Replacement Army

The Replacement Army (German: Ersatzheer) was part of the German Army during World War I and part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. It was based within Germany proper and included command and administrative units as well as training and guard troops.

In the Third Reich

It was formed in the various German military districts (Wehrkreise) and was tasked with the conscription, training and replacement of personnel, testing of new military equipment, and responsibility for soldiers on home leave.

The Ersatzheer played a crucial role in the Operation Valkyrie scheme which was used for the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and arrest the SS troops for a coup d'etat.

Commanding officers

General der Infanterie zur Verwendung (for disposition) Joachim von Stülpnagel, 26 August 1939 – 31 August 1939
Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm, 1 September 1939 – 20 July 1944
Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, 20 July 1944 – 8 May 1945

Chief of Staff

SS-Obergruppenführer Hans Jüttner

References

German Replacement Army (Ersatzheer) April 1944, Part 1. BiblioGov. 2013. ISBN 978-1-288-58410-9.
German Replacement Army (Ersatzheer) April 1944, Part 2. BiblioGov. 2013. ISBN 978-1-288-58417-8.

External links

"The German Replacement Army" (PDF). Combined Arms Research Library (in German). Retrieved 5 February 2015.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.