Kurt Student, Kommander of the German Fallschrimjager. In 1941 he directed the capture of Crete from his HQ in Athens.[1] The operation was successful, but incurred so many casualties that Hitler forbade future airborne operations. In 1943 he planned Unternehmen Eiche, the successful spectacular raid of a special Luftwaffe unit (landing with gliders and STOL aircraft on a hilltop), to free Benito Mussolini. The well-known SS-commander Otto Skorzeny took part in this operation. He was transferred to Italy and later to France, where he was involved in the defence of Normandy in 1944. He was put in charge of the First Paratroop Army and took part in countering the allied Operation Market Garden, near Arnhem. |
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