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December 10, the 6th Panzer Armee is informed that another operation that« Grief »is designed to facilitate its advance. It is the « Stösser » operation, which considers a dropping of parachutists as of the morning of the opening behind the Allies lines.
To control the operation, one calls upon Oberst Friedrich Von der Heydte, a veteran of Fallshirm-Jäger (German Airborne). This one must form a fighting group of approximately 800 men. If one does not allow him to use his own regiment (6th), it is in order not to endanger the secrecy of the operation by moving a whole regiment. Thus each regiment of II. Fallschirmkorps must send a hundred men to him. On the other hand, one allows him to choose his officers and commanders of company.
The morning of December 11, the chief D ' staff of the 6th Panzer Armée specifies him what one awaits from him:
« The first day of the offensive, the 6th Panzer Armée will seize Liege, or the bridges on the Meuse in the South of the city. At dawn of this same day, Kampfgruppe will be released with the top of the « Baraque Michel » in the North of Malmédy; it will seize the crossroads of the Baraque Michel and will wait before guards of the 6th Panzer Armée. A small history tells that at the time of the interview between Von Der Heydte and Dietrich, the first request if it can take along carrier pigeons in the event of radio operator problems. The second answers him that it directs his Panzer-Army without pigeons well, and that consequently, Von Der Heydte does not need pigeons to carry out its Kampfgruppe.
For Von Der Heydte, the problems will accumulate at intervals of hell. Initially, the majority of the men who are sent to him are certainly the worse elements of each regiment. Then, and even if it can count on 67 Junker Ju 52 for the dropping, it notes that the lack of crew and pilot training is more than alarming this stage, it estimates its chances of success at more or less 10 %.
In the morning of December 15, he receives a command indicating that parachuting is planned for the following day between 4H30 and 5H00 of the morning.
In the night, part of the trucks which must bring Kampfgruppe at the aerodromes does not arrive. At four hour of the morning, a half only of the paras left their base. The operation must be pushed back. At that moment, Von Der Heydte believes they simply cancelled operation, and whereas he takes a little rest in after midday, it is announced to him that the advance of the 6th Panzer Armee did not give the expected results and that« Stösser »will take place the following day with the dropping on the Baraque Michel.
The paras are then gathered towards 23H00 for their loading. This moment, the forecasts weather announce gusts of more than 6 m/s with the top of the area of dropping. The real figures will be certainly even higher.
This high speed of wind had disastrous consequences. Such as for example, the pilots who miss experiment do not fly at the speed envisaged, but also the chiefs of jump made jump the paras at the hour envisaged without worrying to be well with the top of the area of dropping. Approximately 200 men thus found themselves to 50 km of their area envisaged of landing in the neighbourhoods of Bonn. Certain planes were even lost.
Finally, on the 870 men who took off, approximately 450 are found around the area envisaged.
About 5H00 A.M., they are 25 in order to go, and at 8H00, they are 150. In the evening, an important group joined the GTM Group Der Heydte. They are now 300, but the most important thing for Kampfgruppe is the loss of all the stations of radio-transmitters.
December 19, two men succeeded in joining the German lines and thus give news of Kampfgruppe. This 19 December, some fixings take place with the GI' S and Von Der Heydte decides to move away from its initial objective. As each para has only one thin ration of survival of 24H00, he decides to give up the project and tries to join his lines.
December 20, he disperses the group in small units charged to join the backs.
December 21 in the morning, Von Der Heydte arrives in the area of Monchau where he hides.
December 22, he is made prisoner by the Americans. he had jumped with a broken arm. The cold had him cold the feet, he had a hunger of several days and had taken refuge in a still occupied house from where he sent his surrender message to the Americans.
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