German Casualties on the Somme

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

The Deutsche Verlustlisten was published almost daily from August 1914 through the end of 1919. The lists went through a series of changes from the early version to the final result, most likely as a result of the numbers of men needed to be listed.

Many early lists indicated rank, name, birthplace and type of wound. Each regiment was listed by numerical order as well as being broken down to Prussian, Bavarian, Saxon and Württemberg lists. The Marine losses were listed on occasion as well.

The listing of information evolved to show only the rank above private soldier and type of wound: Killed, Severely wounded, slightly wounded, etc. Later in the lists the names were simply listed in alphabetical order with birthplace and type of wound but no indication of regiment, etc. This of course makes it almost impossible to obtain an accurate picture of any one regiment throughout the war.

As part of my general study of German losses and details on specific regiments I looked at one early list covering the period from late September 1914 the 6 October 1914. The early lists fortunately provided the dates that related to the casualties, something later lists omitted. Without the dates being provided it is a matter of estimating when a particular man was injured or killed in most cases. Cross referencing materials with other sources does help narrow it all down.

The initial review was of the I Battalion, Infanterie Regiment Nr. 180, a Württemberg regiment that was part of the 26th Reserve Division in the opening phases of the attack on the Somme.

This battalion was involved in small skirmishes with retreating French cavalry on 27 September. On the 28th the I Battalion along with two other companies and several machine gun sections were sent to occupy the northern edge of Authuille Wood at 5.30 p.m.

On the 29th the battalion was forced to withdraw as a result of heavy French artillery fire that in some cases was flanking fire, some from the rear. The battalion suffered heavy losses but was able to withdraw to an area southwest of Thiepval. They remained here until the night of 5/6 October when they participated in an attack against Thiepval Wood. The French were forced out of the wood into the Ancre valley, however the Germans withdrew to their lines near Thiepval as they were unable to hold the wood. Afterward the I Battalion was placed in reserve.

During this period the battalion suffered 184 casualties broken down in the following categories:

Killed

14, of which 7 were also listed as being shot in the head, 1 severely wounded in the back.

Missing

47 in total. Of which 4 were listed originally as slightly wounded: 2 of the 4 in the right leg.

Severely wounded

47 in total. 11 died from their wounds (1 wounded and died in hospital, 1 wounded and captured who died as a P.O.W., 3 leg wounds, 2 right leg, 1 both legs, 1 back wound, 2 stomach wounds). Of the rest: 5 had back wounds, 8 had head wounds, 3 both legs, 3 left leg, 3 just listed as a leg wound, 1 chest, 1 hand, 1 posterior, 1 head and left arm, 1 left arm, 1 head and right arm, 1 head and right leg, 1 head, right arm and leg, 1 left arm, left leg and stomach, 1 left arm, left leg, 1 neck and leg, 1 right leg and chest, 1 right leg, back and stomach, 1 just listed as seriously wounded.

Slightly wounded

76 in total of which 7 listed as slightly wounded, 1 listed only as wounded, 5 leg, 7 right leg, 12 left leg, 1 both legs, 5 left arm, 5 right arm, 6 listed as arm, 2 listed as hand, 4 left hand, 1 right hand, 9 head, 1 hip, 2 neck, 1 posterior, 1 simply listed as wounded, 1 shoulder, 1 left leg and head, 1 left leg and posterior, 1 right arm and posterior, 1 right arm and right side, 1 slightly wounded and remained with the regiment.

The details listed above also had name, rank and birthplace on the original records but were omitted due to space. It does however provide a small glimpse into the type of losses suffered in the early fighting. Part of this period was open warfare, part early trench warfare. It is my intention to provide as much detail to the rest of the losses suffered by the German army on the Somme or as much as the current level of records allow.

It should be noted that most of the losses were probably suffered while in Authuille wood and in the case of the missing men, most are probably still where they fell.

Ralph

[Desmond7]

I am constantly amazed at the in-depth detail on casualties which seems to exist in the German system of recording.

Des

[Andrew Hesketh]

That's very interesting information Ralph. Were these lists for public consumption or kept within the army?

Either way, I agree with Des. Do you think it seems to suggest a more caring attitude to the men?

[DaveBrigg]

Or a more methodical approach to recording. Either the medical staff had to fill a form for each person they saw, or there was someone sat with a clipboard at the front entrance, checking new arrivals. Does this level of detail continue in 1915 or 1916? Either way, seeing someone listed as wounded in the leg and neck conjurs up images of shellfire, and presents a more graphic image than 'wounded' ever did.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hello Andrew, The lists in question were published for the public, a place where you could check on family and friends. Some original copies still exist but they are rare. The Library of Congress received them on a regular basis until the U.S. declared war then they mysteriously stopped mailing them to us!?!? Was it something we said?

Dave, I believe the information was present when the regiments sent in the casualty lists every 10 days or so. They probably came from casualty tags and reports from medical personnel. The information was quickly phased out probably due to the sheer numbers of entries needed. The less detail, the easier job for the type setters. The detailed information did exist after the war in paper form, some survives to this day still in paper form, others have been lost or destroyed since then. The problem would be to access all of this information in any meaningful way. My greatest hope is that one day the materials are placed in digital form and placed on the web for all to see. I do bot see this happening in the near future however.

I suspect Des that the Allied countries have similar details taken from casualty cards but the question would be where are they? The French on-line search system does provide some detail for the men who were killed by placing copies of the original casualty cards on the web. I wonder what else is out there?

Ralph

[Jack Sheldon]

Ralph

This is a fascinating piece of research. I look forward to any other periods which you are able reconstruct in the same way. It is a pity that we do not have decent POW records, because although the history of IR 180 does not go into great detail, there is an unpublished paper in Stuttgart (In M410 Bue 140), written by Leutnant Koehler, sometime Ordonnanz-Offizier of 51 Reserve Brigade with the title 'Eimarschkaempfe in Nordfrankreich', which hints at more information available somewhere. Prior to the pull out from Authuille Wood, Koehler says that the medical staffs were the last to leave, having combed the wood and having attempted to evacuate all the wounded. On that basis it could be presumed that the missing were almost all KIA, but Koehler also writes,'...nevertheless, the French assert that they took prisoners in Authuille Wood. It is only conceivable that some wounded were located in outlying places in the wood where they escaped the notice of stretcherbearers.'

This is tantalizing stuff. If only he had said how many prisoners were taken, it would have been possible to round off the picture you have built up in a very exact way. I suppose that it just illustrates how very difficult the entire valuable project you are undertaking is.

Jack

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hello Jack,

The interesting part of all this is the fact that each list could have 1-2 followup lists entries, sometimes over the course of a year. While it is possible the MIA were killed only one is listed as being captured and later die in a French POW camp.

As I continue forward with the lists I hope to establish more detail on the fate of these men, I will post additional details as they are discovered.

Ralph

P.S. Another interesting bit on the Verlustlisten is that occasionally there are sections where photos found on casualties are displayed in the hope of establishing an identity as well as photos of identity discs that were found. The discs that I have come across seem to have been lost in many places, in areas that had seen fighting to train stations in Germany. Ihave yet to go through the entire collection and unfortunately the local reader has been out of service for months so the search has been placed on hold for now.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I have finally completed the first list from IR 180 for the two week period from late September through 10 October. In this period the regiment suffered 652 casualties, about 20% of the pre-war regimental strength and probably higher at this time since the regiment had already suffered losses before arriving at the Somme.

Jack, the losses do indicate that prisoners were taken. I need to find the followup lists where the MIA's are finally identified as being killed or captured (in some cases the men were wounded and sent to hospital without the regiment knowing it, etc.).

The breakdown of the losses are the following major categories:

Killed 101

MIA, determined to have been killed 26

Died of wounds 17

Severely wounded and died 37

MIA (not listed as killed in post-war publications) 45

Died in French POW camps 3

Sick 1

Severely wounded 93

Slightly wounded 152

Slightly wounded, remained with the regiment 14

Wounded 64

The wounded, slightly wounded and severely wounded would have required treatment at hospitals so the men would be out of action for some period of time. Just 14 wounded men remained with the regiment where they received first aid treatment but could still participate in the fighting.

These losses do indicate the level and deadliness of the early fighting with crude trenches or none as the case may be and generally infantry vs infantry with some artillery support.

Of the 45 MIA's I would suspect that a large portion were captured. I hope to have further details on these men in the following weeks. I have just ordered a digital microfilm reader that will allow me to photograph and save each page of the lists for easier access and use. As soon as this is set up I will be able to supply some information owed to several members. I have not had access to a reader for some months as the local one is broken.

Ralph

[truthergw]

I have finally completed the first list from IR 180 for the two week period from late September through 10 October.

....................................

Died of wounds 17

Severely wounded and died 37

................................

Ralph

Hi Ralph, What is the distinction between ' died of wounds ' and ' severely wounded and died' ?

[Jack Sheldon]

Ralph

Many thanks for that I am on my travels in UK for another ten days, but will get back to you with a proper observation at the end of the month.

Jack

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hi Ralph, What is the distinction between ' died of wounds ' and ' severely wounded and died' ?

I believe it is simply how each company reported losses. Some were detailed giving the location of the wound, others just said 'wounded', 'killed', etc.

Ralph

[truthergw]

I believe it is simply how each company reported losses. Some were detailed giving the location of the wound, others just said 'wounded', 'killed', etc.

Ralph

Thanks, I'm a nit picking kind of a guy. Perhaps you or Jack can help me with a puzzle. When reading general figures for casualties, such as for a year or a particular battle, there are often vague hints that the way the British counted casualties differed from the way the French or Germans did. In what way did they differ?

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I cannot help you with this question as I am not sure just how British casualties were counted. The Germans normally reported losses every 10 days and would include all losses suffered in this period. This makes it difficult to establish exact numbers for any given day or action unless other sources are still available and accessible.

Ralph

[truthergw]

I cannot help you with this question as I am not sure just how British casualties were counted. The Germans normally reported losses every 10 days and would include all losses suffered in this period. This makes it difficult to establish exact numbers for any given day or action unless other sources are still available and accessible.

Ralph

That would probably explain it then. A lot can happen in ten days.