Merriam Press Military Reprint MR31 (First Edition, 2015). Historical Study, German Report Series, Dept. of the Army Pamphlet No. 20-232, by a committee of former German officers. It comprises a review of German airborne experience in WWII, an appraisal of German successes and failures, the reasons for the apparent abandonment of large-scale German airborne operations after the Crete operation, the German experience in opposing Allied and Russian airborne operations, an appraisal of the effectiveness of these operations, and the probable future of airborne operations. This study is concerned only with the landing of airborne fighting forces in an area occupied or controlled by an enemy and with the subsequent tactical commitment of those forces in conventional ground combat.

This pamphlet was written for the Historical Division, EUCOM, by a committee of former German officers. It follows an outline prepared by the Office of the Chief of Military History, Special Staff, United States Army, which is given below: 1. a. A review of German airborne experience in World War II. b. An appraisal of German successes and failures. c. Reasons for the apparent abandonment of large-scale German airborne operations after the Crete operation. 2. a. German experience in opposing Allied and Russian airborne operations. b. An appraisal of the effectiveness of these operations. 3. The probable future of airborne operations. It is believed that the contributors to this study represent a valid cross-section of expert German opinion on airborne operations. Since the contributors include Luftwaffe and Army officers at various levels of command, some divergences of opinion are inevitable; these have been listed and, wherever possible, evaluated by the principal German author. However, the opinions of General-feld-marschall Albert Kesselring are given separately and without comment wherever they occur in the course of the presentation.

The US Airborne force fielded some of the toughest, best-trained and most resourceful troops of World War II – all necessary qualities in a force that was lightly armed and which would in most operational circumstances be surrounded from the moment it landed on the battlefield. The German Wehrmacht grew to rely on a series of defensive measures to combat the airborne threat, including fortifications, localized reserves, and special training to help intercept and disrupt airborne troops both in the air and on the ground. Despite such methods it was cool-headed command and control that would prove to be the real key to blunting the Airborne's edge. Using specially commissioned artwork, this book examines the development of the American airborne forces that spearheaded the Allied effort in Sicily, Normandy and Operation Market Garden, and the German countermeasures that evolved in response to the threat of Allied airborne landings.