Alfred Schlemm Alfred Schlemm ( December 8 , 1894 – January 24 , 1986 ) was a German " General der Fallschirmtruppe " in the Wehrmacht . His last command in World War II opposed the advance of the First Canadian Army through the Reichswald in February 1945 . Early life & early military career . Schlemm was born in Rudolstadt in the Principality of Schwarzburg - Rudolstadt , a part of the German Empire . He joined the Imperial German Army on 8 March 1913 as a Fahnenjunker in the 2 . Posensches Feld - Artillerie - Regiment Nr . 56 and he transferred temporarily to the Danzig War School in October 1913 . He returned to his regiment before the start of World War I , where he remained until September 1919 , progressing in various roles ( Platoon Leader , Ordonnanzoffizier , Battery Commander and Regimental Adjutant ) . During the inter - war years , Schlemm served in a variety of staff , training and regimental posts until , in October 1937 , he was attached to the Reich Air Ministry . In February 1938 , he transferred from the Army to the Luftwaffe and was appointed an Oberst in the Luftwaffe General Staff and in June 1938 , he became Chief of Staff of Air Defense Zone West . Military career . In October 1939 , he became Chief of Staff of Luftgau [ Air Zone ] XI , under Generalleutnant Ludwig Wolff and in December 1940 , Schlemm was appointed Chief of Staff of the XI Fliegerkorps [ Air Corps ] under General der Flieger Kurt Student . XI Fliegerkorps was the headquarters staff of Germany ’ s parachute and air landing forces which , on 20 May 1941 , the Germans used for Operation Merkur , the airborne invasion of Crete . At least 6 , 000 airborne troops were lost and the conquest of Crete effectively ended all plans for large - scale German airborne operations . Eastern Front . From February 1942 , Schlemm was attached to the General Command of the VIII . Fliegerkorps ( Generaloberst Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen ) on the Eastern Front , where he became Commander of Luftwaffen - Gefechtsverbande ( " Battle Formation " ) Schlemm assigned to the XXXX Panzer Corps and the LVI Panzer Corps in General der Infanterie Gotthard Heinrici ’ s 4th Army . Schlemm became commander of the 1st Flieger - Division ( Air Division ) from June 1942 , based at Dugino and controlling various Luftwaffe air and ground support units . In October 1942 , he became Commanding General of the II Luftwaffe Field Corps on the Eastern Front and , later , in Italy . Schlemm ’ s corps comprised four Luftwaffe Field Divisions and held the line from south of Nevel to the Dvina River east of Vitebsk , under the 3rd Panzer Army of Army Group Centre . In February and March 1943 , the II Luftwaffe Field Corps participated in Operation Kugelblitz against the partisan infested region of Surazh Rayon northeast of Vitebsk . On 6 October 1943 , part of Schlemm ' s corps collapsed under a major Russia n attack , resulting in a 10 - mile rip in the German lines and the capture of Nevel . The entire II Luftwaffe Field Corps fell back to new positions west of Gorodok . Italy . Withdrawn from the line in November 1943 , Schlemm ’ s four divisions transferred to the LIII and IX Army Corps and were transferred to Italy . On 1 January 1944 , Schlemm ’ s headquarters staff , redesignated as Ist Fallschirm - Korps with Schlemm as Commanding General , took control of a reserve force of over 24 , 000 troops in the Rome area . They were initially dispatched from Rome to bolster the Gustav Line , or Winter Line , along the Garigliano River , but soon Schlemm ’ s corps were urgently transferred to oppose the Allied beachhead at Anzio ( Operation Shingle ) . Schlemm led the German defenders successfully for three days until command formally passed to Generaloberst Eberhard von Mackensen , Commander - in - Chief of the 14th Army . The Ist Fallschirm - Korps fought at Anzio for the next three months . Schlemm was cited in the official Armed Forces Communiqué and received the Knight ’ s Cross of the Iron Cross for his efforts . After the Gustav Line was breached at Cassino and the Anzio bridgehead breakout , Schlemm ' s Ist Fallschirm - Korps joined the German withdrawal through central Italy . By August 1944 , they were lodged in the Arno and Gothic Line defensive positions in the northern Apennines . Schlemm relinquished command of the Ist Fallschirm - Korps to Generalleutnant Richard Heidrich . Reichswald . Schlemm became Commanding General of the IIIrd Fallschirm - Korps but this formation was never activated . Instead , he succeeded Generaloberst Kurt Student as Commander - in - Chief of the 1st Fallschirm - Armee ( Parachute Army ) on the Western Front in the Netherlands . The 1st Fallschirm - Armee was engaged defending the Reichswald against the Canadian First Army . Schlemm ' s troops were a motley , but effective , collection of under - strength infantry divisions and battle groups entrenched in the West Wall ( Siegfried Line ) . Schlemm disagreed with the current view that the next Allied attack would be further south and ensured that his troops built formidable defences . The Canadian First Army and Lieutenant - General William H Simpson ’ s U . S . Ninth Army compressed Schlemm ’ s forces into a small bridgehead on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Wesel . On 10 March 1945 , the rearguard of the 1st Fallschirm - Armee evacuated their bridgehead , destroying the bridge behind them , and Schlemm prepared to meet the inevitable Allied crossing of the river . He was wounded in an air attack on his command post at Haltern eleven days later and command of the 1st Fallschirm - Armee passed to General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt . Post war . At the end of the war in May 1945 , Schlemm became a prisoner of war held by the British — he was repatriated to Hamburg in October 1947 . Alfred Schlemm died on 24 January 1986 at Ahlten near Hannover .