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Das SS-Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon 500/600
This book is the history of the only Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Formed in 1943 as a Bewährungsverband for special missions (guerrilla operations in the Balkans) the unit was deployed at many focal points of heavy combat on the eastern and western fronts. Nearly destroyed at the Schwedt and Alt-Küstrinchen bridgeheads, the remainder pulled back to the west over Parchim at the end of April 1945 and entered U.S. captivity in May 1945. This is their story, including extremely rare photographs.
- GenresWorld War II
Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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August 1, 2022
SS-Fallschirmjäger Bataillon 500/600 was written by Rolf Michaelis in 2008. The version I reviewed was published by Schiffer Military history of Atglen, PA in 2008 and is 118 pages. The ISBN of this particular book is 978-0-7643-2944-9.
The book covers the complete history of the SS-Fallschirmjäger battalion (the only one of its kind) from its inception in 1943 through its final days and disintegration at the end of the war in May of 1945. In between these two dates, the reader is given a history of the battles which the unit participated in and the scant details available to the author in his research of the unit. The book includes several photos of varying quality relating to the unit and maps of the locations in which they participated in the specific battles. The author does list several sources, both from the Bundesarchiv and secondary book sources.
Most of the historical information on the battles does not focus on the unit specifically, but mostly looks at the overall operation. Where information on SS-Fallschirmjäger Bataillon 500/600 is available, it is presented to the reader. My overall feeling of the book was that there was not a lot of information on this unit in which to present to the reader. If that was the case, I would have to say that Rolf Michaelis did a fine job in offering a narrative to the reader. The book does have an appendix with a chronology on the battalion. There is no order of battle information, and any war crimes that this unit may have perpetrated are not presented to the reader. I use the term “may” as I know nothing about the unit, other than what this book presents.
I have not read anything from the author before this publication, though I see he has published many works, of which quite a few are unit histories. I thought the presentation of the unit was well written, so I plan on picking up more of his books. I would say this book would be appreciated more by the hardcore World War II buff, than say someone who is just looking to get an overview of the SS or the German military structure.
The book covers the complete history of the SS-Fallschirmjäger battalion (the only one of its kind) from its inception in 1943 through its final days and disintegration at the end of the war in May of 1945. In between these two dates, the reader is given a history of the battles which the unit participated in and the scant details available to the author in his research of the unit. The book includes several photos of varying quality relating to the unit and maps of the locations in which they participated in the specific battles. The author does list several sources, both from the Bundesarchiv and secondary book sources.
Most of the historical information on the battles does not focus on the unit specifically, but mostly looks at the overall operation. Where information on SS-Fallschirmjäger Bataillon 500/600 is available, it is presented to the reader. My overall feeling of the book was that there was not a lot of information on this unit in which to present to the reader. If that was the case, I would have to say that Rolf Michaelis did a fine job in offering a narrative to the reader. The book does have an appendix with a chronology on the battalion. There is no order of battle information, and any war crimes that this unit may have perpetrated are not presented to the reader. I use the term “may” as I know nothing about the unit, other than what this book presents.
I have not read anything from the author before this publication, though I see he has published many works, of which quite a few are unit histories. I thought the presentation of the unit was well written, so I plan on picking up more of his books. I would say this book would be appreciated more by the hardcore World War II buff, than say someone who is just looking to get an overview of the SS or the German military structure.
Displaying 1 of 1 review