Schwedt, Zehden, Eberswalde, Seelow, Berlin

In this book we will narrate the participation of the parachute troops in the defensive line of the Oder. We will talk in this text about two paratroop units that, quite possibly because they fought the Soviets in the last year of the WWII, have generally been much less known than their comrades-in-arms on the Italian or Western front. Battles intended only to slow down as much as possible the arrival of the Red Army in Berlin, in which the German troops were practically overwhelmed by their enemies. German parachute troops had an important role during World War II. At the beginning of the armed conflict, these troops were considered elite due to their special preparation and training, showing their high combat value even in very adverse situations in all German theaters of war; thus, they were forging their "legend". But in the last years of the war the parachute troops received no training in jumping from planes and their preparation was not substantially different from that of other German troops. Despite this, the two units that we will talk about in the text, stood out especially during the last months of the war. The 9. Fallschirmjäger Division together with the SS-Fallschirmbataillone 600, were the two units that fought in the impossible defense of the Oder line against the numerically much superior Soviet troops. We will also report the formation and subsequent absorption by the 9. Fallschirmjäger-Division of the Fallschirm-Panzer-Jagd-Bataillon 54, a small unit specially prepared for combat against enemy armor and which had a small participation in the Schwedt bridgehead. We will remember the combats of these parachute troops in the Schwedt or Zehden bridgeheads, both on the Oder River, or the German suicide defense in the Seelow Heights. Finally, and although it does not correspond directly to the defense of the Oder line, we will report the intervention of the troops of the 9 Fallschirmjäger Division both in Breslau and in the defense of Berlin after the unit's withdrawal from Seelow. This parachute division, despite its limited combat capacity, fully participated in the defensive combats between the Oder and Berlin, in many cases demonstrating the bravery of its members despite the great inferiority in all aspects compared to the Soviet troops, although it also suffering greatly in the defense of the Seelow Hills which caused them to flee in complete disorder from the enemy. AUTHOR: Eduardo Manuel Gil Martínez has been interested in history for many years, particularly the Second World War. Determined to write about the little known stories, he is the author of several books including 'Breslau 1945: El último bastión del Reich', 'Fuerzas acorazadas húngaras 1939-45', 'The Spanish in the SS and Wehrmacht.1944-45', 'The Bulgarian Air Force in World War II', 'Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-45' and 'Romanian Armored Forces in World War II'. 50 b/w & colour photos, maps