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

[Jeremiah]

includes 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!

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

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.").

[Domen]

Losses of SS in different campaigns until 15.07.1942 (from the report of SS Chef Statistician Dr. Korherr dated 31.08.1942):

Killed and missing:

Campaign: Waffen SS / Allgemeine SS:

Poland 1939: 398 / 380 = 778
Westwall 1939-1940: 3 / 43 = 46
Norway 1940: 0 / 44 = 44
Luxemburg 1940: 0 / 3 = 3
Holland 1940: 196 / 35 = 231
Belgium 1940: 23 / 130 = 153
France 1940: 1058 / 759 = 1817
Yugoslavia 1941: 32 / 15 = 47
Greece 1941: 84 / 25 = 109
Crete 1941: 0 / 90 = 90
Mediterranean Sea* - 0 / 21 = 21
Africa* - 0 / 34 = 34
Russia* - 9560 / 3926 = 13486

*Untill 15.07.1942

Aditionally 252 soldiers of Allgemeine SS are listed with "unknown place", so part of them could be killed during these campaigns listed above.



* Poland, 1939
o Poles: 66,300
o Germans: 13,110
o [Soviets]: 900 ("Russians")
o [TOTAL: ca. 80,000]



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.").


Also Slovakian forces participated in that conflict - they lost around 48 KIA or MIA and 114 WIA.

If it comes to German losses - they were actually higher - combat losses only:

Heer - 17163 KIA and MIA (Wehrmacht Zentralstatistik document from BA/MA RH 7/653)
Luftwaffe - 612 KIA and MIA (Wehrmachtverlustwesen document from 14.03.1944)
Kriegsmarine - 80 KIA and MIA (Fritz Hahn)
SS - 778 KIA and MIA (report quoted above - from BA NS 19/2109)
Other services (Polizei, Grenzschutz, Gendarmerie, forces from Danzig, SA, saboteurs, etc.) - ?

And Heer losses quoted above seems to be incomplete as after counting losses of subsequent divisions / brigades I received higher number.

In total German losses can be estimated as at least 20,000 - 21,000 KIA and MIA.

If it comes to Soviet losses - there are figures given by Molotov (which are known to be falsified / incomplete since around 1990) and some figures given by Krivosheev in his book as well as by the "Diary of Combat Operations of Ukrainian Front for the period 3 September - 12 October 1939" written by Major Kucev. I will present figures given by Krivosheev in the old edition of his book (published in 1993) as well as modified figures in the latest edition of his book (published in 2001):

Old edition (Krivosheev claims these casualty figures being for the period 17 IX - 25 IX 1939):

Ukrainian Front + Belarusian Front:

Older commanders (officers) / younger commanders (NCOs) / privates:

KIA + DoW – 127 / 150 / 575 = 852
MIA without a trace (never found) – 20 / 18 / 106 = 144

Total – 147 / 168 / 681 = 996

WIA – 186 / 298 / 1518 = 2002
Sick – 26 / 11 / 344 = 381

Belarusian Front:

KIA + DoW – 32 / 63 / 221 = 316
MIA without a trace (never found) – 1 / - / 2 = 3

Total – 33 / 63 / 223 = 319

WIA – 48 / 95 / 499 = 642
Sick - - / - / - = -

Ukrainian Front (the same figures are given by the "Diary of Combat Operations of Kievian Special Military District"):

KIA + DoW – 50 / 87 / 354 = 491
MIA without a trace (never found) – 19 / 18 / 104 = 141

Total – 69 / 105 / 458 = 632

WIA – 138 / 203 / 1119 = 1360
Sick – 26 / 11 / 344 = 381

While in the new edition of his book (2001) Krivosheev gives the following figures (claiming them being for the period 17 IX - 30 IX 1939):

Ukrainian Front + Belarusian Front:

KIA – 109 / 141 / 723 = 973
DoW – 15 / 18 / 69 = 102
MIA without a trace (never found) – 6 / 16 / 280 = 302
DiA – 18 / 14 / 44 = 76
DoS - - / 2 / 20 = 22

Total – 148 / 191 / 1136 = 1475

WIA – 186 / 298 / 1518 = 2002
Sick – 26 / 11 / 344 = 381

Ukrainian Front:

KIA – 43 / 82 / 445 = 570
DoW – 6 / 10 / 42 = 58
MIA without a trace (never found) – 5 / 14 / 270 = 289
DiA – 7 / 8 / 27 = 42
DoS – - / 1 / 12 = 13

Total – 61 / 115 / 796 = 972

WIA – 138 / 203 / 1119 = 1360
Sick - 26 / 11 / 344 = 381

Belarusian Front:

KIA – 66 / 59 / 278 = 403
DoW – 9 / 8 / 27 = 44
MIA without a trace (never found) – 1 / 2 / 10 = 13
DiA – 11 / 6 / 17 = 34
DoS – - / 1 / 8 = 9

Total – 87 / 76 / 340 = 503

WIA – 48 / 95 / 499 = 642
Sick - - / - / - = -

If it comes to MIA, he clearly states that his figures refer only to MIA without a trace, thus they should be considered as de facto KIA.

Anyway - we can notice several discrepancies in Krivosheev's figures:

1. Number of KIA / MIA / DoW is 1,5 times bigger in the new edition than in the old one, but author claims it being for the longer period (17 IX - 30 IX instead of 17 IX - 25 IX)
2. Despite the fact that losses in the new edition are - according to the author himself - for a longer period and despite the fact that number of KIA / MIA / DoW is 1,5 times bigger, number of WIA and sick is still the same as in the old edition.
3. Number of MIA older and younger commanders of the Ukrainian Front is in some "mysterious" way lower in period 17 IX - 30 IX than in period 17 - 25, despite the fact that number of MIA privates is much higher
4. Belarusian Front didn't have sick soldiers but had got soldiers died of sickness.

As I wrote above, one of discrepancies is the discrepancy with the number of WIA (number of WIA in period 17 - 25 IX is the same as in period 17 - 30 IX; moreover - all other types of casualties are much higher in what Krivosheev claims to be the figures for 17 IX - 30 IX period than in what he claims to be the figures for 17 IX - 25 IX period).

Number of WIA of Ukrainian Front was certainly much higher than according to Krivosheev. Another Russian source - Protocol from the meeting of War Council of Kievian Special Military District from 26.11.1939 - says that 1610 wounded soldiers of the Red Army were in the Kievian Military Hospital alone (and I suppose that only seriously wounded soldiers were transported to this main hospital of the Ukrainian Front). Considering that the ratio of dead / wounded in the first edition (1993) was around 1:2, we should assume that the ratio of dead / wounded in the 2nd ediion (2001) should be similar (1:2), but Krivosheev didn't have proper statistics available and thus his WIA figure is incomplete.

However, we must remember that even casualties from the 2nd edition are certainly incomplete. Why? Because they only cover the period 17 IX - 30 IX and Polish-Soviet battles also took place in October of 1939. For example during the battle of Wytyczno on 01.10.1939 Soviet forces lost - according to Soviet sources - 31 KIA and 101 WIA. Combats near Wytyczno also continued on 02.10.1939. On the same day 26th Tank Brigade fought against Polish unit near Stopnica, 10 km to the north-west from Drohobycz. 16th rifle regiment (87th Rifle Division) reported combats near the locality Kozak. Combats were also reported on that day near Lipniak and Miotelka. 44th Rifle Division and 140th Rifle Division reported fightings against Polish units on 03.10.1939. 99th Rifle Division reported combats both on 03.10.1939 and on 04.10.1939. 5th Army also reported combats on 04.10.1939 (especially 81st, 44th, 96th, 97th and 99th Rifle Divisions). Et cetera, et cetera.

Another problem is that Krivosheev analyzed only casualties of both fronts - Ukrainian and Belarusian. He didn't research casualties of Reserve units, which didn't belong to any of these fronts and which crossed the Polish-Soviet border in the 2nd wave - usually few days after 17.09.1939. There were a lot of such units (including few Tank Brigades) and some of them were involved in some combats.

Krivosheev also gives losses of Soviet Air Force over Poland as only 4 KIA, while Polish author Mirosław Wawrzyński in his book "Czerwone gwiazdy sojusznik czarnych krzyży nad Polską. Lotnictwo sowieckie nad Kresami wrzesień - październik 1939", basing of Russian documents managed to prepare the name list of Soviet airmen KIA over Poland in the 1939 campaign and this lists consists of 11 surnames (so almost 3 times more than Krivosheev's figure). This list of 11 Soviet airmen (rank + name and surname + date + reason of death) can be found on page 169 of his book.