Sublime Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I was discussing old troops in CMBO with winkelried. Anyways, I remembered the gebirgsjager. lotsa fun to play with. however I've heard no mention of them being included at all. Are they planned or is this because they're simply out of the time frame so far in CMBN? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 IIRC, there was exactly one Gebirgs Div in NWE, and that was 6th SS Mtn Div (which scampered out of Finland eith their tail between their legs when the Finns finally realised which side their bread was buttered on) which arrived in the Alsace-Lorraine(?) area in Jan 1945. So yes: well out side the timeframe of CMBN. (There might have been a single Heer G.Div too, but I think that was even later ... like, maybe March '45?) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted November 24, 2012 Author Share Posted November 24, 2012 what I feared. they were kick ass troops in cmbo tho =D BB too.. so I wonder what we have to look forward to with the FJ. though fearsome in Normandy, other people have expressed a fairly low opinion of them post august 44... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 so I wonder what we have to look forward to with the FJ. though fearsome in Normandy, other people have expressed a fairly low opinion of them post august 44... The FJ were excellent to at least pretty good right through the war. But the Luftwaffe Field Divisions were pretty uniformly crummy. Maybe that's what you were hearing. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 great book on the German 6th SS mountain division fighing the Americans in Europe. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Days-January-Mountain-Operation/dp/0966638964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353851381&sr=8-1 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 this one aswell... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Final-Defense-The-Reich-Destruction/dp/1591147441/ref=pd_sim_b_1 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 The FJ were excellent to at least pretty good right through the war. But the Luftwaffe Field Divisions were pretty uniformly crummy. Maybe that's what you were hearing. Some of the FJ divisions were execrable, even as early as Normandy. In yet another of Goering's follys, he decided to vastly increase the number of FJ Divisions after observing how the existing ones had garnered a certain cachet. The sudden expansion had predictable consequences on quality. There was probably a certain saving grace in that the FJ divisions were much larger than regular Heer inf divs were by 1944, and the FJ had a larger complement of heavy weapons, so they seemed strong (or 'good') by comparison. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkelried Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 The FJ were excellent to at least pretty good right through the war. But the Luftwaffe Field Divisions were pretty uniformly crummy. Maybe that's what you were hearing. Michael That the FJ divisions were excellent units that late in the war is probably a myth. Even in September 44 FJ units were filled up quickly with draftees of questionable quality. These units didn't have the time to train officers, NCOs as they did before Overlord/Bagration which explains the very mixed combat performance too. They were a bit better armed than some Heer Units, but that's about it. By the way - the Luftwaffe Feld Divisions were taken over by the Heer in 1943 as Feld Division (L). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkelried Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 IIRC, there was exactly one Gebirgs Div in NWE, and that was 6th SS Mtn Div (which scampered out of Finland eith their tail between their legs when the Finns finally realised which side their bread was buttered on) which arrived in the Alsace-Lorraine(?) area in Jan 1945. So yes: well out side the timeframe of CMBN. (There might have been a single Heer G.Div too, but I think that was even later ... like, maybe March '45?) If you narrow CMBN down to NWE Europe you're correct. But I assume, that Dragoon forms also part of CMBN - +/- same equipement and most units ended up in NWE in September 1944. So if you include Dragoon there would have been the German 157. Reserve-Division (renamed on 1.October to 157. Gebirgs-Division) involved in the defense of Grenoble against Task Force Butler (initially). In February 45 this division was then renamed 8. Gebirgs-Division. But in contrast to the other German units which retreated through Lyons to the Rhine, the 157 Gebirgs-Division retreated to Italy and defended the western Alps. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=3650 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steiner14 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Gebirgsjäger = Gebirgsjaeger. The ä, ö, ü can easily be written equivalently by adding a simple additional e: ä = ae ö = oe ü = ue 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sequoia Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I seem to remember a scene from Band of Brothers where a G.I. takes an Edelweiss from a dead Gebirgsjaeger. Is that scene bogus? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akd Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I seem to remember a scene from Band of Brothers where a G.I. takes an Edelweiss from a dead Gebirgsjaeger. Is that scene bogus? Since it is a paratrooper he plucks the (remarkably well-preserved) flower off of, I'd say it is a bit questionable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I imagined the dead soldier wasn't a Gebirgsjaeger but perhaps had worn the edelweiss for more sentimental reasons -- perhaps he was Austrian, or perhaps his girlfriend had given it to him when he was on leave or something (or maybe I'm just confusing it with that scene in "The Sound of Music??" Damn, now I won't be able to get that song out of my head...Ehhhh-del-WEISS, Ehhh-del-WEISS...) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sequoia Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 (or maybe I'm just confusing it with that scene in "The Sound of Music??" Damn, now I won't be able to get that song out of my head...Ehhhh-del-WEISS, Ehhh-del-WEISS...) No Captain Von Trapp was a Austrian U-boat commander in WWI. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Sertorius Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Since it is a paratrooper he plucks the (remarkably well-preserved) flower off of, I'd say it is a bit questionable. I never thought about it before, but I distinctly remember the dead soldier being a paratrooper. You even see a shot of his FJ helmet rolling on the ground. On the other hand, just because I distinctly remember it that way doesn't mean it's true. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASL Veteran Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Yeah. Well for those who don't know, there weren't any German Mountain troops anywhere within five hundred miles of Carantan, France in June of 1944. Oddly enough on the exact day and location of the German attack that was portrayed in Band of Brothers there just happened to be a German parachute Regiment in Carantan and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division was there as well. I've got to assume that the German guy who we see in that show as wearing a Paratrooper uniform and helmet yet having the flower in his pocket was a German Paratrooper. Having said that - there is the possibility that he was an ex mountain troop who picked the flower a couple of years earlier before joining the Paratroops just before the Normandy invasion. He didn't want to get sent to Finland so he probably figured that being a paratrooper would be a better gig and he decided to make the switch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowbart Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 IIRC, there was exactly one Gebirgs Div in NWE, and that was 6th SS Mtn Div (which scampered out of Finland eith their tail between their legs when the Finns finally realised which side their bread was buttered on) which arrived in the Alsace-Lorraine(?) area in Jan 1945. So yes: well out side the timeframe of CMBN. (There might have been a single Heer G.Div too, but I think that was even later ... like, maybe March '45?) "Black Edelweiss" by Johann Voss, was a good read, a memoir by a soldier of the 6th SS Mntn Div, detailing their retreat through Finland, etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkelried Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Y Having said that - there is the possibility that he was an ex mountain troop who picked the flower a couple of years earlier before joining the Paratroops just before the Normandy invasion. you don't need to be with mountain troops to have an edelweiss as a souvenir. being born somewhere up there can be enough (today they would probably get a tattoo ). and dried edelweiss can look pretty nice for quite a while. btw - a friend of our familiy had swiss/german double nationality coming from the mountains and served with the fallschirmjäger - jumped over crete and finally got wounded at cassino. so lots of reasons to keep a dried edelweiss as a souvenir ... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.