The books will be indispensable to collectors, uniform enthusiasts and military historians alike. This three-volume work is the most comprehensive and detailed study of the World War II German paratrooper to date, providing in-depth examinations of nearly every uniform item - including all models of jump smocks - and equipment used from the airborne forces' establishment in the mid-1930s to May 1945. It also extensively covers specific insignia and various unique ephemera. Finally, the work provides in-depth summaries of the operations the "Green Devils" fought in, from the air assaults on Norway, Belgium's Fort Eben Emael, Holland and Crete, over ground combat in North Africa, Russia, Italy and Normandy through the Battle of the Bulge and on to the last days of the Third Reich. The author and publisher were able to draw on an unprecedented degree of cooperation with collectors and museums from all over the world. The three volumes run to more than 1,000 pages, with thousands of specially commissioned colour photographs of original Fallschirmjäger artefacts, some of them never shown before, accompanied by many unique period black and white images, many of them hitherto unpublished.
Contents
Introduction Acknowledgments
Chapter I: Paratrooper Helmets "M36" Paratrooper Helmet (First-Trial-Model) "M37" Paratrooper Helmet (Second-Trial-Model) "M38" Paratrooper Helmet (Third Model) Helmet Camouflage Helmet Covers Other Types of Camouflage Liners and Chin Straps
Chapter II: Special Equipment Gasmask Bag Hand Grenade Bags Ammunition Bandoliers Flier's Knife (Gravity Knife) Airborne Medical Equipment
Chapter III: Standard Personal Equipment Uniform Belt Belt-Support Straps Bayonet Frog Bread Bag Canteen Mess Kit Shelter Quarter Dispatch/Map Case Field Glasses Packs Combat Engineer Equipment Winterized Equipment Life Jacket
Chapter V: Parachutes The Static Line-Actuated Backpack Parachute Jump Parachute R.Z. 1 Jump Parachute R.Z. 16 Jump Parachute R.Z. 20 Jump Parachute R.Z. 36 Other Parachutes Accessories Jump Training
Chapter VI: Drop Containers Jumps with Weapons
Appendixes Abbreviations Specific Luftwaffe Directives, 1938 Notes Bibliography
Author Karl Veltzé M.A. Born in 1962, has been interested in military history and, in particular, the history of the German airborne forces since his youth - not least because his father was among the first who volunteered for the airborne troops of the young German Bundeswehr in 1956. Mr Veltzé himself did his national service from 1983 to 1984 with Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon 252 in Nagold, Germany. Following the Bundeswehr, he studied modern history and English literature at the University of Tübingen. Although Mr Veltzé has translated a number of titles covering contemporary and military history, including several for the Zeughaus Verlag, this is his first book. He is an avid collector of paratrooper memorabilia, albeit that of the French airborne forces of the 1946-54 Indochina war.
Primary Contributor and Consultant Patrick Ott Born in 1970, is the grandson of a German paratrooper and has been passionately interested in history since his earliest youth. Over the years, he began to focus specifically on the course of World War II and the history of the German Wehrmacht. Ultimately, following a longer sojourn on Crete in 1998, he has concentrated on the operations and specialised equipment of the German airborne forces. He accordingly does not just collect any related artifact he can find, but also maintains contact to the dwindling number of World War II paratroopers and frequently travels to the sites of their former operations - Eben Emael, Gran Sasso, Monte Cassino, Normandy and the Ardennes among others - to gain valuable first-hand insights.
Group
Books (first-hand)
Author
Veltzé, Karl
Title
German Paratroopers - Uniforms and Equipment 1936 -1945. Volume 2: Helmets, Equipment and Weapons
Details
Hardcover with dust jacket, approx. 1000 colour photos and 280 b&w photos. 368 pages, size 230 × 305 mm
