Did you know the last Fallschirmjäger drop happened during the Battle of the Bulge?

The most famous paratroopers of the Battle of the Bulge are that of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division (The Screaming Eagles), who have defended Bastogne along other Allied units. It is less-known, however, that another airborne unit also participated in the battle, and actually made a jump: it was a German unit, and their operation was the last paratrooper drop of the war.
 
The German plans for the battle included two operations to wreak havoc behind Allied lines: Operation Griffin involved soldiers wearing Allied uniforms spreading confusion (The Griffin that didn’t fly); Operation Stösser (“Hawk”) was a paratrooper drop that was supposed to capture an important supply route and hold it until German forces could secure it.

The mission was commanded by seasoned paratrooper Colonel Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, but he was not given nearly enough resources. He was forbidden to use his own battle-hardened unit (so that their troop movements wouldn’t tip off the Allies), and was instead given 800 insufficiently trained men. Another paratrooper outfit was ordered to donate a further 100 of their best soldiers, but they sent their misfits and troublemakers instead. 150 of von der Heydte’s own men defied orders and joined him. All in all, some 1,200 to 1,300 paratroopers were rounded up for the mission. Additionally, many of the pilots had no training on the type of plane they were to fly, and had no experience with night or formation flying, either. Von der Heydte knew the plan had no chance of success, but he couldn’t protest: he was a cousin of Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of the Valkyrie plot against Hitler (Valkyrie), and he was now under close scrutiny.
 
The operation was to launch off on December 16, but the transport planes didn’t show up. They finally took off a day later, but poor navigation scattered the formation, and only around 300 men jumped anywhere near the target zone; some of the others ended up 50 miles (80 km) away, and some, never jumping, returned home in their planes. The thin silver lining for the Germans was that reports of the widely scattered troops led the Allies to believe that there was an entire division’s worth of Fallschirmjäger in the area, and they diverted 5,000 men and 300 tanks to search for them.

Von der Heydte only had ammunition for a single fight. He decided to have his men hide near the point to be captured, and rapidly take it once the German armored forces arrived. Those tanks, however, were held up at the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge. (The Hour of the Battle Babies)
 
Having no supplies or options, von der Heydte withdrew his 300 men toward German lines, using his meager ammunition to attack Allied lines in the rear and allow one-third of his forces to reach safety. He himself, wounded, frostbitten and suffering from pneumonia, surrendered to the Allies. The last Fallschirmjäger jump of the war ended with a whimper.