Parachute Regiment 3 takes its routes and traditions from Assault Battalion No. 7 commencing in 1916 and FJR3 was established as a unit in August of 1940. Elements of Assault Batallion No. 7 had been deactivated in 1919 but remnants of this unit and parts of Assault Batallion No. 5 were built up into two infantry companies that were given the task of guard detachment of the German High Command (Wachkommando OHL).

Early War Organization chart for a Fallschirmjäger Regiment

"Operation Mercury" The Attack on Crete
May 19, 1941 I./FJR3 was finally informed of the attack plans... readied and moved into dispositional locations assigned for the operation from Topolia, Greece the attack was 'on'... their mission Chania, the capital of Crete. Certain elements of the division were air dropped and others were to attempt delivery by small ships (troops with small arms) and equipment (vehicles & heavy equipment via freighter). A major portion of the I./FJR 3 vehicular transport, medium support with flak weapons and support equipment did not arrive in time for operations in late May, 1941, (that were being shipped to Crete from the Port of Athens, Greece) part were diverted to Tripoli and others (some companies of troops in the regiment were being sent on small ships from Piraeus, Greece) were forced to flee to Milos. Some small ship troop elements of I./FJR and freighters had been attacked on the night of May 19/20 by the British Med. Fleet with the survivors of this attack to their small ships forced to watch the Ju-52's carrying their 'brother' Fallschirmjägers fly overhead to the Airborne attack on Crete.

Ist Batallion of the I./FJR (Fallschirmjäger)3 as "Lehrbataillon" and Task Force "v.d. Heydte"

 Following the costly success of Operation Mercury, the airborne assault on Crete in 1941, several elite Fallschirmjäger units were formed into an ad-hoc brigade under the command of veteran commander Oberst Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke. The brigade was slated to take part in Operation Hercules, the planned invasion of Malta. Then the attack was cancelled, the Brigade, now named Fallschirmjäger-Brigade Afrika, was sent to join Rommel's Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa.

Ist battalion of I./FJR3 or "Lehrbataillon" called "Task Force v.d.Heydte" was assigned to the Airborne Brigade Ramcke which was composed of four parachute batallions. Burckhardt, Kroh, v.d. Heydte, and Hubner commanding these batallions with additional artillery, engineers, anti-tank, signals, and medical units support. Their objective was Tobruk, with the Brigade's troops being airlifted via Crete and their trucks were transported by ship.

Brigadestab

I./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 2 - Major Kroh

I./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 - Major von der Heydte

II./Fallschirmjäger-Battalion 5 - Major Hubner

Fallschirmjäger-Lehr-Battalion/ XI.Flieger-Korps - Major Burckhardt

II./Fallschirm-Artillerie-Regiment

Tietjen-Pionier-Kompanie.

Panzerjäger-Kompanie (12x 3.7cm PaK 35/36)

In April 1942, the brigade was renamed Fallschirmjäger-Brigade Ramcke. After arriving in North Africa in July 1942, the brigade performed excellently, providing a counter to Stirling's Special Air Service, which had been wreaking havoc with the Axis command, control and logistical system. Ramcke's unit next formed a part of the spearhead during the DAK's assault towards the Suez Canal, fighting alongside the Italian 25th Bologne Division before British opposition solidified near the town of El Alamein.

The brigade was then heavily engaged in the Second Battle of El Alamein. During the German withdrawal, the brigade was cut off behind enemy lines and written off as lost by Rommel. Despite this, on 3 November 1942, the brigade began marching west to rejoin the retreating Axis forces. On the night of 6/7 November, the brigade came upon a British 8th Army supply convoy, consisting of a large number of British transport vehicles. Without firing a shot, the brigade hijacked the column. Now fully motorized, the brigade continued moving west. The transport unit which they had hijacked happened to be the entire supply convoy for an allied Armoured division, and besides the trucks themselves, Ramcke's men had captured quantities of fuel, water, food and cigarettes. By the time the brigade reached friendly forces, it had traveled over 200 miles. Following this feat, the brigade was sent back to Tunisia for rest.

The brigade was now renamed Luftwaffenwaffen-Jäger-Brigade 1, and after a brief period of rest was thrown back into the lines against the advancing allied forces in Tunisia. Ramcke was transferred back to Europe, and command passed to Major Hans Kroh, one of the battalion commanders. The brigade was involved in heavy fighting against the British in the mountainous terrain of southern Tunisia. The brigade kept fighting until the capitulation of Panzer-Armee Afrika in May 1943, when the survivors surrendered to the Western Allies.

Ramcke Brigade veteran Frederich-August von der Heydte went on to command Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6 near Carentan in the 1944 Normandy campaign. Ramcke himself was placed in command of the defense of Brest, which he held until 20 September 1944, and was responsible for the evacuation of over 40,000 civilians.

Note: This gives us additional vehicles from the FJR3 Regiment thus appearing new and also with "Kleeblatt's" being diverted to North Africa and other areas around the Med!
Folder (BA 444/16272/series is 1-30 this photo #25)
This "Kubel" was photographed near Fuka in July 1941

The "Kampfgruppe v.d. Heydte" and brigade's assigned assembly point was El Dab'a, 40 km west of El Alamein. The critical need for these troops meant their shipment to the assembly point for the majority without their 'own transport... 'hitching' a ride on any available transport (mostly Italian trucks) with little of their own transport on hand.
By August 12, the brigade were ready to support the Italian "Bologna" Division to their right and these forces successfully held their positions until told to evacuate their positions with the fear of being encircled on November 2, 1942. Some of their equipment (a few Kubelwagens, Kettenfraftrad and trucks arrived or were "appropriated") finally trickled through to them. During the course of the next few months with delaying actions and the initial capture of several British trucks and vehicles to supplement their limited delivered equipment they had additional successes on the field.

More and more of this Brigade's valuable elite airborne troops/airborne specialists were retrieved from the battlefield back to Italy. A few were forced to remain and with dogged determination fought in small task forces all the way back to Tunisia.

Sidecar has Ramcke Brigade Emblem with vdH "Kampfgruppe v.d.Heydte" notation at bottom edge on this combo-motorcycle...

Second Company of  v.d. Heydte's men had an arm patch with...

Desert Mushroom called Al-faga (Tirmania pinoyi) http://www.alshindagah.com/marapr2005/dessert.html

Third Company had the Desert Spider stretched

Only a handful of the survivors from the Ramcke Brigade, not captured, found their escape back to Sicily and Italy on small craft and vessels.

Survivors back with their comrades in Sicily! Credit this photo directly from Klaus Peter's 2nd book on this unit.
Notice: 2nd Company Notice: 2 on "Kleeblatt" from Sicily on 16/8/43

Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte

Oberstleutnant von der Heydte, 1943

Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte was a German Luftwaffe officer who served with the Fallschirmjäger during World War II, reaching the rank of oberstleutnant. After the war, he served in the Bundeswehr, reaching the rank of brigadegeneral der reserve.

Early life

Friedrich August von der Heydte was born into the nobility in Munich, Bavaria on 30 March 1907. von der Heydte's father, a Freiherr (roughly equivalent to a baron) had enjoyed a successful career with the Bavarian Army, serving with distinction during the First World War. The von der Heydtes were stout Roman Catholics, and Friedrich attended a Munich Catholic school, achieving excellent grades.

After completion of his schooling, Friedrich followed his father's path and joined the Reichswehr. After an unsuccessful application to join the cavalry, Friedrich was posted to Infanterie-Regiment Nr.19 on 1 April 1925. He did not give up on his goal of joining the cavalry, and soon secured a posting as an officer cadet in Kavallerie-Regiment Nr.18.

Soon after this, Friedrich was released from military service to attended Innsbruck University, studying Law. During this time, he became a private tutor to pay his university fees, as despite their noble status, his family was in dire financial troubles. In 1927, von der Heydte was awarded his degree in law, and traveled to Berlin to continue his studies. Late in the year, he secured a posting to a diplomatic school in Vienna. During his time at university, the young von der Heydte developed decidedly liberal views, and on his return to Germany, found himself at odds with popular opinion.

By 1934, von der Heydte had become involved in several brawls with pro-Nazi students, and only evaded the Gestapo by rejoining his old cavalry regiment. In 1935 he was transferred to Kavallerie-Regiment Nr.15 and promoted to leutnant. He again secured his temporary release from the military for study, and traveled to the Netherlands where he furthered his education at The Hague.

Late in 1935, his company of the regiment was transformed from a cavalry to an anti-tank company. After studying for over two years in The Hague, von der Heydte returned to the military, where he attended a General Staff Officer's course over the winter of 1938-39. In August 1939, he was recalled to his company in preparation for the planned Invasion of Poland, Fall Weiß.

War career

He commanded a paratroop battalion in Crete in 1941. His battalion was the first to enter Canea, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. After fighting in Russia, North Africa and Normandy, he was taken prisoner in 1944 during the Ardennes counter-offensive, the Battle of the Bulge.

Books

Daedalus Returned (Hutchinson, 1958) - An account of the Battle of Crete.

v.d. Heydte in Crete, "Daedalus Returned", The re-worked "New" edition that I was involved with production.

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