Airborne Landing to Air Assault: A History of Military Parachuting

by Nikolaos Theotokis

Many books have been written about military parachuting, in particular about famous parachute operations like Crete and Arnhem in the Second World War and notable parachute units like the British Parachute Regiment and the US 101st Airborne Division, but no previous book has covered the entire history of the use of the parachute in warfare. That is why Nikolaos Theotokis’s study is so valuable.

He traces in vivid detail the development of parachuting over the last hundred years and describes how it became a standard tactic in twentieth century conflicts. As well as depicting a series of historic parachute operations all over the world, he recognizes the role of airmen in the story, for they were the first to use the parachute in warfare when they jumped from crippled airplanes in combat conditions.

Adapting the parachute for military purposes occurred with extraordinary speed during the First World War and, by the time of the Second World War, it had become an established technique for special operations and offensive actions on a large scale. The range of parachute drops and parachute-led attacks was remarkable, and all the most dramatic examples from the world wars and lesser conflicts are recounted in this graphic and detailed study. The role played by parachute troops as elite infantry is also a vital part of the narrative, as is the way in which techniques of air assault have evolved since the 1970s.

272 pages, Hardcover

Published September 9, 2020

Reviews

[Ben Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published by Pen & Sword Books LTD, available from Casemate Publishers

Nikolaos Theotokis’ Airborne Landing to Air Assault traces the evolution of military parachuting from a novelty akin to aerial barnstorming, through the use of the parachutes by pilots escaping damaged aircraft to vertical envelopment as an accepted practice for delivering combat power to the battlefield. Theotokis delivers a comprehensive study that looks how a variety of countries solved the problems presented by aerial delivery of troops and material into combat. He begins his examination of the origins of parachuting just prior to the start of the First World War, making the reasonable argument that practical military parachuting requires jumping from a motorized aircraft and crediting United States Army captain Albert Berry with being the first soldier to do so. From this beginning, Theotokis analyses the use of the parachute throughout the wars of the twentieth century through to the present day.

Despite the book’s scope, the author devotes the lion’s share of his effort to parachuting during the Second World War. This only makes sense as every major combatant fielded airborne forces, and these units went on to gain near legendary status of elite combat forces in almost every theater of the conflict. Theotokis begins by examining the development of airborne organizations and doctrine by what he terms “the four pioneer nations” (the Soviet Union, Italy, France and the United States) during the interwar period, before turning to a more thorough discussion of German and British attempts to establish their own parachute capabilities. Both Germany and Britain receive their own chapters discussing how they raised and equipped their airborne formations as well as their early combat performances. Theotokis does mention the British effort to raise a specialized Glider Pilot Regiment (GPR), but does not go into great detail, with no discussion of the selection and training of glider pilots. This is understandable, given the book’s focus on military parachuting, however the author missed an opportunity to address the fact that the GPR underwent selection and training as rigorous in its own way as that of their counterparts in the parachute brigades.

The heart of the book is the author’s descriptions of Allied parachute operations in the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation. He follows the chronological deployment of British and American airborne forces in North Africa, the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe, providing brief but detailed descriptions of major combat operations. Of particular interest is Theotokis’ description of the 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry’s assault on the bridges across the Caen Canal and Orne River as part of the initial assault of the Normandy Invasion, 6 June 1944. He effectively illustrates how well trained glider forces can achieve relative superiority over an enemy force through surprise and delivering an intact force onto the objective in order to mass combat power at the critical point. Without belaboring the point, Theotokis shows that glider-borne forces played a critical role as part of airborne formations during the initial hours of the D-Day operation.

Theotokis pays equal attention to the Pacific theater, recounting the combined operations of Brigadier Orde Wingate’s Special Force (the Chindits) transported by American gliders behind Japanese lines in Burma, and resupplied and supported by air for the duration of their operations. He pays equal attention to American parachute operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. Additional chapters on World War Two cover the use of parachute troops by special operations, the role of the parachute as a safety device for pilots and combat aircrews, and the development of airborne forces by other, smaller nations such Finland, Serbia and Portugal among others.

The remainder of the book deals with airborne operations in the post-War Two era. This section of the book covers well-known conflicts such as Korea and Vietnam but pays equal attention to less often covered conflicts such as Indo-Pakistan Conflict and a variety of contingency and counterinsurgency operations in Africa, the Middle East, and in the Pacific region. Theotokis provides a comprehensive survey of the role of airborne and airmobile forces around the globe through the second half of the twentieth century, and into the twenty-first, however the breadth of the coverage makes it difficult for him to provide deep analysis of the causes of each crisis; tactics, techniques and procedures of the combatants; or the personalities of commanders and their troops. Rather, he provides precise descriptions of the combat actions with little broader context.

Theotokis’ best writing is found in the chapters on the development of early parachute formations prior to and in the beginning of World War Two. His treatment of the establishment of parachute units at a time when most people had never stepped foot on an airplane gets to the heart of the discussion of why these forces became elite units. Arriving to battle via parachute or glider was a new unknown challenge requiring a special daring, and Theotokis describes how this spirit contributed to a reputation for toughness and bravery that airborne soldiers subsequently earned in combat.

The book contains a decent collection of black and white photographs that primarily focus on World War Two, with some illustrations of post-war operations. An excellent bibliography and endnotes compliment the text; however the book suffers from a lack of maps. While the scope of the book precludes including detailed maps of every combat action covered, a section of maps that provided at least a basic orientation to each conflict area would aid the reader tremendously. Readers who wish to understand the terrain are advised to keep an atlas close by.

Airborne Landing to Air Assault succeeds in its goal to provide a history of military parachuting, and Nikolaos Theotokis is the right author to deliver such a history. He is both a former Greek paratrooper and an experienced conflict journalist. He combines his practical knowledge and his skill as a writer to present a professional survey of world-wide military airborne operations over the last one hundred years. Airborne Landing to Air Assault is worth reading for anyone with an interest in the history of combat paratroopers.

Book review by Ben Powers

Ratings

Readability- four stars

Historical Accuracy- five stars

Historical Value- four stars

Details- five stars

Overall Rating – four and a half stars

Overall Rating % 90

[Andrea Di Bernardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today's book, written by Nikolaos Thoetokis, a Greek journalist and former paratrooper, is a great starting point to learn about the airborne forces around the world. Starting from his passion and his military past, son of that "brotherhood" between paratroopers, which unites every "air infantryman" or simple enthusiast, Theotokis adds a remarkable gift of synthesis without however neglecting important details in telling the genesis of the paratroop forces of all countries.
The book, published by Pen & Sword, in just over 300 pages manages to summarize the debut and military experiences of every airborne force that has been created, starting from the 4 pioneer countries, namely the USSR, Italy, France and the United States. The second chapter is dedicated to these four countries, after what is a brief but necessary introduction to parachuting as a military use. Two chapters follow that deal with the paratroop forces that first demonstrated how an attack from the air could be decisive and no longer a strange military experiment, we are talking about the Fallschirmjager who saw their moment of glory in the 1940 Campaign with the taking of the Belgian fort of Eben Emael but who found a tragic ending in the assault on Crete in May 1941, no longer being used en masse. The other force is obviously that of the British Paratroopers who distinguished themselves in various special operations, up to the massive use in more famous operations including Sicily, D-Day, Arnhem.
Chapters 6 and 7 are dedicated to these operations, while in the 5 the paratroopers from countries such as Belgium, Poland, Greece, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, obviously framed in the allied forces, are examined. In chapter 9 we move to the Pacific with an examination of airborne forces employed in the Burma Campaign or the Reconquest of the Philippines.
Chapter 10 instead examines the various special forces and their use, such as the SAS, the "Jedburgh Teams", the famous "Devil's Brigade" (star of a 1960s film), or in the Axis the paratrooper special forces of the German SS.
Chapter 11 is particular because it describes some experiences of parachute use by downed plane pilots. The chapter is interesting although perhaps not very relevant to the theme of the book.
Chapter 12 lists other parachute forces not used in the Second World War but whose genesis can be inserted in that period.
In chapter 13, however, the author begins to deal with airborne operations after 1945, with a particular interesting sub-chapter concerning the pilots, or rather the pilot, who ejected himself from the U2 spy plane in 1961. However, perhaps the most substantial part of the chapter is the one dedicated to the Indochina War, where the French often made use of paratroopers, entering into myth with the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Two separate chapters (14 and 16) are dedicated to the great conflicts of the post-1945 years, namely the Arab-Israeli Wars, those between India and Pakistan (chap. 14) and Vietnam (16).
Chapter 15 examines other minor operations by paratroop forces from around the world, such as the 1978 jump to Kolwezi by French and Belgian forces for the release of several hundred hostages.
With chapter 17, we get to the present day, with the last described operation, the one in Mali in 2018.
The book, at just over 300 pages, is an excellent starting point to learn about all the airborne forces in the world. Obviously, great emphasis is given to World War II, which takes up half of the book, but if the operations of that war are well known enough, having received enormous coverage in books and films, little is sometimes known about what happened later, with a no longer mass but targeted use of this arm. It is precisely in this way that the book manages to thrill, for the meticulous research of Theotokis, demonstrated by the vast bibliography consulted (and which can be useful to the reader). A book that, ultimately, cannot fail to interest and that will be useful to anyone who wants to know the use of airborne forces from all over the world from its genesis at the beginning of the 1900s up to the present day.

[Robert Neil Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jumping out of a slow moving aeroplane and drifting to the ground under enemy fire takes a different kind of mentality, the bravery is a given. Perhaps that is why military history students find the paratroopers so fascinating? Nikolaos Theotokis surveys the history of paratroopers from their origins in World War I through the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan, and their geographical spread across the continents. He stops along the way to narrate specific operations that illustrate this mode of taking the fight to the enemy, usually behind their lines.
The ‘heyday’ of military paratroopers was World War II with the Germans, British, and Americans to the fore. But many other nations deployed paratroopers; the Poles, Canadians, Japanese, and Soviets might be expected, but Finland, Serbia, Romania, and Peru might not. Similarly, Theotokis narrates the major paratrooper actions of WWII, including Crete, Normandy, and Arnhem, but he also describes lesser known missions, such as those undertaken in the Pacific Theatre. The use of gliders and airborne units deployed on the ground are included in these examples. Along with ‘regular’ paratrooper units, Theotokis adds special ops and parachute use by Airforce personnel, usually from burning planes, and the dangers that entailed.
It is apparent from Theotokis’s survey that while parachute missions declined after WWII, the use of paratroopers in combat did not. Indeed, it would be difficult to think of a post-WWII conflict in which they were not used. Theotokis considers the major actions, such as Suez, French Indochina, and Korea, alongside less familiar actions in, for example, Aden, The Congo, and the Dominican Republic. He explains that part of the reason for the reduction in parachute missions was the increasing use of helicopters to take men into battle, and nowhere was that more evident than in the Vietnam War. Thus, with helicopters, we are fully into the air assault phase of airborne warfare. Theotokis notes, however, that improving transport plane capabilities renewed parachute drops, notably in Afghanistan. He concludes that the days of elite soldiers parachuting into combat are not yet over.
Surveys like this one can often be dry and dusty reads, but by emphasising what paratroopers have accomplished over the bare bones of unit histories, Theotokis has written an engaging and informative book, which is full of wee surprises mixed in with more familiar history. Moreover, there is enough meat in here to make you want more, and Theotokis hits that mark with an excellent bibliography that will have military history students reading happily for quite a while. My only real quibble is the inclusion of peripheral forces such as special ops and an odd chapter on pilots and aircrew, where more room could have been made for combat descriptions or primary source material from regular units. Set that aside, and this is a solid military history of very brave soldiers.