Feldgrau.net

I unfortunately am not that familiar with the fighting performance of the Luftwaffe Feld divisions. I do know about their general OOB and the history surrounding these units, as well as their relatively poor reputation. However, their had to have been some Feld Divisions that did perform well, at least is some cases. I was just wondering if someone with more knowledge on this subject can provide me with information about different Feld Divisions and the battles that they might have performed more effectively in. Also any book source would be helpful too. Thank you very much.

The reputation of these divisions is purely qualitative and judgmental. There is no one nor has there ever been anyone intimately familiar with every engagement fought by all 22 of them throughout their existence. And to make a qualitative judgment, what was each of them being compared to? The Heer had numerous poorly equipped, under-strength infantry divisions that did no better. In virtually all cases, the verdicts handed down on these divisions were made by Heer officers who were prejudicial when it came to the Luftwaffe. So, you will have to research the subject and form your own opinion rather than rely on the opinions of others. As an example, the 11. Lw.-Felddiv. in Greece earned respectful comments in the Heeresgruppe E KTB und Anlagen.

L.

Quite irrespective of the performance of the LW divisions, the great flaw was that they were created in the 1st place. It would have been infinitely more effective had the soldiers who comprised these units been placed into a general pool as replacements. Then, they could have been mixed into already existing units with experienced troops to serve beside the and increase their training. In that way, these 300,000 men could have proved far more effective. The same could be said for many, if not most of the Waffen-SS.

The problem is that the Erstzheer could not train these men .

ljadw wrote:The problem is that the Erstzheer could not train these men .

You're right, and Göring would never have allowed them to transfer en masse to the Heer for proper use!

What you should do is get a copy of Antonio Munoz's book "Göring's Grenadiers" from Axis Europa books. It will tell you a lot about the performance of the Luftwaffe field divisions.

all tyhe best, Bill