Where German casualties from June to December 4th 1941

Discussions on WW2 in Eastern Europe.
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Felix C
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Where German casualties from June to December 4th 1941

#1

Post by Felix C » 16 Feb 2014, 03:43

Considerably beyond German expectations? I recall reading in Brute Strength that the chief of OKH's replacement section indicated there would be manpower issues for 1942 due to the losses suffered in 1941.

If Germany losses were uncommonly high is it due to the enormous scale of the offensive in terms of attacking forces committed? The aggressive tactics used? Stubborn Soviet defense?

Art
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Re: Where German casualties from June to December 4th 1941

#2

Post by Art » 16 Feb 2014, 17:39

By the start of Barbarossa there were some 400 thousands men available as replacements in the German Ersatzheer. They were expended already in the first months and by the end of 1941 German battle losses alone on the Eastern Front exceeded 800 thousands. As Müller-Hillebrand states heavy losses were expected only in the beginning phase of the campaign but they remained on the same level in the following months. The scale of daily losses relative to the size of forces involved didn't exceed those suffered in the West in 1940, the main problem was that this time the campaign didn't end in 40 days.


Carl Schwamberger
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Re: Where German casualties from June to December 4th 1941

#3

Post by Carl Schwamberger » 16 Feb 2014, 18:14

Beyond Hitlers expectations? Not clear to me what the others expectations were. The weekly average of the first six weeks was slightly lower than the weekly average of the May-June campaign of 1940. The overall loss or weekly or monthly average was not out of line with what might have been predicted from prewar calculation, based on other 20th Century campaigns. Since there are few to none remarks about the medical services being overwhelmed by casualties we might guess the intake of wounded was not far above preparations. Perhaps some expert on Wehrmacht medical affairs might be able to address that last more accurately?

As Art wrote, there was a 'hope' the campaign would be over by October and casualties would decline.

steverodgers801
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Re: Where German casualties from June to December 4th 1941

#4

Post by steverodgers801 » 18 Feb 2014, 08:27

The main cause was simply Soviet resistance was far beyond German expectations. A start would be the inability of the infantry units to keep up with the tank units which meant a lot of men were left behind and while many did surrender a lot began fighting. Its not commonly known that the Germans had as much fighting behind the front lines as on the front. A second issue was the lack of reserves meant that units were not able to refit and repair. Tanks units that should have been doing needed repairs were forced to keep fighting even at 30% of what they started with.

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