Number of German divisions by front in World War II
- Details
- Published: 25 January 2011 25 January 2011
- Last Updated: 19 April 2015 19 April 2015
by Ron Klages & John Mulholland
The following accounting of German divisions by month from September 1939 to May 1945 by front was compiled from the works of Georg Tessin in his epic accounting of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS titled: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945. In the 19 volumes that comprise this work each division has listed a monthly assignment showing higher attachments during the war. This summarized listing was obtained by compiling all of the divisional listing as reported in the Tessin work. I should also point out that each division might have a different report date for each month and this will mean that a division located on the Eastern front at the beginning of the month might not be located on that front at the end of the month. This list was prepared to provide a quick reference to determine the relative comparisons by front of the numbers of divisions assigned throughout the war. I should also note that the column titled ‘Germany’ actually means home and as such this could represent all non-combatant regions of the war such as that area known as the “General Government” or Denmark. Finally, divisions established in the latter months of the conflict are only included if Tessin showed a higher assignment existing for the division.
Month | Germany | Eastern | Western | Norway | Finland | South-Eastern | Africa | Italy |
Sep 1939 | 3 | 60 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Oct 1939 | 41 | 8 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nov 1939 | 44 | 10 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dec 1939 | 31 | 10 | 98 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1940 | ||||||||
Jan 1940 | 31 | 10 | 101 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Feb 1940 | 46 | 10 | 98 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mar 1940 | 46 | 17 | 99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Apr 1940 | 40 | 18 | 100 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
May 1940 | 29 | 15 | 114 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jun 1940 | 11 | 7 | 142 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jul 1940 | 33 | 16 | 111 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Aug 1940 | 43 | 16 | 101 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sep 1940 | 27 | 30 | 89 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Oct 1940 | 51 | 30 | 74 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Nov 1940 | 69 | 31 | 74 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Dec 1940 | 78 | 32 | 72 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
1941 | ||||||||
Jan 1941 | 78 | 28 | 67 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Feb 1941 | 79 | 29 | 66 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Mar 1941 | 72 | 33 | 64 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 |
Apr 1941 | 62 | 46 | 53 | 7 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 0 |
May 1941 | 64 | 64 | 46 | 7 | 2 | 24 | 2 | 0 |
Jun 1941 | 38 | 93 | 51 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
Jul 1941 | 4 | 145 | 40 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
Aug 1941 | 4 | 145 | 40 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
Sep 1941 | 1 | 146 | 43 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
Oct 1941 | 0 | 149 | 40 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
Nov 1941 | 3 | 147 | 40 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
Dec 1941 | 6 | 146 | 42 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
1942 | ||||||||
Jan 1942 | 8 | 155 | 36 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
Feb 1942 | 7 | 164 | 32 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
Mar 1942 | 8 | 167 | 32 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
Apr 1942 | 3 | 172 | 32 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
May 1942 | 2 | 170 | 34 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
Jun 1942 | 2 | 180 | 27 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
Jul 1942 | 5 | 179 | 29 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
Aug 1942 | 3 | 176 | 36 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
Sep 1942 | 9 | 178 | 37 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
Oct 1942 | 12 | 179 | 41 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
Nov 1942 | 16 | 181 | 45 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
Dec 1942 | 11 | 184 | 45 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
1943 | ||||||||
Jan 1943 | 3 | 191 | 48 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
Feb 1943 | 1 | 195 | 49 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 0 |
Mar 1943 | 2 | 185 | 44 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 0 |
Apr 1943 | 2 | 184 | 54 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 0 |
May 1943 | 3 | 185 | 56 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 2 |
Jun 1943 | 5 | 187 | 53 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 4 |
Jul 1943 | 6 | 188 | 52 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 6 |
Aug 1943 | 5 | 189 | 46 | 13 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 14 |
Sep 1943 | 2 | 188 | 51 | 13 | 7 | 19 | 0 | 16 |
Oct 1943 | 3 | 186 | 52 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 18 |
Nov 1943 | 4 | 177 | 53 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 0 | 23 |
Dec 1943 | 6 | 176 | 52 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 0 | 20 |
1944 | ||||||||
Jan 1944 | 7 | 166 | 54 | 13 | 7 | 25 | 0 | 21 |
Feb 1944 | 6 | 163 | 60 | 13 | 7 | 23 | 0 | 22 |
Mar 1944 | 6 | 160 | 63 | 13 | 7 | 23 | 0 | 22 |
Apr 1944 | 2 | 163 | 60 | 12 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 23 |
May 1944 | 1 | 160 | 63 | 12 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 23 |
Jun 1944 | 7 | 150 | 66 | 12 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 27 |
Jul 1944 | 19 | 124 | 69 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 27 |
Aug 1944 | 2 | 130 | 72 | 10 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 29 |
Sep 1944 | 2 | 127 | 64 | 11 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 25 |
Oct 1944 | 1 | 134 | 67 | 11 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 25 |
Nov 1944 | 2 | 133 | 70 | 18 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 26 |
Dec 1944 | 2 | 135 | 76 | 17 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 25 |
1945 | ||||||||
Jan 1945 | 3 | 146 | 79 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 28 |
Feb 1945 | 3 | 173 | 68 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 27 |
Mar 1945 | 3 | 173 | 72 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 26 |
Apr 1945 | 0 | 163 | 67 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 23 |
May 1945 | 0 | 78 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 |
Note: The information shown in the above chart was gratefully supplied through research done by Ron Klages. Any errors or typos are those of this writer - John Mulholland.