Storming Eagles: German Airborne Forces in World War II

by James Sidney Lucas

The daring, courage and skill of the highly-trained men who spearheaded German assaults in the blitzkrieg of 1940, dropping from the air to seize and overwhelm key invasion points, showed to an alarmed world that a new dimension had been added to the science of warfare. The German paratroopers' most spectacular success was the invasion and capture of Crete in May 1941. For the rest of the war the parachute troops were used almost exclusively in a ground role, but they remained an elite, justifying again and again their great reputation for courage and hard fighting in Russia, North Africa and Italy. James Lucas, well-known as a military historian, has researched deep into Allied and German archives and interviewed many of the leading members of the Fallschirmjaeger units and formations who survived the war. This resulting book is a fascinating and dramatic account of the elite German airborne forces of the Second World War.

Genres: History, Military History, World War II, Nonfiction, Germany

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Author and historian. Imperial War Museum, London, England, deputy head of department of photographs.

Mr. Lucas was a WWII veteran. He served with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, First Battalion, North Africa, infantryman, 1942; Queens' Own Royal West Surrey Regiment, Italy, 1943-44; Occupation Army, Austria, 1945; Foreign Office, Germany.

Most of James Lucas's professional life was associated with war. First, he served in the Queen's Own Royal Army as a British soldier in World War II, stationed in Africa, Italy, and later in Austria. In 1960 he joined the staff of the Imperial War Museum in London, eventually becoming the deputy head of the department of photographs. After retiring from this position, Lucas took up a third career, that of an author and historian. His favorite topic was World War II, a subject about which he became a respected authority—not only among scholars, but, through his work as an adviser on film and television productions about the war, among the general public as well. According to a London Times obituary, Lucas examined "almost every aspect of the Nazi war machine …combining technical information with first-hand testimony and so producing a body of work unequalled in its breadth. Having fought the Third Reich's best troops through North Africa and Italy, he knew their tenacity and resourcefulness."

Lucas's writing style was not considered typical of war histories. "Humour and enthusiasm, combined with rigorous attention to detail, were the hallmarks of his style," reported the Times obituary writer. Lucas was a prolific writer upon his topic of choice; and he covered many different aspects of the war, often concentrating on the German side of the conflicts.

As his Times obituarist declared, Lucas "saw himself as an archivist, searching for the ordinary men in the heat of battle, playing their part in the bigger picture." Lucas died on June 19, 2002, at the age of seventy-eight.

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucas writes a very interesting summation of the German airborne forces in WW2 that is tremendously satisfying and yet leaves me wanting to dive in a bit more. Thankfully the references provided should scratch that itch rather nicely. The narrative is well written and provides a large amount of first person details which make this such an interesting read. I always prefer hearing about events in forst person even if the details provided are not 100% accurate. I know this bothers some folks, but I myself do not believe this is a major problem as no individual is going to be aware of all details and events, not to mention the memories often fade as the years pass. Reality is what is happening in front of you, and it may appear quite different from a 30,000 foot view overhead.

I liked the coverage of German deployments here, but certainly wanted to maybe see a bit more fine details. No single book is likely to do a good job with this, and many of the deployments deserve their own narrow focus books anyhow. I think Lucas made a good call keeping this book manageable and a bit lighter so the reader can move forward at a good pace for a book this size.

Overall, I think 4 Stars feels right for this book. A solid book to introduce people to German airborne units, I would recommend this with no reservations and expect it to get some heavy use in my future as a reference.

[Brett McClatchie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty meh, one of the rare books I have no desire to finish.

[Andrew Varga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very detailed history of the German Airborne Forces during WWII. It goes through the complete history of their formation, their early successes, and then their subsequent use as primarily an elite ground force during the rest of the war. This book goes out of its way to inform the reader of all major events that the various airborne units fought, even though most of the times the airborne divisions as a whole had been split up and dispersed to plug countless holes in the German lines.
However, sometimes the relentless onslaught of dates and unit numbers became kind of cumbersome. Although the book did have some personal accounts added in, these felt at many times distant. I really think this book could have benefited from some maps and some more personal accounts, to bring home to the reader the struggles that the paratroopers faced.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the German paratrooper units of WW2. It's not a deep dive into them, nor is it a focus on one campaign, unit, or person. It is a general history of the Jaegar units as a fighting force from their founding to the end of the war. If you want more specifics or wish to learn more about certain battles & campaigns, you would need to read another book.

[Hans · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book gives a nice overview of the creation of the German airborne forces and the operations they were involved in during World War Two. Obviously the large operations like Eben Emael, the May operations in The Netherlands and Crete are covered. But there is also coverage of combat on the eastern front and lesser known operations like the one around Drvar in Yugoslavia.

Next to describing the operations the reader also gets glimpses of what combat really was like. The author included several firsthand accounts that make the coverage come alive. Yet the book makes you want some more. Yes, there is detail, but there are also several instances that some more depth would add to the story. But as a starting point the book can be used as a guide to dive into the topic.

The editing was sloppy at time and could have been done better. Maps, except for an overview image, are lacking and would have been helpful in places, like with the Tunesian campaign.

So, nice book that could have been better.

[Stephen Hackney · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Lucas provides a surface overview of an elite branch of the German military forces in WWII. He provides enough detail and accounting of their activities to keep the reader interested, but if the reader wants an indepth analysis or presentation of the deeds performed by the various paratrooper units, the reader will have to look beyond Mr. Lucas's work.

[Brentman99 · Rating 2 out of 5]

My book had an all black cover and only had 191 pages. It was published by Arms and Armour Press in 1988.

This book has very, at times down to platoon level, detailed information about German airborne forces in WWII. At times, I would argue that it had too much detail.

However, what made this particular edition very annoying was that fact that it was riddled with typos/spelling mistakes that should have been caught by even a brand new editor. One of the most grievous errors was on my page 89, where the author started talking about Erich Shaefer mid page 89, then it shifts to call hm Schuster, which is likely the correct name as there is a picture of him receiving a Knight's Cross on page 93.

Overall, the book was interesting and a detailed read. It took me far longer to go through this short book as the errors were quite distracting. But if you're a hardcore airborne person, you'll probably enjoy it.

[Alex MacKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly the best book on the Fallschirmjäger on the market. Written by a British veteran who actually fought against them. Covers all the air assaults & ground combat from Belgium in 1940 to Germany in 1945. Of course particular attention is paid to Eban Emael, the Dutch bridges, Crete, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, NW Europe, and of course the hellstorm of the Russian Front.
Noting the strategic reasons for each combat deployment, the text is resplendent with (German) veteran anecdotes. Many of them cover up to Battalion engagements; more often at the Company & Platoon-sized levels.
My only complaint is the lack of maps. Many of the battles have vivid descriptions, but I found it difficult to visualize the flow of battle throughout.
Still… highly recommended.

[The Villan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Very detailed account of the various units within the German Airborne.

[Owen Clutterbuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed summary of the Germans elite

[Baden Wackerle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, but contained lots of X unit moved from location A to B. Good stories about the rarely documented German Paras.