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Gebirgsjäger
''Gebirgsjäger'' () are the light infantry part of the alpine or mountain troops (''Gebirgstruppe'') of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The word '' Jäger'' (meaning "hunter" or "huntsman") is a characteristic term used for light infantry in German speaking countries. Origins The mountain infantry of Austria have their roots in the three ''Landesschützen'' regiments of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The mountain infantry of modern Germany carry on certain traditions of the German Alpenkorps (Alpine corps) of World War I. Both countries' mountain infantry share the Edelweiß insignia, established in 1907 as a symbol of the Austro-Hungarian ''Landesschützen'' regiments by Emperor Franz Joseph I. These troops wore the edelweiss on the uniform collar. When the ''Alpenkorps'' served alongside the ''Landesschützen'' on Austria's southern frontier against Italian forces from May 1915, the ''Landesschützen'' honoured the men of the ''Alpenkorps'' by awarding them their own in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edelweiß
''Leontopodium nivale'', commonly called edelweiss (german: Alpen-Edelweiß, English pronunciation ), is a mountain flower belonging to the daisy or sunflower family Asteraceae. The plant prefers rocky limestone places at about altitude. It is non-toxic and has been used in traditional medicine as a remedy against abdominal and respiratory diseases. Its leaves and flowers are covered with dense hairs, which appear to protect the plant from cold, aridity, and ultraviolet radiation. It is a scarce, short-lived flower found in remote mountain areas and has been used as a symbol for alpinism, for rugged beauty and purity associated with the Alps and Carpathians. It is a national symbol, especially of Romania, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Italy. According to folk tradition, giving this flower to a loved one is a promise of dedication. Names The flower's common name ''Edelweiß'' is German, and is a compound of ''edel'' "noble" and '' weiß'' "white". Slovenian name is ''plani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpenkorps (German Empire)
The Alpenkorps was a provisional mountain formation of division size formed by the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was considered by the Allies to be one of the best in the German Army. Formation After experiencing considerable difficulties in fighting the French ''Chasseurs Alpins'' in the Vosges Mountains during the Battle of the Frontiers, the German Army determined to create its own specialized mountain units. The Royal Bavarian 1st and 2nd Snowshoe Battalions (''Kgl. Bayerisches Schneeschuhbataillon I & II'') were formed in Munich, Bavaria on November 21, 1914. A third battalion was formed in April 1915 from the 4th, 5th and 6th companies of the second battalion. In May 1915, the three battalions were brought together with a fourth (formed from troops of the other battalions and Bavarian '' Landwehr'' troops) to form the 3rd Jäger Regiment (''Jäger Regiment Nr. 3''). In October 1915, the designation ''Schneeschuhbataillon'' was eliminated. Also in May 1915, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpenkorps
The Alpenkorps was a provisional mountain formation of division size formed by the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was considered by the Allies to be one of the best in the German Army. Formation After experiencing considerable difficulties in fighting the French ''Chasseurs Alpins'' in the Vosges Mountains during the Battle of the Frontiers, the German Army determined to create its own specialized mountain units. The Royal Bavarian 1st and 2nd Snowshoe Battalions (''Kgl. Bayerisches Schneeschuhbataillon I & II'') were formed in Munich, Bavaria on November 21, 1914. A third battalion was formed in April 1915 from the 4th, 5th and 6th companies of the second battalion. In May 1915, the three battalions were brought together with a fourth (formed from troops of the other battalions and Bavarian '' Landwehr'' troops) to form the 3rd Jäger Regiment (''Jäger Regiment Nr. 3''). In October 1915, the designation ''Schneeschuhbataillon'' was eliminated. Also in May 1915, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial-Royal Mountain Troops
The Imperial-Royal Mountain Troops (german: Kaiserlich-königliche Gebirgstruppe) were founded in 1906 as part of the Austrian Landwehr, the territorial army of the Cisleithanian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a result, the abbreviation "k.k." (for ''kaiserlich österreichisch, königlich böhmisch'' or "Imperial Austrian, Royal Bohemian") was used and not "k.u.k." ("Imperial and Royal") which would have implied a connexion with the Hungarian half of the Empire. Proposed in a memorandum by Conrad von Hötzendorf, in February 1906 the War Ministry in Vienna convened a session on Alpine border security. Field Marshal Tunk, agreed with him and put forward a concept, the fundamentals of which were then carried out. The existing state rifle regiments were to be trained as mountain troops and, together with the ''Landsturm'' border patrol companies and gendarmerie departments were to form the backbone of a territorial defence force with local knowledge on the border of Tyro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Crete
The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, with a multiple Nazi Germany, German airborne landings on Crete. Hellenic Army, Greek and other Allies of World War II, Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. After only one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered heavy casualties and the Allied troops were confident that they would defeat the invasion. The next day, through communication failures, Allied tactical hesitation, and German offensive operations, Maleme Airfield in western Crete fell, enabling the Germans to land reinforcements and overwhelm the defensive positions on the north of the island. Allied forces withdrew to the south coast. More than half were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung (german: Unternehmen Weserübung , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (''Wesertag'', "Weser Day"), Germany occupied Denmark and invaded Norway, ostensibly as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned, and openly discussed, French-British occupation of Norway known as Plan R 4 (actually developed as a response to any German aggression against Norway). After the occupation of Denmark (the Danish military was ordered to stand down as Denmark did not declare war with Germany), envoys of the Germans informed the governments of Denmark and Norway that the ''Wehrmacht'' had come to protect the countries' neutrality against Franco-British aggression. Significant differences in geography, location and climate between the two nations made the actual military operations very dissimilar. The invasion fleet's n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Silver Fox
Operation Silver Fox (german: Silberfuchs; fi, Hopeakettu) from 29 June to 17 November 1941, was a joint German– Finnish military operation during the Continuation War on the Eastern Front of World War II against the Soviet Union. The objective of the offensive was to cut off and capture the key Soviet Port of Murmansk through attacks from Finnish and Norwegian territory. The operation had three stages. In Operation Reindeer (''Rentier'') German forces advanced from Norway to secure the area around Petsamo and its nickel mines. Operation Platinum Fox (; ) was an attack from the north by Mountain Corps Norway, as XXXVI Mountain Corps and units from the Finnish III Corps attacked from the south in Operation Arctic Fox (''Polarfuchs''; ) to cut off and capture Murmansk by a pincer movement. The German–Finnish forces took some ground but Murmansk was neither cut off nor captured and continued to operate as an important destination for Allied Arctic convoys throughout the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Platinum Fox
Operation Platinum Fox (german: Unternehmen Platinfuchs; fi, operaatio Platinakettu) was a German and Finnish military offensive launched during World War II. Platinum Fox took place on the Eastern Front and had the objective of capturing the Barents Sea port of Murmansk. It was part of a larger operation, called Operation Silver Fox (''Silberfuchs''; ). Background At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa German units of Army of Norway, commanded by Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, attacked from Norway to secure Petsamo at the Finnish-Soviet border as part of Operation Reindeer. They joined Finnish forces on the border of Soviet territory. These divisions consisted of elite mountain troops mostly from Austria specially trained to operate above the Arctic Circle. The Finnish-German forces launched Operation Silver Fox (''Silberfuchs''), attacking Murmansk from two directions. The assault from Finnish Petsamo directly towards the port of Murmansk was codenamed Platinum Fox (''Platinf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from three regiments to over 38 division (military), divisions during World War II, and served alongside the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army (''Heer''), ''Ordnungspolizei'' (uniformed police) and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the (SS operational command office) beneath Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to (Command Staff Reichsführer-SS) directly under Himmler's control. Initially, in keeping with the racial policy of Nazi Germany, membership was open only to people of Germanic origin (so-called "Nazi racial theor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Caucasus
The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet Union, and the oil fields beyond at Maikop, Grozny, and ultimately Baku, to the Germans. Two days prior, Adolf Hitler issued a directive to launch such an operation into the Caucasus region, to be named Operation Edelweiß. German forces were compelled to withdraw from the area that winter as Operation Little Saturn threatened to cut them off. Order of battle Red Army *North Caucasian Front (Marshal Semyon Budyonny) – until September 1942 *Transcaucasian Front (General of the Army Ivan Tyulenev) *Black Sea Fleet (Vice Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky) *Azov Sea Flotilla (Rear Admiral Sergey Gorshkov) Wehrmacht Army Group A – General Field Marshal (''Generalfeldmarschall'') Wilhelm List *1st Panzer Army- General Paul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automatic Weapon
An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous discharge to feed a new ammunition round into the chamber, and then ignite the propellant and discharge the projectile (either bullet, shot, or slug) by delivering a hammer or striker impact on the primer. If ''both'' the feeding and ignition procedures are automatically cycled, the weapon will be considered "fully automatic" and will fire continuously as long as the trigger is kept depressed and the ammunition feeding (either from a magazine or a belt) remains available. In contrast, a firearm is considered " semi-automatic" if it only automatically cycles to chamber new rounds (i.e. self-loading) but does not automatically fire off the shot unless the user manually resets (usually by releasing) and re-actuates the trigger, so only one round g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Arctic Fox
Operation Arctic Fox (German: ''Unternehmen Polarfuchs''; fi, operaatio Napakettu; Russian: ''Кандалакшская операция'') was the codename given to a World War II campaign by German and Finnish forces against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland in July 1941. The operation was part of the larger Operation Silver Fox (''Silberfuchs''; ) which aimed to capture the vital port of Murmansk. Arctic Fox was conducted in parallel to Operation Platinum Fox (''Platinfuchs''; ) in the far north of Lappland. The principal goal of Operation Arctic Fox was to capture the town of Salla and then to advance in the direction of Kandalaksha (Finnish: Kantalahti) to block the railway route to Murmansk. As a joint operation by German and Finnish forces, it combined experienced Finnish arctic troops with relatively unsuitable German forces from Norway. They managed to capture Salla after fierce fighting, but the German troops were unable to overcome the old, pre-wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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