Reports on tank and StuG numbers - a tale of attrition and priorities.




"Attachment to the Gen. Dept. report No. III 012076/44, Tank and StuG allocation."


   Report details the allocation of tanks and SPGs between different different Army Groups on 15.6.1944, from top to bottom left, Army groups are detailed in order : South-Ukraine, North-Ukraine, Middle, North, and other theaters Norway + Denmark, West, South-West and South-East.

   Vehicles are divided into types, from (Panzer)II to VI, or Tigers, and categories:

e. = einsatzbereit - ready-for-action
i. = Instandsetzung - in repair
z. = Zuführung - supplied, or rather allocations.


   It can be clearly seen that at this point in time, Army Group West is clearly favored over every other formation which is, in light of D-day, understandable. Relatively low numbers of the eastern formations, even more glaring considering that this report was made a few days before Operation Bagration. This is largely epxlained by the fact that Ostheer sustained massive losses in the early year and spring of 1944, mostly in the Korsun and Kamenets-Podolsky pockets.  Precise losses are unknown, but the scale of the German Army’s overall equipment losses on all fronts throughout March and April 1944 provides a good indication. In these two months alone, the German Army as a whole lost a staggering 16,618 machine guns, 391 flak and 837 anti-tank guns, 2,329 mortars, 1,354 artillery pieces and rocket launchers, 1,894 tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled anti-tank and artillery pieces, 1,821 armored cars and SPW, and 103,571 motor vehicles of all types in March and April 1944. [1] Replacements were also split in preparation for allied invasion, with tanks and APCs being split between fronts practically at 50/50 ratio, [2] 


   The next report is from 15.12., and while attrition appears only to be moderate, the priority clearly shifted towards the east. Finally, the overall poorer operational readiness compared to June shows the worsening war situation.




[1] Lost in the Mud: The (Nearly) Forgotten Collapse of the German Army in the Western Ukraine, March and April 1944, pg. 222.
[2] Lost in the Mud: The (Nearly) Forgotten Collapse of the German Army in the Western Ukraine, March and April 1944, pg. 223.


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