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The origins and development of the German Parachute Arm While it had been the Russians who had first conceived the idea and developed the basic techniques for the use of parachute troops as a military weapon, it was the Germans who did much towards perfecting these techniques - raising parachute formations and building them into a formidable fighting machine. The German authorities were swift in grasping the essential concept that troops who were expected to fight in ground actions after parachuting at the end of an operational flight were neither flying infantrymen nor airmen on special duties but a new type of soldier altogether. It was because of this basic understanding as to the role of the paratrooper that the Germans were able to achieve such notable successes in the early years of the war. The origins of the German parachute arm can be traced back to 23rd February 1933. It was on this date that Hermann Goring, in his capacity as Prussian Minister of the Interior, issued the decree founding the Police Detachment 'Wecke' (Polizeiabteilung Wecke), a unit whose main task was to combat and suppress Communist cells in the Berlin area. (See plate 6.) Under the command of Police Major Wecke, it was formed almost exclusively from officers and men drawn from the ranks of the Berlin Protection Police (Berlin Schutzpolizei); one of the main qualifications for a volunteer's selection was his being imbued with National Socialist principles.