It is widely known that Hitler started operation Barbarossa in June 1941 by moving almost 3.2 million German soldiers to the eastern front, but this number is completely vague for me and needs some clarification.
Firstly I want to know if those 3.2 million are just the Feldheer excluding the SS and Luftwaffe, or it was all of them included in that number.
Secondly and more importantly is the number of soldiers who ACTUALLY took part or were able to take part in the fight/combat.
I have been reading a discussion made here on this forum about trying to estimate the Tooth-Tail ratio of the Wehrmacht, but it was actually confusing and couldn't get a real conclusion.
As far as I know, those 3.2 million sent to the eastern from by June 1941 shouldn't all be considered a "fighting force" since a large number of personnel are needed in the HQ, quartermaster, signal, medic, ordnance, engineers, transportation and other service and support jobs other than actual fighting.
So my question now is, out of those 3.2 million initially at the eastern front, how many should be considered an actual fighting force able to take part directly in offensive operations against the enemy ?
How many German soldiers took part in fight in Barbarossa ?
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Re: How many German soldiers took part in fight in Barbaross
Impossible to answer,because those needed for jobs other than fighting also took part in the fighting when needed : every one of those 3.2 million received first a basic infantery training .
For the first question,the 3.2 million were army and WSS,LW not included .
For the first question,the 3.2 million were army and WSS,LW not included .
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Re: How many German soldiers took part in fight in Barbaross
Why is it impossible to answer ?ljadw wrote:Impossible to answer,because those needed for jobs other than fighting also took part in the fighting when needed : every one of those 3.2 million received first a basic infantery training .
For the first question,the 3.2 million were army and WSS,LW not included .
Isn't the order of battle and the divisions that took place in the first few months well known ? Can't we just determine the number according to how many soldiers in these divisions are actually counted as combat troops rather than service and support ?
I don't really know if those 3.2 million were all distributed among division and whether or not there were non-divisional units, but I still don't think it is impossible to answer.
Re: How many German soldiers took part in fight in Barbaross
99.9 % when the combat units are worn out they comb the rear units for men to fight till there's no one left to fight.