The
divisions were originally authorized in October 1942, following suggestions that the
German Army (
Heer) could be bolstered by transferring personnel from other services. The head of the
Luftwaffe,
Hermann Göring, formulated an alternative plan to raise his own
infantry formations under the command of
Luftwaffe officers; this was at least partly due to political differences with the Army. Göring took great pride in the degree of political commitment and indoctrination of
Luftwaffe personnel; he described
paratroopers of the Luftwaffe as "political soldiers". The Army was considered by
Nazi standards too "conservative" – linked to
conservative or
monarchical traditions and ideals harking back to the
Imperial days of the
Kaiser. , commander of
2nd Field Corps in Italy 1943 The plan was approved, and the divisions were raised from 200,000–250,000
Luftwaffe ground, support, and other excess personnel. They were initially organized with two
Jäger (
light infantry) regiments of three
battalions each, along with an
artillery battalion and other support units, but were substantially smaller than equivalent Army divisions, and by Göring's personal order were intended to be restricted to defensive duties in quieter sectors. Most of the units spent much of their existence on the
Eastern Front.
Luftwaffe Field Divisions were present at actions such as the "Little Stalingrad of the North",
the attempt to relieve Velikiye Luki in November 1942–January 1943;
Battle of Nevel, they were at the
Oranienbaum Bridgehead at
Leningrad, & the withdrawal to the
Kuban Bridgehead. They were part of
Erich von Manstein's Army Group Don as it attempted to defend against
Operation Little Saturn & the attempted defence of
Vitebsk during
Operation Bagration in June 1944, and the fighting in the
Courland Pocket from July 1944 to May 1945, though they also fought in other
theatres. The
Luftwaffe Field Divisions initially remained under
Luftwaffe command, but late in 1943 those that had not already been disbanded were handed over to the Army and were reorganized as standard infantry divisions with three two-battalion rifle regiments. They retained their numbering, but with
Luftwaffe attached to distinguish them from similarly numbered divisions already existing in the Army and had Army officers. Until taken over by the Army, and in many cases for some time afterwards, these units were issued with standard
Luftwaffe feldblau ("field blue") uniforms, and being so easily identifiable were said to often be singled out by opposing forces. Their reputation as combat troops was poor, despite the high standard of
Luftwaffe recruits, at least in part because they were required to perform roles for which they as
airmen usually had little training. An exception to the poor combat performance of
Luftwaffe ground troops were
Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) units, whose performance was generally good, due to higher motivation, better training and higher entrance standards when compared to the
Luftwaffe Field Divisions. Early
Fallschirmjäger troops were also transferred directly from the Army to the
Luftwaffe.
Luftwaffe Field Division airmen were frequently used for rear-echelon duties to free up front-line troops. ==List of
Luftwaffe Field Divisions==