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This is my first time painting the Falls,So i got few questios before i mount them and paint.
1. How frequent was the use of the standerd field hemet and uniform(HEER)my FALLS company set has a few with the standerd HEER helmet.
2. When was the Assualt rifle first introduced.(STG)
3. i have seen that their are three different kinds of trouser color.Which one was more used.Grey,Blue or camo?
4,what colors are used for the helmets,especially the PAra helmet without the camo cover.( I did see a video where they were painted both)

thats all for now.

Standard (I assume you mean Heer) uniform and helmet weren't used by Fallschirmjager.

Assault rifle (Again, I'm assuming the FG42) technically a battle-rifle as it fired full-length rifle rounds introduced 1942, never produced in very large numbers however. If you mean the STG43/44 it was introduced in 1944. Generally German guns make it clear when they were introduced eg: Kar98 = 1898 MP-40 = 1940. As an elite formation they tended to get newer equipment as it became available, much like the SS towards the end of the war.

Helmets would have likely been primarily feldgrau (more of a green but you probably know that from the look of your signature )

Normal stalhelms were used by the FJ. They were issued from 1943 in some units.

I have photos of them wearing them in normandy.

Certainly no FJ unit had STG44s before the Ruckmarsch. None were issued in Normandy except for a handful that went to 17th SS. I can go through the units issued the weapon, but for western front, I'd say none till late 44 early 45.

Trousers... Generally field grey. Blue was very rare and seldom seen.

Thanks for the replies,I found a Falls renactors web site.It help out alittle bit just didnt have to many dates for when the equipment was issued.
For the helmets color,The Helmets were Green,which put some liight on why they were called the Green Devils.all green or the Middlestone color with a littlebit of green spray painted on them.
I also did some studying on stg 44,it was not until around MArket garden that they were issued,the FG 43 was the Primary Assualt rifle for them and danmn what a awesome rifle.Now i must buy one to bad the reproductions are 5 grand.Stg was issued but rather individually versues to entire units.most were just "borrowed from other soliders".
thanks again now iam off the start mounting then on bases.

After all of the stuff i read and the war footage that i watched,I thought the 12 th SS and 2nd SS were some hard soliders theese guys got nothing on FAlls,especailly the news video of them at Monty Cassino.They were getting the crap bombed out of them and they are joking,playing card and even catching them a smoke break.Any lesser of a trooper would have freaked out.
Next for my research will be Vons ill fated Ardennes jump.

Good luck with the new army, hopefully you'll share a few pics? I could use a little inspiration to get more work done on my own Germans. (I also play SS in FoW, because of the kewl-factor!)

Big P: Not questioning your source but are you sure those stahlhelm equipped FJ weren't just wearing scavenged helmets from Heer units? I read somewhere that those helmets were something of a badge of honor to those that served in the paratroopers - Legit FJ helmets would include the diving eagle clutching the swastika. In any case, a very interesting topic for me.

FJ units were issued stalhelms. It was a far more suitable helmet for ground combat anyway.

They were issued as there were not enough jump helmets to go around. Issue would vary as to what training and supply depots had at the time, so units could have a variety of helmet types at anyone time. I have pics of several Jager from FJR 6 in normandy, dated june 44, that have three different helmet types between them.

Mixing in the odd guy with a M40 helmet is fine for late war FJ. You also see it more in units with Luftwaffe personnel transferred into them enmasse who bring their kit with them, often Luftwaffe issue M40s or M35 that they had been issued when in their original units.

Don't forget, by mid-44, FJ personnel are far different to those of the early years. Few are jump trained and many are transfer from redundant Luftwaffe ground units.

The lucky ones got a helmet. Several FJ battalions in Normandy didn't get issued any helmets at all.

Helmet decals were ordered to be removed from mid-war on all helmets but you still see some late war.

The 'apple' green FJ helmet was only early war and stopped from roughly 1940 onwards in general.

I will stick up a few pics when I get home if interested.

Big P wrote:
FJ units were issued stalhelms. It was a far more suitable helmet for ground combat anyway.

They were issued as there were not enough jump helmets to go around. Issue would vary as to what training and supply depots had at the time, so units could have a variety of helmet types at anyone time. I have pics of several Jager from FJR 6 in normandy, dated june 44, that have three different helmet types between them.

Mixing in the odd guy with a M40 helmet is fine for late war FJ. You also see it more in units with Luftwaffe personnel transferred into them enmasse who bring their kit with them, often Luftwaffe issue M40s or M35 that they had been issued when in their original units.

Don't forget, by mid-44, FJ personnel are far different to those of the early years. Few are jump trained and many are transfer from redundant Luftwaffe ground units.

The lucky ones got a helmet. Several FJ battalions in Normandy didn't get issued any helmets at all.

Helmet decals were ordered to be removed from mid-war on all helmets but you still see some late war.

The 'apple' green FJ helmet was only early war and stopped from roughly 1940 onwards in general.

I will stick up a few pics when I get home if interested.

Most diffently..especailly FJ 6,because that is what i am basing mine on.I need somebody to be a thorn in side of 101st.Airborne.Now my buddy wants to a Narrative Historical campaign leading up to the end of MArket GArden.
I was thinking of using the Standerd issue Helmets to represent the Luftwaffe Penal platoon from the Hells Highway book.

This pic is from a series of pics that apparently show Jager in Normandy of FJR6 in early June.





Note the large number wearing early plain field grey bonesacks. I have a feeling that it may not be FJR6 as I have a pic of the guy with the Bren Gun (second pic bottom left) and its carries a different Bundesarchiv reference date. But Id need to spend a bit of time looking to confirm. I personally think they are a sequence of photos of a unit taken sometime late 43 - early 44 of one either training in France or in Italy. But interesting pics nonetheless.

Some from August 1944 during the retreat to the Seine;





As for the StG-44... Gone through my stuff at home and the earliest issue to a Fallschirmjager unit I can find is 10th Kompanie of FJR6 who received an undisclosed number of the assault rifle on 27th October 1944 at Wasserij.

Personally Im not convinced many FJ units ever got the weapon. I have anecdotal evidence that FJD9 were issued 'large numbers' of them, but I find that hard to believe as dated at the same time is the issue of MG15s and French Lebel Rifles to equip some of their regiments... I think that only very small numbers of the weapon ever made it to the FJ as they were not established to receive any on their KStN tables, so there would have been no reason for depots to issue them to FJ units, especially not once the new Volksgrenadier organisations came into effect. These units show the 'Sturmzuge' on the tables and FJ Divisions never had a Sturmzuge, hence no issue...

Of course, you cant account for every movement of the weapon so individuals could get them. I just dont think it would be all that common.

Hey those FJ have a BREN GUN! The Cheeky Sods.....

Thanks, for the piks. As for stg44,i think i am going to leave them out as of now.MAybe later on they will make a Ardennes or a Berlin or bust appearance.I know that their are several German Scout platoons that contain them in FOW..Even though the FG 42 was a better rifle.So now understand the rarity of them being issued to the reg. trooper.Also now i know why they were nicknamed the Gren Devils by the Allies,It was because of the uniform and them being as tough as a old pair of Combat boots.
Thanks for all the help.

 mwnciboo wrote:
Hey those FJ have a BREN GUN! The Cheeky Sods.....

Quite pleased with it too...





Of course for Market-Garden they can have Brownings...








Some more in normal stalhelms...









I just like this pic, the guy in the foreground-left seems to have an M40 Stalhelm on, but I just like it as they are in tropical gear;

To be fair the BREN LMG is / was / remains a great bit of Kit, I would have a Grin on, if I had one.

Some of them were used on Operation Corporate in the Falklands, and I heard a few were around in Gulf War 91!!!!



Kudos to whoever can name the Film? Big P you aren't allow to say because you will know straight off!!

Also on this picture :-



Is that Disc round his neck of Significance....Like a Field Gendarmerie / MP thing?

The disc is the German 'dog-tag' or Erkennungsmarke.

Carries the soldiers details and snapped in half if killed. One half remaining on the body, the other gathered up.


In keeping with the thread, one from 1./ Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1:

Is that Disc round his neck of Significance....Like a Field Gendarmerie / MP thing?

That's just a german dog tag.

We still use the same design today, oval-shaped to be broken in half.


Edit: Damn, too slow.

Oh and with FJ helmet colours, they just followed Heer regulations for colours (though of course individuals would camo their own at times).

Heer Regs;

1) June 1935 smooth "Light Field Grey" (A.K.A. "Apple Green") RAL 7009 and double decals introduced for Heer helmets.

2) 27th January 1940 - OKH ordered helmets be painted in smooth , matt, slate grey , still double decal. This order applied both to factory production, and was also intended to be applied to existing Apple Green helmets, which were to be repainted slate grey. It is unlikely that many helmets were factory produced (or field repainted) in slate grey, as just 7 or 8 weeks later a new order went out regarding helmet colours.

3) 21st March 1940 - Helmets were to be painted in textured "Dark Field Grey" RAL 6006 with a single decal. Existing helmets were to be repainted to this same colour and single decal configuration (although many weren't!). The texture used was Aluminium Oxide.

4) 28th August 1943 - Heer Adler decal removed - henceforth all helmets were textured RAL 6006, without any decals.

The para with the Bren is just itching to be my new Avatar.Instead of Col.Kurtz from Apoc. Now. but then again Kurtz does fit my nickname.Krazy Colonel.

Big P wrote:
FJ units were issued stalhelms. It was a far more suitable helmet for ground combat anyway.

Hey man out of curiousness what made the stalhelms better than the general issue ones that were seen much more predominantly?

The lower sides offered more protection from shrapnel and sound deflection for the ears.

The longer front peak offered protection from shrapnel.

When in a trench on the ground, the M40 gives higher protection.

The jump helmet lost these benefits with its rounded shape but was lighter.

Much the same consequences have been seen with the recent change in US Army helmet design. The reduction in the front peak has seen an anecdotal reported increase in facial and eye injuries due to the lack of front peak.

My Dad who is a Vietnam Vet. Always used to laugh about how the US Army riped off the GErman NAzi helmet.

Well there was a reason it was nicknamed the 'Fritz' by US soldiers when they changed to it from the M1.

The stalhelm is an excellent design affording protection when offensively and defensively operating.

 col. krazy kenny wrote:
My Dad who is a Vietnam Vet. Always used to laugh about how the US Army riped off the GErman NAzi helmet.

It's pretty iconic to the WWII German army but the basic design dates back to WWI.

MarsNZ wrote:

 col. krazy kenny wrote:
My Dad who is a Vietnam Vet. Always used to laugh about how the US Army riped off the GErman NAzi helmet.

It's pretty iconic to the WWII German army but the basic design dates back to WWI.

But you do have to give credit to Germans they invented alot of weapons and equipment and That the design is still used today.Heck i watched a video and learned something i did not know that the NAzis basically invented stealth tech.But i still want to find a NAzi ufo model.also does anyone know of where to find a 1/100 or a 1/144 scale Fletttner Helicopter? I need one for my ArdennnessGermans.So they can have Aerial fos. The ones from the Allies just give us a major beating with using their plane to spot for the 155 battery.

Ah okay thanks for the info!

 mwnciboo wrote:
To be fair the BREN LMG is / was / remains a great bit of Kit, I would have a Grin on, if I had one.

Some of them were used on Operation Corporate in the Falklands, and I heard a few were around in Gulf War 91!!!!



Kudos to whoever can name the Film? Big P you aren't allow to say because you will know straight off!!

The Devils Brigade? Or The Wild Geese? Or I don't know

@Darkjim - Yeah it's those "Wild Geese"...I love that film it's pure comedy. The homo-erotic tension between Burton and his Sergeant Major is cringeworthy...

Only trumped by "North Sea Hijack"....Seeing Roger Moore, as a Naval Commander, who drinks Whiskey from the bottle, stitches Cats and hates women.. Rufus Excalibre Ffolkes so cool, makes Lord Flashheart look like a Bell-end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4hHezVNRc8&t=4m30s

Watch 1min of this, it's awesome. Absolute Legend!!! We used to have a Ffolkes Night in the Officers Mess, everyone would drink Whiskey from the Bottle and be a complete Douche acting super assertive and verbally abusing each other in a Middle - English Manner.

"You, I bet you shop at Waitrose!" "I thought I saw you at the Club, obviously relaxing entry standards" etc etc.

EDIT - 14 Edits to get the bloody YOUTUBE link to work...

"Madam, it never takes me 10 minutes to finish The Times crossword". I know the one, Anthony Perkins as the baddy is pretty good Always reminds me of Juggernaut, with Richard Harris as a chunky sweater wearing bomb disposal expert, who was of course also in The Wild Geese. And marked for death the moment his son is shown

 col. krazy kenny wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:

 col. krazy kenny wrote:
My Dad who is a Vietnam Vet. Always used to laugh about how the US Army riped off the GErman NAzi helmet.

It's pretty iconic to the WWII German army but the basic design dates back to WWI.

But you do have to give credit to Germans they invented alot of weapons and equipment and That the design is still used today.Heck i watched a video and learned something i did not know that the NAzis basically invented stealth tech.But i still want to find a NAzi ufo model.also does anyone know of where to find a 1/100 or a 1/144 scale Fletttner Helicopter? I need one for my ArdennnessGermans.So they can have Aerial fos. The ones from the Allies just give us a major beating with using their plane to spot for the 155 battery.

Yep, plenty of crazy inventions. Check out the 'Vampyr' basically the grandaddy to modern infrared sights. Just a slight quibble, being a German myself I feel I should point out Nazi is the political party, the 'Nazis' didn't invent anything and the Wehrmacht wasn't the 'Nazi army'. Just as the US Army isn't the 'Democratic army' today.

Link to the 'Vampyr' I'm pretty sure it should pique your interest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zielgerät_1229

MarsNZ wrote:

 col. krazy kenny wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:

 col. krazy kenny wrote:
My Dad who is a Vietnam Vet. Always used to laugh about how the US Army riped off the GErman NAzi helmet.

It's pretty iconic to the WWII German army but the basic design dates back to WWI.

But you do have to give credit to Germans they invented alot of weapons and equipment and That the design is still used today.Heck i watched a video and learned something i did not know that the NAzis basically invented stealth tech.But i still want to find a NAzi ufo model.also does anyone know of where to find a 1/100 or a 1/144 scale Fletttner Helicopter? I need one for my ArdennnessGermans.So they can have Aerial fos. The ones from the Allies just give us a major beating with using their plane to spot for the 155 battery.

Yep, plenty of crazy inventions. Check out the 'Vampyr' basically the grandaddy to modern infrared sights. Just a slight quibble, being a German myself I feel I should point out Nazi is the political party, the 'Nazis' didn't invent anything and the Wehrmacht wasn't the 'Nazi army'. Just as the US Army isn't the 'Democratic army' today.

Link to the 'Vampyr' I'm pretty sure it should pique your interest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zielgerät_1229

Sorry, did not mean to offend,i know the NAzis were a politcal PArty.Me being a American we just use it as slang for the German Army during ww2..I agree with you on the VAmpyr system,I have the PEter pig PAnther with it mounted on it.I use as a TAnk ace that usually has rerolls for his shots.My brother in law when he was in Afganistan said he shot a MG 43 and it was pretty close to the orginal one.It surprised him how much kick the thing had.But he did say that he did enjoy his time that he did spend with German Army out on patrols.Drinking beer and listening to Death Metal while riding around in a APC.alot more fun than being stuck around a A#$hole of a CO. All say for the current state of a our Democratic army.Is dont get me started about are government, CIA ALqaida /Syrian rebels...I had it my way i would let the Soviets level the place.

Hey mate no offense taken! Living in NZ I've had far worse directed my way growing up. Sadly 70 years of peace (and excellent beer, cars, women etc) has done little to remove the old 'chip on the shoulder' the Kiwi's inherited from Britain. PS: Sorry for the derail