Editing Luftwaffe (section)

==Luftwaffe ground forces==
The Luftwaffe was unusual among contemporary independent air forces in possessing an organic [[paratrooper]] force called {{Lang|de|[[Fallschirmjäger]]}}. Established in 1938, they were deployed in parachute operations in 1940 and 1941 and participated in the [[Battle of Fort Ében-Émael|Battle of Fort Eben-Emael]] and the [[Battle for The Hague]] (alongside the German Army's 22nd Air Landing Division) in May 1940, and en masse during the [[Battle of Crete]] in May 1941. However, more than 4,000 {{Lang|de|Fallschirmjäger}} were killed during the Crete operation.<ref>{{harvnb|Mayer|Taylor|1974|p=95}}</ref> The associated losses of aircraft and the belief that paratroops no longer enjoyed the advantage of surprise led to reduction in airborne operations. Afterwards, although continuing to be trained in parachute delivery, paratroopers were only used in a parachute role for smaller-scale operations, such as [[Gran Sasso raid|the rescue of Benito Mussolini in 1943]]. {{Lang|de|Fallschirmjäger}} formations were mainly used as [[light infantry]] in all theatres of the war. Their losses up to February 1945 were 22,041 killed, 57,594 wounded and 44,785 missing.<ref name="Hahn, Fritz 1945"/>

During 1942 surplus Luftwaffe personnel was used to form [[Luftwaffe Field Divisions]], standard infantry divisions that were used chiefly as [[Bandenbekämpfung|rear echelon units]] to free up front line troops. From 1943, the Luftwaffe also had an armoured division called [[1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring|''Fallschirm-Panzer'' Division 1 Hermann Göring]], which was expanded to a {{lang|de|[[Panzer corps|Panzerkorps]]}} in 1944.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williamson |first=Gordon  |title=The Hermann Göring division |date=2003 |others=illustrated by Stephen Andrew |isbn=1-84176-406-X |location=Oxford |publisher=Osprey |series =Men At Arms No. 385 |oclc=59364241}}{{page needed|date=July 2023}}</ref>

Ground support and combat units from the {{lang|de|[[Reich Labour Service|Reichsarbeitsdienst]]}} (RAD), the {{lang|de|[[Luftschutzpolizei]]}} (LSP), the National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK), and the [[National Socialist Motor Corps]] (NSKK) were also put at the Luftwaffe's disposal during the war. In 1942 56 RAD companies served with the Luftwaffe in the West as airfield construction troops. In 1943 420 RAD companies were trained as crews of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) and posted to existing Luftwaffe AAA battalions in the homeland. At the end of the war, these units were also fighting Allied tanks. Beginning in 1939 with a transport regiment, the NSKK had in 1942 a complete division-sized transportation unit serving the Luftwaffe, the {{lang|de|NSKK Transportgruppe Luftwaffe}} serving in France and at the Eastern front. The overwhelming number of its 12,000 members were Belgian, Dutch, and French collaborators.{{sfn|Nigel|Caballero Jurado|1992|pp=4, 13}}