Red Flood

[King Kurt]

Well a quick glance around the web about the German Airbourne suggests the following - in 1940 it was still a small force - being built up for its moment of fame and Phyric victory in Crete. I think the real weakness was in the JU52 fleet and the gliders. The Ju52s were very prone to being shot down and the losses they suffered in the Crete campaign were horrendious causing a transport plane shortage in the subsequent russian campaign. There was a similar story for the Gliders. About 500 JU52s were used for Crete and 271 were casualties. So the airbourne is preety much a one shot weapon if they are to be used on any scale - and if there is even a hint of not having air superiority then there will be massive casualties and a good chance the operation will fail.
For info see:
http://www.eagle19.freeserve.co.uk/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_...A4ger_Division
So, if we are to use them, we must exercise caution and use them in a true coup de main way. We also need to find a way of reienforcing any operation quickly - which could well mean some form of naval support forces.

[IrishArmenian]

In order to get the easily-shot down transport planes to Britain, we must plan a diversion. The Falshrim-what's-it-called cannot fight in the air, meaning we must plan a diversion to avert the Britts attention. Know I suggest using Navy ships for the diversion, but send a few U-Boats to escort them, to put up a good fight, but I digress. I notice that the Paratroopers are incredibly delicate in the air, so I would have to request some serios fighter escort. Is there such a way to disguise a paratrooping plane as a bomber? It would fool the English well. Of course, the farthest the Germans can go with this is England and Wales. They are not trained for the terrain of Scotland (which the locals are) and not as much, but the same thing with Ireland, but also the Irish are not situated mostly in cities, so Your troops will grow weary of marching everywhere and these cultures were built upon Gureilla Warfare, so tough enemies. But I would also like to say your ideas there are a little vague.

[Keba]

Is there such a way to disguise a paratrooping plane as a bomber? It would fool the English well.

Well, tranport models were nearly identical to early bombers. Unfortunately, those models have mostly been put out of commision with the advent of the more advanced German bombers (the older models were phased out during the Spanish Civil War).

My belief is that Paratroopers are best used like they were by the Allies later in the war. To disrupt enemy activity, in preparation for an incursion. Britain is in a bad spot in the beginning stages of the war ... her only safety is the navy, however, once German troops are on the island, it is unlikely they will be able to do much. The main problem would be supply, however, it could be disguised as a part of the Air War ... namely, some bombers drop supplies while others bomb the hell out of the British airbases.

The main problem is convincing German High Command of the plan. Goring might object, prefering a scare bombardment tactic (which he did use, and which failed). Hitler might be more open, if the plan is properly presented as bold and likely to add Britain to the Reich ... we might have a chance. Other commanders are more likely to see the advantages.

[JimBob]

Who says we're putting Paratroopers down in England? Today we are figuring out what we are capable of.

What we have is a division sized group of elite and highly motivated soldiers who have proven themselves. I'm with Kurt, the weakest part of the airborne is the transport. If the opportunity arrises we should push for better transport aricraft,the Ju-52 began service in 1932, it's outdated. Our troops are trained to fight as a group and are among the best in the German Army.

The weapons are standards of the German Army. The only weapon that was unique to the Fallschirmjager was the FJ42 which only saw limited production, it was a light machine gun comparable to the BAR. Not as heavy as an MG34 or MG42, but capable of delivering signifigant fire power. This is also a must. A 9lbs gun is better than a 24lbs gun when moving about behind enemy lines. Something similar to the FJ42 should be lobbied for as early as possible.


http://www.greendevils.com/greendevils/fjwwii.htm
http://www.eagle19.freeserve.co.uk/

[Lord Winter]

An standalone jump into Britten is out of the question. The RAF would destroy most of our force in progress and radar would make it impossible for us to land unprotected. The best we could do is play a supporting role such as the allied paratroopers did at D-Day. We would probably serve the best in a land campaign were we could raid the allied supply lines.

[AggonyDuck]

Well personally I hope we get to make a jump on Malta.

About the transport planes. There really isn't much we can do to improve the situation at the moment, especially when you consider the fact that Ramcke is only a lieutenant colonel. I don't think we have anything to replace them with anyways. There is absolutely nothing wrong with our gliders though, so I'd prolly recommend that we make good use of them.

A bigger problem is the fact that german paratroopers didn't jump with their weapons strapped to them, but had most of their weapons dropped in containers. This means that we'll have problems if there's enemies around at the dropzone.

Overall the German paratroop doctrine seems to build around dropping a force of paratroopers on an airfield and then flying in reinforcements and supply with transport aircraft.

I don't think we have to worry about jumping on the British Isles, because somehow I don't see a Seelöwe having any chances of success.

[Keba]

I don't think we have to worry about jumping on the British Isles, because somehow I don't see a Seelöwe having any chances of success.

This is going to concentrate on the Mediterranean theatre ... which means that Seelöwe is not going to suceed, or be attempted.

Although I must add, the take the airport tactic worked like a charm. It is true that the paratroopers suffered heavy losses at Crete, but the Allies did not see it. What they saw is a complete breakdown of their forces and unrestrained chaos. There are accounts of British troops defending an airfield from attacks for six hours, an airfield which was already in German hands.

This is the situations that paratroopers are meant for. Had the attack on Crete been combined with a naval invasion ... allied losses would be catastrophic, and German losses light.

The transports are a problem, but there is nothing that we can do about it. Perhaps we should consider night jumps? It would scatter the troops more, but would lessen the chances of AA dropping half of our force before we know it.

[Kagemusha]

Malta would be a very tempting place,but as Liutenanant Colonel i dont think we have any say on Operational planning. If we can effect the equipment of Paras i would like to see a light mortar in each squad.Paras were always deployed without sufficient supporting weapons.Thank you Franc Im looking forward for this adventure!