Hitler's Sky Warriors

During the Second World War, the German Fallschirmjger (paratroopers) carried out many successful and daring operations, such as the capture of the Belgian fortress at Eben Emael in 1940 and the invasion of Crete in 1941. Hitler's Sky Warriors is a detailed examination of all the battles and campaigns of the Third Reich's airborne forces, illustrated throughout by many previously unpublished photographs. Hitler's Sky Warriors includes detailed accounts of all the ground campaigns of the parachute divisions, especially in Italy, where their epic defence of Monte Cassino entered military legend.

As well as being a comprehensive account of Fallschirmjger battles and campaigns, Hitler's Sky Warriors includes information on the specialist weapons and equipment developed for Germany's airborne forces. These include the paratrooper helmet, the FG 42 automatic rifle, the so-called 'gravity knife', the different jump smocks, parachutes and harnesses, transport aircraft and gliders.Hitler's Sky Warriors also contains biographical details on all the main parachute commanders, such as Kurt Student, Bernhard Herman Ramcke and Richard Heidrich, and includes appendices that contain information about divisional orders of battle and Knight's Cross winners. In this way Hitler's Sky Warriors builds into an extensive and exciting account of one of the elite formations of military history.

About the Author

Christopher Ailsby is an expert on the Third Reich, the military awards of the Third Reich and the German Armed Forces in the Second World War. The owner of an unrivalled photographic archive on all aspects of German life in the twentieth century, he is the author of several best-selling books on the period, including Combat Medals of the Third Reich, Hitler's Black Guard at War, SS: Roll of Infamy, SS: Hell on the Eastern Front and Waffen-SS: The Unpublished Photographs. He currently lives in the east of England.