Original Scarce Postwar Signature on a Postwar Photo of Friedrich von der Heydte. Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte (30 March 1907 – 7 July 1994) was a German paratroop officer during World War II who later served in the armed forces of West Germany, achieving the rank of General. Following the war, Heydte pursued academic, political and military career, as a Catholic-conservative professor of political science. In 1962, Heydte was involved in the Spiegel scandal.
Heydte took part in the invasion of Poland and the Battle of France as a junior commander. In May 1940, he was transferred to Luftwaffe’s parachute arm; he commanded a battalion during the Battle of Crete in May 1941. In July 1942 Heydte was sent to Libya as commander of the Fallschirm-Lehrbataillon, part of the Ramcke Parachute Brigade. Heydte was an officer in the Ramcke Brigade in North Africa until February 1943 when he and several other officers were transferred to France to form the nucleus of the new 2nd Fallschirmjäger Division under command of major-general H.B. Ramcke. He was posted as an operations officer in the divisional HQ.
After the fall of Sicily during the summer of 1943, the Germans grew wary of a potential Italian defection to the Allies. To counter this event the 2nd Fallschirmjäger Division was transferred from France to Rome on 6 August. Heydte gained audience with Pope Pius XII and befriended the Pope’s “Throne Assistant”, the Theologian Alois Hudal, who would later become a key person in helping Nazi war criminals evade the courts of justice during the post-war war-crime trials. The division participated in taking Rome under German control as part of the German Operation Achse.
Heydte was given command of a regiment of the 2nd Fallschirmjäger Division in January 1944. By the time of Operation Overlord, the 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment had been detached to the 91st Luftlande Infantry Division. Heydte’s unit took part in the Battle of Carentan, Operation Lüttich, and in fighting against the Allied forces in Operation Market Garden. (Source: Wikipedia)
