Nikolaos Theotokis, Airborne Landing to Air Assault (Pen & Sword, 2020)
Jumping out of a slow moving aeroplane and drifting to the ground under enemy fire takes a different kind of mentality, the bravery is a given. Perhaps that is why military history students find the paratroopers so fascinating? Nikolaos Theotokis surveys the history of paratroopers from their origins in World War I through the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan, and their geographical spread across the continents. He stops along the way to narrate specific operations that illustrate this mode of taking the fight to the enemy, usually behind their lines.
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The ‘heyday’ of military paratroopers was World War II with the Germans, British, and Americans to the fore. But many other nations deployed paratroopers; the Poles, Canadians, Japanese, and Soviets might be expected, but Finland, Serbia, Romania, and Peru might not. Similarly, Theotokis narrates the major paratrooper actions of WWII, including Crete, Normandy, and Arnhem, but he also describes lesser known missions, such as those undertaken in the Pacific Theatre. The use of gliders and airborne units deployed on the ground are included in these examples. Along with ‘regular’ paratrooper units, Theotokis adds special ops and parachute use by Airforce personnel, usually from burning planes, and the dangers that entailed.
It is apparent from Theotokis’s survey that while parachute missions declined after WWII, the use of paratroopers in combat did not. Indeed, it would be difficult to think of a post-WWII conflict in which they were not used. Theotokis considers the major actions, such as Suez, French Indochina, and Korea, alongside less familiar actions in, for example, Aden, The Congo, and the Dominican Republic. He explains that part of the reason for the reduction in parachute missions was the increasing use of helicopters to take men into battle, and nowhere was that more evident than in the Vietnam War. Thus, with helicopters, we are fully into the air assault phase of airborne warfare. Theotokis notes, however, that improving transport plane capabilities renewed parachute drops, notably in Afghanistan. He concludes that the days of elite soldiers parachuting into combat are not yet over.
Surveys like this one can often be dry and dusty reads, but by emphasising what paratroopers have accomplished over the bare bones of unit histories, Theotokis has written an engaging and informative book, which is full of wee surprises mixed in with more familiar history. Moreover, there is enough meat in here to make you want more, and Theotokis hits that mark with an excellent bibliography that will have military history students reading happily for quite a while. My only real quibble is the inclusion of peripheral forces such as special ops and an odd chapter on pilots and aircrew, where more room could have been made for combat descriptions or primary source material from regular units. Set that aside, and this is a solid military history of very brave soldiers.
