page_title: Kurt Student
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Kurt Student / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: German paratroopers of the 22nd Air Landing Division under general Hans Graf von Sponeck, landing at Ockenburg airstrip near The Hague on 10 May 1940 at 04.30 hours in the morning.
context_page_description: Kurt Arthur Benno Student was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the Fallschirmjäger, and as the most senior member of the Fallschirmjäger, commanded it throughout the war. Student led the first major airborne attack in history, the Battle for The Hague in May 1940. He also commanded the Fallschirmjägers in its last major airborne operation, the invasion of Crete in May 1941. The operation was a success despite German losses, and led the Allies to hasten the training and development of their own airborne units.
  In 1947, Student was tried and convicted of war crimes for the mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war by his men in Crete. Student was also responsible for a wave of reprisal massacres committed against Cretan civilians in 1941 but avoided stern punishment.
context_section_description: After the  invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of the Second World War in Europe, the Fallschirmjäger were first deployed during the invasions of Norway and Denmark in Operation Weserübung. In this operation the Fallschirmjäger were deployed on several locations. In Denmark, a small unit dropped on Masnedø island to seize the Storstrøm Bridge linking Falster and Zealand. A paratroop detachment also dropped at Aalborg Airfield, which was crucial for Luftwaffe operations over Norway. In Norway, a company of paratroopers dropped at Oslo's undefended airstrip. Over the course of the morning and early afternoon of April 9, 1940, the Germans flew in sufficient reinforcements to seize the capital, but by that time the Norwegian government had fled.
  The paratroopers' first major action and the first large scale airborne operation in history, was the Battle for The Hague on 10 May 1940. German paratroopers landed at three airfields near The Hague. From one of these airfields, they were driven out after the first wave of reinforcements, brought in by Ju 52s, was annihilated by anti-aircraft fire and fierce resistance by some remaining Dutch defenders. The other two airfields were recaptured as well. Simultaneously, small packets of paratroopers seized the crucial bridges that led directly across the Netherlands and into the heart of the country. They opened the way for the 9th Panzer Division. Within a day, the Dutch position became undefendable. Nevertheless, Dutch forces inflicted high losses on German transportation aircraft. Moreover, 1200 German elite troops from the Luftlandekorps taken prisoner around The Hague, were shipped to England just before the capitulation of the Dutch armed forces.
  During airborne operations in the Battle of Rotterdam, Student was almost taken prisoner, and was shot in the head – by what was later determined to be a stray German round. His capture was halted by the Rotterdam Blitz on 14 May and subsequent capitulation of the Netherlands. 
  On 10 May 1940, the Fallschirmjäger performed a successful raid on the largest fort in the world at the time, Eben-Emael, manned by 1,200 Belgian troops. The raid was accomplished by an assault group which consisted of only 85 soldiers. It took the Fallschirmjäger only hours to take control of the fort. The fall of Eben-Emael opened up Belgium for invasion by Army Group B. For his role in the raid, Student was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
  In January 1941, Student was named commanding general of the XI. Fliegerkorps, the newly formed command for the expanding German airborne forces. In May 1941, Student directed Operation Mercury (Unternehmen Merkur), the airborne invasion of Crete, defended by British, Greek and Commonwealth forces. Crete was taken, in what became the Fallschirmjäger's greatest victory, but the high casualties caused Hitler to forbid future major airborne operations. 
  During the invasion of Crete, the German forces encountered unexpected mass resistance from the Cretan civilian population, and several German parachutists were killed by civilians armed only with knives and clubs. The German troops were initially surprised and later outraged. German military intelligence, the Abwehr, had predicted that the Cretan population would welcome the Germans as liberators, due to their strong republican and anti-monarchist feelings and would want to receive the "... favourable terms which had been arranged on the mainland ...". Student was made the temporary commander of Crete, immediately after the island's surrender on 31 May 1941. On Hermann Göring's orders, Student launched a wave of brutal reprisals against the local population with the Massacre of Kondomari, Alikianos, and the Razing of Kandanos being well-known examples.
  In 1943, Student ordered Major Harald Mors to plan Operation Oak (Unternehmen Eiche), the successful raid conducted by a special Fallschirmjäger unit to free Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. They landed with gliders and STOL aircraft on a hilltop. Student received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cro
caption: German paratroopers landing at the Ockenburg airfield near The Hague, 10 May 1940
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