hist2004
06-26-2004, 08:01 PM
I want prisoners
This was the only German airborne operation of the war to be conducted without General Kurt Student’s knowledge, as all the orders for the operation came directly from OKW to General Alexander Lohr, commander of Luftflotte IV and controller of air operations in the Balkans.
Hitler decided on the operation on the 20th April 1941, his 52nd birthday. It was codenamed "Hannibal" and it was hoped that by capturing the bridge at Corinth the Germans would cut off retreating British troops who were heading south to the Peloponese to be evacuated from the Greek mainland.
It was decided to use General Wilhelm Sussmann’s Fallschirmjäger Detachment which included the 2nd Regiment, which was still stationed in Plovdiv, Bularia after being stood down from the shelved plan to capture the island of Lemnos.
The Corinth Canal itself is a waterway that runs through a dramatic gorge, which divides the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland. There was only one road bridge crossing this formidable natural obstacle. It could not be crossed by any other means because of the sheer sides of the cliffs.
In the early hours of the 26th April, gliders and JU-52 transport aircraft left airfields in Greece for the short journey to Corinth.
At daybreak, several DFS-230 light assault gliders landed on the approaches to the bridge carrying 54 Fallschirm-Pioneer's under the command of Leutnant Häffner. They were also accompanied by a war correspondent named Von der Heide, who had come along to record the event.
The defence of the bridge was in the hands of an Australian Infantry Company, along with some Greek Troops and three tanks. Within 10 minutes the engineers had overcome the defenders and had managed to remove most of the demolition charges, leaving them stacked up near the centre of the bridge.
About the same time the allied troops attempted a counter-attack. Small arms fire was heard from the other side of the bridge and some of the Assault Engineers along with the War Correspondent rushed across to meet the attack, moments later the charges on the bridge were detonated destroying the bridge and killing the Paratroopers and the war correspondent who were on it. The remains of the bridge fell 200ft down into the gorge below.
The reason for the detonation remains unclear. A stray bofors round from a survivng AA gun may have been responsible, some witnesses say they saw 2 British Ofiicers run on to the bridge firing their weapons seconds before the explosion. Other sources say that British snipers hit the charges that had been carelessly stacked in one place on the bridge. Maybe the cause will be never known. Although the bridge was destroyed, makeshift repairs by the Paras had it usable later the same day.
Shortly after the explosion men of the 1st & 2nd Battalions, 2nd Regiment, jumped from their JU-52 transports into the Corinth area. The 1st Battalion (Hauptmann Kroh) jumped to the north of the bridge, the 2nd Battalion(Major Pietzonka WIA, replaced by Hauptmann Schirmer) to the south. Within a few minutes the men of the 5th Kompanie, 2nd Battalion had captured 11 AA positions around the bridge area. The other Kompanies secured the areas on each side of the airhead, including the town of Corinth along with its garrison.
During the short operation the Fallschirmjäger of the 2nd Regiment managed to capture almost 12000 British, Commonwealth and Greek troops who were heading into the Peloponese.
On the afternoon of the 27th, the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment jumped in to secure the area surrounding Corinth and mop up any resistance still left.
The Germans lost 63 killed, 16 missing and 174 wounded in the operation, another success with minimal losses. This was not to be the case during their next operation in Crete a month later.
Regards,
Hist2004
This was the only German airborne operation of the war to be conducted without General Kurt Student’s knowledge, as all the orders for the operation came directly from OKW to General Alexander Lohr, commander of Luftflotte IV and controller of air operations in the Balkans.
Hitler decided on the operation on the 20th April 1941, his 52nd birthday. It was codenamed "Hannibal" and it was hoped that by capturing the bridge at Corinth the Germans would cut off retreating British troops who were heading south to the Peloponese to be evacuated from the Greek mainland.
It was decided to use General Wilhelm Sussmann’s Fallschirmjäger Detachment which included the 2nd Regiment, which was still stationed in Plovdiv, Bularia after being stood down from the shelved plan to capture the island of Lemnos.
The Corinth Canal itself is a waterway that runs through a dramatic gorge, which divides the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland. There was only one road bridge crossing this formidable natural obstacle. It could not be crossed by any other means because of the sheer sides of the cliffs.
In the early hours of the 26th April, gliders and JU-52 transport aircraft left airfields in Greece for the short journey to Corinth.
At daybreak, several DFS-230 light assault gliders landed on the approaches to the bridge carrying 54 Fallschirm-Pioneer's under the command of Leutnant Häffner. They were also accompanied by a war correspondent named Von der Heide, who had come along to record the event.
The defence of the bridge was in the hands of an Australian Infantry Company, along with some Greek Troops and three tanks. Within 10 minutes the engineers had overcome the defenders and had managed to remove most of the demolition charges, leaving them stacked up near the centre of the bridge.
About the same time the allied troops attempted a counter-attack. Small arms fire was heard from the other side of the bridge and some of the Assault Engineers along with the War Correspondent rushed across to meet the attack, moments later the charges on the bridge were detonated destroying the bridge and killing the Paratroopers and the war correspondent who were on it. The remains of the bridge fell 200ft down into the gorge below.
The reason for the detonation remains unclear. A stray bofors round from a survivng AA gun may have been responsible, some witnesses say they saw 2 British Ofiicers run on to the bridge firing their weapons seconds before the explosion. Other sources say that British snipers hit the charges that had been carelessly stacked in one place on the bridge. Maybe the cause will be never known. Although the bridge was destroyed, makeshift repairs by the Paras had it usable later the same day.
Shortly after the explosion men of the 1st & 2nd Battalions, 2nd Regiment, jumped from their JU-52 transports into the Corinth area. The 1st Battalion (Hauptmann Kroh) jumped to the north of the bridge, the 2nd Battalion(Major Pietzonka WIA, replaced by Hauptmann Schirmer) to the south. Within a few minutes the men of the 5th Kompanie, 2nd Battalion had captured 11 AA positions around the bridge area. The other Kompanies secured the areas on each side of the airhead, including the town of Corinth along with its garrison.
During the short operation the Fallschirmjäger of the 2nd Regiment managed to capture almost 12000 British, Commonwealth and Greek troops who were heading into the Peloponese.
On the afternoon of the 27th, the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment jumped in to secure the area surrounding Corinth and mop up any resistance still left.
The Germans lost 63 killed, 16 missing and 174 wounded in the operation, another success with minimal losses. This was not to be the case during their next operation in Crete a month later.
Regards,
Hist2004