500th SS Parachute Battalion
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The 500th SS-Parachute Battalion was the airborne unit of the Waffen-SS. The idea to form a paratrooper unit within the Waffen-SS allegedly came directly from Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler.
Soldiers of the battalion are getting ready for Operation Rösselsprung
Operation Rösselsprung was a combined airborne and ground assault by the German XV Mountain Corps and collaborationist forces on the Supreme Headquarters of the Yugoslav Partisans in the Bosnian town
500th SS Parachute Battalion
…of Hungary, Operation Margarethe. The 500th was led by Hauptsturmführer Kurt Rybka during its daring but unsuccessful parachute and glider-borne assault on Tito's headquarters outside Drvar on 25 May 1944. The raid was called Operation Rösselsprung (Knight's move). Two companies were dropped directly on Tito's supposed…
Marshal Josip Broz Tito (furthest right) with his cabinet and principal staff officers in Drvar, days before the offensive.
The deployment of Partisan forces around Drvar is shown in red, with German movements shown in blue
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny apparently did not pass on crucial information about the location of Tito's cave in Drvar
Luftwaffe DFS230 glider as used for troop insertion during Operation Rösselsprung