A distant cousin of mine on my grandmothers’s side was Kurt Student. Somehow there was communication between them even during the war leastwise I’m led to believe. Love to see those letters. When another cousin was shot down during a bombing run over the German border There was so far my understanding was a effort to contact him to see if he would get better treatment.
However it wasn’t needed he made his way back to France through the underground and back to England. He was awarded the DFC..He told of an episode while there which was later depicted in a movie. While sitting in an outdoor cafe was told to move. As the Partisans ambushed some Germans.
Student was tried in Hamburg for war crimes but was set free or received a light sentence. He was for a time Chief of the General Staff planned the invasion of Poland and was noted for the drop on a Belgian strong point. Both he and I were “troopers” so I guess that runs in the family.
Interesting story. The attack on Crete is still framed as some strange species of victory by the losers (UK); I’ve always thought it odd that Hitler forbade further large scale paratrooper assaults after that one, since on the eastern front he shrugged off losses, saying they were just “paying the butcher’s bill”.