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| Freiherr von der Heydte | Friedrich August | Germany | Luftwaffe: Kom. FJR/D | Kom 1./3 FJR in Crete/Kampfgruppe von der Heydte in Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke/6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment | Major /Oberstleutnant | KC,, May 1941 | His battalion was the first to enter Canea, Crete for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Led Kampfgruppe von der Heydte in Fallschirmbrigade Ramcke. |  |
Von der Heydte was a devout Catholic... and nicknamed the..."Rosary Paratrooper"
Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte was a German Luftwaffe officer who served with the Fallschirmjäger during World War II, reaching the rank of oberstleutnant. After the war, he served in the Bundeswehr, reaching the rank of brigadegeneral der reserve.
Friedrich August von der Heydte was born into the nobility in Munich, Bavaria on 30 March 1907. von der Heydte's father, a Freiherr (roughly equivalent to a baron) had enjoyed a successful career with the Bavarian Army, serving with distinction during the First World War. The von der Heydtes were stout Roman Catholics, and Friedrich attended a Munich Catholic school, achieving excellent grades.
After completion of his schooling, Friedrich followed his father's path and joined the Reichswehr. After an unsuccessful application to join the cavalry, Friedrich was posted to Infanterie-Regiment Nr.19 on 1 April 1925. He did not give up on his goal of joining the cavalry, and soon secured a posting as an officer cadet in Kavallerie-Regiment Nr.18. Soon after this, Friedrich was released from military service to attended Innsbruck University, studying Law. During this time, he became a private tutor to pay his university fees, as despite their noble status, his family was in dire financial troubles. In 1927, von der Heydte was awarded his degree in law, and travelled to Berlin to continue his studies. Late in the year, he secured a posting to a diplomatic school in Vienna. During his time at university, the young von der Heydte developed decidedly liberal views, and on his return to Germany, found himself at odds with popular opinion. By 1934, von der Heydte had become involved in several brawls with pro-Nazi students, and only evaded the Gestapo by rejoining his old cavalry regiment. In 1935 he was transferred to Kavallerie-Regiment Nr.15 and promoted to leutnant. He again secured his temporary release from the military for study, and travelled to the Netherlands where he furthered his education at The Hague. It was his extreme devotion to his faith which, in a rather unintentional compliment, later caused Reich Marshal Hermann Goering, commander of the German Air Force to mockingly call him the "Rosary Paratrooper". After moving for a year to Berlin University he also studied at the Austrian Consular Academy but was forced to leave under threat of arrest by the Gestapo when he and a friend beat up a Nazi student who had insulted the Catholic Church. He re-joined his regiment but Heydte the horse lover was disappointed when the unit converted from a cavalry to an anti-tank formation, so he attended a General Staff Officer's course over the winter of 1938-39. In August 1939, he was recalled to his company in preparation for the planned Invasion of Poland, Fall Weiß. He was married and when World War II began took command of an anti-tank company. He fought in the Western campaign with the 246th Division where he earned the Iron Cross 1st class.
He commanded a paratroop battalion in Crete in 1941. His battalion was the first to enter Canea, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and much more can be read in his personal account in his book, Deadalus Returned.
Ist battalion of I./FJR3 or "Lehrbataillon" called "Task Force v.d.Heydte" was assigned to the Airborne Brigade Ramcke which was composed of four parachute batallions. Burckhardt, Kroh, v.d. Heydte, and Hubner commanding these batallions with additional artillery, engineers, anti-tank, signals, and medical units support. Their objective was Tobruk, with the Brigade's troops being airlifted via Crete and their trucks were transported by ship. 
You might remember the pictures of a 'Kubel' loaded inside a Ju-52 and the 232 with the Sideways form "Kleeblatt" and inverted arm Horseshoe (*Luck pouring out) 
The "Kampfgruppe v.d. Heydte" and brigade's assigned assembly point was El Dab'a, 40 km west of El Alamein. The critical need for these troops meant their shipment to the assembly point for the majority without their 'own transport... 'hitching' a ride on any available transport (mostly Italian trucks) with little of their own transport on hand.
By August 12, the brigade were ready to support the Italian "Bologna" Division to their right and these forces successfully held their positions until told to evacuate their positions with the fear of being encircled on November 2, 1942. Some of their equipment (a few Kubelwagens, Kettenfraftrad and trucks arrived or were "appropriated") finally trickled through to them. During the course of the next few months with delaying actions and the initial capture of several British trucks and vehicles to supplement their limited delivered equipment they had additional successes on the field. 
More and more of this Brigade's valuable elite airborne troops/airborne specialists were retrieved from the battlefield back to Italy. A few were forced to remain and with dogged determination fought in small task forces all the way back to Tunisia. 
Ramcke Brigade Emblem with vH "Kampfgruppe v.d.Heydte" notation at bottom edge
Noted variants from photographs...
Only a handful of the survivors from the Ramcke Brigade, not captured, found their escape back to Sicily and Italy on small craft and vessels.
After fighting in Russia, North Africa and Normandy, von der Heydte was taken prisoner in 1944 during the Ardennes counter-offensive, the Battle of the Bulge.
Luftwaffenjäger-Brigade 1 or Fallschirmjäger-Ramcke Brigade
Following the costly success of Operation Mercury, the airborne assault on Crete in 1941, several elite Fallschirmjäger units were formed into an ad-hoc brigade under the command of veteran commander Oberst Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke. The brigade was slated to take part in Operation Hercules, the planned invasion of Malta.
When the attack was cancelled, the Brigade, now named Fallschirmjäger-Brigade Afrika, was sent to join Rommel's Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa.
In April 1942, the brigade was renamed Fallschirmjäger-Brigade Ramcke. After arriving in North Africa in July 1942, the brigade performed excellently, providing a counter to Stirling's Special Air Service, which had been wreaking havoc with the Axis command, control and logistical system. Ramcke's unit next formed a part of the spearhead during the DAK's assault towards the Suez Canal, fighting alongside the Italian 25th Bologne Division before British opposition solidified near the town of El Alamein.
The brigade was then heavily engaged in the Second Battle of El Alamein. During the German withdrawal, the brigade was cut off behind enemy lines and written off as lost by Rommel. Despite this, on 3 November 1942, the brigade began marching west to rejoin the retreating Axis forces. On the night of 6/7 November, the brigade came upon a British 8th Army supply convoy, consisting of a large number of British transport vehicles. Without firing a shot, the brigade hijacked the column. Now fully motorized, the brigade continued moving west. The transport unit which they had hijacked happened to be the entire supply convoy for an allied Armoured division, and besides the trucks themselves, Ramcke's men had captured quantities of fuel, water, food and cigarettes. By the time the brigade reached friendly forces, it had travelled over 200 miles. Following this feat, the brigade was sent back to Tunisia for rest.
The brigade was now renamed Luftwaffenwaffen-Jäger-Brigade 1, and after a brief period of rest was thrown back into the lines against the advancing allied forces in Tunisia. Ramcke was transferred back to Europe, and command passed to Major Hans Kroh, one of the battalion commanders. The brigade was involved in heavy fighting against the British in the mountainous terrain of southern Tunisia. The brigade kept fighting until the capitulation of Panzer-Armee Afrika in May 1943, when the survivors surrendered to the Western Allies.
Bibliography
References: Special Thanks to Klaus Peters incredible work!
v.d. Heydte in Crete, "Daedalus Returned", The re-worked "New" edition that I was involved with production.
My name is on the cover for the restored and updated version!... "Nacht"... Link-IT is my company for readers to understand the links.
Additional nice references...
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