'39-'45 series
History Background
Formed in France in October 1943, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Division fought in Normandy the following summer and suffered heavily around Saint-Lô and in the Falaise pocket. During October it was withdrawn to Oldenzaal in Holland for refitting; most of the replacement troops being Luftwaffe ground personnel. With the promotion of its famous commander, Generalmajor Richard Schimpf, the division was taken over by Generalmajor Walther Wadehn. As few of the replacements had any experience of fighting as infantry, this created a considerable headache for its newly-assigned officers. The new Chief-of Staff had no idea of what was involved in ground operations, which meant that the Chief-of Staff of I. SS-Panzerkorps, to which the division had been assigned, had to ask 6. Panzer-Armee for his immediate replacement by someone who did! On the eve of December 16 the division had been able to move only two regiments into its assembly area near Hallschlag and launched its attack with them alone, the third coming up the following night. It was said the division was at seventy-five per cent strength and had no assault guns.
Model Feature
Based on contemporary photos of Ardennes manoeuvre in 1944, here comes the second episode of the 3rd Fallschirmjäger division (Ardennes in 1944). Four newly tooled Fallschirmjäger are posed riding on the back of a Tiger II, wearing the basic Fallschirmjäger uniform of jump smocks, trousers and helmets. They are equipped with personal gear like Bread Bag, Mess Tin, Water Bottle and etc. Their weapons consist of G43 rifles and MP-44 assault rifle.
Aantal onderdelen; 66 stuks.
