Fallschirmjäger were the elite German paratrooper divisions from the Luftwaffe (aerial military branch), first formed in 1938, and known for pioneering large-scale airborne operations in WWII. They fought in famous battles across Europe—like Crete, Normandy, and Italy—and were highly trained, well-armed, and used as elite infantry, especially after airborne drops stopped in 1944 due to Germany’s worsening situation.
The Fallschirmjäger were Germany’s elite paratroopers of their Wehrmacht army, created in the mid-1930s as the first military force to use large-scale airborne assault tactics. Trained under the Luftwaffe, they pioneered parachute infantry operations during WWII, capturing airfields and attacking targets behind enemy lines, most famously at Ében-Émael, Normandy, Crete, and Italy.
Their early airborne successes inspired similar Allied forces later on, but after Crete, Hitler largely grounded them—they fought as elite infantry for the rest of the war, earning a fearsome reputation as the “Green Devils”.
