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Generaloberst Kurt Student
Born - 12th May 1890, Birkhonz, Germany
Died - 1st July 1978, Lemgo, Germany
Kurt Arthur Benno Student was born in Birkhonz, Germany on May 12th 1890, the 3rd of 4 sons. At a young age he wanted to be a doctor but his family could not afford the school fees. At the age of 11 he was enrolled into a Military school where he would spend the next nine years until 1910 when he joined a Prussian Infantry Battalion at the age of 20. Later that year he was promoted to Leutnant.
At the outbreak of the 1st World War, Student volunteered for air service and joined a fighter squadron as a pilot, becoming a successful flyer. In 1917 he was seriously wounded and by the time he recovered the war was over, he returned to Germany disgruntled like so many others. Post war he became busily involved with the planning of the new Luftwaffe which was disguised within many of the countries Glider Clubs. He then spent the next 5 years with an Infantry unit to gain promotion. After this tour of duty he was appointed Director of Technical Training Schools under the ministry of Aviation headed by Hermann Goering. In 1935 the Luftwaffe was brought out of the dark and Student was given the job of Commander of the Test Centre for Flying Equipment and was promoted to Oberst.
Early in 1938 he was given command of the newly raised 7th Flieger Division. After witnessing Soviet Airborne exercises he went to work on laying the foundations of the German Fallschirmtruppe.
It was Student who started to look into the use of Gliders in combat, leading to the design and production of the DFS-230 Light Assault Glider.
On September 1st 1939 when German forces attacked Poland, Student’s 7th Airborne, now amalgamated with the 22nd Airlanding Division was only partially formed. Still, it was not given its proper use in the Polish campaign.
Hitler then turned his attention westward and Student went to work planning the assaults that would take place in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Holland.
He personally commanded the 7th Flieger when they dropped into Holland, landing with his staff on the 10th May. On the 14th whilst negotiating a peace with Dutch forces in Rotterdam he was accidentally shot in the head by a member of the 1st SS Panzer Division whose unit had stumbled across the building being used for the negotiations.
He would be out of action for several months and did not return to active service until January 1941, he returned promoted to General der Flieger, aswell as having been awarded the Knights Cross.
Whilst in convalescence in the summer of 1940, Student drew up an outline plan for the Airborne invasion of England, these were rejected by many and by mid September Sealion had been called off.
The Mediterranean would next be the subject of Student’s planning. He was ordered to look into the feasibility of air assaults on Gibraltar, Cyprus, Malta and Crete. After long consultation with the Führer, Student managed to persuade Hitler that Crete was a necessary objective and it could be carried out by his 7th Flieger Division. Before the plans for the invasion of Crete were finalised there would be another air assault, one without the knowledge of Student. This would be the airdrop on the Corinth Canal in southern Greece.
Student’s plans for the invasion of Crete were for a 4-prong attack in 2 waves, one in the morning at Maleme and Chania. The second in the afternoon at Rethymno and Heraklion. All objectives were on the north coast of the island and all held vital airfields, which would be used for airlanding Gebirgsjäger.
Unknown to the Germans, Crete had been reinforced by troops evacuated from the Greek mainland and plans of the invasion had been intercepted via Enigma. Student set up his HQ for the operation in the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens, patiently awaiting the start of the assault.
In the morning of the 20th May 1941, the aerial armada set off for Crete, whilst Luftwaffe bombers pounded targets all along the northern coast.
The German Airborne forces suffered heavy losses over the next couple of days, not just to men but to irreplaceable material. On more than one occasion, Student thought that the campaign was lost until Allied forces evacuated positions around Maleme airfield in the west of the island. This enabled desperately needed reinforcements to land in the shape of General Ringel’s 5th Gebirgs Division. General Student and his staff were flown into Crete on the 23rd May to personally recieve reports of the battle.
By the end of May the situation had changed, the British forces were on the run, closely followed by German Paras and Mountaineers. By the beginning of June the British had started to evacuate the island.
Crete had been successful, but costly. So much so that Hitler stated " the day of the Paratrooper is over".
The Fallschirmtruppe would now be used as conventional Infantry on all fronts, especially in Russia, with the exception of several small Airborne operations.
Student came up with the idea of an Airborne Panzer Grenadier Division and by using 150 Gigante Gliders and 300 DFS 230’s could attack munitions factories behind the Russian lines or cut off the British supply routes in the Nile Valley. These ideas were promptly turned down by OKW.
Student’s planning skills were called upon again in 1942 when he put together plans to assault Malta. This like many other of his plans never came to light, this time due to Hitler’s reluctance to rely on the Italian Navy.
In July/August 1943, Student again was planning an air assault. This time it was a joint Luftwaffe/SS operation to rescue the imprisoned Mussolini.
This mission was a complete success but was publicised as an SS operation. On 27th September 1943, Student was awarded the oakleaves to his Knights Cross.
Student’s next command came in July 1944 when he was to command the new 1st Parachute Army which at that time existed only on paper. When this formation was partially raised it was moved to Holland to halt the advance of the Allied armies streaming up from France and through Belgium.
Student was stationed in Holland in September 1944 and was witness to the Allied airborne landings. He said of these landings "If only I had such resources at my disposal".
By the end of 1944 he was promoted to Generaloberst and given command of Army Group H, to which 1st Para Army was subordinated. This was short lived and he was replaced by Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz whom Student became deputy. (1944 also saw the death of his son, KIA whilst serving as a pilot in the Luftwaffe). He bore witness to the disastrous Ardennes offensive when Army Group H was spread along a line in Holland protecting the northern flank. The 1st Parachute Army was to be Student’s last command of the war. In April 1945 he was ordered to Mecklenburg in Northern Germany. Later that month he was taken prisoner by British forces. So ended the career of the father of the German Airborne Forces. A man who was against Nazi ideology, but still served his country to his best ability.
After the war he was charged with war crimes allegedly taken place in Crete. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison but served only 2. On his release he settled in the Federal Republic of Germany where he died in Lemgo on July 1st 1978 at the age of 88.
Taken from 'Commanders of the Fallschirmtruppe' Website.
