German bicycle infantry passing a horse-drawn field kitchen on the Eastern Front.

The German Army is often portrayed as a high-tech mechanized force that steamrolled across Eastern and Western Europe. In actuality, while tank and armored infantry divisions were fully motorized, the majority of the German Army relied on horses as its primary means of transportation.

Army Status in 1939

March 1939 strength

In 1939, the German Army High Command published a report on the manpower and vehicle strength of the German Army as of 1 March 1939. In this report, a total of 590 250 horses were part of the German Army, or about one horse for every six soldiers.

The report also shows that the number of motor vehicles did exceed the number of Horse-drawn vehicles:

  • Manpower: 3 706 104
  • Horses: 590 250
  • Horse-drawn vehicles: 134 783
  • Armored vehicles: 4 854
  • Cars: 73 550
  • Trucks: 124 308
  • Motorcycles: 105 426

The distribution of vehicles depended on the specific branches. Infantry, which made up the bulk of the German Army, had comparatively light equipment, and therefore had relatively few motor vehicles compared to their number of soldiers. Of the motor vehicles that the infantry did have, a large number of them were motorcycles. By contrast, branches that had to move heavy equipment, or move equipment or supplies over long distances, had a relatively high number of trucks and cars. The same was true for units that were required to move rapidly, such as reconnaissance and artillery observation units.

Branch Manpower Horses Horse-drawn vehicles Armored vehicles Cars Trucks Motorcycles Sidecars Horses per soldier Motor vehicles per soldier
Infantry 1 376 911 217 177 64 951 207 18 574 16 211 24 952 10 562 0.16 0.04
Artillery 450 172 212 591 27 512 - 7 481 17 542 11 805 2 043 0.47 0.08
Construction units 435 627 9 524 4 292 - 1 177 3 399 2 244 1 010 0.02 0.02
Supply services 210 293 48 632 19 805 - 3 276 22 661 11 249 4 131 0.23 0.18
Militia units 186 192 - - - 90 - 391 301 - 0.00
Engineers 170 652 11 925 4 354 10 2 506 10 832 6 146 2 922 0.07 0.11
Signals units 125 385 6 428 829 135 12 304 10 063 6 218 997 0.05 0.23
Cavalry and reconnaissance 98 339 32 037 1 826 1 106 2 557 3 839 8 270 5 399 0.33 0.16
Border guards 94 852 4 094 2 041 - 1 378 436 3 002 1 559 0.04 0.05
Medical services 94 348 7 004 2 611 - 1 643 10 086 2 754 2 468 0.07 0.15
Anti-tank units 89 562 - - 12 10 571 7 275 9 025 5 379 - 0.30
Veterinary services 51 565 31 295 3 313 - 262 2 656 982 404 0.61 0.08
Higher command units 44 161 700 15 7 2 903 2 520 7 189 455 0.02 0.29
Road laying services 34 866 792 396 - 162 852 468 150 0.02 0.04
Field replacement units 33 966 2 727 927 - 3 214 141 30 0.08 0.01
Administrative services 33 095 2 865 899 - 741 4 057 1 094 349 0.09 0.18
Armored forces 32 605 - - 3 357 1 075 2 960 2 212 955 - 0.29
Artillery observation 30 656 - - - 3 478 2 635 1 107 211 - 0.24
Other 112 857 2 459 1 012 20 3 369 6 070 6 177 2 475 0.02 0.14
Total 3 706 104 590 250 134 783 4 854 73 550 124 308 105 426 41 800 0.16 0.08

1939 infantry division

Mounted German infantry on the Eastern Front.

Similarly to the overall strength of the German Army above, the strength of an infantry division shows a similar difference in the allocation of horses and motor vehicles. The infantry regiments were allocated no cars or trucks, with equipment transport being handled exclusively by horse-drawn vehicles. Frontline movement of the soldiers of the infantry regiments was almost exclusively by foot.

Unit Manpower Horses Horse-drawn vehicles Armored vehicles Cars Trucks Motorcycles Sidecars
Combat strength
Division command 162 6 - - 7 8 39 1
Three infantry regiments (without anti-tank units) 7515 1425 399 - - - 42 15
Reconnaissance battalion 509 237 3 3 10 12 40 24
Artillery regiment and artillery observation 2208 1318 175 - 76 75 58 10
Engineer battalion 638 44 15 - 8 28 33 19
Anti-tank units 1116 - - - 129 96 141 67
Signals unit 1504 652 80 - 102 27 35 5
Combat strength total 13 642 3 682 672 3 332 246 388 141
Services
Frontline services1Provisions, baggage train, light column. 1 695 823 259 - 10 170 61 8
Rear services2Supply, administrative, medical, and veterinary services. 1 672 233 36 - 43 248 85 33
Services total 3 367 1 056 295 - 53 418 146 61
Reserve
Field reserve battalion 876 60 24 - - 5 3 -
Total 17 895 4 798 991 3 385 669 537 202
German horse wagon driving past a broken-down Pz Kpfw IV.

Notes

  1. Provisions, baggage train, light column. Back
  2. Supply, administrative, medical, and veterinary services. Back

Sources

  1. Zahlenangaben zum Mob. Heer 1939/40. Berlin : GenStdH/2. Abt, 1939. 62 p. Gen St d H/2. Abt. (III B) - Nr. 659/39 g.K.. NARA T78 R413 H 1/155.