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TEDESCHI

The Germans Were A Tough, Experienced Foe

By late 1943 the German army had gained a lot of experience in war. Unfortunately for the advancing Canadians, much of it recently had been in defensive operations.

As armies reacted to the possibilities of new technology with revised tactical concepts, the Second World War saw the formation of many different types of specialty troops The Germans were active in such development. Among the results which the Canadians would face were the Panzergrenadiere and the Fallschirmjäger.

The Panzergrenadiere were mechanized formations of infantry, with supporting artillery and specialty combat support troops, intended to be mounted in vehicles and integrating their tactics with Germany's swift moving tank columns. In a war where many combat soldiers still moved on foot, the name for these highly mobile troops incorporated as an honorific the "grenadier" term first used for specialist infantry two centuries earlier.

The Fallschirmjäger were airborne troops, mainly infantry but with other specialty combat support troops. They had featured prominently in the early German successes, particularly in taking Belgium's Eban Emal fortress by glider landings in 1940, and seizing Crete by glider landings and paratroop drops in 1941. In 1943 a small team staged a daring glider borne rescue of the deposed Italian dictator Mussolini from his mountain imprisonment.

The terrain in southern Italy was not suited for wide ranging tank actions, and Allied control of the skies meant paratroopers could not be employed in their airborne role. Both Panzergrenadiere and Fallschirmjäger were used for defensive line duties as ordinary infantry. They had the advantage of a core of highly experienced soldiers who quickly brought the new inductees up to battle standards.

As the fighting ground on many Canadians began using the Italian word for their German adversaries - Tedeschi.