German Casualties in the Battle of the Somme

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hello,

Some of you have known that my area of interest is the German Army. I am in the process of working on several large projects, one of which relates to the casualties suffered by the German Army onthe Somme from late June to November 1916. Many books cite numbers relating to the losses by the German Army but as far as I know no one has ever looked through the Verlustlisten for this period.

While it will not be an exact number because of the manner in which casualties were reported and when they were reported but I expect it will be as close to the true number as possible.

I know the thread caption implies more but since I have only just started the project it will be some time before the numbers are known.

I have looked at one division, the 28th Reserve Division that occupied the sectors from La Boisselle to Mametz on 1 July 1916. I am still in the process of compiling the total losses, killed, wounded, missing, sick, etc. and only have the fatal losses from the week long bombardment and those listed as 1 July 1916 (including the men wounded and who died from their wounds). I know there are many members who can supply similar information on the British units facing the 28th Reserve Division so I wonder just how they stack up in comparison.

The fatal losses, including died from wounds of men from 24 June to 30 June were: 84 officers and men. The fatal losses for 1 July 1916 after the heavy fighting ended was 659 officers and men. This number only acounts for the division infantry, the 109th RIR, 110th RIR and 111th RIR. I have yet to include support troops, artillery, etc. but it can be said that the infantry suffered the heaviest losses in the division.

On a second point, since the projects and other duties will take up a great deal of my time I will not be posting to the forum for some time to come. I may stop in and see what is happening but for the foreseeable future I will have to bow out of most aspects of the group.

I hope to return at some time on the future as I have made many friends from among the members and will always try and help those I am already in contact with off forum. I owe a few people some information and I will try to get to everything as soon as possible.

Until then, all the best to the forum members.

Ralph

[spike10764]

Good luck with your project Ralph, we'll try to keep the forum 'warm' until you return.

[Jack Sheldon]

Ralph

I think that is going to be a magnificent effort. Would it be any help to provide cross-checks from the regimental histories where full lists were published? In the case of 28 Reserve Division, I have the lists for RIRs 109 and 111 if that would be any use to you.

Jack

[Simon Jones]

Good luck and thank you in advance: this will be so important for our understanding of the battle and as a memorial to the soldiers the old German Army.

Regards

Simon

[bmac]

Ralph,

Best wishes on this important project. If I was religious I might say "God speed!" but I'm not so I won't.... :-;

But, one line in your message makes interesting reading:

The fatal losses, including died from wounds of men from 24 June to 30 June were: 84 officers and men.

My interest in Gommecourt has led me to investigate the effectiveness of the British bombardment before 1st July 1916 and the figures are revealing. The 56th Division lost 490 men (94 dead) in the period 24th-30th June and the 46th Division c.370. Figures for some of the battalions opposite them show the small scale of their losses under seven days of bombardment:

55 RIR - 4 killed and 44 wounded

170 IR (3 companies) - 8 killed and 20 wounded

15 RIR - 10 killed and 16 wounded (minimum figures)

A total of 102 for the units opposite the 56th Division (and not all of the 55 RIR was opposite the 56th Div). Making some allowance for casualties amongst the artillery (of which there were not many) a total of 150 seems generous. So, even during the bombardment, the British were taking casualties at a rate of 3:1. On 1st July the ratio was over 5:1. It will be fascinating to see how representative these numbers are across the rest of the front line.

[Desmond7]

Get the head down ... get those numbers crunched ... gimme a shout for anything you need from my little patch of ground!

War diary for March (when complete) will make interesting reading.

Best wishes.

Des

[toofatfortakeoff]

Best of luck Ralph I can verify that your help had been invaluable. I have deathcards on CD produced in the UK if you need a look at it let me know I'll see if i can send you a copy

SEANIO

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I will keep what you have said and offered in mind. I wanted to add a few items to the first list to give an idea of the losses for the German side. Remember, this is only an account of the fatal losses, not the wounded, sick, injured or captured.

26th Reserve Feld Artillerie Regiment

10 killed or died of wounds for the period of 24/6-30/6

3 killed or died of wounds for 1 July 1916.

This is only one artillery regiment and the losses in the others might be different but it does indicate the minimal losses suffered by one unit in the thick of the action.

10th Bavarian Division:

6th Bavarian Reserve Regiment

17 k, DoW 24/6-30/6

465 k, DoW 1 July 1916

8th Bavarian Reserve Regiment

10 k, DoW 24/6-30/6

179 k, DoW 1 july 1916

16th Bavarian IR

1 k, DoW 1 July 1916

26th Reserve Division:

119th RIR

44 k, DoW 24/6-30/6

128 k, DoW 1 July 1916

121st RIR

34 k, DoW 24/6-30/6

218 k, DoW 1 July 1916

180th IR

48 k, DoW 24/6-30/6

169 k, DoW 1 July 1916

99th RIR

under review

Overall, the losses for the preliminary bombardment was not very high in the number of killed, especially in light of the numbers of shells fired. The fatal losses listed for 1 July were of course much higher once the infantry attacks started but the numbers listed above and in the first posting do not come close to those suffered by the British units and the units listed, other than the 99th RIR were the bulk of the infantry units in action on 1 July (excluding Gommecourt sector and the French further south. It should be noted the 6th Bavarian RIR did fight against the northern part of the French advance).

Now for the big work, recording the names from thelists and then taking them through November.

Best regards,

Ralph