Commanded by "Generalmajor" Richard Heidrich, the 1st Parachute Division consisted of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Parachute Regiments, with an artillery regiment, tank-destroyer, anti-aircraft, and engineer battalions, and other support units. The division was the successor of the original German airborne force, the 7th Air Division, and was highly experienced. It had spearheaded the German invasion in the west in 1940, and fought in the battles of Greece and Crete, and in the Soviet Union. Withdrawn from the Soviet Union in 1943, the division had already fought against British paratroops during operations in Sicily. However, on 9 September only three combat battalions and the headquarters were in Apulia.