size of the Wehrmacht in 1940

[Paulus II]

Hi all,

I'm almost ashamed to ask this very basic question but since I really can't find the answer (meaning that I can't find two secondary sources that agree with each other) here it goes anyway:

How many men did the Wehrmacht have under arms in may 1940 and how many of those were actually deployed in Fall Gelb?

thanks in advance,

Paul

[hero.]

Hi Paulus II,

According to the well written account of the westfeldzug by Karl-Heinz Frieser (Blitzkrieg-Legende), the total number of men was 5,500,000.
(Heer : 4,2 mio. ; Luftwaffe : ca. 1 mio. ; Marine : ca. 180,000 ; Waffen-SS : ca. 100,000 ).

This is based on 2 graphics in : Das Deutsche Reich und der 2. Weltkrieg, Bd. 5/1, by B. Kroener et al., p. 959, 835 (german ed.).
The 4,2 mio men of the Heer includes the Ersatzheer (ca. 900,000) and other units as Bautruppen.

For the forces to be deployed in "Fall Gelb" Frieser gives a number of 3 mio. men in 135 Div. (of which 42 were in reserve).

Best regards,
hero.

[ljadw]

Niehorster is saying that only 28 of the reserve divisions were used in Fall Gelb,thus total strenght should be 2.7 million ?

[Paulus II]

Hello hero and ljadw,

Thank you for your responses, the numbers given by Frieser for the entire Wehrmacht tie in well enough with other stats I have seen so I'm to happy to accept those as close enough to the mark.

That leaves the number of men involved in Fall Gelb and it's exactly in the number of reserve divisions where the major difference is always to be found. I have seen both 28 and 42 reserve divisions mentioned before and still can't be sure.
I haven't read Friesers book myself but going by hero's post I suppose he will be well informed and I know Leo Niehorster is well informed.......splitting the difference sadly just won't cut it in this case.

Still more to be done on this one

Thanks again and best regards,

Paul