The Fallschirmjäger were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commander of the branch was Kurt Student, as he was the 2nd most senior officer in the luftwaffe.
German paratrooper wearing paratrooper version Stahlhelm, carrying an MG 42 machine gun in the Soviet Union (1942)
A paratroop crew firing a mortar.
Burning German Junkers Ju 52s at Ypenburg, Netherlands in 1940.
Fallschirmjäger landing on Crete in 1941.
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of airborne forces. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation. Paratroopers are often used in surprise attacks, to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges.
Paratroopers of the armies of Britain, Italy, and the United States during an exercise in Pordenone, Italy, 2019.
U.S. Army paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division parachute from a C-130 Hercules aircraft during Operation Toy Drop 2007 at Pope Air Force Base.
Alessandro Tandura
Military exhibition
