German Orders of Battle – Kursk July 1943

German Orders of Battle at the time of the tank battle of Kursk and the Allied invasion of Sicily from July 7, 1943.

Fortress divisions are officially designated ‘not mobile’ divisions, designated for the defence of coastal sections in the west.

Luftwaffe field divisions were raised from surplus ground crews and anti-aircraft soldiers of the Air Force to reinforce the army, but they were of low fighting power because it’s soldiers and officers had little experience in ground warfare.

Security divisions were used for the guarding and defence of bridges, railway lines and other important objects against partisans.

Jaeger divisions were light and mobile units for difficult terrain and were especially active in the fight against partisans (an interesting side note to the war against the partisans, which falls in this period: with order from July 1943, captured partisans (called ‘bandits’) were now officially treated as prisoners of war (POW) and were used as workers in Germany and occupied territories, and not – as previously customary – executed).

Schematic layout of the German Wehrmacht from July 7, 1943

Army Group A:

Army Group South:

Army Group Center:

Army Group North:

subordinated to OKW (Headquarter of the Wehrmacht):

Army Group D, Commander of the West:

Army Group E, Commander South East:

Commander Theatre South:

Reserve Army and Commander of the army armament (divisions under preparation):
265 Fortress Infantry Division
266 Fortress Infantry Division
295 Infantry Division
and additional 11 Infantry, 1 Jaeger, 3 Panzer, 5 Panzer Grenadier divisions as new units under preparation.

Overview of fully established and operational divisions of the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, Luftwaffe, Reserve Army and allied units under operational control:

Pz = panzer (armoured) division; PzGren =Panzer Grenadier (motorized infantry with armour); Inf = Infantry; Jag = Jaeger (light infantry), Mt = mountain division; Sec = security division; AF = Air Force (Luftwaffe) divisions (Air landing, Paratroopers, Luftwaffe Field); Allied = allied units

Tank inventory

Known quantities of tanks with Army Groups South and Center before the tank battle of Kursk (July 1943):

Inventory of armoured fighting vehicles on January 1, 1943:

See also: Germany Army Unit Organization 1942-45

References and literature

Krieg der Panzer (Piekalkiewicz)
Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht, Band 1-8 (Percy E. Schramm)
Kraftfahrzeuge und Panzer der Reichswehr, Wehrmacht und Bundeswehr (Werner Oswald)
Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two (P.Chamberlain, H.L.Doyle)