3150 US AND GERMANS, BIG SET

It is estimated that the German army lost between 3.7 million and 5.3 million soldiers wounded and killed during World War II (1939-1945). Likewise, the number of German prisoners of war can also be estimated in the millions. The German soldier who was captured by the Soviets could not be too sure of his fate. It is estimated that in the period 1941-1945 about 3.5 million soldiers from the Axis countries were captured by the Soviets (about 2.7 million were probably Germans), of which about 1 million died in captivity. It is also worth mentioning that in 1943, as a result of the Battle of Stalingrad, 91,000 Germans were captured by the Soviets, of which only 5,000 returned home in the mid-1950s. It is worth adding that, symbolically, the hunting ace Erich Hartmann, who returned to Germany in 1955, is considered to be the last German prisoner of war remaining in Soviet captivity. On the other hand, however, it should be remembered that in the years 1941-1945, about 5.7 million Red Army soldiers were captured by the German army, of which about 3.3 million died in captivity. The fate of German prisoners of war sent to Allied captivity was different, where they were most often treated humanely and in accordance with international conventions, and the death rate among them was much lower than in Soviet POW camps. However, there were also executions of German prisoners of war, carried out, for example, by French or American soldiers. However, these were - compared to Soviet standards - incidental cases.The first attempts to use airborne units took place in the US armed forces in the early 1930s, but they turned out to be unsuccessful. Only the outbreak of World War II in Europe accelerated the development of this formation in the United States, and the first parachute unit in the history of the US Army was one of the platoons of the 29th Infantry Regiment, which in 1940 underwent appropriate training. One of the most important figures in the development of American airborne units was General William C. Lee, also known as the father of this formation. During World War II, two airborne divisions were formed: 82nd ("All American") and 101st ("Screaming Eagle"). American troops of this type played a huge role in the first days of the operation in Normandy (June 1944), but also fought later as part of Operation Market-Garden (1944) or Varsity (1945).