Who led a paratroop drop into the American rear during the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II
Oberst Freiherr Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte
Title: Battle of the Bulge
Passage: The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II.  It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg, towards the end of World War II.  The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard.  American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war.  The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces, and they were largely unable to replace them.  German personnel and, later, Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) also sustained heavy losses.
Title: Operation Nordwind
Passage: Operation North Wind (German: "Unternehmen Nordwind" ) was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front.  It began on 31 December 1944 in Alsace and Lorraine in northeastern France, and ended on 25 January.
Title: Operation Stösser
Passage: Operation Stösser (English: Operation Auk) was a paratroop drop into the American rear in the High Fens area during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.  Its objective was to take and hold the crossroads at Belle Croix Jalhay N-68 - N-672 until the arrival of the 12th SS Panzer Division.  Both roads were main supply routes, the N-68 Eupen to either Malmedy or Elsenborn and the N-672 Verviers up to Belle-Croix hence up to either Malmedy or Elsenborn.  The operation was led by Oberst Freiherr Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, who was given eight days to prepare the mission.  The majority of the Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) and pilots assigned to the operation were undertrained and inexperienced.  Kampgruppe Von Der Heydte took up a position at Porfays in the forest east of the N-68 and conducted some local skirmishes on small US convoys and made even some POWs.  The mission was a failure.
Operation Stösser Battle of the Bulge