List of German divisions in World War II

This article lists divisions of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces), including the Army, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine, active during World War II.

Upgrades and reorganizations are shown only to identify the variant names for what is notionally a single unit; other upgrades and reorganizations are deferred to the individual articles. Due to the scope of this list pre-war changes are not shown, nor are upgrades from units smaller than a division. Most of these divisions trained in Berlin which is also where new military technology was kept and tested.

Name elements not usually translated

Grenadier
A traditional term for heavy infantry.
Jäger
A traditional term for light infantry (Translated "Hunter").
Gebirgsjäger
Traditional term for mountain and ski troops.
Lehr
A demonstration/training unit (Translated "Teach").
Nummer
"Number" (See description in Infantry Series Divisions, below).
Panzer
Armour (Translated "Armoured").
Sturm
"Storm" or "Assault" (Translated "Storm").
Volks
"of the People" (Translated "People's").
zbV
Abbreviation for "zur besonderen Verwendung" Meaning "Special Purpose" (Translated "For Special Deployment").

Volks, Sturm, and Grenadier were sometimes used simply as morale-building adjectives, often without any significance to a unit's organization or capabilities.

Army (Heer)

Panzer divisions

Numbered panzer divisions

Named panzer divisions

Light divisions

The designation "Light" (leichte) had various meanings in the German Army of World War II. There was a series of 5 Light divisions; the first four were pre-war mechanized formations organized for use as mechanized cavalry, and the fifth was an ad hoc collection of mechanized elements rushed to Africa to help the Italians and organized into a division once there. All five were eventually converted to ordinary Panzer divisions.

Various other divisions were dubbed "Light" for other reasons, and are listed among the Infantry Series Divisions.

Infantry series divisions

Motorized Infantry Division 1941

Types of division in the series

The backbone of the Heer (German Army) was the infantry division. Of the 154 divisions deployed against Soviet Union in 1941, including reserves, there were 100 infantry, 19 panzer, 11 motorised, 9 security, 5 Waffen-SS, 4 "light", 4 mountain, 1 SS police, and 1 cavalry. A typical infantry division in June 1941 had 17,734 men organized into the following sub-units:[1]

  • three infantry regiments with staff and communications units
    • three battalions with:
      • three infantry companies
      • one heavy weapons company
    • one anti-tank company (mot.)
    • one artillery company
    • one reconnaissance unit
  • one tank destroyer battalion with:
    • three companies (each with twelve 3.7 cm guns)
  • one artillery regiment
    • three battalions
      • three batteries
  • one pioneer battalion
  • one communications unit
  • one field replacement battalion
  • Supply, medical, veterinary, mail, and police

German infantry divisions had a variety of designations and specializations, though numbered in a single series. The major variations are as follows:

Fortress (Festung)
Divisions of non-standard organization used to garrison critical sites. The smaller ones might consist of only two or three battalions.
Grenadier
A morale-building honorific usually indicative of reduced strength when used alone.
Jäger
Reduced in size with only two regiments compared to an ordinary infantry divisions three and provided with less transport and lighter artillery. Those divisions were trained to fight in difficult terrain.
Light (Leichte)
There were several meanings of the term light division in the Wehrmacht:
  • The initial light infantry divisions. Lighter than a normal infantry division; they had only two regiments and no heavy artillery. Most of them were converted to Jäger divisions in 1942.
  • The light Africa divisions. Created partially ad-hoc and sporting a unique composition, e.g. including penal units, they were usually lighter than a standard infantry divisions.
  • The light division. Any division with a lack of units, like only having two regiments, or less support units could be styled light. Usually only applied temporarily to a division; the respective unit would be drawn off from the front to reorganize and renamed again after it regained the lost units and manpower.
  • The light (mechanized) divisions that were the predecessors of the Panzer divisions. Those are already covered in the Panzer division section.
Motorized
Provided with full motor transport for all infantry and weapons systems. Usually reduced in size compared to an ordinary infantry division. Motorized infantry divisions were renamed Panzergrenadier (armored infantry) divisions in 1943.
Division Nummer
A sort of placeholder division, with a number (Nummer) and staff but few if any combat assets. These divisions started out without any type in their name (e.g., Division Nr. 179), though some acquired a type later on (e.g., Panzer Division Nr. 179).
Panzergrenadier
As motorized, but with more self-propelled weapons and an added battalion of tanks or fully armored assault guns. What motorized divisions were referred to from 1943 forward.
Security Division (Sicherungs-Division)
Designed for mopping-up duties in the rear areas; may consist of two reinforced regiments or of a number of independent battalions.
Static (bodenständige)
Deficient in transport, even enough to move its own artillery. Many of these were divisions that had been mauled on the Eastern Front and were sent west to serve as coastal defense garrisons until sufficient resources were available to rehabilitate them.
Volksgrenadier
A late-war reorganization with reduced size and increased short-range firepower. Many previously destroyed or badly mauled infantry divisions were reconstituted as Volksgrenadier divisions, and new ones were raised as well. Their fighting worth varied widely depending on unit experience and equipment. Not to be confused with Volkssturm a national militia in which units were supposed to be organized by local Nazi party leaders; trained by the SS; and come under Wehrmacht command in combat.
zbV
("zbV" is an abbreviation meaning "for special employment") An ad hoc division created to meet a special requirement. (E.g., Division zbV Afrika)

Most of the size reductions listed above were by about a third, either by the removal of an infantry regiment or the removal of one infantry battalion from each of the three regiments.

Infantry divisions were raised in waves, sets of divisions with a standardized table of organization and equipment. In general the later waves (i.e., the higher-numbered divisions) were of lower quality than the earlier ones.

Numbered divisions

1st to 99th
100th to 199th
201st to 999th

Named divisions

Mountain divisions

Ski division

Cavalry divisions

According to Davies, the Cavalry divisions were mounted infantry and the Cossack divisions were "true cavalry", modelled on the Russian cavalry divisions.

Landwehr divisions

  • 14th Landwehr Division (later 205th Infantry Division)
  • 97th Landwehr Division

Artillery divisions

  • 18th Artillery Division (formerly 18th Panzer Division)
  • 309th Artillery Division
  • 310th Artillery Division
  • 311th Artillery Division
  • 312th Artillery Division
  • 397th Artillery Division

Named fortress divisions

Named training divisions

  • Training Division Bayern
  • Training Division Kurland
  • Training Division Nord

Field replacement divisions

  • Field Replacement Division A
  • Field Replacement Division B
  • Field Replacement Division C
  • Field Replacement Division D
  • Field Replacement Division E
  • Field Replacement Division F

Air Force (Luftwaffe)

Hermann Göring divisions

The Hermann Göring formations grew from a single police detachment to an entire armored corps over the course of the war. The later epithet Fallschirm ("parachute") was purely honorific.

Airborne divisions

To keep its existence secret, the first German airborne division was named as if a Flieger ("flier") division in the series of Luftwaffe divisions that controlled air assets rather than ground troops-named 7th Flieger Division (often translated 7th Air Division - which see: 1st Parachute Division (Germany)) The division was later reorganized to start a series of nominally airborne divisions. Though named Fallschirmjäger ("paratrooper") divisions, only some of them participated in airdrops in the early part of the war, and in practice most operated as ordinary infantry throughout their existence. The lower-numbered ones earned and maintained an élite status, but quality generally declined among the higher-numbered divisions.

Field divisions

Luftwaffe Field Divisions were ordinary infantry divisions organized from Luftwaffe personnel made available after mid-war due to the manpower crunch. They were originally Luftwaffe units but were later handed over to the Army, retaining their numbering but with Luftwaffe attached to distinguish them from similarly numbered divisions already existing in the Heer.

  • 1st Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 2nd Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 3rd Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 4th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 5th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 6th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 7th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 8th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 9th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 10th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 11th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 12th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 13th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 14th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 15th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 16th Luftwaffe Field Division
    • Eventually transferred to the Heer as 16th Luftwaffe Infantry Division (later 16th Volksgrenadier Division)
  • 17th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 18th Luftwaffe Field Division
  • 19th Luftwaffe Field Division (later 19th Luftwaffe Sturm Division)
    • Eventually transferred to the Heer as 19th Grenadier Division (later 19th Volksgrenadier Division)
  • 20th Luftwaffe Field Division (later 20th Luftwaffe Sturm Division)
  • 21st Luftwaffe Field Division (previously the Meindl Division, an ad hoc collection of Luftwaffe resources)
  • 22nd Luftwaffe Field Division Not actually formed, its sub-units were attached to other divisions as needed.

Training divisions

Anti-Aircraft divisions

These were headquarters for controlling aggregates of flak ("anti-aircraft artillery") assets rather than ordinary combined arms divisions organized for ground combat.

  • 1st Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 4th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 5th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 6th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 7th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 8th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 9th Anti-Aircraft Division (lost entirely at the Battle of Stalingrad)
  • 10th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 11th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 12th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 13th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 14th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 15th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 16th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 17th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 18th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 19th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 20th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 21st Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 22nd Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 23rd Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 24th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 25th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 26th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 27th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 28th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 29th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 30th Anti-Aircraft Division
  • 31st Anti-Aircraft Division

Waffen-SS (Schutzstaffel)

All divisions in the Waffen-SS were ordered in a single series up to 38th, regardless of type. Those tagged with nationalities were at least nominally recruited from those nationalities. Many of the higher-numbered units were small battlegroups (Kampfgruppen), i.e. divisions in name only.

Also Panzer Division Kempf, a temporary unit of mixed Heer and Waffen-SS components.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mueller-Hillebrand B., Das Heer, 1933-1945. vol. II, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, 1969, pp. 161-162.
  • Astel, John; Goodwin, A. E.; Long, Jason, Bengtsson, Sven Ake; & Parmenter, James D. (1998). "Orders of Battle". Data booklet from the Europa game Storm Over Scandinavia. Grinnel, Iowa: Game Research/Design. ISBN 1-86010-091-0.
  • Davies, W.J.K. (1981). German Army Handbook 1939-1945. Second U.S. Edition. New York: Arco Publishing. ISBN 0-668-04291-5.
  • Parada, George (2004). "Panzer Divisions 1940-1945". Retrieved April 1, 2005.
  • Yeide, Harry;(2004). The Tank Killers, A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force. (pg. 209). Casemate Publishers, Havertown, PA. ISBN 1-932033-26-2.
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