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Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment
Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment 1 (also known as ''Sturmabteilung Koch'') was a German ''Fallschirmjäger'' regiment in the Luftwaffe which captured the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael during the Battle of Belgium, took part in the Battle of Crete, and fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. Operational history The Battalion was formed in November 1939; it was named after its commander, Captain Walter Koch, as Assault Battalion ''Koch''. It was intended to open the way into central Belgium by capturing the formidable Fort Eben-Emael defending the Albert Canal as well three bridges over the canal. The DFS 230 gliders were to be used to allow the assault groups to silently land virtually on top of their objectives, surprising the defenders and preventing them from destroying the bridge. The airborne assault took place on 10 May 1940. The Belgian defenders were unable to muster any serious counterattacks against the paratroops. Two more battalions were formed during the fall of 1940 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugen Meindl
__NOTOC__ Eugen Meindl (16 July 1892 – 24 January 1951) was a German paratroop general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Life and career Born in 1892, Eugen Meindl enlisted in the army in 1912 and served during World War I. Meindl served with various artillery units in the Reichswehr, the post-war armed forces of the Weimar Republic, and subsequently in the Wehrmacht (Armed Forces after Weimar). In November 1938, Meindl was named commander of the 112th Mountain Artillery Regiment in Graz. Promoted to Oberst, he led the "Meindl Group" and made his very first parachute jump at Narvik. He transferred to the Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ... in November 1940. During the airb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massacre Of Kondomari
The Massacre of Kondomari () was the execution of male civilians from the village of Kondomari in Crete by an ''ad hoc'' firing squad consisting of German paratroopers on 2 June 1941 during World War II.Heaton, C.D. ''German Anti-partisan Warfare in Europe, 1939–1945'', Schiffer Pub., 2001, .Mazower, Mark. ''Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941–44'', Yale University Press, 2001, . The shooting was the first of a series of reprisals in Crete, orchestrated by ''Generaloberst'' Kurt Student, in retaliation for the participation of Cretans in the Battle of Crete which had ended with the surrender of the island two days earlier. The massacre was photographed by Franz-Peter Weixler, a German army war propaganda correspondent, whose negatives were discovered 39 years later in the federal German archives by a Greek journalist. Background Geography The village of Kondomari is part of the Platanias municipality and is located near the north coast of Crete, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Koch (Fallschirmjäger)
Walter Koch (10 September 1910 – 23 October 1943) was a commander of the Fallschirmjäger during World War II who died in mysterious circumstances after openly criticising Adolf Hitler. Koch, who was the recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions during the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael in May 1940, had publicly denounced the Führer's infamous Commando Order, which ordered that all captured enemy commandos were to be executed. Shortly afterwards the ''Oberstleutnant'' and commander of ''Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 5'' died in Berlin from injuries allegedly resulting from a motor vehicle collision. Early career Walter Koch joined the ''Landespolizei'' as an officer on 3 April 1929. As a ''Leutnant'' he had served in the state police and a police battalion for special purposes (''Polizeiabteilung z.b.V. Wecke''). In 1935 the new commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, transferred this police unit into the reformed Luftwaffe and renamed it the Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fallschirmjäger
The () were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-command. Between the wars During the interwar years, the rapid development of aircraft and aviation technology drew the attention of imaginative military planners. The idea of aerially inserting a large body of troops inside enemy territory was proposed during World War I by Brigadier General Billy Mitchell (general), Billy Mitchell, commander of the United States Army Air Corps, U.S. Army Air Corps in France.Ailsby, Christopher: ''Hitler's Sky Warriors: German Paratroopers in Action, 1939–1945'', p. 12. Spellmount Limited, 2000. However, the Allies of World War I, Entente High Command was forced to abandon the idea, as it was unprepared for such an undertaking, both logistically and in materiel. Among the first to recognize the potential ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Razing Of Kandanos
The Razing of Kandanos () refers to the complete destruction of the village of Kandanos in Western Crete (Greece) and the killing of about 180 of its inhabitants on 3 June 1941 by German occupying forces during World War II.MacDonald, Callum. ''The Lost Battle: Crete 1941'', The Free Press, 1993, .Mosier, John. ''Cross of Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German War Machine'', NY: Henry Holt & Co., 2006; . It was ordered by Generaloberst Kurt Student in reprisal for the participation of the local population in the Battle of Crete that had held advancing German soldiers for two days. The destruction constituted one of the most atrocious war crimes committed during the Axis occupation of Greece, occupation of Crete by Axis powers, Axis forces in World War II. Background Local resistance The Battle of Crete began on 20 May 1941 with a large-scale airborne invasion planned to capture the island's strategic locations. Kandanos is located on the road from Chania on the north coast t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crete Order Of Battle
This is the complete order of battle for the Battle of Crete and related operations in 1941. Allied Land forces Commonwealth & Allied forces, Crete - "Creforce" ;Headquarters Creforce - (Eastern Zone, east of Chania) :Major-general Bernard Freyberg, VC, Colonel Stewart * C Squadron, 3rd The King's Own Hussars (seven light tanks) :Major G.W.Peck :10 Light Tank Mk VIs * B Squadron, 7th Royal Tank Regiment :Lieutenant George Simpson :Two Matilda tanks, crewed in part by two officers and five gunners of the 2/3rd Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (RAA). * 1st Battalion, the Welch Regiment :Lieutenant Colonel A. Duncan, MC (force reserve) 2nd New Zealand Division ;Headquarters New Zealand Division - Brigadier, Acting Major General Edward Puttick - (Western Zone, west of Chania) * 27th New Zealand Machine Gun Battalion (Lt. Col. FJ Gwilliam) (179 personnel) * 5th New Zealand Field Artillery Regiment (less infantry detachment) (256 personnel) * 4th New Zealand Infa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Eben-Emael
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ("strong") and ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large cyclopean stone walls fitted without mortar had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek '' phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alikianos Executions
The Alikianos executions () was the mass execution by firing squad of mostly male civilians from Alikianos and nearby villages in Crete, Greece by German paratroopers on 24 May, 2 June, and 1 August 1941 during World War II. The executions were ordered by Generaloberst Kurt Student, commander of the XI Air Corps, in reprisal for the active participation of Cretan civilians in the Battle of Crete. Background The village of Alikianos () is located on a fertile plain near the north coast of Crete, approximately 12 km (7.5 mi) southwest of the city of Chania. During the Battle of Crete, Richard Heidrich's 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment (''FJR 3'') was ordered to land on the plain and advance northwest towards the Maleme airstrip, one of the island's most strategic targets. Covering the rear of the 3rd Regiment was the 7th Engineer Battalion, dropped in the vicinity of Alikianos between the road to Chania and the bed of Keritis (, ancient Ιάρδανος, '' Iardanus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group North
Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Poland and subsequently renamed Army Group B. The second Army Group North was created on 22 June 1941 from the former Army Group C and used in the northern sector of the Eastern Front from 1941 to January 1945. By then, this second Army Group North had gotten trapped in the Courland Pocket and was accordingly redesignated Army Group Courland. On the same day, the former Army Group Center, which was now defending the northernmost sector of the contiguous Eastern Front, was renamed Army Group North, assuming the status of the third and final iteration of the army group. First deployment of Army Group North: September – October 1939 The staff of Army Group North was formally assembled on 2 September 1939 from the headquarters of 2nd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalino
Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capital of the Donetsk People's Republic. The population was estimated at in the city core, with over 2 million in the metropolitan area (2011). According to the 2001 census, Donetsk was the fifth-largest city in Ukraine. Administratively, Donetsk has been the centre of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the larger economic and cultural Donets Basin (''Donbas'') region. Donetsk is adjacent to another major city, Makiivka, and along with other surrounding cities forms a major urban sprawl and conurbation in the region. Donetsk has been a major economic, industrial and scientific centre of Ukraine with a high concentration of heavy industries and a skilled workforce. The density of heavy industr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yukhnov
Yukhnov () is a town and the administrative center of Yukhnovsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Kunava River ( Oka's basin) northwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It has been known since 1410. Town status was granted in 1777. During the Second World War the town was occupied by the Germans from October 5, 1941 to March 5, 1942. In late 1941, the Germans operated the Dulag 112 prisoner-of-war camp in the town. Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative divisions, Yukhnov serves as the administrative center of Yukhnovsky District, to which it is directly subordinated. As a municipal division, the town of Yukhnov is incorporated within Yukhnovsky Municipal District as Yukhnov Urban Settlement.Law #369-OZ Notable people * Mikhail Yanshin * Valentin Koptyug * Mikhail Rusakov Mikhail Petrovich Rusakov (, in Yukhnov – 24 October 1963 in Moscow) was a Soviet geologist, acade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of the past millennium, beginning as the capital of an eponymous principality in the 11th-15th centuries, then the Smolensk Voivodeship of Lithuania and Poland, and Smolensk Governorate and Oblast within Russia. It was the main stronghold of the Smolensk Gate, a geostrategically significant pass between the Daugava and Dnieper rivers, and as such was an important point of contention in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe, passing at various times between Lithuania, Poland and Russia. In more recent history, it was captured by Napoleon's Franco–Polish forces and Hitler's Germany during their marches towards Moscow, and was the place of the Smolensk air disaster of 2010. It has a population of Etymology The name of the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
