FJ Veteran answers questions

[berliner]

Hello everyone, tonight Heinz will be leaving for Paris and then off to Dieppe for a few days, before returning to Australia.
I will raise up some of the questions with him this evening, and see what he can say.

I would also like to thank everyone for their questions and comments. Heinz really, truly enjoyed these. He also greatly appreciated the private messages that were sent.

My apologies to those whose questions have not yet been answered (esp. re Panzerjäger) and for not taking up the invitation from a kind hearted individual in Friedrichshain (you know who you are).

I would also like to encourage anyone who so wishes to contact Heinz directly in Australia with any comments or questions. He'll be there again in two weeks or so. Just contact me for his contact info.

Thank you very much.
MK

[Lutfen]

Just stumbled across this fascinating thread. Did Heinz Groenke's biography ever get written? I didn't find any reference to it on-line.

Cheers,
Michael

[Nick U]

What a fascinating topic! And so many good questions. Like we say in Holland:" All the grass has been mowed before my feeth"
( Which means everyone has asked most of the questions already in this case)

I must say this is a fantastic way to talk to a Veteran. I hope many more members who are in contact with Veterans will pick up this idea as well.

For now:

I made 5 jumps myself with a sports parachute which is ofcourse something different entirely. I really wanted to know what it was like to jump out of an aircraft volunteerly and now I know.

1. : I would like to know if Heinz was scared with his first jump and if he remembers any physical or mental reactions to his jump.

For example, I remember that in my first jump I was really nervous , my hands were sweaty and when I made the jump I was breathing so fast , my mouth was completely dry when I touched down. I forgot to do my drill only till I almost touched the ground ( a little late I know).

2: That brings me to the second question: Did Fallschirmjägers had a drill from the moment they left the airplane till they touched the ground?

For exampele: We had to check our screen, lines, harness etc etc.

3: Did any accidents occur in training jumps or combat jumps? How safe where the German parachutes?


4: And for now my last question:
Did you serve with veterans from the Holland campaign? ( May 1940) , If yes, are some still alive? Maybe willing to answer some questions as well? For a long time I've been willing to find someone who served in Fallschirmjäger regiment 1 in Holland in may 1940..

Thank you Heinz for answering these questions, not many Veterans are willing to go back to their dreadfull experiences and share them with people they don't know.

Thank you Berliner for making this possible.

Kind regards, Nick

[Lutfen]

Sorry Nick, but the original thread took place in 2005. That's why I was hoping that all of Heinz's memories had been captured in a biography. He had such clear recollections of his experiences and was willing to share them.

Regards,
Michael

[Nick U]

Ah that is to bad... Never saw it. I guess enthousiasm took control of me. Thanks for letting me know though.