How many troops did Germany have in Occupied France?

[wildbillhdmax01]

I can't seem to find any good numbers or even a good estimate. I'm kinda curious how many troops were stationed in France, and was hopping someone has an idea, even a estimate would be great. Even number including the low countries is fine as I'm also curious about that also.

 

[Graf Zeppelin]

Roughly 50 000 men including garrisons ,SS, Gestapo and military administration.

 

[wildbillhdmax01]

Thank you.

 

[Fornadan]

Roughly 50 000 men including garrisons ,SS, Gestapo and military administration.

Surely that must be too low, are you missing a zero?

Even in Norway there were some 150 000 men...

 

[Jos de trol]

Surely that must be too low, are you missing a zero?

Even in Norway there were some 150 000 men...

norway was very well staffed, to ever more ridiculous proportions as the war progressed

 

[Fornadan]

Still, 50 000 is just a single army corps

 

[Jos de trol]

Still, 50 000 is just a single army corps

I'm not sure where that number comes from though. there were like 50.000 german casualties at falaise alone

the number of divisions on paper were ridiculously under strength in any case

 

[Graf Zeppelin]

Surely that must be too low, are you missing a zero?

Even in Norway there were some 150 000 men...

Like Jos said Norway was overstaffed for several reasons. France was a rather smooth occupation. For example only 2000 people worked in the military administration of the whole country since the French authorities cooperated nicely.
The number of troops in France was however rising in 1943 and peaked in 1944 with the positioning of the strategic reserve in France.

 

[Dina1954]

Roughly 50 000 men including garrisons ,SS, Gestapo and military administration.

Well not in june 1944, near Normandie had the Germans in this divisions about 120.500 men.

243 ID : 11,529 - 14 Marder 38 and 10 StuG III assault guns
709 ID : 12,320 - 9 7.5cm Pak 40 A/T gun on tracked chassis
716 ID : 7,771 - 10 7.5cm Pak 40 A/T gun on tracked chassis
711 ID : 7,242
352 ID : 12,734 - 14 Marder 38 and 10 StuG III assault guns
91 : 7,500
21 Pz Div : 16,297 - 112 Pz IV tanks
Also in the area was Flak–Sturm-Regiment 1 equipped with 8.8cm flak guns : ~ 3.000
Plus various small units : ~ 7,000 plus ~80 French tanks
Total strength : ~ 85,000
Armored vehicles : 112 Pz IV, 67 self propelled guns and ~80 obsolete French tanks. Sum: 259.

Mobile units close by are :
12 SS : 20,516 – 164 AFV
Pz Lehr : 14,699 – 237 AFV
However these units did not fight on the first day of the invasion.
[Source:Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness ,p28]

In the Western front they had about 880.000 men.

 

[Graf Zeppelin]

Well not in june 1944, near Normandie had the Germans in this divisions about 120.500 men.

243 ID : 11,529 - 14 Marder 38 and 10 StuG III assault guns
709 ID : 12,320 - 9 7.5cm Pak 40 A/T gun on tracked chassis
716 ID : 7,771 - 10 7.5cm Pak 40 A/T gun on tracked chassis
711 ID : 7,242
352 ID : 12,734 - 14 Marder 38 and 10 StuG III assault guns
91 : 7,500
21 Pz Div : 16,297 - 112 Pz IV tanks
Also in the area was Flak–Sturm-Regiment 1 equipped with 8.8cm flak guns : ~ 3.000
Plus various small units : ~ 7,000 plus ~80 French tanks
Total strength : ~ 85,000
Armored vehicles : 112 Pz IV, 67 self propelled guns and ~80 obsolete French tanks. Sum: 259.

Mobile units close by are :
12 SS : 20,516 – 164 AFV
Pz Lehr : 14,699 – 237 AFV
However these units did not fight on the first day of the invasion.
[Source:Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness ,p28]

In the Western front they had about 880.000 men.

Seems to be right.
I was obviously not talking about near Invasion numbers or the western front.

 

[Dina1954]

Seems to be right.
I was obviously not talking about near Invasion numbers or the western front.

In that case I give you right. Still I think your figures are to low.

German Occupational Forces, 1939-1940

Country Population Area In Sq. Mi. German Forces German Ratio To Population
Balkans 21 million 403,000 200,000 1:105
Belgium 8 million 30,400 100,000 1:80
Denmark 3.6 million 22,700 40,000 1:90
France 40 million 550,700 500,000 1:80
Holland 8.5 million 34,200 100,000 1:85
Norway 2.8 million 324,000 150,000 1:19

Location of German Divisions in June of each year in France,Holland and Belgium

1941 - 38 div
1942 - 27 div
1943 - 42 div
1944 - 56 div

 

[robw963]

Here's the OOB for Army Group D which was responsible for occupation of France and Belgium + Netherlands. This shows OOB for 1942:
http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/942GFAE.pdf

This guy on Yahoo claims the following (based on the PDF link above):

This shows that Army Group D (which was the HQ responsible for France, Belgium and the Netherlands) deployed a total of 23 infantry divisions and 3 panzer divisions in June 1942. Two of those infantry divisions were in the Netherlands, so there were 21 infantry divisions in France+Belgium.

The prescribed paper strength (TOE) for a 1942 Wehrmacht infantry division was 16,500 men; for a panzer division the TOE prescribed 15,600 men. Therefore, if all of the Army Group D subsidiary formations were at full strength, France+Belgium would have been occupied by 346,500 infantry + 46,800 panzer troops = 393,300 men.

However, that calculation is based on the premise that every division was at full strength, which they surely would not have been. In 1942, with no serious prospect of an Allied invasion in the West, the Russian front was accorded top priority for replacements (plus a small allocation for North Africa). It seems very probable that all of Army Group D’s formations would have been far below establishment strength in 1942 … perhaps 300,000 in total, not the almost 400,000 paper strength.