Questions about Reserve Divisions

[magicdragon]

From information gained from some websites it suggests 17 Divisions were formed in 1st wave Sept-Nov 1942 , a 2nd wave of 4 Reserve Panzer Divisions Apr 1943, a 3rd wave of Reserve Divisions Sept-Nov 1943 and 2 further divisions in late 1943 and late 1944.

Broken down between 21 infantry (141, 143, 151, 153, 154, 189, 147, 148, 156, 158, 159, 165, 171, 187, 191, 182, 173, 174, 166, 160, 172), 2 mountain (157,188) and 5 panzer (155, 178, 179, 273, 233).

I have a few questions:

1. I can find infantry, mountain and panzer reserve divisions - can I presume that there was no panzer grenadier reserve division?
2. Was there an equivalent to reserve divisions for the luftwaffe field/airborne/flak divisions - if there was not an equivalent roughly how many reserve divisions could have been raised from replacements going through their training formations in the same way the Heer achieved?
3. Was there an equivalent to reserve divisions within the SS -if there was not an equivalent roughly how many reserve divisions could have been raised from replacements going through their training formations in the same way the Heer achieved?

What I am trying to do is get an idea if the Germans has taken a common approach how many troops they could have mobilised for garrison duties using the Reserve Division template?

[Dunnigan]

I'll take a quick stab at these. Others can correct or add on as needed.

1) the Panzer grenadier (originally Infantry (Motorized) were converted from Regular Infantry Divisions, hence no reserve PGR or Inf (Mot.) Divs
2) no reserve Luftwaffe divisions. They were all frontline. Only the Fallschirmjager and Herman Goering Panzer Divisions were intended to be dedicated ground combat units. The rest were converted to "regular" frontline ground combat duties.
3) no SS Reserve divisions. I don't get the second part because so much of the Waffen SS was foreign (either Germanic or recruited into the SS). these recruits were formed into new formations. The famous SS units like LAH, Das Reich, etc. had ersatz battalions that received replacements to train and incorporate into the division. The rest of the Wehrmacht operated the same way. The Heer reserve divisions served as whole units and eventually fought as frontline units.

I may not be fully understanding the question.

[magicdragon]

Dunnigan

Thanks for the reply.

While I partly agree about the Luftwaffe Fields Divisions there were a similar number of para divisions to mountain divisions - so technically there must have been a similar number of recruits flushing through their training structures- the mountain divisions had 2 reserve divisions.

In the case of the SS one issue about recruiting from different nationalities is the SS were reluctant to train them in the indigenous countries of the recruits, so basing them in another occupied country would not have been a bad idea?

[CNE503]

1) the Panzer grenadier (originally Infantry (Motorized) were converted from Regular Infantry Divisions, hence no reserve PGR or Inf (Mot.) Divs

What about Division (motorisiert) Nr.233 or 386. Infanterie Division (motorisiert)?

[Dunnigan]

1) the Panzer grenadier (originally Infantry (Motorized) were converted from Regular Infantry Divisions, hence no reserve PGR or Inf (Mot.) Divs

What about Division (motorisiert) Nr.233 or 386. Infanterie Division (motorisiert)?

386. Infanterie Division (mot.) I'm unfamiliar with but looking at the lexikon-der-wehrmacht site it looks like the Nr.233 Div (mot.) was renamed/converted to 233. PG Div then to 233. Pz Div THEN to 233. Reserve-Panzer Division. I don't know if the Nr.233 Div (mot.) was considered reserve at the time of the formation or by its renaming when it was converted to a Panzer Division.