Rumanian Army

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Eduard Chivu
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Rumanian Army

#1

Post by Eduard Chivu » 03 May 2003, 23:14

I was wondering if anyone knows how many men served in all in the rumanian army? also how many trucks were there in the rumanian army at it's peak? Finally I would like to know all the types of tanks that were used and how many of them?
eduard

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PanzerKing
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#2

Post by PanzerKing » 03 May 2003, 23:20

Estimates suggest it nearly peaked at 1,000,000 total, of course this does not mean combat troops only, this includes the Navy and Air Force also. I think frontline strength was at 500,000.


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DenesBernad
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Rumanian motor vechicles

#3

Post by DenesBernad » 04 May 2003, 04:35

At the moment of Rumania's about-face of 23 August 1944, there were approx. 60.000 motor vehicles registered in Rumania (43.600 serviceable). Motorcycles are not included in this total number.
Of this number, the Rumanian Army had approx. 16.500 motor vehicles (some 13.600 serviceable).
Many of these vehicles were later on confiscated by the new Ally - the Soviet Union, that is.
Sorry, I have not found (yet) concrete info related to the Eastern Campaign.

Dénes

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Victor
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#4

Post by Victor » 04 May 2003, 07:32

eduard chivu wrote: I was wondering if anyone knows how many men served in all in the rumanian army?
The number of men able to serve in 1941 was 2.2 million.
In the first part of the 1941 campaign (Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina) the 473,103 men were engaged in battle (this figure is for front line troops): 14 divisions and 9 brigades, the ARR and the MRR. Later that year another two divisions and 3 brigades were committed on the front, so you can add an extra 58,000 men. I do not know the number of troops concentrated inside the country (partea sedentara).

In 1942, Romania committed a total of 26 divisions on the Eastern Front (the mountain and cavalry brigades had been upgraded to divisions, as they were about the same size as an Italian division). That would make about 350,000-400,000 as the infantry divisions had been reorganized and not all were at full strength.

In 1943, following the disaster at Stalingrad, only 9 divisions served on the front (in the Kuban and Crimea). With the Navy and airforce, that would make 100,000-150,000 probably.

On 15 August 1944, the Romanian army had 1,150,036 men mobilized, of which 431,735 on the front (this figure does not include the airmen and navy). Before that date the Romanian army suffered at least 20,000 casualties in 1944 (which raises the total number of mobilized men).

Against the Axis, from 24 August onwards, Romania committed 538,536 men on the front.

The Romanian army suffered 794,562 casualties during WWII: 92,620 dead, 333,966 wounded and 357,976 MIA (of these about 130,000 were taken POWs by the Red Army, after Romania had quit the Axis and Romanian forces were engaged in battle in Transylvania :( )
eduard chivu wrote: Finally I would like to know all the types of tanks that were used and how many of them?
http://www.wwii.home.ro/tanc.htm

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#5

Post by daveh » 04 May 2003, 10:49


Eduard Chivu
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#6

Post by Eduard Chivu » 04 May 2003, 21:29

thanks for the great info everyone
eduard

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Andy
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#7

Post by Andy » 06 May 2003, 07:20

Wow! I did not know that Romania played such a big role in the war!

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PanzerKing
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#8

Post by PanzerKing » 06 May 2003, 18:52

Neither do most of the people in the US! Most people think WW2 was the US, Germany and Japan. WW2 education in schools suck here...most kids are led to believe that D-Day was the reason Germany lost the war...

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Victor
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#9

Post by Victor » 06 May 2003, 21:06

Andy wrote:Wow! I did not know that Romania played such a big role in the war!
I believe that for the European theatre, Mark Axworthy put it the best in the title of his book: "Third Axis, Fourth Ally"

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#10

Post by daveh » 07 May 2003, 01:17

The knowledge people have of WW2 in england certainly reflects the areas in which the British and Commonwealth forces fought. Hence the importance given to Africa, Normandy and to a lesser extent Italy and Far East campaigns.

A lot of people are vaguely aware of the soviets fighting in WW2, especially after the popularity of Beevor books on Stalingrad and Berlin. However the efforts and losses of the "minor" nations such as Rumania and Hungary are very rarely mentioned at all. The scale of these countries losses far outweighs proportionally that of the UK or the USA but there is hardly a mention of them and if there is it is often as a reason for the Germans losing at Stalingrad.

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Csaba Becze
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#11

Post by Csaba Becze » 07 May 2003, 11:07

daveh:

I don't want to drive you to despair, but Beevor's book about the Hungarian army is simply useless (as I mentioned here in one another topic :| )

Eduard Chivu
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#12

Post by Eduard Chivu » 11 May 2003, 00:15

i have to agree also. education today about ww2 is based only on england, us, russia and germany. no attention is given to to all the smaller countries that helped out germany or the allies in world war 2.
eduard

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Benoit Douville
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#13

Post by Benoit Douville » 11 May 2003, 04:27

I agree also. Country like Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland and Hungary played a huge part during World War II. Also, the War and what happened in Yugoslavia during that time is almost unknown to a lot of people. The savagery and brutality that took part there is unbelievable, the conflict between the Chetnics and the Ustachas was terrible not to mention that the Jasenovac concentration camp was was the third largest concentration camp in Europe.

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Chadwick
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Romania

#14

Post by Chadwick » 13 May 2003, 04:50

Victor, I stand corrected for my misplaced views on the Romanian Army in WWII. What are some good source books I could use to learn more about Romania's roll in the Second World War. Actually after I got done reading your reply I talked with a relative of mine who served in the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and he informed me many Allied nations as well as some German troops falsely misrepresent Roumania and Italy. My Grandfather's brother strongly believes that the Eastern Front would have fallen much sooner without the support of Germany's brave allies. In fact, my Grandfather's brother felt more secure when either Roumanian or Italian soldiers were on his flank rather than some German units. So please accept my apology for my ignoranance in mis-speaking about the Roumanian Armed Forces.

Chadwick

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Victor
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#15

Post by Victor » 13 May 2003, 05:40

No problem. If you want to know more, Here are some websites you can visit

http://www.wwii.home.ro

http://www.arr.go.ro

http://www.armata.home.ro[/url]

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