| Tango01 | 24 Nov 2020 4:06 p.m. PST |
Of possible interest?
link
Amicalement
Armand
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Mark 1  | 24 Nov 2020 5:53 p.m. PST |
An interesting set of numbers. Good find, Armand! There are several points of reference that should be perhaps more widely understood by those who profess an interest in WW2. For example it shows that in October and November of 1942, the Germans had 4 divisions in North Africa. That compares with 11 German divisions in Norway, and 7 in South East Europe (ie: the Balkans), not to mention 179 – 181 divisions on the Eastern Front. Gives a bit of a twist on the assertion that El Alamein was a turning point in the war. Looks more like a German economy-of-force effort by those stats. -Mark
(aka: Mk 1) |
| mkenny | 24 Nov 2020 6:02 p.m. PST |
Everyone forgets the Italians. Without abandoning them (by stealing their transport) how would Rommel have been able to bolt back to Tunisia? |
| Garand | 24 Nov 2020 6:30 p.m. PST |
Yes, the operation in N Africa was a sideshow for the Germans, but a big deal for the Western Allies. They were there to prop up the Italians. Still, when Tunisia fell, a significant number of German soldiers marched into captivity, only a few months after the disaster at Stalingrad. Not to mention Kursk a couple months later. 1943 was a catastrophe for the Germans, but not the last catastrophe. Damon. |
| Cuprum2 | 24 Nov 2020 7:00 p.m. PST |
It would be interesting to see the division numbers that include Germany's allies. On the Eastern Front there were whole armies of Romanians, Hungarians, Italians, Finns. Divisions of other allies and various volunteers. |
| Cuprum2 | 25 Nov 2020 4:05 a.m. PST |
It's funny, but I just accidentally stumbled upon information about how many troops of the German allies took part in the attack on the USSR in 1941. 870 thousand people or 42.5 nominal divisions. |
| Narratio | 25 Nov 2020 5:07 a.m. PST |
Of which the majority were Rumanian. Have a look on this rather lovely (for the shear amount of info) website; link That has drop down trees for almost all the WWII militaries. I wish it had been up and available back in the 70's… |
 Legion 4 | 25 Nov 2020 8:57 a.m. PST |
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| Blutarski | 25 Nov 2020 9:00 a.m. PST |
"Everyone forgets the Italians. Without abandoning them (by stealing their transport) how would Rommel have been able to bolt back to Tunisia?" Di Stefani's XX Motorized Corps (Trieste, Arete, Littorio) got out but were ambushed and destroyed during their withdrawal (see Carver, "El Alamein") As organized, the 1942-type Italian infantry divisions (Brescia, etc) never possessed sufficient organic transport to lift the entire division, and that is before the persistent inability of Italian industry to supply sufficient numbers of transport vehicles is taken into account. B |
| Tango01 | 25 Nov 2020 12:58 p.m. PST |
A votre service mon ami! (smile)
Amicalement
Armand
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| mkenny | 25 Nov 2020 1:31 p.m. PST |
There are many accounts that say Italian motor transport was taken from Italian units and it is even mentioned in the memoirs of one of the commanders of 15th Pz Division. Now it may be that not enough transport was available to carry all the Italians back to safety but it is still true that what little there was was taken from them by Rommel in his panic-stricken flight from Egypt. |
| 14th NJ Vol | 25 Nov 2020 7:34 p.m. PST |
Ah,German army stationed in Norway 1941 through May 45. Best front to be in. Bet those 11 divisions could have been a real asset in western France summer of 44. |
| Garand | 25 Nov 2020 7:41 p.m. PST |
I'm not sure 11 more divisions would have made a huge difference in France, especially if they too were trapped in the Fulda Pocket. Damon. |
has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this...
