Battle Deaths in Major WW2 Campaigns+info on other wars stats

[Jeremiah]

ncludes missing, but not POWs. According to John Ellis, World War II : a statistical survey (Facts on File, 1993) unless otherwise noted.)

* Poland, 1939
o Poles: 66,300
o Germans: 13,110
o [Soviets]: 900 ("Russians")
o [TOTAL: ca. 80,000]
* Denmark/Norway, 1940
o Ellis
+ Germans: 3,692
+ Norwegians: 2,000
+ Danes: -
+ [TOTAL: ca. 5,700]
o NWHA [http://www.nwha.org/news_1Q2004/news_page9.html]
+ Norwegians: 850
+ British: 4,000
+ French and Poles: 530
+ Germans: 1,300
+ [TOTAL: 6,680]
* France 1940
o French: 120,000
o Germans: 43,110
o British: 11,010
o Belgians: 7,500
o Dutch: 2,890
o Italians: 1,250
o [TOTAL: ca. 185,000]
* Balkans, 1941
o Yugoslavs: ?
o Italians: 38,830
o Greeks: 19,000
o Germans: 3,674 (K+W) [A total of 34,040 Germans were killed in the Balkans to 31 Dec. 1944]
o [TOTAL: ca. 160,000]
* Greece, 1940-41 (according to Gilbert, A History of the 20th Century)
o Italians: 13,755
o Greeks: 15,700
o Germans: 2,232
o British: 3,712
o [TOTAL: ca. 35,400]
* Eastern Front, 1941-45
o Ellis
+ [Soviets]: 11,000,000 ("Russians")
+ Germans: 2,415,690 (K+M+POWs, incl. SS troops, to Dec. 1944. Another est. is 1,001,680K + 1,287,140M = 2,288,820 in Field Army only, 22-June 1941-10 March 1945.)
+ Romanians: 381,000 (as Axis). 170,000 (as Allies)
+ Hungarians: 136,000
+ Poles: >40,000
+ Bulgarians: 32,000
+ [TOTAL: ca. 14,000,000]
o Clodfelter
+ [Soviets]: 7.5M to 12.0M ("Russians")
+ Germans: 1,001,000 kia
+ Romanians: 300,000 d.
+ Hungarians: 200,000 d.
+ [TOTAL: ca. 11,251,000 ± 2,250,000]
* North African Desert, 1941-43
o Ellis
+ Italians: 20,720
+ British: c. 7,000 in W. Desert + 6,230 in Tunisia
+ Germans: 12,810
+ Americans: 3,620
+ Australians: 3,150
+ French: 12,920 (all casualty types)
+ New Zealanders: 6,340 (incl. k. in Italy)
+ S. Africans: 2,100
+ Indians: 1,720
+ [TOTAL: 57,350, excl. French & New Z.]
o Clodfelter
+ British Commonwealth: 35,476 KIA
+ Germans: 18,594
+ Italians: 13,748
+ [TOTAL: 67,818]
* Italy, 1943-45
o British: 89,440 (K+W)
o Germans: 59,940 (KIA only, incl. SS troops, to Dec. 1944. Another est. is 46,800K + 208,240M = 255,040 in Field Army only, June 1941-10 April 1945.)
o Americans: 29,560
o French: 8,660
o Canadians: 5,400
o Indians: 4,720
o Poles: 2,460
o S. Africans: 710
o Brazilians: 510
o [TOTAL: ca. 125,000]
* China
o Chinese: 3,211,420 (all casualty types)
o Japanese: 388,600
o [TOTAL: ca. 1,200,000]
* Pacific, 1941-45
o Japanese: 685,230 Army & Marines + 414,880 Navy [=1,100,110]
o Americans: 55,060 Army & Marines + 36,950 Navy [=92,010]
o [TOTAL: ca. 1,192,120]
* NW Europe, 1944-45
o Ellis
+ Germans: 128,030 (KIA only, incl. SS troops, to Dec. 1944. Another est. is 80,820K + 490,260M = 571,080 in Field Army only, to April 1945.)
+ Americans: 109,820
+ British: 30,280
+ French: 12,590
+ Canadians: 10,740
+ Poles: 1,160
+ [TOTAL: 292,620]
o Clodfelter
+ Allies: 186,900 KIA, incl. 135,576 USA
+ Germans: 263,000 combat d. + 56,000 died as POWs [incl. died of wounds]
+ [TOTAL: 505,900]
* SE Asia
o Japanese: 210,830
o Indians: 6,860
o British: 5,670 (incl. POWs)
o Americans: 3,650
o Australians: 1,820
o Africans: 860
o [TOTAL: ca. 225,000]

great website with info on wars
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/ww2stats.htm#Pacific

[Lokos]

[Soviets]: 11,000,000 ("Russians")
+ Germans: 2,415,690 (K+M+POWs, incl. SS troops, to Dec. 1944. Another est. is 1,001,680K + 1,287,140M = 2,288,820 in Field Army only, 22-June 1941-10 March 1945.)


Some seriously flawed data, there.

The accepted authority for German casualties - currently - is Rudiger Overmans. For the Soviets it's Krivosheev.

Overmans:

German KIA/MIA on Eastern Front (22 June 1941 - December 1944): 2,742,909

To this total needs to be added the vast majority of the 1,230,045 German KIA/MIA who became casualties in Germany during 1945, fighting the Soviets.

Lokos

[Blumenteufel]

Interesting post, thanks.

Lokos, could you post Overmans and Krivosheev´s statistics? And who acceptetd them as authoritiy?

[Cpt. Spaulding]

have you see the pacific kill ratio??

* Pacific, 1941-45
o Japanese: 685,230 Army & Marines + 414,880 Navy [=1,100,110]
o Americans: 55,060 Army & Marines + 36,950 Navy [=92,010]
o [TOTAL: ca. 1,192,120]

awesome

[foxtrot023]

have you see the pacific kill ratio??

* Pacific, 1941-45
o Japanese: 685,230 Army & Marines + 414,880 Navy [=1,100,110]
o Americans: 55,060 Army & Marines + 36,950 Navy [=92,010]
o [TOTAL: ca. 1,192,120]

awesome

It was 9 to 1, but in Iwo Shima and Okinawa that ratio was closer to 1 to 1, thus one of the reasons why Op. Olympic wasn´t launched was a fear of huge casualties.

[ClydeFrog]

Interesting post, thanks.

Lokos, could you post Overmans and Krivosheev´s statistics? And who acceptetd them as authoritiy?
Overman uses a different approach to determine German WWII casualties than most other historians: instead of referring to OKW or OKH records he uses a card-index at the "Deutsche Dienststelle".

The advantage: In 1945 German reports are inaccurate due to the confusion created when the Reich collapsed. Apart from that, a possible attempt of the OKW to play down the casualties suffered could be avoided. The latter is debatable, casualty reports are dealt with on a top secret level, never intended for publication (propaganda numbers usually differ) and consist of many differnet parts. It should also be noted that the reporting system closely resembles that of other nations such as the USA or GB and that their death tolls are more or less calculated by that method.
So the OKW would naturally have a strong interest in raising the correct number for a various number of reasons, yet there's still a possibility they lied to themselves or made miscalculations even from '41-'44, at least on some occasions.

Still Overman takes a number of logical and statistical liberties in his calculations. From my memory: the card-index he used consists of two different catergories: "deaths" and "others who served". The latter too includes "missing" and other casualties. Now Overman takes The "death" box, consisting of 3.1 million cards, and uses a sample of the "others" to determine the total number of casualties. This makes a total of 3.1+2.2=5.3 million casualties.

This kind of approach leads to several inaccuracies: First of all, everyone who never reported back and every other "unclear case" is turned into "dead". Problem being a lot of German soldiers started a new life in the land where they former were kept POW (e.g. in the US), started a new life under a new fake identity (for political reasons, or to escape Soviet gulags) etc... taken alone these are probably neglectable, but they pull in the same direction.

Then there's the number of natural deaths of that time which is simply included in the total number. For a period of 5 years and given the "unhealthy" living conditions in Germany from 1943 on this number may as well be a few thousand for 1940 to 1945 for all enlistable men.
So the 5.3 million he lists are probably rather the upper limit of German WW2 casualties than the actual number, which might very well be close.

The worst mistake he makes imo is that he simply assumes the deaths in the "others" category to follow the same ditribution over time as the "deaths" and then simply brakes down the total number of casualties (5.3 million) into different time periods such as those operations above. Knowing that the documentation degraded over time he should not have done that. More of properly reported deaths will have occured in the first half of the war and more of the "unclear cases" will be in the second.
He also does not specifically include WIA in his statistics, which usually make the largest portion of casualties.

[Jeremiah]

It was 9 to 1, but in Iwo Shima and Okinawa that ratio was closer to 1 to 1, thus one of the reasons why Op. Olympic wasn´t launched was a fear of huge casualties.

wrong about Okinawa, it was closer to 9 to 1.

# Okinawa, World War II (1 April-21 June 1945): 148 000

* Toland, Rising Sun (1970)
o Japanese soldiers: 110,000 lost
o Okinawan civilians: 75,000 k.
o US: 12,520 marines and sailors K+M
o [TOTAL: ca. 122,500 military]
* Gilbert, History of the Twentieth Century
o Japanese soldiers killed: 107,500 bodies counted + 20,000 burned in caves + 7,800 Japanese aircraft shot down. [= 135,300]
o Okinawan civilians: 80,000+ k.
o US: 7,613 k. on land + 4,907 k. at sea [=12,520]
o [TOTAL: ca. 147,800 military]
* Global Security [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/okinawa-battle.htm]
o Japanese soldiers: 107,539 k + 23,764 sealed in caves + 7,830 Japanese aircraft shot down. [=139,133]
o Okinawan civilians: perhaps 100,000 k.
o US: <8,000 marine & army + <5,000 navy = 12,000+
o [TOTAL: ca. 151,000 military]
* Reader's Companion to Military History
o US
+ Land: 7,374 k. + 239 m.
+ Sea: 4,907 k.
+ [TOTAL: 12,520]
o Japanese, sea and air: 10,000
* Perrett, The Battle Book
o USA: 7,374 k. on land
o Japan: 107,500 known KIA, excl. trapped in caves
* Johnson, Modern Times
o US: 12,500 dead or missing
o Japanese: 185,000 k.

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/battles.htm#Okinawa

[Blumenteufel]

Thank you for that ClydeFrog!

[Minardiau]

Australia lost a hell of alot more in SE Asia to.

[foxtrot023]

wrong about Okinawa, it was closer to 9 to 1.

# Okinawa, World War II (1 April-21 June 1945): 148 000

* Toland, Rising Sun (1970)
o Japanese soldiers: 110,000 lost
o Okinawan civilians: 75,000 k.
o US: 12,520 marines and sailors K+M
o [TOTAL: ca. 122,500 military]
* Gilbert, History of the Twentieth Century
o Japanese soldiers killed: 107,500 bodies counted + 20,000 burned in caves + 7,800 Japanese aircraft shot down. [= 135,300]
o Okinawan civilians: 80,000+ k.
o US: 7,613 k. on land + 4,907 k. at sea [=12,520]
o [TOTAL: ca. 147,800 military]
* Global Security [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/okinawa-battle.htm]
o Japanese soldiers: 107,539 k + 23,764 sealed in caves + 7,830 Japanese aircraft shot down. [=139,133]
o Okinawan civilians: perhaps 100,000 k.
o US: <8,000 marine & army + <5,000 navy = 12,000+
o [TOTAL: ca. 151,000 military]
* Reader's Companion to Military History
o US
+ Land: 7,374 k. + 239 m.
+ Sea: 4,907 k.
+ [TOTAL: 12,520]
o Japanese, sea and air: 10,000
* Perrett, The Battle Book
o USA: 7,374 k. on land
o Japan: 107,500 known KIA, excl. trapped in caves
* Johnson, Modern Times
o US: 12,500 dead or missing
o Japanese: 185,000 k.

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/battles.htm#Okinawa

Japanese casualties (KIA, MIA, WIA, others-combat stress, sickness etc and POW) in Okinawa (all branches of military)-

142,059

US casualties (same as japanese casulaties categories)-

74,000

ratio of casualties is 1:2 roughly

[Rifleman]

It was 9 to 1, but in Iwo Shima and Okinawa that ratio was closer to 1 to 1, thus one of the reasons why Op. Olympic wasn´t launched was a fear of huge casualties.


It was actually Operation Downfall, I find the following from the link below interesting.

"Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan. As of 2005, all the American military casualties of the following sixty years—including the Korean and Vietnam Wars—have not exhausted that stockpile."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall

[Jeremiah]

Japanese casualties (KIA, MIA, WIA, others-combat stress, sickness etc and POW) in Okinawa (all branches of military)-

142,059

US casualties (same as japanese casulaties categories)-

74,000

ratio of casualties is 1:2 roughly

It's 9:1 if you only count kia.

look http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

[foxtrot023]

It's 9:1 if you only count kia.

look http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

Ok I see, I agree with that

[foxtrot023]

It was actually Operation Downfall, I find the following from the link below interesting.

"Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan. As of 2005, all the American military casualties of the following sixty years—including the Korean and Vietnam Wars—have not exhausted that stockpile."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall

You are correct Downfall was for the island of Kyushu. The number of casualties vary, but go as high as a million. A good book on this is Downfall- The end of the Japanese Empire by Frank Richards

Interesting is how long would the home island resisted if the USAAF had gone ahead with the bombing campaign on japanese railways- which were the only means to move large amounts of goods/people in Japan at that time. It is thought that it would have created large scale famine

[dima]

* Poland, 1939
o Poles: 66,300
o Germans: 13,110
o [Soviets]: 900 ("Russians")
German losses 16.663 men as KIA, MIA, non combat losses.[Muller-Hillerbrandt "Land army of germany 1933-1945"].
Soviet losses 1.475 men as as KIA, MIA, non combat losses (G.Krivosheev "Russia and USSR in wars of XX century.Losses of Armed Forces.Statistical Research.").

+ [Soviets]: 11,000,000 ("Russians")
Demographical losses of RA/Navy/NKVD/Internal Forces - 8.668.400 men (KIA, MIA, non combat losses, died as POW) (G.Krivosheev "Russia and USSR in wars of XX century.Losses of Armed Forces.Statistical Research."). Of them ~2.533.000 died as POW.


+ Germans: 2,415,690 (K+M+POWs, incl. SS troops, to Dec. 1944. Another est. is 1,001,680K + 1,287,140M = 2,288,820 in Field Army only, 22-June 1941-10 March 1945.)
+ Romanians: 381,000 (as Axis). 170,000 (as Allies)
+ Hungarians: 136,000
+ Poles: >40,000
+ Bulgarians: 32,000
+ [TOTAL: ca. 14,000,000]


Demographical losses of WH/LW/KM/SS/Todt - 4.270.700 men as KIA, MIA, died of wounds, non-combat cas, died as POW on EF.
Romanians lost 300.000 men as KIA, MIA, died of wounds, non-combat cas, died as POW on EF.
Hungarians lost 350.055 men as KIA, MIA, died of wounds, non-combat cas, died as POW on EF.
Italians lost 71.593 men as KIA, MIA, died of wounds, non-combat cas, died as POW on EF.
Finns lost 82.403 men as KIA, MIA, died of wounds, non-combat cas, died as POW on EF.
Slovaks lost 1.865 men as KIA, MIA, died of wounds, non-combat cas, died as POW on EF.
Demographical losses of armies of Romania,Hungary,Italy,Finnland,Slovakia - 806.000 men as KIA, MIA, died of wounds, non-combat cas, died as POW on EF.
(G.Krivosheev "Russia and USSR in wars of XX century.Losses of Armed Forces.Statistical Research.").