The 500th SS-Parachute Battalion (500. SS-Fallschirmjägerbatallion) was the parachute unit of the Waffen-SS. The idea to form a paratrooper unit within the Waffen-SS, allegedly, came from Reichsführer Himmler. The plan was made in September 1943, after the escapade of Otto Skorzeny and the raid on Gran Sasso, during which a group of parachutists had freed the Benito Mussolini(on September 12 Skorzeny took part as a guest in Unternehmen Eiche, a daring glider-based assault on the Campo Imperatore Hotel at Gran Sasso, and rescued Mussolini without firing a single bullet). Considering that the new unit of parachutists had to be employed in dangerous actions beyond the enemy lines, it was decided to extend enlistment to those in the SS disciplinary units which were formed from officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers who had had problems with the military law: an order of the SS-FHA (the SS High Command) fixed a percentage of 50% for the coming from volunteers from Waffen-SS units and the rest for volunteers from the disciplinary unit
Raid on Tito's HQ
The 500th was led by Hauptsturmführer Kurt Rybka during its daring parachute and glider-borne assault on Tito's headquarters outside of Drvar on 25 May 1944. The raid, called Unternehmen 'Rösselsprung', was reported in the 6 June issue of Wehrmachtsbericht. Two companies were dropped directly on Tito's headquarters while the other two were landed by DFS 230 glider. The Operation turned out to be a complete disaster. The first wave of paratroopers, following heavy bombardment by the Luftwaffe, fell in between the area of the cave, Tito's hideout, and the town of Drvar. The paratroopers landed on open ground and many were gunned down by members of the partisan HQ Escort Battalion, a company numbering less than 100 soldiers. The second wave of paratroopers missed their target and landed a few miles out of town. Tito was long gone when the paratroopers captured the cave. Right next to the cave's exit there was a path leading to a railroad where Tito boarded a train that took him to safety to the town of Jajce. Tito had been forewarned and evaded capture while the numerically superior partisan forces drove off the SS paratroopers.
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After the Raid
The survivors were at first sent to Petrovac then later to Ljubljana, where they remained until the end of June. They were then transferred to Gotenhafen (Gdynia), West Prussia to take part in the planned occupation of the Finnish-controlled Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea, but this was cancelled. They were then sent to join III. SS-Panzerkorps at Narva, but were ordered to be flown to Kaunas, Lithuania on 9 July. There they formed a kampfguppe with I./Panzerregiment GD to relieve the trapped German forces at Vilnius. Subsequently they often acted as 3rd Panzer Army's 'fire brigade' in its defense of the Baltic States. By 20 August 1944 they were down to a strength of 90 men[1], but remained in combat for the next several months as the Germans were desperate for any and all combat troops to stave off the Soviet offensives.
The paras were finally relieved in late October and were flown to Deutsch-Wagram, Austria where they were incorporated into the SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 600 after a week's rest.
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