In October 1938, the decision was made to raise the 7th Flieger (Air) Division. This was to be an élite paratroop formation intended for vertical envelopment operations against enemy defenses. The commander chosen to lead the 7th Flieger Division was Major-General Kurt Student.
Organizationally, a Fallschirmjäger Division was intended to be organized along the lines of a German infantry division, with three parachute rifle regiments, an artillery regiment, and divisional support units. However the Division was not brought up to full strength before 1941. Nevertheless, elements of the division played significant roles during the Wehrmacht operations in 1940. At the start of World War II, the Division consisted of the 1st and 2nd Parachute Regiments.
Allied Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky)
Most of the division was moved to Catania airfield starting 12 July 1943 to participate in the defense of the island. Leading elements of the division saw action at Primosole Bridge, where the 3rd Parachute Regiment deployed by parachute just hours before an attempted British coup de main. The remainder of the division deployed to the island shortly afterwards and was used in fire-brigade fashion from then on, stiffening defenses on the island wherever they started to waver. As the decision was made to withdraw, the 1st Parachute Division was employed as the rearguard defenses as the evacuation proceeded. They were the last German unit to leave the island on 17 August.
For the remainder of the war, the division fought in the Italian Campaign. They were employed piecemeal to ward against the possibility of sea-landings from Salerno to Taranto, and fought another withdrawing action up the Adriatic coast of Italy against the advancing Allies. From 14-19 December 1943, the 1st Parachute Division, under General-Lieutenant Richard Heidrich, saw action against the Canadian 1st Infantry Division around the gully Torrente Saraceni, later known as "Dead Man's Gulch", to the south of Ortona (Battle of Ortona). Field Marshal Alexander regarded them as "the best German troops in Italy". Later the division was concentrated in the defense of the Gustav Line south of Rome, defending against the advance of the British Eighth Army under Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese.
In January 1944, the US IV Corps made an amphibious landing at Anzio, about 50 kilometers south of Rome. Unfortunately for the Allies, the landing quickly bogged down and failed to advance. To support the landing, the Allied armies in the south needed to break through the German defenses of the Gustav Line.
In February 1944, the 1st Parachute Division was pulled out of the line and shifted to the defense of Monte Cassino. This dominant position laid astride the road to Rome, and must be taken by the Allies if they were to advance. The division put up a ferocious defense of the site. On 15 February, the carpet bombing and artillery shelling of the Monte Cassino Abbey resulted in its destruction on the false presumption that it was used by the Germans as an observation post. As it would turn out, the only occupants of the Abbey were monks and refugees escaping the fighting. The battle was finally broken off on 22 March.
"No other troops in the world but German paratroops could have stood up to such an ordeal and then gone on fighting with such ferocity" — Field Marshal Alexander.
During the fight the division took many losses, including the 3rd battalion of 1st Regiment. However the Allies would not resume their attack until 11 May as part of Operation Diadem, and the Division had time to recover its losses.
When the attack resumed with the fourth battle of Cassino, the German defenses held out until 17 May before the line became flanked along the coast by superior Moroccan mountain commandos. This made the fighting for Cassino irrelevant, so the 1st Parachute Division joined a general German withdrawal to the north of Rome. On 18 May, the 12th Podolski Lancers, a Polish Unit from 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division, took the monastery, which it found deserted, save for some remaining wounded soldiers. The paratroops performed delaying actions against the Allies until they reached defensive positions in the Apennine Mountains to the south of Bologna. They now formed part of the German I Parachute Corps, along with the German 4th Parachute Division. The Italian front remained static throughout the winter months, with only sporadic patrols and raiding actions.
By January 1945, the German I Parachute Corps was deployed to the Adriatic coast behind the Senio Rivier. The Allied advance resumed on 8 April, and the 1st Parachute Division was forced into a steady withdrawal toward the Po River by the British Eighth Army. By 25 April, the division had completed the river crossing. They immediately set off on a final march toward the Alpine Mountains.
Finally the German surrender in Italy came on 2 May 1945, and included the men of the 1st Parachute Division. The unconditional surrender of Germany followed a week later.
