Who led a paratroop drop into the American rear during the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II
Operation Stösser Operation Stösser (English: Operation Auk) was a paratroop drop into the American rear in the High Fens area during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Its objective was to take and hold the crossroads at Belle Croix Jalhay N-68 - N-672 until the arrival of the 12th SS Panzer Division. Both roads were main supply routes, the N-68 Eupen to either Malmedy or Elsenborn and the N-672 Verviers up to Belle-Croix hence up to either Malmedy or Elsenborn. The operation was led by Oberst Freiherr Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, who was given eight days to prepare the mission. The majority of the Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) and pilots assigned to the operation were undertrained and inexperienced. Kampgruppe Von Der Heydte took up a position at Porfays in the forest east of the N-68 and conducted some local skirmishes on small US convoys and made even some POWs. The mission was a failure.
Second Battle of the Aisne The Second Battle of the Aisne (French: "Bataille du Chemin des Dames" or "Seconde bataille de l'Aisne" , 16 April – mid-May 1917) was the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, a Franco-British attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the German armies in France. The strategy was to conduct sequenced offensives from north to south, by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and several French army groups. General Robert Nivelle planned the offensive in December 1916, after he replaced Joseph Joffre as Commander-in-Chief of the French Army. The objective of the attack on the Aisne was to capture the prominent 80 km , east–west ridge of the Chemin des Dames, 110 km north-east of Paris, and then attack northwards to capture the city of Laon. When the French armies met the British advancing from the Arras front, the Germans would be pursued towards Belgium and the German frontier. The offensive began on 9 April, when the British attacked at the Battle of Arras. On 16 April, the "Groupe d'armées de Reserve" (GAR) attacked the Chemin des Dames and the next day, the Fourth Army of "Groupe d'armées de Centre" (GAC), near Reims to the south-east, began the Battle of the Hills.