the defenders had made sure to demolish anything usable before surrender. Vital docks and bridges were destroyed. During the course of the battle, US artillery were draining significant quanitities of ammunition and were always on the verge of running out. Festung Brest tied up three enemy infantry divisions, one armoured division, and a large portion of Allied air power, keeping them from focusing on German forces elsewhere.
Ernst survived the siege of Brest, one of the few who had seen most aspects of the European Theater. Belgium. Holland. Greece and Crete. Russia. North Africa and Tunisia. Sicily and Italy. Normandy and Brittany.
Military Rank:
Hauptmann (Luftwaffe)
