The 1st Parachute Division was originally formed in 1938, when it was designated as the 7th Air Division.

 The 1st Parachute Division was originally formed in 1938, when it was designated as the 7th Air Division.

 It carried out airborne operations in the early stages of the war, including the successful capture of Fort Eben-Emael in Belgium. 

It later fought in the Battle of Crete but its heavy losses there saw Hitler refuse to consider using his troops in a significant airborne role again. 

It became the 1st Parachute Division in 1942, when it was reformed in Russia. 

The division existed as a fighting unit until the German surrender in Italy of 2 May 1945, one week before the end of World War II in Europe. 

The 2nd Parachute Division was formed in France under the command of Generalleutnant Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke in early 1943, based on the 2nd Parachute Brigade that had fought in North Africa.

 Sent to Rome as part of the occupation force when the Italian government began to reconsider its war effort, it later fought in the Ukraine and in western France. 

The majority of the division was cut off and surrounded in Brest during the German retreat from France, resulting in the Battle for Brest, that lasted until September 1944. 

A new 2nd Parachute Division was formed in November 1944 and the following year was involved in fighting in Arnhem, during the Rhine crossings and in the Ruhr Pocket with Army Group B.