German troop strength by month by theatre

[Mori]

American strength NW Europe/Britain: 2,588,983*
* Source: Pogue, The Supreme Command, Appendix E, pg. 542-543.

Another useful source for you would be the chart in Ruppenthal's Logistical Support of the Armies, vol II, p. 288 (https://archive.org/details/CMHPub731Lo ... 3/mode/2up). It gives monthly theater strength.

Ruppenthal is the "go to" green books for quantified data. You will also find estimates of losses etc.

[Mori]

I believe the French in NW Europe had at least twice the strength of the Canadians by Nov of 1944, with over 100k more (at least) in Italy, then more still in North Africa (reserves).

French in NW Europe in late 1944 were actually in France proper. There was only a mock HQ left in Italy, I think.

Strength of the French army reaches a peak in November 1944 once all FFI have joined the regular army. From then on, there are very few volunteers, and mobilization of class 1943 in metro France is not called until January 1945, with no significant effect earlier than March or April 1945. Combat losses cannot be replaced, which is one reason why offensive power of the French army is by and large exhausted end of December 1944. De Lattre fails to collapse the Colmar pocket without significant help from US troops in January 1945.

The root cause of the lack of manpower is the ca. 2 millions French PoWs / STO still in custody in Germany.

Strength of 1st French army is ca. 260 000 men (excluding Atlantic pockets, excluding the few troops covering the Alps), of which 30% are FFI and 70% are troops landed in Provence or Normandy.

Note that ca. 20 000 men from central Africa are taken out of the line before winter (so called "whitening"). They were not sent back home because of lack of transport and they ended up waiting in dire conditions in transit camps in south France.

[Senex]

... And number of divisions, which is useful.
Thanks.

[wwilson]

Re: French troops in 1944-45

A lot of them were tied up in internal security assignments. Recently liberated territory needed forces that could ensure some measure of law and order -- quite a few regiments, actually.

As Mori indicated, "whitening" sent many to the south of France. IIRC, some of the African regiments were used to make up the "Far East Colonial Divisions", and the re-forming 3d Armored Division. Plus, there were other regiments present in Corsica and north Africa.

The "main thrust" was the First Army, including the regiments from the FFI that were eventually integrated into the French regular forces.

Cheers

[Mori]

A lot of them were tied up in internal security assignments. Recently liberated territory needed forces that could ensure some measure of law and order -- quite a few regiments, actually.

As Mori indicated, "whitening" sent many to the south of France. IIRC, some of the African regiments were used to make up the "Far East Colonial Divisions", and the re-forming 3d Armored Division. Plus, there were other regiments present in Corsica and north Africa.

Yes, after the "whitening", the idea quickly was to setup an Expeditionary Force towards Indochina. It's another reason for the overall reluctance to allow these personel to go back home. On that topic, the upcoming book by Claire Miot (to be published early next year) will include a full investigation.

I wasn't aware of regiments tied up for security in the overall country. It's weird that army-like forces would be use for police tasks, and for months.

[TheMarcksPlan]

American strength NW Europe/Britain: 2,588,983*
* Source: Pogue, The Supreme Command, Appendix E, pg. 542-543.

Another useful source for you would be the chart in Ruppenthal's Logistical Support of the Armies, vol II, p. 288 (https://archive.org/details/CMHPub731Lo ... 3/mode/2up). It gives monthly theater strength.

Ruppenthal is the "go to" green books for quantified data. You will also find estimates of losses etc.

Great resource. PDF links here:

https://history.army.mil/html/books/007 ... _7-2-1.pdf
https://history.army.mil/html/books/007 ... _7-3-1.pdf

[wwilson]

I wasn't aware of regiments tied up for security in the overall country. It's weird that army-like forces would be use for police tasks, and for months.

Hi Mori,

My verbiage may be a bit broad-brush. IIRC, it was in Vauvillier's work for Osprey (v. 2) that I saw a description of them as principally protecting lines of communication (LoC).

France still had, of course, its police forces for ordinary law and order. There was a lot of black market activity, and no doubt depots and convoys needed security. So I guess some of the tasks of these troops were caught up in that.

Volume VI of GUF is only partially helpful in this case because its detailed documentation is about the FFI units after they became regular units. The description of those units before regularization is unfortunately brief, although one can see in some cases they were designated such-and-such "security battalion" and so forth.

Another task of the non-divisional regiments was that of border security. A number of them secured the frontiers with Switzerland and Spain. Others were along the Italian frontier or in assignments such as the siege of Dunkerque.

Once regularized, I suspect a lot of the troop's time was spent in training and acclimatization to the expectations of the regular army.

BTW, France wasn't the only country with these kind of "LoC" troops. Belgium mobilized a healthy number of "fusilier battalions", the bulk of which were assigned to LoC tasks, and only a few of which accompanied U.S. and British forces into Germany.

So now you have pretty much my complete understanding of the tasks of these units

[Mori]

Thanks, it all makes sense.

Counting these people as regular troops, given their level of training and armament, is probably a bit exagerrated. It's more military police than fighting forces, and I suspect there was a lot of AWOL.

(By the way, I wouldn't trust Vauviller except maybe for elementary descriptions of uniforms or weaponry)

[Senex]

For the French, around the first of November 1944, I found this.

For the French Army, 250,000 men, half African/North African Arabs and half Europeans from North Africa.{1} By the end of October, 60,000 men of the French Forces of the Interior (former partisans) had joined the French 1st Army and 60,000-75,000 FFI were serving in western and southwestern France but not under the command of the French 1st Army.[2] This would make a total of 370,000-385,000 Frenchmen serving as of 1 November 1994.
I believe that the Allies were relying heavily on the FFI to hem in the German forces in the western ports and fortresses (St. Nazaire, Bordeaux estuary, etc.). This made sense. The German forces were too weak to break out and the battle of Brest had shown the Allies that taking the ports would be costly. Why not just let FFI hold them in place?


1. Phillippe Masson, L’homme en Guerre, 1901-2001: de la Marne à Sarajevo. (Paris : Editions du Rocher, 1997), p. 23.
2. Jeffrey C. Clarke and Robert Ross Smith, Riviera to the Rhine, (Washington: Center for Military History, 1993), p. 355

[wwilson]

Hi Senex,

Yes, the bulk of the troops manning the Atlantic and Alpine fronts were units of FFI provenance.

I've only seen some indications of the equipment used by FFI troops with the First Army. Seems like some units were comparatively well off while others had a wide variety of small arms etc. I think in these cases, the proof in the pudding is which of those units were most employed in combat. A couple of them (like the Brigade Alsace Lorraine) were fairly regular participants in combat.

But trying to sort and weigh all of them in terms of combat worth for this sort of count could IMO be difficult.

The other bit about the French Army is that it had at its disposal several regiments that were not subordinated to divisions and which were not of FFI provenance, such as the 9th Zouaves. But, on a theater-wide scale, their totals would not make much difference.

[Hikari]

The last is from Org.Abt. files? NARA roll number please?

Be very careful of those figures. They are for the Feldheer only and are estimated - incorrectly - in a number of places, especially with HG-D. The actual strength of Ob.West (HG-D_ on 1 June 1944 likely totaled 1,440,483 to 1,594,483, not the 823,000 implied by the table. Viz.:

Heer ~ 728,000
SS ~ 75,563
Luftwaffe Fallschirm-Armee ~ 39,476
Luftwaffe Flak-Einheiten, excluding III Flak-Korps (c. 13,000) and RAD-manned battalions (included below) ~ 90,444
Luftwaffe Flieger-Einheiten ~ 120,000
Luftwaffe Boden-Einheiten ~ 150,000-160,000
Kriegesmarine ~ 100,000
OT/RAD/NSKK ~ 70-90,000
HiWi and Ostruppen ~ 67,000

That total also likely excludes some Reserve units of the Ersatzheer based in the west as well as the personnel of the Militärbefehlshaber in Belgian und Nordfrankreich and Militärbefehlshaber Frankreich.

1440483-on OB-west ? glad to hear how those figures calculated.

[Richard Anderson]

The last is from Org.Abt. files? NARA roll number please?

Be very careful of those figures. They are for the Feldheer only and are estimated - incorrectly - in a number of places, especially with HG-D. The actual strength of Ob.West (HG-D_ on 1 June 1944 likely totaled 1,440,483 to 1,594,483, not the 823,000 implied by the table. Viz.:

Heer ~ 728,000
SS ~ 75,563
Luftwaffe Fallschirm-Armee ~ 39,476
Luftwaffe Flak-Einheiten, excluding III Flak-Korps (c. 13,000) and RAD-manned battalions (included below) ~ 90,444
Luftwaffe Flieger-Einheiten ~ 120,000
Luftwaffe Boden-Einheiten ~ 150,000-160,000
Kriegesmarine ~ 100,000
OT/RAD/NSKK ~ 70-90,000
HiWi and Ostruppen ~ 67,000

That total also likely excludes some Reserve units of the Ersatzheer based in the west as well as the personnel of the Militärbefehlshaber in Belgian und Nordfrankreich and Militärbefehlshaber Frankreich.

1440483-on OB-west ? glad to hear how those figures calculated.

By adding together the subtotals...

Seriously, theLuftwaffe Flak, Flieger, and Boden, and Kriegemarine are of necessity estimated as are partially those of the OT/RAD/NSKK. However, those estimates are fairly accurate as shown by other known Ob.West totals from earlier in the year as in MH.

[Senex]

For the info of the board members. I got a copy of Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand. Das Heer 1933-´45: Der Zweifrontenkrieg,
Anlage 43
Kräfteverteilung auf die Kriegsschauplätze im Westen, Südwesten, Südosten und Osten am 13 Oktober 1944
(Gemäß Kriegsgliederung OpAbt.CGenstb dH)

1. Der Westen
Dem HeeresgruppenkommandoD (Oberbelehlshaber West) unterstanden:
a) HGKdo. B und G mit den AOK 1, 7, 15, PrAOK S Fsch AOK 1 (Luftwatte)
b) 20 Gen Kdo. XXV.AK, XXXXVII PzK LVIII PK LXIV, AK LXVI
AK LXVIL AK LXIV.AK. LXXXX AK LXXXL AK. LXXXILAK
LXXXV.AK, LXXXVL AK LXXXVIlL AK, LXXXIX AK, IV. LwFK
IL Psh K, LSS-PLK, L SS-P.K, XIL ss-K XIIL SS-K
Divisionen:
10 Inf. Div.: 48, 85, 89, 159, 188, 198, 275, 338. 416, 462
1 Kampfgruppe von lnfDiv. 84
1 Rest einer InfDiv.: 353
10 Volksgren Div. 12, 16, 19, 36, 183, 246, 256 361,361, 559
1 Rest einer VCD: 553
7 IntDi.(bo): 59, 64, 70., 24S, 711, 716, 719.
3 Kampfgr. von Int Div (bo): 346, 347. 712
2 Reste von IntDiv.(bo): 49, 265.
3 Falls Jg Div, der Luftwaffe: 3, S,6
4 PzDiv.: 9, 11, 21. 116.
4 Kampfgr. von PDiv.: 2, 2. SS, 9 SS, 10. ss-
2 Reste von PDiv: 1. S5-, 12 SS-
3 PzGren Div.: 3, 15, 12. SS
1 fremdl Div. 30. SS-Gren Div. (russ Nr. 1)
Außerdem waren Ersatztruppen vorhanden, die in sechs Divisionen Zusammengefaßt waren und deren Aufrallung zu Infanteriedivisionen möglich war: Div Nr. 172 176, 180, 190, 406, S26

2. Der Südwesten
Dem Heeresgruppenkommando C (0berbefehishaber Sadwest) unterstanden:
a) Armee Ligurien (GenKdo. LXOXXVIL AK) AOK 10, 14
b) 7 Gen Kdo.: XIV. PLK, LL GebK LXXV. AK LXXVL PK LXXXXVIL
AK ( bV) L Fsdh k (Luftwaffe), (ital) Korps Lombardia (end of page 242)

c) 29½ + 1/3 Divisionen:
13 1/3 InfDiv.: 34, 44, 65., 71, 4, 98., 148, 278, 305., 356, 362., 394., 715
3. Regt. der Div. Brandenburg
2 Inf Div. (bo): 232, 237.
1 Lw. Feld-Div.: 2o.
2 Jagerdiv. 42, 114.
2 Geb Div.: 5. 157,
2 FschJag Div, der Luftwaffe: L, 4.
1 PrDiv 26.
3 PzGren.Div.: 29., 90., 16. SS-
1 fremdl. Div.: 162. (turk.) Inf. Div., (ital) SS-Brig. Nr. 1 (in Aufstellung)
2 Divisionen Verbündeter: 3. (ital) Inf.Div., 4. (ital.) Geb Div
Außerdem war noch die 188 Res.Geb Div, vorhanden.

3. Der Südosten
Dem Heeresgruppenkommando F (Oberbelehlshaber Sldost) unterstanden
a) HGtKdo. E, Pz.AOK 2, Armee-Abt. Serbien (Mil.Befh, Südost)
b) 10 Gen. Kdo.: XV.Geb.K, XXL Geb K, XXIL. Geb.K, LXVII.AK. (zb.V), XXXXI. AK (zb.V.), Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Mazedonien, Kommandant Ostägãis, V. SS-Geb.K., IX. SS-Geb K.
187/2 + 4/3 Divisionen:
4 IntDiv.: 22, 181., 297, Sturmdiv. Rhodos, 1. und 2. Regt. der Div. Brandenburg, SS-Polizei-Regt. 5.
1 Inf.Div.(bo): 264.
2 Festungsdiv. 41., 133, Brigaden 938, 809, 966, 967, 968, 1017
1 Lw.Feld.Div.: 11
3 Jägerdiv.: 104., 117., 118.
1 Geb.Div.: 1, SS-Geb.Polizei-Regt. 18
a Pz.Gren.Div.: Gren.Brig.(mot) 92
6 fremd1, Div,: 369, (kroat. Inf Div., 373. (kroat.) Inf Div, 392 (kroat.) Inf.
Div., 7. SS-Geb Div, 13. SS-Geb.Div., 21. SS-Geb Div. (in Aufstellungl.
1. (Kos) Kavalleriediv.
Außerdem war noch das Jäger-Reserve-Regiment 1 vorhanden.

4. Der Osten
Im Osten waren vier Heeresgruppenkommandos eingesetzt:
a) Dem Heeresgruppenkommando Sld waren unterstelit:
1. AOK6, 8, ungar.AOK 2, 3, Bevollmächtigter General der deutschen Wehrmacht in Ungarn.
2 10 Gen Kdo,t IL PzK. IV. PE K. XVIL AK. XXIX. AK. LVIL PrK.
LXXIL AK, (ungar) IL AK, (ungar) VILAK, (ungar) VIl. AK.
(ungar) X. AK
3 20½ Divisionen (davon 2 Kampfgr. 6e ungar. Divisionen):
3 Inf.Div.: 15, 46, 76.
1 Jägerdiv.: 8.
2 Geb.Div.: 3., 4.
2 Kav.Div.: 8, SS-, Kampfgr. 22, SS-
4 PrDiv.t 1, 13, 23, 24.
2 Pr.Gren Div: Kampgr. Feldherrnhalle, 4. ss-Polizej
6½ ungar, Div.; 20, InfDiv, Rest 25. Inf.Div., 1. Kav Div, 1. PzDiv.,
2 PrDiv, 27. lei.Div., 9. Grenzjäger-Brigade (end of page 243)
Außerdem waren vorhanden:
1 Feldausb.Div.: 153.
5½ Div, in Aufstellung: 277. VGD, 326. VGD, 31. SS-Freiw.Gren.Diy
23. SS-Geb.Div., SS-Geb.Brig. (tatar. Nr. 1), 18. SS-Pz.Gren.Diy,
3 ungar. Reservediv.: 8, 12, 23.
4 ungar. Ersatzdiv.: 2, 4., 7, 9., 2. Geb.Ers.Brig.
b) Dem Heeresgruppenkommando A waren unterstellt:
2. 11 Gen Kdo.: XL. AK, XXIV. PzK, XXXXIL. A.K XXXXVIIL. PLK
XXXXIX Geb.K, LVL PzK, LIX. AK., XI. SS-A.K, (ungar.) IIL. AK.
1. AOK 17, Pz.AOK 1, 4, (ungar.) AOK 1
(ungar.) V.A.K, (ungar.) VIL A.K.
3. 33/ Divisionen (davon 1 Kampfgr, ungar. Divisionen):
16 Inf Div,: 68, 72.. 75., 88., 96., 168., 208., 214., 253., 254., 290.. 30O4.
342., 357, 359, 371.
3 Volksgren Div.t 78., 544, 545.
4 Jägerdiv.: 97., 100, 101., 1. Ski-
3 Pz.Div.: 8, 16, 17.
2 PzGren.Div. Kampfqr, 10, 20.
52/2 ungar. Divisionen: 6. Inf.Div., 10. Inf.Div, 13. Inf.Div., 16. Inf Div.
24. Inf.Div., 1. Geb.Brig., 2. Geb.Brig.
Außerdem war eine Feldausb Div. (154.) vorhanden.

c) Dem Heeresgruppenkommando Mitte waren unterstellt:
1. AOK 2, 4, 9, Pz.AOK 3
2. 15 Gen.Kdo.: VI. A.K., VIL. A.K, IX. A.K, XX. A.K, XXIL. AK, XXVI.
AK, XXVIL. AK, XXVIIL. AK, XXXX. Pz.K., XXXXI. Pz.K, XXXXVL.
Pzk., LV.AK, Kav.K, IV. SS-Pz.K., Fsch.Pz.K. „Hermann Göring
3. 48 Divisionen (davon 1 Kampfgr., 1 Rest):
22½ Inf.Div.: 1, 7., 14, 17., 21., 35., 50., 56, 58., 69., 73., 95., 102., 129.
131., 170., 211, 251., 252, 292-, 299., 367., Gren.Brig. 1131
12 Volksgren.Div.: 6., 45., 349, 541., 542., 547., 548., 549., Rest 551.,
558., 561., 562.
2 Jägerdiv.: 5., 28.
2 Sich.Div.: 203., 286., Stab 390.
2/2 Kav.Div.: 3. Brig., 4. Brig.
9 Pz.Div.: 3., 5., 6., 7., 19, Kampfgr. 25., 3. SS-, 5. SS-, Psch.Pz. „Hermann Göring"
1 Pz.Gren.Div.: Großdeutschland
Außerdem waren vorhanden:
1 ungar. Reservediv,: 5.
3 Div. in Aufstellung: 337. VGD, 20. PzDiv. (Wiederaufstellung). Fsch Pz.Gren.Div. „Hermann Göring

d) Dem Heeresqruppenkommando Nord waren unterstellt:
1. AOK 16, 18, Armeeabt. Grasser (Gen.Kdo. LIV. AK)
2. 10 Gen Kdo. L.AK, IL. A.K., X.AK. XXXVIIL. AK, XXXIX.PZh
XXXXIIL. AK. LAK. IIL. SS-Pz.K VI SS-Freiw K. Gruppe General Kleffel (Stab 285. Sich Div) (end of page 244)

Außerdem waren vorhanden:
1 Feldausb.Div.: 153.
Sl Div, in Aufstellung: 277. VGD, 326. VGD, 31. SS-Freiw.Gren.Diy
23. SS-Geb.Div., SS-Geb.Brig. (tatar. Nr. 1), 18. SS-Pz.Gren.Diy,
3 ungar. Reservediv.: 8, 12, 23.
4 ungar. Ersatzdiv.: 2, 4., 7, 9., 2. Geb.Ers.Brig.
b) Dem Heeresgruppenkommando A waren unterstellt:
2. 11 Gen Kdo.: XL. AK, XXIV. PzK, XXXXIL. A.K XXXXVIIL. PLK
XXXXIX Geb.K, LVL PzK, LIX. AK., XI. SS-A.K, (ungar.) IIL. AK.
1. AOK 17, Pz.AOK 1, 4, (ungar.) AOK 1
(ungar.) V.A.K, (ungar.) VIL A.K.
3. 33/ Divisionen (davon 1 Kampfgr,
ungar. Divisionen):
16 Inf Div,: 68, 72.. 75., 88., 96., 168., 208., 214., 253., 254., 290.. 30O4.
342., 357, 359, 371.
3 Volksgren Div.t 78., 544, 545.
4 Jägerdiv.: 97., 100, 101., 1. Ski-
3 Pz.Div.: 8, 16, 17.
2 PzGren.Div. Kampfqr, 10, 20.
S ungar. Divisionen: 6. Inf.Div., 10. Inf.Div, 13. Inf.Div., 16. Inf Div.
24. Inf.Div., 1. Geb.Brig., 2. Geb.Brig.
Außerdem war eine Feldausb Div. (154.) vorhanden.
c) Dem Heeresgruppenkommando Mitte waren unterstellt:
1. AOK 2, 4, 9, Pz.AOK 3
2. 15 Gen.Kdo.: VI. A.K., VIL. A.K, IX. A.K, XX. A.K, XXIL. AK, XXVI.
AK, XXVIL. AK, XXVIIL. AK, XXXX. Pz.K., XXXXI. Pz.K, XXXXVL.
Pzk., LV.AK, Kav.K, IV. SS-Pz.K., Fsch.Pz.K. „Hermann Göring
3. 48 3/2 Divisionen (davon 1 Kampfgr., 1 Rest):
22½ Inf.Div.: 1, 7., 14, 17., 21., 35., 50., 56, 58., 69., 73., 95., 102., 129.
131., 170., 211, 251., 252, 292-, 299., 367., Gren.Brig. 1131
12 Volksgren.Div.: 6., 45., 349, 541., 542., 547., 548., 549., Rest 551.,
558., 561., 562.
2 Jägerdiv.: 5., 28.
2 Sich.Div.: 203., 286., Stab 390.
Kav.Div.: 3. Brig., 4. Brig.
9 Pz.Div.: 3., 5., 6., 7., 19,, Kamplgr. 25., 3. SS-, 5. SS-, Psch.Pz.
„Hermann Göring"
1 Pz.Gren.Div.: Großdeutschland
Außerdem waren vorhanden:
1 ungar. Reservediv,: 5.
3 Div. in Aufstellung: 337. VGD, 20. PzDiv. (Wiederaufstellung).
Fsch Pz.Gren.Div. „Hermann Göring
d) Dem Heeresgruppenkommando Nord waren unterstellt:
1. AOK 16, 18, Armeeabt. Grasser (Gen.Kdo. LIV. AK)
2. 10 Gen Kdo. L.AK, IL. A.K., X.AK. XXXVIIL. AK, XXXIX.PZ.K
XXXXIII. AK. I AK. III. SS-Pz.K VI SS-Freiw K. Gruppe General
Kleffel (Stab 285. Sich Div) (start of page 245)

3. 37½ Divisionen (davon 2 Kampfgr., 1 Rest):
24 Inf.Div.: 11., 23., Kampfgr. 24., 30., 32., 61., 81., 83., 87., 93., 121.
122., 126., 132., 201., 205., Kampfgr. 215., 218., 225., 227., 263., 290.,
329., Div.Stab (z.b.V) 300
2 Volksgren.Div.: 31., 563.
2 Lw.Feld-Div.: 12., 21.
3 Sich.Div.: 207., 281., Rest 390., Stab 52.
3 Pz.Div.: 4., 12., 14.
1 Pz.Gren.Div.: 11. SS-, 4. SS-Pz.Gren.Brig.
2 fremdl. Div.: 19. SS-Gren., 20. SS-Gren.
Außerdem war eine Feldausb.Div. (.Nord") vorhanden.

Insgesamt waren im Osten
127 4/2 deutsche Divisionen und
11 3/2 ungarische Divisionen
eingesetzt, ohne Feldausb., Reserve-, Ersatzdivisionen und in Aufstellung befindliche Divisionen mitzurechnen.


Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand. Das Heer 1933-´45: Der Zweifrontenkrieg, (Frankfurt-am-Main: E. S. Mittler, 1969), 243-245.