Blood and Steel 3: The Wehrmacht Archive - The Ardennes Offensive, December 1944 to January 1945 by Donald E. Graves

Author:Donald E. Graves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
ISBN: 9781848322370
Publisher: Frontline Books
Published: 2015-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Special Forces (3)

Kampfgruppe von der Heydte

Document 4/11

Parachute Battle Group von der Heydte

Three PW from Battle Group von der Heydte, captured and interrogated by Ninth US Army, have provided an interesting account of the unit which made the parachute jump presaging the opening of the current German Offensive. Captured at 1500 hours on 17 December 1944, their story describes the remarkable manner in which men are being thrown into the present all-out enemy effort.

The PW were very security minded, apparently having been briefed very carefully on how to behave in case of capture. All of them carried instruction sheets in regard to possible interrogation but their statements, though confused as to minor details, give a clear general picture.

Parachute Battle Group von der Heydte is presumed to be of battalion strength with at least three parachute companies under command. These PW belonged to Parachute Company z.B.V. Le Coutre which is organized into three platoons of three sections each. The company’s total strength was one officer and 90 other tanks. Each section was equipped with 1 LMG, rifles (98K), machine pistols 38, pistols and hand grenades.

All men (PW, dead and wounded) who have so far been encountered from the group that took part in the parachute attack of 17 Dec, formerly belonged to the Parachute Assault Battalion of the Parachute Army, which had been forming at Lichtenvoorde (Holland) since the middle of November 1944. This process was interrupted when part of the men assigned to Parachute Assault Battalion were pulled out and assigned to Parachute Kampfgruppe von der Heydte at Aalten around 10 December.

These men moved to a rest area in Westphalia (exact location not known), until 16 December, when Parachute Company z.B.V. Le Coutre left on three trucks and went to the airport at Paderborn, ostensibly for a practice jump. On the way one truck broke down, and two of the three sections on it were put on the other trucks, while the third section remained on the broken-down vehicle which finally limped into the airport at 0400 hours 17 December. When the company reached their planes the men were informed that this was going to be a combat jump behind US lines. Except for the one section, the company jumped between midnight and 0300 hours 17 December, the last one landing at 0500. The men were told to jump between two fires which would be burning in the vicinity of a road junction at which they were to assemble and to receive instructions as to their mission. 2nd Lt Le Coutre was to give these instructions. The men that jumped during the earlier period report that more than two fires were burning, that they became so confused that only very small groups assembled, and that they never located the road junction, while the last section at 0500 hours saw two fires burning very dimly, and also was scattered, never locating the assembly point.

The planes used in the operation were JU-52, each of which carried one section of ten other ranks, with their weapons, and several boxes of ammo which were dropped by parachute.

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