Operation Fall Weiss

Although the fledgling German paratroop operations in Belgium and the Netherlands in 1940, and on Crete in 1941, attracted worldwide attention, less well-known is that the use of paratroopers had been planned for the invasion of Poland in 1939, in an act that began the Second World War. This has given rise to the myth that Adolf Hitler wanted to keep this new, and hitherto little-known, branch of the armed services secret for future projects. However, on several occasions the men of Parachute Regiment 1 were sat ready in their Ju52 transport planes, fully equipped and ready to go. Many of these young and in-experienced paratroopers would go on to experience the full horrors of warfare and for some of them, the Polish Campaign would end in a ‘hero’s death’.

Operation Fall Weiss describes the role of the German paratroopers in the Polish campaign, using war diaries, maps, contemporary documents and photographs, including those from various private collections around the world.

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Some books that may interest you

Daring Raids of World War Two: Heroic Land, Sea and Air Attacks By: Peter Jacobs	The Steel of the DLI (2nd Bn 1914/18) By: John Sheen	Watford at War 1939-45 By: Dr Eugenia Russell, Dr Quentin Russell
Arctic Convoy PQ8 By: Michael Wadsworth	The Madness of Alexander the Great By: Richard A Gabriel	Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696-1860 By: Eduard Sozaev, John Tredrea
Destroyer Down By: Arthur Evans	Allied Special Forces Insignia By: Peter Taylor	Glossop in the Great War By: Glynis Cooper