References for German First Parachute Army?

[Cat]

'm looking to model units of the German First Parachute Army and/or other Luftwaffe units that faced the Canadians in NWE. Are there any books or other reference material with TO&E's, vehicle markings (especially for armour), and all the other useful for modelling for gaming type info? Any combat histories from the German perspective would also be helpful.

I have the relevant Micromark army lists, and am well stocked with books from the Canadian perspective which all have a number of incidental references.  Göring's Grenadiers is on order, but not sure how helpful that book will be.

[voltan]

I thought I had a book about this and either I've imagined it or lost it. but I do have a suggestion;

7th Flieger Division from the spearhead series, I have a few of these from when they were in a discount bookstore for a couple of quid, and they're not brilliant but they usually have a table of the divisional organisation and a section on markings and uniforms, so it may be useful but can't be sure

ebay link to one below for reference, hopefully.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7th-Flieger-Division-Student-s-Fallschirmjager-Elite-3-Spearhead-Book/163109943452?hash=item25fa1c389c:g:7ywAAOSw7VRbLCvB

Also, has osprey got anything?

[Cat]

Thanks for that book link, I found a used copy in good condition to order.

I don't recall the relevant Osprey titles being all that useful beyond uniforms, but plan to check them out next time I'm at the FLGS.

[voltan]

I've remembered the name of the book, it was The Lions Of Carentan, I'd thought about getting it but never did, which is why I couldn't find it.

[Cat]

Hmm, I'm not finding any reviews that mention TO&E type info in Lions of Carentan, it appears to be primarily be personal stories and photos.

[MartinR]

One of the problems with 1st FJ Army was that it was a semi random collection of all sorts of bits and pieces. Even the actual FJ units were very variable in quality and organisation, let alone all the other army, SS, Luftwaffe and naval bits which were tagged on.

Whilst being before significant Canadian involvement, Kershaws It Never Snows in September gives a good idea of the ramshackle nature of 1st FJ Army in its operations during Market Garden.

[Cat]

Thanks, I'll take a look at Kershaw.  Martin, the semi-random collection is not a problem, but a delightful feature, for modelling and gaming.  Quite the problem and puzzle for the research end of it though...

Someday, I hope someone around here sets up an Arnhem game at one of the conventions and I can coördinate with them to use the table for one time slot to run "A Bridge At Last" scenario for April '45. ^,^

Göring's Grenadiers just landed on my doorstep right now.  Flipping through it, this will be a very useful book.  I'll just have to read closely and take notes.  There's a chapter on each Field Division.  No handy TO&E charts, but most of them look like they have at least a list of battalions, and the armor, flak, and artillery types are noted in the text narrative.

For my FJ's, I'm aiming to model elements of one of the ragtag divisions.  Seems like the Canadians kept coming up against an endless array of newly minted units filled with newly graduated Hitler Jügend and given the honorary title of Fallschirmjager to boost their fanaticism. 

I just recently picked up some painted regular grenadiers, and looking at how heavily armed this lot is, they'll have to be a Veteran Grenadier unit for Bolt Action use.  Digging through unit references in my Canadian books and a little google-fu, I discovered that 15th Panzergrenadier Division was part of 1st FJ Army.  I'll add a few more elements of the 15th, and this will provide a nice counterpart to the ragtag FJ's.