Among Germany's most elite soldiers, the Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) earned a reputation for bravery in the fighting in Scandinavia, the taking of the Belgian fortress Eden-Emal in May 1940, and the Battle for Crete just a year later. Here Francois Cochet covers the early years of the paratroop units before the beginning of the war until the height of their successes in 1941, after which they were more often deployed in a more traditional way.