Well I haven't read "The Forgotten Soldier" myself but there still seems to be some doubt as to how accurate the details in the book are.Ted said:Where do the stories of scrap regiments fit in? They would lose their proper name and scratched of the list. However they were stil fighting forces which plugged many holes on the eastern front. I am not really into the subject, but reading Guy Sajer's book (which has been finally been taken to be true, just a little while back).... you get a picture of how it must have looked like.
Doppleganger said:Hi Ollie.
You make an important point regarding divisional make-up which isn't realised by most people not into this subject. However, the ideal make-up of a division on paper did not often match what was its make-up in practice. This certainly would have been the case for German formations, particularly as the war went on. Indeed, the make-up of a German panzer division itself changed several times due to various reasons, chief among them being not having the tank crews or even panzers to continue to have the panzer regiment strength that existed say in a 1940 panzer division. The massive expansion of the Panzerwaffe in 1941 for Operation Barbarossa (from 10 to 21 Panzer divisions) is a prime example. On paper, this would seem like a massive increase in combat power but one has to also realise that the average strength of a Panzer division had dropped from 258 to 196 tanks as a result, because of the lack of crews and equipment.
Futhermore, in very heavy fighting, if specialist components of a division were wiped out, then the division itself would change. This was especially true on the Eastern Front but also happened on other fronts. For example, if 12 SS Panzer Division lost its panzer/panzergrenadier regiments it would end up acting as an ad-hoc infantry division. So whilst the wiping out of aforementioned regiments would destroy its combat power on paper, the reality would be somewhat different. Of course, and especially in an armoured division, the loss of tank regiments would be a serious blow, the division would still be somewhat combat capable. Every specialist knows how to pick up a gun and shoot and whilst (in most cases) they are probably not as effective as regular infantry they can still perform a worthwhile role. Look at Fallschirmjäger and Luftwaffe troops being used as infantry in 1944/1945 as an example.
ghost457 said:In the American Civil War (1860's) there are several instances of companies, battalions, regiments, and at least one whole division losing combat effectiveness. I remember reading about a battalion of Union troops that fought in the Battle of the Wilderness being reduced to 3 men. And of course Gen. Pickett's division was utterly annilhated at the Battle of Gettysburg.
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