I've been reading up on the topic of special forces operations, and it seems to me that the Nazis never used "special forces" as we know them now. The SS were not commandos as such, and did not operate clandestinly, or teach/work with guerilla soldiers.

It is interesting that the British/French/Australian/Americans all had commandos, the SAS, OSS, SOE etc etc etc, and they cultivated guerilla warfare to aid their cause, but the Nazis didn't use this effective weapon.
We know that the Brits developed commandos because they knew they couldn't face the German army toe to toe in regular combat alone. They needed an edge. Why didn't the Nazis, when they had seen how effective they were.

Not to say the Nazis didn't have daring, commando style raids, but they were soldiers from regular units, trained for the job, then returned to their units once the job was done.

Anybody have any thoughts on the issue of special forces and why the Nazis never used the system.

Originally Posted by AussieNick

I've been reading up on the topic of special forces operations, and it seems to me that the Nazis never used "special forces" as we know them now.

The Nazis did in fact have special forces, they were the famous 'Brandenburg' units
see here for some info
http://www.thehistorynet.com/wwii/bl...burgcommandos/

Also the fallschirmjaeger (paratroopers) were considered "special".

iv just finished reading a book on the SAS and sf units and operations and there was a rather spectacular entry where Otto Skorzeny lead a mixture of Waffen SS and parachute troops on an incursion to free Musolini from Allied Forces, in the mountains north of Rome.
its is an awesome story, the odds were strongly against them but, with the element of suprise they succeded. aparently Otto was a firm believer in SF units and thier capabilities

Originally Posted by Locke

iv just finished reading a book on the SAS and sf units and operations and there was a rather spectacular entry where Otto Skorzeny lead a mixture of Waffen SS and parachute troops on an incursion to free Musolini from Allied Forces, in the mountains north of Rome.
its is an awesome story, the odds were strongly against them but, with the element of suprise they succeded. aparently Otto was a firm believer in SF units and thier capabilities

Yes, Otto Skorzeny was the Chief of Germany's Special Troops and a brilliant, daring commando leader. His mission to rescue Mussolini from Gran Sasso made him famous the world over, as documented in the book Commando Extraordinary by Charles Foley. A great read if you can get your hands on a copy.

I'm not sure if the nazis had SOFs as such, but they did have units that were special operations capable, like their paratroopers

The Nazi's mostly had elite units rather then dedicated Special Forces units to my opinion. There paratroopers or "fallschirmjaeger" units being one of them. The SS "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" is also one of them. These where personal bodyguards of Hitler and guarded his little paradise on top of the Obersalzberg, known as The Berghof.
The infamous unit known as kampfgruppe Peiper (which saw action during the Ardenne offensive in '44 together with Skorenzy), named after its commander Joachim Peiper could be considered "special." And ofcourse some "Schwere" SS Panzer regiments.

Question remains ofcourse if the germans considered certain units elite because of there outstanding fighting capabilities or because the troops that made up the unit where considered elite because they where "true" Arians or possibly a combination of both?

how about nachtiagers?waffen SS?falchimager?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Skorzeny - an amazing man by the looks of it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburger_Regiment

Actually Special Operations was Hitler's ideal of a combat operation. Low tech and highly effective.