German Unit Strength Definitions

The German Army used several different terms for reporting the strength of units. These were used both to determine the theoretical strength of a fully-manned unit and to report on the actual strength of field units. As Germany's manpower situation deteriorated, the definitions and reporting standards also became more elaborate. To understand German strength reports, and thereby the actual strength of a German Army unit in the field, it is important to know what these different terms mean.

General Terms

Throughout the war, three general terms were used when reporting on both personnel and equipment:

• Soll (authorized) or Sollstärke (authorized strength)
• Ist (actual) or Iststärke (actual strength)
• Fehl (missing) or Fehlstellen (unfilled positions)

Soll (authorized)

Soll (should be; target) is the authorized strength. When referring to personnel this number was was specified in the Kriegsstärkenachweisung (table of organization).

Ist (actual)

Ist (is) is the actual strength at the time of reporting.

Fehl (missing)

Fehl (failure; shortfall) is the difference between the Soll (authorized) and Ist (actual) numbers.

If the actual strength was greater than the authorized strength, it would be referred to at über Soll (in excess of authorized strength). Depending on the level of detail in a report, such a situation could be both for a unit as a whole, or for only specific categories. For example, a unit could have an excess of officers but a shortfall of non-commissioned officers. If the numbers were later to be summarized for higher-level reporting, only the overall net difference would be reported.

Early-War Definitions

At the beginning of the war, units were required to submit a strength report on the 1st, 11th, and 21th of every month.1 This report used two categories:

• Gefechtsstärke (battle strength)
• Verpflegungsstärke (ration strength)

Both categories were further divided into five classes:

• Officers
• Civil servants
• Non-commissioned officers
• Enlisted
• Horses

Gefechtsstärke (battle strength)

The template used for reporting defined the term to not include:

• Regimental-level staffs and above
• Medical personnel
• Stretcher bearers
• Baggage train personnel

Verpflegungsstärke (ration strength)

This included both personnel and horses of the German armed forces that were subordinated to the unit at the day of reporting. This included both those on vacation and those for whom the unit was otherwise financially responsible for supporting.

Mid-War Definitions

In a 13 October 1942 order, the German High Command issued an order to standardize the terms used by units to report their strength.2 The stated goal of these definitions was to give the higher command units an overview of the combat strength of their units. The two terms described above, Gefechtsstärke (battle strength) and Verpflegungsstärke (ration strength), were clarified. In addition, the Iststärke (actual strength) was to be reported as before.

The order contains a note to discontinue the use of other terms, such as Kampfstärke (fighting strength), Grabenstärke (trench strength), and Einsatzstärke (mission strength).

Gefechtsstärke (battle strength)

The Gefechtsstärke was described in the order as those in a unit who were directly involved in combat and those immediately assisting them in combat. The term excluded:

• Regimental-level staffs and above
• Non-German auxiliary volunteers
• Combat, supply, and baggage trains
• Supply and maintenance troops, including those with the individual units
• Tactically subordinated units (were to be reported separately)
• Personnel temporarily assigned to other units (were to be reported by those units)

Verpflegungsstärke (ration strength)

The Verpflegungsstärke was an administrative term to determine the number of persons with a unit for ration purposes. In the 13 October 1942 order, the number was defined as follows:

Included

• Unit personnel
• Wehrmacht (armed forces)Look up term representatives
• Non-German auxiliary volunteers
• Prisoners of war
• Temporarily assigned individual persons

Not included

• Temporarily assigned units (were to be reported separately)
• Personnel on vacation
• Personnel temporarily assigned to other units

Late-War Definitions

On 25 April 1944, the German High Command issued two orders that defined a new set of definitions.34 These definitions further elaborated and expanded upon those in the 1942 order. They took effect on 15 May 1944. The orders also elaborated on the Ist and Fehl terms, and specified six new templates to be used for Army-level reporting.

Iststärke (actual strength)

The Iststärke, usually written as Ist (is), was the actual number of personnel supported by the unit, regardless of their status. This included personnel on leave, lend out to other units, and those wounded or fallen sick in the past eight weeks. Higher command units were to report the Iststärke and Fehlstellen in six categories:

• Major combat units and their supply trains

  Included

  • Infanterie-Division (infantry divisions)Look up term
  • Luftwaffe-Feld-Division (Luftwaffe field division)Look up term
  • Gebirgs-Division (mountain division)Look up term
  • Jäger-Division (light infantry division)Look up term
  • Panzer-Division (armored division)Look up term
  • Panzergrenadier-Division (mechanized infantry division)Look up term
  • Immobile infantry divisions
  • Brigades

  Reported seperately

  • Luftwaffe units
  • Field training divisions
  • Waffen-SS units
  • Non-German units (except for German soldiers serving in those units)

• Army-level combat units (such as independent Tiger and assault gun battalions)
• Security units, including security divisions
• Army-level supply units and supply units assigned to higher command units
• Miscellaneous combat units (to be specified in the report)
• Immobile service posts and command units at corps level and higher
• Everything not included in the other categories

In each category, the numbers were further to be broken down into:

• Officers
• Clerks
• Non-commissioned officers
• Enlisted
• Non-German auxiliary volunteers

For divisions, the Ist strength of the field replacement battalion was to be reported seperately.

Tagesstärke (strength of the day)

The Tagesstärke was the number of personnel physically available for service with the unit on the day of reporting. This excluded on personnel on leave and those wounded or sick.

The number also excluded those lent out to other units, but included those lent from other units. This ensured that no personnel would be double-counted or left out due to temporary personnel allocations.

Gefechtsstärke (battle strength)

The Gefechtsstärke was the strength of the subunits who would be involved in the actual fighting, except for their combat, baggage, rationing, and supply trains or their maintenance sections. The number included non-combat personnel directly supporting the combat, such as drivers and co-drivers of combat vehicles (tanks, assault guns, armored cars, half-tracks, and self-propelled guns) and ammunition carriers.

Kampfstärke (fighting strength)

The Kampfstärke was the strength of the personnel available for actual combat. This excluded the drivers of all non-combat vehicles, horse keepers, administrative personnel, staff of artillery and mortar regiments, and staff of tank destroyer and engineer battalions. Excluded was also signal personnel that did not work either directly alongside, or received signals from, units that were part of the combat strength.

The number included the staff companies at the regimental level and below, messengers, field replacement units, as well as field medical personnel.

Schematic Summary

Infantry division strength overview

To supplement the 25 April 1944 order, a number of tables were created in October 1944 to compare the Sollstärke (authorized strength), Gefechtsstärke (battle strength), and Kampfstärke of different German infantry divisions organizations.5 These tables were supplemented in March 1945 with the numbers for the 1945 infantry division.6

Comparison of infantry division types

Infanterie-Division 1944 and Infanterie-Division 1945 breakdown

Examples of Use

Heeresgruppe H (Army Group H), 1 November 1944

The full reporting standards were not always used. The example below is the strength reported by the divisions of Heeresgruppe H (Army Group H) on 1 November 1944:11

The ratio of Iststärke to Kampfstärke of the divisions vary significantly, ranging from 30 to 59 percent. For example, while 719. Infanterie-Division had an Iststärke close to the average of all the divisions, its Kampfstärke reveal that its combat capabilities were considerably less.

The strength can also be compared to the authorized strength, for example:12

As can be seen, the shortfall in fighting strength and combat strength compared to the authorized strengths is greater than for the full division. This is generally to be expected, as combat personnel is more likely to be wounded than rear area personnel.

Heeresgruppe Süd (Army Group South), 1 September 1944

The numbers below are based on the reports of Heeresgruppe Süd (Army Group South) submitted 1 September 1944. The report included the strength of 6. Armee (6th Army) and 8. Armee (8th Army), as well as army group units, but does not include the following units:

Intended to be reported later:

20. Panzer-Division

Kampfgruppe Winkler

Parts of army-level artillery

Not directly subordinated as of 1 September

23. Panzer-Division

4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division

8. SS-Kavallerie-Division combat team

The table below is an abbreviated version of the full report to demonstrate the principles of the report. The full report spanned six tabled with a total of 120 distinct columns. Note that the numbers do not align completely. It is not clear whether this is because the report does not take into account personnel allocated to and from other units, or if it is due to some other reason.

These numbers highlight the importance of distinguising between the full actual strength and the fighting strength: Out of an actual strength of 175 781, only 30 060 were directly available for combat operations (though the previously mentioned missing reports from some combat units would likely disproportionately have increased the fighting strength).

Weekly reports

On 15 June 1944 the German High Command ordered that all divisions employed in combat were ordered to start submitting a strength report to their corps every Saturday between 12:00 and 24:00, starting 1 July.13 This report was to include:

• Infantry Kampfkraft (battle force)
• Heavy anti-tank guns
  • 7,5 cm Pak 40
  • 7,5 cm Pak 41
  • 8,8 cm Pak 43 (L/71)
  • 8,8 cm Flak (if employed as anti-tank guns)
• Assault guns
• Tanks (for tank divisions and armored infantry divisions)
  • Pz Kpfw IV
  • Pz Kpfw Panther
  • Pz Kpfw Tiger (if tactically assigned)
• Artillery Kampfkraft
• Beweglichkeit (mobility)
• Total kampfwert (battle value)

Kampfkraft (battle force)

For infantry, the Kampfkraft was stated per battalion according to the Kampfstärke of the battalion. The reconnaissance battalion was included as an infantry battalion, while the field replacement battalion was reported seperately.

For artillery, the number of combat ready light and heavy batteries were reported.

If battalions from other units were assigned to the division, these were reported seperately with their Kampfkraft and their originating unit. If battalions from the division were assigned to another unit, they were reported seperately without stating their Kampfkraft.

kampfwert (battle value)

The kampfwert rated the combat capability of the unit as a whole on a scale from one to four:

1. Kampfwert I: Suitable for all offensive operations
2. Kampfwert II: Conditionally suitable for offensive operations
3. Kampfwert III: Suitable for defense
4. Kampfwert IV: Conditionally suitable for defense

Weekly report example

This example is used in the original order, translating and restructuring for clarity while retaining the contents:

Beweglichkeit (mobility)

The Beweglichkeit defined the degree to which units were mobile, and how they moved. A number of categories were defined in a 1 January 1945 German High Command document, as shown below.14 These definitions were related to the authorized strength and mobility of the unit, not the actual mobility.

References

1. Gen. Kdo. XVI. A.K., Ia - Kriegstagebuch Nr. 2 : 8.10.39 - 31.1.40. XVI. Armeekorps, 1940. Back
2. Handakte Ltn. Roidl. Bd. I. Oberkommando des Heeres. Page 36. Back
3. 1944. Back
4. Handakte Ltn. Roidl. Bd. I. Oberkommando des Heeres. Page 56. Back
5. 1944. Back
6. Organisation, Gliederung, Stärkeberechnung und Einsatz der Infanterie-Division 45. 1945. Page 4. Back
7. 1944. Back
8. Organisation, Gliederung, Stärkeberechnung und Einsatz der Infanterie-Division 45. 1945. Page 4. Back
9. 1944. Back
10. Organisation, Gliederung, Stärkeberechnung und Einsatz der Infanterie-Division 45. 1945. Page 4. Back
11. 1944. Back
12. 1944. Back
13. Handakte Ltn. Roidl. Bd. I. Oberkommando des Heeres. Page 67. Back
14. Handakte Ltn. Roidl., Bd. I. Oberkommando des Heeres. Back

Sources

1. Handakte Ltn. Roidl. Bd. I. Oberkommando des Heeres. 105 p. BArch RH 2/1107.
2. Handakte Ltn. Roidl., Bd. I. Oberkommando des Heeres. 148 p. NARA T78 R398 H1/36.
3. Gen. Kdo. XVI. A.K., Ia - Kriegstagebuch Nr. 2 : 8.10.39 - 31.1.40. XVI. Armeekorps, 1940. 68 p. NARA T314 R569 W 760/a.
4. 1944. 72 p. NARA T78 R432 H1/394.
5. Heeres Gr. Sued Ia - KTB Anlagen : Nr. 6855-6938. Heeresgruppe Süd, 1944. 524 p. NARA T311 R165 75126/69.
6. Organisation, Gliederung, Stärkeberechnung und Einsatz der Infanterie-Division 45. 1945. 34 p. BArch 2/1280.