Can u tell me more about Hitler's mountain's troops?

Question

Are they true Germans?

oops. sorry flipwhip. I don't mean to be mean. but i really wonder if there are such German mountain natives who been called up for their service.. my apologies.

Answer 1

The Mountain Divisions of the Wehrmacht were derived both from German Mtn Regiments, and Austrian Mtn units after the Anschluss. Contrary to popular opinion, Mtn troops are NOT Special Operations Forces. Rather, they are light infantry with additional training to operate and survive in Alpine conditions.
Compared to the "average" Wehrmacht (and Allied) line infantry, Gebirgsjaeger were in better physical condition, and had somewhat higher issues of automatic weapons. Similar to airborne troops, they had superior initiative and tactical training which evidenced itself in several campaigns, most notably northern Norway and Italy.

Answer 2

There have been several movies made about Germany's mountain troops. They were unbeatable for most of the war and this worried the allies because they didn't want to leave well trained and battle hardened troops behind them after the landings in Normandy.

The Germans had special tactics and special equipment that could be easily used in mountainous environments since the beginning of the war. Their mountain troop units were made up of German and Austrian troops.

The allies couldn't dislodge them using convential forces, so the Allies put togethor a special unit called the Devils Brigade to fight them in their own environment by teaching them parachute jumping, sharpshooting, mountain climbing, hand to hand combat and carrying heavy loads of supplies over mountainous terrain so they could operate independently without the need of being resupplied for long periods of time.

The creation of the Devil's brigade lead the Pentagon to see the need to create other Special Forces Units that can operate in unique environments. The Green Berets and the Navy Seals are two examples of troops trained to operate in unique environments. I'd add the Marines, but the Marines already are special forces that are trained to operate difficult terrain and far away from resupply.

However during WWII the Devil's Brigade were succesful in dislodging the German's from Italy's mountains and lead to the creation of another Allied Mountain Brigade made up from troops of the 88th and 101st divisions (both parachute divisions). Both brigades fought in the Alps and more importantly, they captured German fortresses in the Alps so the Allied forces would not have enemy forces who could attack them from the south. These Special Forces units were also succesful in capturing Hitler's retreat, the Eagle's Nest in the Alps. Again countless movies have been made about the battles to capture of the German fortresses in the Alps as well as the battle in the Italian mountains.

Answer 3

If you google for Gebirgsjager there are a lot of sites out there (most of which are selling patches or toys, so I'll let you wade thru them, sorry).

Answer 4

super really mean!!