German Jäger & Gebirgsjäger
Jager divisions were formed from existing light infantry divisions and survivors from badly beat up infantry divisions. These divisions were required to serve in areas which had little in the way of roads and contained hills and mountains.
As such their artillery regiments were usually equipped with mountain guns and they also contained a higher proportion of vehicles and better communication systems.
They were not classed as mountain troops because they were not trained as mountaineers. They were issued with only two infantry regiments rather than the three found in a standard infantry division.
Gebirgsjager were elite mountain troops and served under the command of the Heer. Three divisions were formed in 1938 and three more in 1940, another three were added during the course of the war.
Each division had two regiments of Jagers, who were fully trained in mountain warfare. These were supported by a mountain artillery regiment which in some cases was augmented with field artillery.
The Gebirgstruppen fought on every front and took part in every campaign, with special detachments even serving in North Africa.
