"Difference between Luftwaffe and standard paratroopers...." Topic

The uniform seems the same. Are there any major differences?

WWII?FJ are Luftwaffe,apart from a few SS all FJ are Luftwaffe..What do you mean by "standard paratroopers"
FJ were originally army but Goring had a bit of tizzy and said that as they jumped out of an aeroplane they were a Luftwaffe thing..same sort of trouble with who controlled the aircaft on the never finished aircraft carrier.

That's right: Fallschirmjaeger=Luftwaffe.

There were the Brandenberger commandos under the direct control of OKW too.Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon Brandenburg for one. Robert

But as I recall there were a number of Luftwaffe divisions that were not falschirmjagers. These were sort of second rate infantry divisions and not elite paratroopers.

Exactly. Especially on the Eastern Front. And even later in the war some of the Fallschirmjäger weren't even jump qualified and were strictly ground troops. They were Fallschirmjäger in name only. Robert

FINO?

Also the FJ's wore their jump smocks and were issued special weapons; the Fg42 and later the Sfg44. The Luftwaffe divisions were second rate at best, wore Luftwaffe Blue Grey uniforms. Later they used long camo smocks in splinter and marsh over their uniforms, much like the regular army. The Russians deliberately identified these units in the line as a soft target.

It is hard to imagine Brandenburgers as "standard"

Hermann (Meyer) Goering Division wore Heer-like uniforms link and were rated above-average.

by the end most were not jump trained. FD(L) were in lufwaffe uniforms with a much fuller , and rather stylish smock..they were pretty poor..being formed by Goring as he was unwilling to transfer excess Luftwaffed personnel to the army..it was all very "political" In 1944 the army gained control of these divisions , after all the flak had been stripped out of them.
Two divisions in Normandy, 16th and 17th. 16th badly bombed at Caen. 17th sort of dissolved when Rommel insisted they attack. The commander claimed they were "static", there was bad blood between Rommel and he dating back to North Africa.. .
his division fell to bits under the strain.
FD(L) wear field blue uniforms, including fliegerbluse and standard very dark green helmets..FJ don't wear field blue trousers and don't have dark blue helmets.
Their helmets are the same dark green as everybody else and they wear field grey trousers.They do wear a field blue fliegerbluse under their smocks..Both wear dark brown straps, later supplemented by both tropical and Heer black

what is
FINO?

The Herman Gorings were the only non SS unit to be issued with SS smocks

and here is one of them

and some more HG

and FD(L) in France

what is
FINO?

Fallschirmjäger In Name Only.

Damon.

what is
FINO?

I suspect it's "Fallscirmjaegers In Name Only."
It's an American joke…

Or not…

I believe that the Brandenburgers who jumped in the Operation Rösselsprung mission, to snap up Tito, wore Fallschirmjäger smocks IIRC. Robert

And then there was the Fallschirmpanzer division.

Perhaps it should be left unmentioned.

FJ could also be issued standard 'coal-scuttle' helmets late in the war (e.g. many photographed wearing them during Market-Garden, alongside men wearing the usual FJ helmet), making the differences even less distinct.

Branch colours were also different – FJ had yellow, while the Jaeger-Regiments (L) had green and the Herman Goering division(s) white.

and you see a lot of the older olive smocks later on , no doubt issued from store..the Luftwaffe tended to have a lot of kit in store. again because of Goring
surely FJINO

"Branch colours were also different – FJ had yellow, while the Jaeger-Regiments (L) had green and the Herman Goering division(s) white."

Although when the Luftwaffe Field Divs were absorbed into the Heer in 1944, they started to get normal Army kit (and waffenfarbe). So you get some bizarre uniform/equipment/insignia combos.

Not all FJ wore jump boots either, it was actually quite common for them to have normal marching boots unless they were actually jumping out of aircraft, plus standard Stahlhelms, later in the war, as Mark says.

That's true, though each Luftwaffe-Feld-Regiment became a Jaeger-Regiment (L), so kept the green branch colour. I seem to remember that Luftwaffe artillery was also red, so that would have stayed the same as well. Theoretically they should have switched to Heer-style collar litzen bars but most (possibly all?) seem to have kept the Luftwaffe collar-patches.

many officers and NCOs were Heer but the bulk of the troops were "transfered" Luftwaffe personnel, keeping their field blue uniform.The fliegerbluse wasn't really cut for collar litzen of the Heer type.

H Goering's famous quote sums it up…..
"Alles was fliegt,gehoert mir!"

Yes he was a man who understood how far one can absolutely push the limits of power and control..

fliegerbluse
link

This is a re-enactor site but has lots of pics of LFD, including them wearing normal Heer tunics with normal Heer insignia (as well as LW chest eagles etc).

feldblau.com

this lot are a real hodgepodge:

check out the Fliegerbluse with a Heer chest eagle!

General der Fallschirmjäger Meindl wearing the Fliegerbluse.

Re Martins photo: Doesn't the tunic 4th from left also have the Heer eagle.- perhaps transfers in from the Heer, or whatever the tailor had left over?

Robert & Etranger,

The 1st and 2nd men in that photo are actually wearing Heer tunics rather than Fliegerbluses – note that the tunic is slightly longer and has breast-pockets. You can also see buttons on the 1st man. Note also that their NCO collar-tresse goes all the way around the collar, whereas those wearing Luftwaffe uniform only have tresse on the front-corners of the collar. The man visible in the 2nd rank also has collar-litzen rather than Luftwaffe collar patches, so he's probably wearing a Heer tunic as well.

I agree entirely though, that it's indicative of the mixture of uniform that might be found in a unit.

Another interesting feature of that photo is that they have spray-camouflaged helmets, which were quite common in 1944, but you never seem to see them in wargames armies.

Sorry, that should have been addressed to Martin and Etranger.

"Another interesting feature of that photo is that they have spray-camouflaged helmets, which were quite common in 1944, but you never seem to see them in wargames armies."

Yes, the good old 'Normandy' spray helmet camo. Some of my chaps have it. Very, very occasionally gas mask tins were done in a similar manner.

It is worth a look at some of the other pics on the 18th LFD site, they have some of 16th LFD where they are all basically just wearing Heer stuff. There is some debate in re-enactor circles whether the M43 tunic was ever issued in feldblau. The general consensus is probably not, although it is available as a repro.