by Ron Klages & John Mulholland

The following accounting of German divisions by month from September 1939 to May 1945 by front was compiled from the works of Georg Tessin in his epic accounting of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS titled: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945. In the 19 volumes that comprise this work each division has listed a monthly assignment showing higher attachments during the war. This summarized listing was obtained by compiling all of the divisional listing as reported in the Tessin work. I should also point out that each division might have a different report date for each month and this will mean that a division located on the Eastern front at the beginning of the month might not be located on that front at the end of the month. This list was prepared to provide a quick reference to determine the relative comparisons by front of the numbers of divisions assigned throughout the war. I should also note that the column titled ‘Germany’ actually means home and as such this could represent all non-combatant regions of the war such as that area known as the “General Government” or Denmark. Finally, divisions established in the latter months of the conflict are only included if Tessin showed a higher assignment existing for the division.

Month Germany Eastern Western Norway Finland South-Eastern Africa Italy
Sep 1939 3 60 49 0 0 0 0 0
Oct 1939 41 8 67 0 0 0 0 0
Nov 1939 44 10 68 0 0 0 0 0
Dec 1939 31 10 98 0 0 0 0 0
1940
Jan 1940 31 10 101 0 0 0 0 0
Feb 1940 46 10 98 0 0 0 0 0
Mar 1940 46 17 99 0 0 0 0 0
Apr 1940 40 18 100 6 0 0 0 0
May 1940 29 15 114 7 0 0 0 0
Jun 1940 11 7 142 7 0 0 0 0
Jul 1940 33 16 111 7 0 0 0 0
Aug 1940 43 16 101 7 0 0 0 0
Sep 1940 27 30 89 7 0 0 0 0
Oct 1940 51 30 74 6 1 1 0 0
Nov 1940 69 31 74 7 1 1 0 0
Dec 1940 78 32 72 7 1 2 0 0
1941
Jan 1941 78 28 67 7 1 9 0 0
Feb 1941 79 29 66 7 1 9 0 0
Mar 1941 72 33 64 7 1 17 1 0
Apr 1941 62 46 53 7 1 28 1 0
May 1941 64 64 46 7 2 24 2 0
Jun 1941 38 93 51 8 3 14 2 0
Jul 1941 4 145 40 7 4 7 2 0
Aug 1941 4 145 40 7 4 7 2 0
Sep 1941 1 146 43 7 6 7 2 0
Oct 1941 0 149 40 7 6 9 2 0
Nov 1941 3 147 40 7 6 8 2 0
Dec 1941 6 146 42 7 6 9 3 0
1942
Jan 1942 8 155 36 7 5 7 3 0
Feb 1942 7 164 32 8 6 6 3 0
Mar 1942 8 167 32 8 7 5 3 0
Apr 1942 3 172 32 11 7 5 3 0
May 1942 2 170 34 11 7 5 3 0
Jun 1942 2 180 27 11 7 5 3 0
Jul 1942 5 179 29 11 7 5 3 0
Aug 1942 3 176 36 11 7 6 4 0
Sep 1942 9 178 37 11 7 6 4 0
Oct 1942 12 179 41 11 7 6 4 0
Nov 1942 16 181 45 11 7 6 4 0
Dec 1942 11 184 45 11 7 6 6 0
1943
Jan 1943 3 191 48 12 7 8 7 0
Feb 1943 1 195 49 12 7 9 8 0
Mar 1943 2 185 44 12 7 9 8 0
Apr 1943 2 184 54 12 7 11 8 0
May 1943 3 185 56 13 7 11 9 2
Jun 1943 5 187 53 13 7 13 0 4
Jul 1943 6 188 52 13 7 15 0 6
Aug 1943 5 189 46 13 7 17 0 14
Sep 1943 2 188 51 13 7 19 0 16
Oct 1943 3 186 52 13 7 20 0 18
Nov 1943 4 177 53 13 7 22 0 23
Dec 1943 6 176 52 13 7 22 0 20
1944
Jan 1944 7 166 54 13 7 25 0 21
Feb 1944 6 163 60 13 7 23 0 22
Mar 1944 6 160 63 13 7 23 0 22
Apr 1944 2 163 60 12 8 23 0 23
May 1944 1 160 63 12 8 24 0 23
Jun 1944 7 150 66 12 8 24 0 27
Jul 1944 19 124 69 11 8 23 0 27
Aug 1944 2 130 72 10 8 21 0 29
Sep 1944 2 127 64 11 8 20 0 25
Oct 1944 1 134 67 11 8 20 0 25
Nov 1944 2 133 70 18 0 21 0 26
Dec 1944 2 135 76 17 0 22 0 25
1945
Jan 1945 3 146 79 15 0 15 0 28
Feb 1945 3 173 68 13 0 13 0 27
Mar 1945 3 173 72 13 0 13 0 26
Apr 1945 0 163 67 11 0 12 0 23
May 1945 0 78 4 0 0 11 0 2


Note: The information shown in the above chart was gratefully supplied through research done by Ron Klages. Any errors or typos are those of this writer - John Mulholland.