Uniforms and Equipment

Integrated Training Session: GM 002

Uniforms and equipment worn by the unit, the
variants and which is correct for 1942-1943. For Re-
Enactors within the German Section of Battlefront
Living History Group, Malta
Our Group so far
Our impression is of Brigade Ramcke in
preparation for Invasion of Malta.
Overall, the impression is complete
Some inconsistencies in leather, boots and smocks
Members have garments which are correct for
alternate theatres of war (good as an extra
impression but not for Operation Hercules)
Unsere
Fallschirmjger-Abteilung
Part of Brigade-Ramcke formed in 1942
Have Been supplied with Tropical Uniforms and put on
stand-by for weeks.
They were to take part in the Unternehmen Herkules
After Rommel had captured Tobruk, the invasion was
postponed and the brigade was sent to support the
DAKs final push.
Commander:
Oberst Hermann-Bernhard
Ramcke
Ramcke Brigade
About 4000-4500 personnel
Elements from 4 different FJR
o I./Fallschirmjger-Regiment 2 - Major Kroh
o I./Fallschirmjger-Regiment 3 - Major von der Heydte
o 2./Fallschirmjger-Battalion 5 - Major Hubner
o Fallschirmjger-Lehr-Battalion/ XI.Flieger-Korps - Major Burckhardt
Panzerjger,
Artillerie,
Pioneer
Luftwaffe Tropenuniform
fr Mannschaften / Unteroffiziere
Good for
Invasion of Malta
impression
Tropenfeldbluse
Qualification badge from continental uniform was
sometimes sewn to the upper left pocket.
Metal award was seldom used.
Many did not wear any.
Designed in 1941, based on the 1940
model from the Army.
6 buttons
Pleated chest pockets, plain skirt
pockets
Same Breast eagle for officers and EM.
Tropenhose und kurz
Trousers
loosely cut legs
Large map pocket on the left thigh
Shorts
Only permitted during
Off duty periods
In Africa:
Allowed for frontline combat
Was used by pilots
Schutzanzug
Knochensacks
Pre-war 2 zippers
o used by the Army in 1937
1
st
pattern Step in
o No pockets
o Green
2
nd
pattern Step in
o Green
o Splittermuster B (Splinter B)
o Tan (Experimental)
3
rd
pattern
o Splittermuster B (Splinter B)
o Sumpftarn (tan & water)
Pre-war & First Pattern
jump smock
Pre-war and First Pattern
jump smock
Model 36
o Used by the Army
o Dual zippers
o Green
Model 38
o used by the Luftwaffe
o no pockets
o Pale-Green and grey
Second and Third
pattern smock
2
nd
pattern
in Green and Splinter B
Introduced lower and later upper pockets
Used for Norway and Crete Operations
3
rd
pattern
Snap-in legs to simulate older legs
1942 onwards
In Splinter B & water camouflage
Second pattern smock
Second pattern smock
Malta smock - Type II
Made in small quantities
in late 1941
Produced by P&K
1
st
pattern
Originated from the time of the
Army.
Based on ww1 model used by the
Assault Troops
Saw very limited use in early war
if any.
Problem: clips were exposed to
dust/mud
Hold up to 100 7.92mm rounds
2
st
pattern
First bandoleer produced by
Luftwaffe contractors 1937+
2 buttons for added protection
In green and blue
Available by the start of the war
3
rd
pattern
One fastener with Oval edges
Early ones (1940) had angular
flaps
Were available for Invasion of
Crete, and pattern remained the
same up until the end of the war
Blue(early)
Splinter B (mid-war / late)
Tan (late 1943 onwards)
Early 3
rd
pattern
Blue
The only 3
rd
pattern
bandoleer with angular flaps.
Mid-war / late 3
rd
pattern
Springerstiefel
1
st
pattern
Rubber (chevron) soles
Side-laced
Very well constructed (some were seen even late
war)
2
nd
pattern
Cheaper to produce for the expansion of the
paratrooper forces
Front-laced.
Leather soles
12 pair of holes
Luftwaffe
Hermann
Goering Division
23-02-33 08-05-45
"To boldly go where no landser has been
before" (HG Parachute Panzer Div. Motto)
30
th
JANUARY1933
Hitler comes to power, as Chancellor of the
Republic
World War I Fighter Ace Hermann Gring
credited with 22 kills, loyal party activist
since the very early days, and hurt in the
1923 Beer Hall Putsch is appointed as
Prussian Minister of Interior
All Police Units in Prussia come under his
control and he immediately creates a new
unit composed of dedicated National
Socialists of known loyalty
Hermann Gring
Born January 12, 1893 in Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria,
German Empire
His father Heinrich Ernst Goring (31.10.1839 7.12.1913),
first Governor-General of the German protectorate of South
West Africa (modern day Namibia), as well as being a former
cavalry officer and member of the German consular service.
Swiss-German family of high bourgeoisie who were originally
Jewish financiers who converted to Christianity in the 15th
century
Gring's mother Franziska "Fanny" Tiefenbrunn (1859-1923)
came from a Bavarian peasant family. The marriage of a
gentleman to a woman from lower class (1885) occurred only
because Heinrich Ernst Gring was a widower.
Heinrich Ernst Gring
31.10.1839 7.12.1913
Gring was a relative of such Eberle/Eberlin descendants as the
German aviation pioneer Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
German romantic nationalist Hermann Grimm (1828-1901), an
author of the concept of the German hero as a mover of history,
whom the Nazis claimed as one of their ideological forerunners
The industrialist family Merk, the owners of pharmaceutical giant
by that name
Baroness Gertrud von LeFort, one of the world major Catholic
writers and poets of the 20th century German whose works were
largely inspired by her revulsion against Nazism
Swiss diplomat, historian and President of International Red Cross,
Carl J. Burckhardt
Ritter von Epenstein, was a family friend with a title acquired
in part through the purchase of two largely dilapidated
castles, Burg Veldenstein in Bavaria and Schloss Mauterndorf
near Salzburg, Austria, whose very expensive restorations
were ongoing by the time of Hermann Gring's birth.
Both castles were to be residences to the Gring family, their
official "caretakers" until 1913, and both were to be
tremendous influences on Gring's childhood and fascination
with the military and romanticized notions of history.
Both castles were also ultimately to be his property.
The castle history reaches all the back into the year 1008, when it was erected as a fortress
to protect the border against intruders. Over the years the leadership has changed several
times, from the Hohenstaufen to the Bishops of Bamberg, Knight of Epstein to the
management of Middle Franconia.
Burg Veldenstein in Bavaria
Mautendorf Castle is built on the site of an old Roman fort that dates to 326
AD or earlier. The fort protected the Roman mountain road and served as
residence for the Roman provincial administrator. The original fort was
destroyed during the Great Migration.
During the first year of World War I Gring served with an infantry regiment in
the Vosges region before he was hospitalized with rheumatism resulting from the
damp of trench warfare.
While recovering, Gring's friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to seek a transfer to the
Luftstreitkrafte and they were eventually attached as a team to the 25th Field Air
Detachment of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhem's Fifth Army
The team flew reconnaissance and bombing missions for which The Crown Prince invested
both Gring and Loerzer with the Iron Cross, first class. Gring became a Jagdflieger
(fighter pilot) in October 1915 and was posted to Jagdstaffel 5 in October 1915. He was
soon shot down and spent most of 1916 recovering from his injuries.
In February 1917 he joined Jagdstaffel 26, before being given his first command Jasta 27, in
May 1917. Serving with Jastas 7, 5, 26 and 27, he claimed 21 air victories, being awarded in
addition to the Iron Cross, the Zaehring Lion with swords, the Karl Friedrich Order and
the Hohenzollern Medal with swords, third class, prior to his final award (despite never
having shot down the required 25 enemy planes) in May 1918 of the coveted Pour le
Merite
The Pour le Mrite, known informally as the Blue Max (German: Blauer Max), was the
Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers from 1740 until the end
of World War I in 1918.
The award was a blue-enameled Maltese Cross with eagles between the arms based
on the symbol of the Johanniter Order, the Prussian royal cypher, and the French
legend Pour le Mrite ("for Merit") arranged on the arms of the cross.
The Karl Friedrich Order
The House Order of Hohenzollern was
instituted on December 5, 1841
by joint decree of
Prince Konstantin of Hohenzollern-
Hechingen and
Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-
Sigmaringen.
These two principalities in southern
Germany were Catholic collateral lines of
the House of Hohenzollern,
cousins to the Protestant ruling house of
Prussia.
It was an order of chivalry and considered
both a military and a civil award.
The Hohenzollern
Medal with swords,
third class
Order of the Zhringer Lion
Instituted on
26 December 1812
by Karl,
Grand Duke of Baden
in memory of the
Dukes of Zhringen
from whom
he was descended
On 7 July 1918, after the death of Wilhelm Reinhard, the successor of Rittmeister
Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron), he was made commander of Jagdgeschwader
Freiherr von Richthofen, Jagdgeschwader 1.
In June 1917, after a lengthy dogfight, Gring shot down
a novice Australian pilot named Frank Slee. Gring
landed and met the Australian, and presented Slee with
his Iron Cross. Years after, Slee gave Gring's Iron Cross
to a friend, who later died on the beaches of Normandy
on D-Day.
Also during the war Gring had through his generous
treatment made a friend of his prisoner of war Captain
Frank Beaumont, a Royal Flying Corps pilot.
Gring finished the war with 22 kills
Gring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and initially took over the SA leadership as
the Oberster SA-Fhrer.
After stepping down as SA Commander, he was appointed an SA-Gruppenfhrer
(Lieutenant General) (and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945).
Hitler later recalled his early association with Gring thus:
"I liked him. I made him the head of my S.A. He is the only one of its heads that
ran the S.A. properly.
I gave him a disheveled rabble. In a very short time he had organised a division of
11,000 men."
[22]
1941-1943
June 1941:
The Regiment was upgraded to a Motorized unit, with the its
designation changed to Regiment General Goering(mot).
15 July 1942:
The Regiment was upgraded and renamed to "Brigade Hermann
Goering".
Area of operations
France & Italy (Oct 1942 - Jan 1943)
North Africa (Jan 1943 - May 1943)
Commanders
Generalmajor Paul Conrath (15 Oct 1942 - 20 May 1943)
General Paul Conrath
(22 November 1896 15 January 1979
General der Fallschirmtruppe during
World War II and a recipient of the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with
Oak Leaves.
Oct1942
The Brigade was again upgraded and retitled "Division Hermann Goering" when
Brigade Hermann Gring was upgraded with the addition of 5,000 Luftwaffe
volunteers and Fallschirmjger-Regiment 5 (remnants of three separate parachute
units that hade fought on Crete and on the Eastern front).
The main body of the division was sent to Tunisia Jan - Mar 1943 (Jger-Regiment
HG was sent to Africa Nov 1942). The HG-units were known as Kampfgruppe
Schmid (named after Generalmajor Schmid, commander of the advance section of
the staff) and were sent to the southern sector of the front Feb were they replaced
Korps-Gruppe Weber.
It fought with distinction in Tunisia but was forced to surrender with the rest of the
axis troops in North Africa May 1943 and only a few men from the units managed
to escape.
It was reformed May 1943 as Panzerdivision Hermann Gring.
End of 2
nd
Presentation
Copyright retained by Battlefront 2012
Fallschirmjaeger uniforms research & Presentation
by Christian DeBono
Hermann Goering Division Research &
Presentation by Baron Ironblood
The next session is due for the 25
th
August 2012.