Combat statistics

[Karri]

Im looking for combat statisitcs, such as individual battles. What I need to know is the amount of forces and the amount of casualties(for all sides), also some word about the experience of the troops, equipment level and such would be nice.

[Dora]

Karri,
Try the search function here at the Forum. This is a rather popular question and I'm sure has been addressed in the past. Good luck!
Dora

[Globalization41]

Berlin, By Telephone to The New York
Times, By C. Brooks Peters, Sunday, June 29,
1941: Exactly one week after the mighty
National Socialist armed forces began their
"crusade" to eradicate the "bolshevist world
enemy" and to free their rear of a potential
threat while engaged in a death struggle with
archenemy Britain, the German High
Command today reported their successes. ...
In a series of 12 special communiques, all of
which came from the field headquarters of
Adolf Hitler somewhere on the Eastern front,
the German High Command said: ... First,
that strong German tank units and motorized
divisions had reached the Minsk area. D.N.B.,
the official news agency, said strong tank units
had gone beyond Minsk to the highway
connecting that city with Moscow. ... Second,
that two Russian armies totaling 300,000 to
500,000 men are inextricably trapped east of
Bialystok and are faced with imminent
destruction or capitulation. ... Third, that in
addition to vast quantities of war material,
2,233 Russian tanks have been destroyed or
captured. ... Fourth, perhaps the most
important, that the German air force won
superiority in the skies on the first day of the
campaign and destroyed 4,107 planes with the
loss of but 150 German machines. The
importance of air superiority in a particular
theatre has been repeatedly demonstrated since
Sept. 1, 1939 [the date recognized as the start
of the Second World War]. Today the
Germans asserted that when the invasion of
Russia began last week the enemy's air force
was numerically superior to the German units
concentrated on the new front. ... Three
hundred and twenty-two planes are reported to
have been shot down by German pursuit planes
and anti-aircraft artillery last Sunday and 1,480
destroyed on the ground, most of them
probably when the invasion began, bringing the
total first day's bag to 1,811. On the same day
the German losses totaled 35 planes, the
communique declared. ... On Monday further
damage was inflicted on the Soviet air force,
bringing its losses for the first two days to 2,582.
In the remaining five days an additional 1,525
Russian planes were put out of service, making
the week's total 4,107, the report said. ... The
magnitude of this alleged blow upon the Russian
Air Force is indicated by a comparison with the
1940 Western campaign where 2,633 enemy
planes were reported destroyed in 47 days. ...
Forty thousand prisoners were taken in the
week's fighting but the capture of huge forces
was predicted. German losses were said to
have been "held within moderate limits." ...
The operations on land began, according to
the communique, at 3 o'clock last Sunday
morning, when German forces crossed the
Russian border on a "wide front." The
"strong" Soviet border fortifications were in
part pierced on the first day, but as all of
today's special communiques repeatedly
emphasized, the Russians offered and continue
to offer resistance far more stubborn than the
Germans have met in any other campaign since
the war began. ... During the initial stages of
the operations last Sunday the Russians
frequently counter-attacked in attempts to stem
the German drive. These counter-attacks,
apparently carried out with powerful forces, are
said to have been repulsed with great losses for
the enemy. The Germans' communiques indicate
their air force played a major role in stopping
these thrusts. ... In no other campaign in this war
has such official emphasis been so repeatedly
placed on the "furious" counter-attacks attempted
by an enemy as in today's communiques. On
Monday the Russians again engaged in such
"furious" drives, directing them against
advanced forces of the German attacking
columns. The German soldier proved himself
superior again, it was said. All of these enemy
attempts to halt the advance were futile.
However, some of them were repulsed "in
bloody and bitter fighting at close range." ...
On Monday German units, advancing from
East Prussia, stormed and took the fortress of
Grodno, northeast of Bialystok, in the drive
southward to join units advancing northward
from the Brest-Litovsk area to trap the heavy
Russian concentrations in the Bialystok sector.
... It was not until Tuesday that the Germans
succeeded in capturing the citadel of Brest-
Litovsk. For two days, apparently, the
"heaviest artillery weapons" in the German
arsenal rained shells on this fort until it was
ripe for the final storming. ... Since Tuesday
the two German forces in this sector have
joined hands east of Bialystok. They believe
they have trapped two Soviet armies there.
The exact geographical delineations of this
pocket have not been revealed but it is
somewhere on the upper Narew River. ... For
two days the Russians have been endeavoring
to break the ring around them. "In a few days
they will have to capitulate or be destroyed,"
the German communique asserts. ... The exact
strength of the Russian forces caught in this
pocket is unknown. General Paul Hasse,
however, has written that at the time the
invasion began the enemy had 19 infantry
divisions, seven calvary divisions, one Panzer
division, and five Panzer brigades concentrated
in the Bialystok sector. In addition, the
General wrote, around Baranovichi, farther to
the east, the Russians had an additional ten
infantry divisions and two Panzer brigades. ...
On the basis of the Red forces that are
estimated to have been deployed in the
Bialystok sector, the two trapped Russian
armies may number 300,000 to 500,000 men.
... The German tank units and motorized units,
that are reported to have advanced beyond
Minsk and to the highway connecting that city
with Moscow, advanced through the Bialystok
sector, passing the Russian forces there in their
drive. ... South of the Pripet Marshes in the
Lwow sector, which is the door to the Ukraine,
the German pincer movement, similar to that in
the Bialystok sector, has not yet been
accomplished. Today's communique does not
mention Cernauti southeast of Lwow. In
furious attacks, the Germans assert, their
forces captured Russian fortifications of the
strongest and most modern construction west of
Lwow. Lwow has not been taken, but is being
attacked. ... North of Lwow German Tank
divisions have advanced eastward past Luck.
Here, the Germans assert, their air force
contributed to the German advance by
reconnaissance activities and attacks on Russian
reinforcements, "which are ever being brought
up from the hinterlands." ... Battles appear to
be in progress about Dubno, where the
Germans say they captured 215 tanks,
including 42 of the "heaviest," and many
cannon. Although the German advance
appears to have been least successful about
Lwow, the D.N.B. suggests the Soviet lines
there are about to waver. ... The greatest
German successes have been won in the Baltic
sector, according to the official news agency
which says there is no front in this region, the
enemy having been dispersed wherever met
and thrown into confusion by the rapidity with
which the Germans were able to erect a
bridgehead over the Drina River. The German
advance in this sector appears to have flanked
the Russian naval bases of Libau and Riga and
to threaten similarly the third navy base of
Tallin. ... On Tuesday German forces
advancing from East Prussia took Vilna and
Kaunas. On Thursday they reached the Drina
River. ... On Wednesday evening, advanced
motorized German units penetrated the
fortifications about Dvinsk and forced an entry
into that city. In house-to-house and hand-to-
hand fighting that lasted throughout the entire
night, the city was cleaned of Russians and a
bridgehead established over the river. The
Drina has since been crossed, however, at a
number of other places. In this sector, also,
the Russians are credited with having engaged
in strong counter-attacks. ... On Tuesday,
meanwhile, a tank battle on a huge scale began
north of Kaunas. It lasted two days. Several
Russian divisions were said to have been trapped
and destroyed in this engagement. More than
200 enemy tanks, including 29 of the heaviest,
were reported captured in addition to 150 cannon
and hundreds of motor vehicles. ... In endeavoring
to halt the German push, the Russians are said
to have employed a number of tanks so large
as to be countless. Soviet tanks attacked
German divisions, attempting to cut German
lines of communications and break through the
pincers that were about to be closed. ... The
German tanks, assisted by anti-tank and anti-
aircraft batteries and airplanes, are said to have
won superiority over the enemy. In the first
four days of operations, 1,200 Russian tanks
are said to have been destroyed by ground
forces and 97 by air forces. ... In the
operations between Sunday and Friday, 2,233
enemy tanks, including 46 of 52 tons each,
were listed captured or destroyed in addition to
more than 600 cannon taken. The official
news agency declares that all of the destroyed
Soviet tanks have not been counted and that the
counting of enemy equipment captured or
destroyed continues. ... Today's special
announcements made no mention of advances
on the Finnish front. ... In the Eastern Baltic
the German Navy is reported to have badly
damaged the cruiser Maxim Gorky and to have
sunk a destroyer by a mine. German U-boats
are said to have sunk two submarines, and
torpedo speedboats are said to have sunk two
Russian destroyers, one torpedo boat, and one
submarine. ... The attempt of two Russian
destroyers to attack the Rumanian Black Sea
port of Constanta is reported to have been
repulsed by coastal artillery, which blew up
one of the attacking vessels. ... The 12th
communique ended with the following: "It is
likely that Middle Europe was spared an invasion,
the consequences of which cannot be conceived.
The German people truly are duty bound to give
the deepest thanks to their brave soldiers." ...
The 12 special communiques announcing the
advances into Russia were broadcast over a
national hookup at intervals throughout the late
morning and early afternoon. Between the
announcements, military bands played marches.
Wherever one went, radios carried march music
or communiques. This technique was something
new in German propaganda methods.

The New York Times, Sunday, June 29, 1941:
The following instructions have been issued by
the local Selective Service Administration:
Every male person who since the first Selective
Service registration has reached his 21st
birthday by Tuesday, July 1, 1941, and who
has not heretofore registered under the
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940,
must register. ... He must register whether
citizen or alien and regardless of physical
condition. Find out now from the local board
having jurisdiction over the area in which you
live where you must register on Tuesday,
July 1. Ask the policeman on your beat for the
board's location. Time will be saved and
confusion avoided on registration day.

Moscow, Associated Press, The New York
Times, Sunday, June 29, 1941: The Russian
Information Bureau issued the following
communique today: An offensive of tank units
of enemy vanguard columns in the Minsk and
Luck areas was halted by actions of our troops.
Enemy tanks and troops are suffering heavy
losses. ... Fierce fighting is in progress in the
Minsk and Baranovichi areas against enemy
infantry units that strive to join the vanguard
tank columns. ... By stubborn resistance and
counter-attacks in these areas, our troops hold
back the advance of the main body of the
enemy forces, inflicting heavy losses on them.
... Large tank battles are continuing in the
Luck area, where our air force dealt several
devastating blows to enemy tanks. The results
of the battle are being ascertained. ... Along
the entire Soviet-Finnish frontier, the enemy
conducted intensive land reconnoitering,
accompanied by artillery action. All attempts
by enemy scouts to penetrate our territory were
repulsed. ... On other sectors of the front, our
troops firmly hold the frontier. ... A German
Junkers-88 belonging to the 1st flight of the 1st
group of the 54th Air Squadron was flown over
to our side. The air mechanic of this plane,
Corporal Paul Hoffbauer, states in his appeal
to German fliers and soldiers deceived by
Hitler: "Brothers: Turn your bayonets upon
Hitler and fascism. Come over to Soviet
Russia. I am now in Soviet Russia and see that
here German war prisoners are treated well and
humanely. Fliers: Do not bomb peaceful
Russian cities. Fly over in your airplanes to
Soviet Russia and, together with all cultured
people, help exterminate bloody fascism." ...
Many captured German soldiers testified during
examination that they were withdrawn from
garrisons in occupied regions of France and
entrained without being told where they were
being sent. ... Only upon encountering Red
Army men did they understand that war against
Russia had commenced. Prisoners state that
they were driven into battle under the threat of
machine-gun fire from behind.

Helsinki, Finland, Associated Press, The
New York Times, Sunday, June 29, 1941:
Artillery duels shook the Russian-Finnish border
for more than 600 miles today as the northern
front suddenly blazed into action. ... From the
Baltic to the Arctic, Field Marshall Baron
Mannerheim's order of the day, calling on
Finns to follow him in a "holy war" against the
Russians, was the signal for an end of
Finland's passive resistance to the U.S.S.R.
[Finland separated from Russia after Lenin's
Bolsheviks seized power and withdrew Russia
from World War I. ... During the subsequent,
ruthless civil war, the Bolsheviks controlled
Moscow and expanded outward while Lenin
"temporarily" recognized Finland's (and other
eastern European areas') independence,
freeing up forces for the numerous other fronts.]
... Full details of the fighting were not disclosed,
but in declaring that the Finns had taken the
initiative an army spokesman said: "After all,
Finns are not the kind to sit with hands folded
while their land is laid waste and women and
children massacred." ... The distant rumble of
heavy gunfire was heard in the streets of the
capital throughout the day. Occasionally
explosions with a sharper note were heard as
harbor forts fired at targets offshore, where
Russian warships were believed to be on
patrol. Bursts of smoke could be seen out at
sea. ... Helsinki's taste of the day's fighting
was topped off by air-raid alarms, although no
Russian planes reached the city. Defending
fighters patrolled the skies constantly. ... A
government spokesman said that the Finns had
watched the Russians mobilize along the
Finnish border for many weeks, the
concentrations of troops and war materials
proceeding day and night. ... "We saw the
enemy get ready to assault us by land as well
as by air," he said. "We had no choice but to
strike back before we were overwhelmed." ...
He asserted that Finnish protests against
Russian bombings had been answered only by
more and heavier air attacks. ... The Army
reported today that the Russians had been seen
on Saturday destroying industrial works at
Enso, just across the border in territory that
Finland was forced to cede to Russia in March,
1940. ... All the Karelian area that was ceded
has been systematically devastated, the Finns
said. Lookouts at frontier points reported that
they had watched the Russians raze villages
and farm buildings and even set afire great
forests, apparently to keep anything of value
from falling into Finnish hands. ... Shortly
before the outbreak of the German-Russian
war, Finnish watchers said, the Russians were
busy moving machinery and everything else
portable from Hangoe naval base, which
Finland was forced to lease to Russia. Even
window frames and doors were taken down and
carried away, it was stated. [Hangoe is located
at the southwest extreme of Finland, guarding
the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, about 50
miles wide between Finland and Estonia. To
the southeast of Finland is the Karelian Isthmus,
near Leningrad (at the time), more than 250
miles east of the entrance to the Gulf of Finland.
Helsinki is about 50 miles east of Hangoe.]

Stockholm, Sweden, United Press, The New
York Times, Sunday, June 29, 1941: Finland
was reported tonight to be ready for an
immediate attack on the Russian air and naval
base at Hangoe. The Hangoe garrison was
understood to number between 10,000 to
30,000 Russians -- not enough to attempt
offensive operations. ... Press reports said that
all traffic between Helsinki and Asbo, north of
Hangoe, had been canceled as part of
preparations for an attack on the Soviet base.
The Stockholm newspaper Social Demokraten
reported from Helsinki that Finnish
preparations were completed and that the attack
was expected to be carried out by forces
numerically superior to the Russian garrison.
... A dispatch in the newspaper Aftonbladet
from Helsinki reported that the Finns had
started attacks on Russia "on almost all fronts."

Chungking, China, United Press, The New
York Times, Sunday, June 29, 1941: The
counselor of the British Embassy and three
other British nationals, including a woman,
were injured today when 54 Japanese bombing
planes subjected this provisional Chinese
capital to two savage air raids. ... The
American Methodist Hospital suffered direct
hits and additional heavy damage. It already
had been partly wrecked in the series of
Japanese air raids which have caused more
than 2,500 casualties this month. ... The three
main buildings of the British Embassy were
damaged. ... Americans said there were no
casualties at the Methodist Hospital, which was
described as "very badly damaged," however.
... The Japanese planes came over in two
waves of 27 each at 11:20 A.M. and
1:20 P.M., dropping scores of bombs. The
second raid was the eighth of this month and
followed an attack two weeks ago in which
offices of the U.S. Embassy were wrecked.

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[Globalization41]

Berlin, By Telephone to The New York
Times, By C. Brooks Peters, Tuesday, August
19, 1941: A special communique from
Reichsfuehrer Hitler's field headquarters
announced this morning that exemplary
collaboration of German, Rumanian,
Hungarian, and Italian forces had brought "the
entire area west of the Dnieper in our hands."
... At the same time, however, the High
Command bulletin declared that, in addition to
the beleaguered city of Odessa, the Russians
still commanded "a few small bridgeheads" on
the lower reaches of the Dnieper. German
forces were reported to have begun their attack
on Odessa and those "small" bridgeheads
where Soviet forces of unrevealed size were
still offering resistance. ... Informed quarters
suggested that the territory west of the farthest
point of the German advance in this sector still
harbored sizable Russian forces. Furious
battles, comparable with the most bitterly
contested in the entire campaign, it was
indicated, still raged west of the Dnieper, to
which river bank German tank and motorized
units appeared to have advanced at many
points. ... The Germans admit their drive to
the Dnieper has not yet resulted in forcing all
Soviet forces out of the Western Ukraine.
They declare that the German infantry still has
a job ahead of it wiping [out] Russian
resistance before the advance can be
consolidated. ... None the less, German
quarters assert that operations have advanced
sufficiently to indicate that most of the Russian
forces that have not crossed the Dnieper are
doomed. ... The captured city of Nikolaev,
according to reports available in Berlin, was
thoroughly devastated by the Russians before
their capitulation. ... In the battles in the
Southern Ukraine, in addition to statistics on
the Battle of Uman released on Aug. 8, the
Russians, according to official German reports,
are said to have lost 60,000 prisoners, 84
tanks, 530 pieces of artillery, and large
quantities of other materiel. ... In the same
period, in the battle around Kiev and Korosten,
the Soviet is reported to have lost 17,750
prisoners, 142 tanks, 123 cannon, an armored
train, and sizable quantities of other materiel.
... Thus, in the Ukraine sector, according to
German reports, the Russians are alleged to
have lost 190,750 prisoners. Today's
communique asserts that Soviet casualties had
been "most heavy." Informed quarters
declared the number of Russian dead in the
Ukraine had varied from twice to ten times the
number captured.

Berlin, Associated Press, The New York
Times, Wednesday, August 20, 1941: [Late
Tuesday, U.S. time] The vital Black Sea port of
Odessa stood under siege today. Latest
dispatches from the front [reported] the massed
big guns of the German Southern Army
assaulting Russian troops encircled there.
[Meanwhile] the Luftwaffe ranged far over the
sea approaches and the Dnieper River to
prevent escapes. ... A thousand miles to the
north, German divisions that had fought their
way northward on both sides of Lake Peipus
joined forces beyond Narwa for what they
expected to be a final thrust at Leningrad. ...
On the central front, no changes in positions of
German troops driving on Moscow had been
reported. ... There was no mention of the
Ukrainian capital of Kiev, on the west bank of
the Dnieper 290 miles north of Odessa. Kiev
was still in Russian hands, but German troops
have been reported at several points in its
immediate vicinity. ... The Germans appeared
confident that they would be able to keep the
Russians from holding the eastern bank of the
Dnieper. Although there have been heavy
rains in the river's upper reaches, military
observers discounted high water as an obstacle.
... Among the natural advantages favoring the
invaders, German military men said, was the
fact that the western bank of the river, where
the Germans are, is high and steep. The
eastern bank, which the Russians must hold if
the river is to bar the German advance, is so
low that the Germans would be able to cover a
crossing with protective artillery fire. ... ...
London, Special Cable to The New York
Times, Tuesday, August 19, 1941: The
Admiralty announced today that the submarine
Cachelot was overdue and must be considered
lost. The Cachelot was commanded by
Lieutenant H.R.B. Newton. It is believed in
London, from information picked up from
enemy broadcasts, that all members of the crew
were rescued and are prisoners of war. ... ...
The New York Times, Tuesday, August 19,
1941: Rome announced on Aug. 4 that the
Cachelot had been rammed and sunk by an
Italian torpedo boat. Ninety-one persons
aboard were said to have been rescued and
made prisoners. Normally the Cachelot carried
a crew of about 50. ... ... Tokyo, Wireless to
The New York Times, Wednesday, August 20,
1941: [Tuesday, U.S. time] To "meet the
challenge of the situation," the Japanese
Cabinet decided [Tuesday] to put the entire
shipping industry, including ship crews and
ship building, under State control. ...
Effective next month, a special war corporation
is to be established under the national
mobilization law. It will have the authority to
supervise transportation at fixed rates,
requisition ships, draft crews, fix their wages,
and supervise compulsory shipbuilding at fixed
prices. ... ... [The British reported the R.A.F.
shot up German ships and fighters in the
Channel area, swept through Northern France
strafing railway yards, bombed Cologne and
Duisburg, attacked enemy airfields in occupied
territory, and raided Channel ports and other
inland objectives. The British reported 15
aircraft missing. ... The Germans said their
aircraft bombed objectives along the southern
English coast and airports inland. ... In the
Med., the British described an attack by torpedo
planes on an Axis convoy, resulting in "violent
explosions" and sinking several ships. The
British also reported bombing Tripoli, Bengazi,
and areas in Ethiopia. ... Italy announced
Axis air strikes against Tobruk targets included
ports, munition depots, and troop positions and
reported aerial attacks against British vehicles
parked on an oasis near the Egyptian-Libyan
border. The Italians also disclosed details of a
British air raid on Catania, Sicily. ... The
Germans reported their bombers blasting port
facilities, supply centers, and fuel tanks in the
Suez region, leaving numerous fires.]

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