Sources for info about Fsch. officers

[jmark]

Hi guys,

Can someone tell me what sources are available for obtaining info about individual Fallschirmjäger officers? I reckon I could find info about most Heer officers, as that is where my research is normally aimed, but now I need to get detailed facts about some Fallschirmjäger officers. In NARA, they have personnel files of many active Heer officers. Does the same exist for the Luftwaffe? I know about the destruction of Luftwaffe records towards the end of the war, so I'm not really holding out much hope, but I thought I'd ask the experts.

A few general questions:
• Were Fallschirmjäger officers all "aktiv", or were some "der Reserve"?
• Do detailed lists exist of officers and men who fought in Crete and the 1940 campaigns?

Thanks in advance
Jason Mark

[David Lenk]

Mark,
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To answer your question simply I do not believe there is a definitive list of FJ officers that served between 1939-1945.
<O
This is an area I have personally spent many years researching. About 10 years ago someone once said to me that about 10% of the Luftwaffe files survived the war; I think this person was right. Most of this 10% focuses on flying units rather than ground units. The Bundesarchive has more files than the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><ST1lace NARA</st1:City> but not much more. In reality you can spend 1000’s of Euro’s obtaining copies of such files, unless you’re fortunate enough to go there in person, but end up being bitterly disappointed. The Bundesarchiv will usually tell you that the records they have do not list much detail on individuals, which is realistically true.
WAST used to be a good sources of information for KIA’s and POW’s before it was closed to general enquiries around 2005/6. Besides you needed the individual’s particulars beforehand so making enquiries was difficult.
<O</O
Some of the FJ Kameradenschaft have assembled some unit histories, which include officers but these can be fragmented and not always completely reliable, since many were compiled 30-40 years after the war without the original war diaries.
<O</O
Feel free to post specific questions to my private mail box.
<O</O
Regards
David

[Ypenburg]

Hi jmark,

Fos as far as I know there is no definitive list of FJ officers that served between 1939-1945.
As towards the lists I have been able to put together for the FJR1 and 2 and Division-units of 7. FD in 1940, I had to use books of all types, editions of Der deutsche Fallschirmjäger, severall 1940-Gefechtsberichten we managed to obtain, personall letters from some former Officers to the late Dutch researcher from Dordrecht J. van der Vorm, the Archive of the Bund deutsche Fallschirmjäger (for which the Bund has to give you special permission), lists of POW-ed Germans and KIA (made during the war and afterwards) etc. I have the lists of FJR1, FJR2 on my blog (http://gliederungundstellenbesetzung.blogspot.com/)

And after over 5 years I'm still not done with it, but the list is i.m.o. almost complete.

As to Crete I know Byron Tesapsides (http://balsi.de/Griechenland/FP-Buch-Inhalt.htm) is the authority on that subject.

In BaMa Freiburg there are severall KTB with lists of officiers involved in Crete. I run into that of FJR3 last visit, but didn't copy it, since I had an overload on 1940-KTB's already. It mentioned also all KIA/WIA but everyhting was handwritten and almost not to read.

So lists, or parts of it can be found but it takes a lot of time etc. to do so.

I'll be in Freiburg again next June, and have a look around for you on this subject.

[jmark]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I wasn't expecting to find a complete list with every FJ officer named but was hoping there were some reliable sources such as RDA lists. Anyone heard of these for the FJ?

Jason