Hi all,
A question about the personnel of the Aufstelungswellen 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Lexikon der Wehrmacht.de gives the Personelle Zusammensetzung of Welle 1 to 4 with quite exact percentages of Aktives Personal, Reservisten I, Reservisten II and Landwehr.
For Wellen 5 to 8 they only give the differences in organisation and equipment with a division of 1. Welle.
Does this mean that the categories of personel of these divisions was equal to that of a 1. Welle division (78% aktives Personal, 12% Reservisten I, 6% Reservisten II and 4% Landwehr)?
Thanks in advance,
Paul
Aufstellungswellen 5 to 8
Moderator: John W. Howard
Re: Aufstellungswellen 5 to 8
Hello Paul !
The quick answer is, that none of the other waves had such a high percentage of "aktives Personal".
As detailed below, if anything, the composition of a "Divsion 5. Welle" was more similar to that
of the 4. Welle.
1.) First an explanation of the different groups, as given by from Mueller-Hillebrand,
Das Heer, Vol. 1, p.32 ff. (my explanations in []) :
- Aktives Personal : That is the personnel of the peacetime divisions, consisting of
the professional soldiers and conscripts which had already seen 1 or 2 years of service
[those were already with their units at the start of the war].
- Reservisten I : soldiers that had at least 1 year of training in the previous years,
[but had to be activated again during mobilization].
- Reservisten II: soldiers, that had only received a short time training (typically 3 month,
in the so called "Ergänzungseinheiten"). Most were from age group 1913 or even older
(up to age group 1905).
- Landwehr I : men in the age of 35 - 45. Most of them had been trained before or during WW I.
They had received several short time courses at weekends to refresh their skills.
Those numbers in the Lexikon are most probably taken from Mueller-Hillebrand, Vol. 1, p.70.
It is important to note, that M.-H. states in his annotations to that table, that those
percentage values are meant as a coarse indication, to give some guidelines for
the planning of the mobilization process.
He also states, that in reality there were often substantial deviations, depending on
the local conditions [i.e. availability of personell within the different age groups].
Especially most of the 3rd Wave divisions had a substantial higher degree of men from Landwehr I.
2.) The formation of the "Divisionen 5. and 6. Welle" in the first and second month of the war,
was already planned (and prepared) before the war started.
For the "Divisionen der 5. Welle", there is a relative detailed breakdown in DRZW, Bd. 5/1, p.820 :
- 19% Stammpersonal, consisting of a mixture of aktives Personal, Res. I and Res. II, all already serving
in the field-army or the Ersatzheer.
- 30% conscripts of age groups 1918/1919 with 8 weeks of training
- 51% were activated from a great variety (with unknown proportions) of Res. I and II (in part from older
age groups 1906 - 1910), Landwehr I, and some special groups as uk-Gestellte (whose uk was revoked),
Sudetendeutsche, ...
( According to Tessin, Vol. 1, each division of th 5th wave received 2 Btl.-Kommandeure, 12 Kp-Chefs and
120 Uffz. and Gefreite from the both army groups that took part in Poland. )
3.) Regarding the other waves :
As the "Divisionen 6. Welle" were formed just one month after the 5. Welle, one might assume, that
the personal composition might have been similar.
The formation of the "Divisionen der 7. Welle" started shortly after, but those divisions were expanded from
2 to 3 regiments by the incorporation of the Feldersatz-Btl. of the 1st wave divisions at the end of December 1939.
(A number of those might haven taken part in Poland). Hard to say, what composition those divisons finally had.
The "Divisionen 8. Welle" were formed from February 1940 onward, from personnel taken from the
existing divisions and from Ersatzheer personnel.
As a lot of those soldiers by then might have been in service for over 5 month and several of them might have
gatherered war experience in Poland, its hard to say, in how far those categories from the mobilization phase
are still applicable.
I hope that helps a bit
.
Best regards,
hero.
The quick answer is, that none of the other waves had such a high percentage of "aktives Personal".
As detailed below, if anything, the composition of a "Divsion 5. Welle" was more similar to that
of the 4. Welle.
1.) First an explanation of the different groups, as given by from Mueller-Hillebrand,
Das Heer, Vol. 1, p.32 ff. (my explanations in []) :
- Aktives Personal : That is the personnel of the peacetime divisions, consisting of
the professional soldiers and conscripts which had already seen 1 or 2 years of service
[those were already with their units at the start of the war].
- Reservisten I : soldiers that had at least 1 year of training in the previous years,
[but had to be activated again during mobilization].
- Reservisten II: soldiers, that had only received a short time training (typically 3 month,
in the so called "Ergänzungseinheiten"). Most were from age group 1913 or even older
(up to age group 1905).
- Landwehr I : men in the age of 35 - 45. Most of them had been trained before or during WW I.
They had received several short time courses at weekends to refresh their skills.
Those numbers in the Lexikon are most probably taken from Mueller-Hillebrand, Vol. 1, p.70.
It is important to note, that M.-H. states in his annotations to that table, that those
percentage values are meant as a coarse indication, to give some guidelines for
the planning of the mobilization process.
He also states, that in reality there were often substantial deviations, depending on
the local conditions [i.e. availability of personell within the different age groups].
Especially most of the 3rd Wave divisions had a substantial higher degree of men from Landwehr I.
2.) The formation of the "Divisionen 5. and 6. Welle" in the first and second month of the war,
was already planned (and prepared) before the war started.
For the "Divisionen der 5. Welle", there is a relative detailed breakdown in DRZW, Bd. 5/1, p.820 :
- 19% Stammpersonal, consisting of a mixture of aktives Personal, Res. I and Res. II, all already serving
in the field-army or the Ersatzheer.
- 30% conscripts of age groups 1918/1919 with 8 weeks of training
- 51% were activated from a great variety (with unknown proportions) of Res. I and II (in part from older
age groups 1906 - 1910), Landwehr I, and some special groups as uk-Gestellte (whose uk was revoked),
Sudetendeutsche, ...
( According to Tessin, Vol. 1, each division of th 5th wave received 2 Btl.-Kommandeure, 12 Kp-Chefs and
120 Uffz. and Gefreite from the both army groups that took part in Poland. )
3.) Regarding the other waves :
As the "Divisionen 6. Welle" were formed just one month after the 5. Welle, one might assume, that
the personal composition might have been similar.
The formation of the "Divisionen der 7. Welle" started shortly after, but those divisions were expanded from
2 to 3 regiments by the incorporation of the Feldersatz-Btl. of the 1st wave divisions at the end of December 1939.
(A number of those might haven taken part in Poland). Hard to say, what composition those divisons finally had.
The "Divisionen 8. Welle" were formed from February 1940 onward, from personnel taken from the
existing divisions and from Ersatzheer personnel.
As a lot of those soldiers by then might have been in service for over 5 month and several of them might have
gatherered war experience in Poland, its hard to say, in how far those categories from the mobilization phase
are still applicable.
I hope that helps a bit
.Best regards,
hero.
Re: Aufstellungswellen 5 to 8
That sure does help more than a bit.
Thanks a lot hero!
Best regards,
Paul
Thanks a lot hero!
Best regards,
Paul