bigpigeon.us webpage World Wars > WW II Data, updated by RAC 23 Apr 2021.
I occasionally add material to this webpage, wherein I describe the scope and organization of America's World War II effort.
Overall United States Organizational Structure:
During World War II, the War Department and the Navy Department were separate cabinet agencies; in 1947 they were merged into the new Department of Defense. Also in 1947 the Army Air Forces became an entity independent of the Army.
The War Department supported the United States Army, which consisted of three components, with a combined peak strength around 11.2 million:
The Navy Department supported the following:
The merchant marine was not part of the military, and was overseen by the War Shipping Administration during most of WW II. Civilian merchant mariners had a high death rate; 215,000 served, 8,600 died, however this may include the deaths of foreign nationals. In addition, many merchant marine ships carried Navy gun crews, where 145,000 served and 1,800 died.
United States WW II Army Deaths (K denotes 1,000):
Army Ground Forces:
Army Air Forces:
United States WW II Military Deaths
Other United States WW II Deaths
Worldwide WW II combat deaths, military deaths, and civilian deaths:
We cannot hope to know the total worldwide deaths - military and civilian - caused by World War II. Reliable approximations are surprisingly hard to find. Figures offered by seemingly solid sources are often incorrect. As two examples:
The problem of unreliable data is compounded by slopping writing and the misuse of the word casualty. A casualty is either killed in action, captured, or wounded and is no longer an effective combatant. In most land combat, casualties far outnumber those killed.
The World War II US Missing:
Unlike the Vietnam War, Americans in WW II who went missing in combat or from accidents and didn't resurvace were declared dead, usually after one year, unless evidence existed to support otherwise. However, there are over 70,000 Americans whose bodies have not been recovered and identified. These are the WW II missing. Lists are available at dpaa.mil.
The WW II Draft in the United States:
Manpower needs were satisfied by a series of drafts, as detailed below.
World War II Draft Registration Dates courtesy of fold3.com
New States Added to WWII Draft Registration Card Collection! April 24, 2019 by Jenny Ashcraft
We’ve updated our WWII Draft Registration Card collection and added records from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Washington! We now have Draft Registration Cards from 38 states or regions in this collection!
There were seven draft registration periods in the United States for World War II service. The first draft registration was held on October 16, 1940—before the United States had entered the war. Men ages 21—36 were required to register at their local draft board. The second draft registration was also held prior to the American entrance into the war, on July 1, 1941. This registration was for men who had turned 21 since the previous registration date nine months earlier.
The third (February 16, 1942) and fifth (June 30, 1942) registration periods expanded the ages required to register; the age ranges for the third were extended to 20–21 and 35–44, while the fifth extended them to ages 18–20. The sixth registration (December 10–31, 1942) was for men who had turned 18 since the fifth registration six months prior. There was also a seventh registration, known as the “Extra Registration,” from November 16 to December 31, 1943, which was for American men ages 18–44 who were living abroad.
The cards from the fourth registration (April 27, 1942; for men ages 45–64) are not included in the WWII Draft Registration Cards but in Fold3’s WWII “Old Man’s Draft” Registration Cards collection.
Information on the WWII Draft Registration Cards may include the man’s name, address, telephone number, age, place of birth, country of citizenship, name and address of the person who will always know the registrant’s address, employer’s name, place of employment, and a description of the registrant.
I occasionally add material to this webpage, wherein I describe the scope and organization of America's World War II effort.
Overall United States Organizational Structure:
During World War II, the War Department and the Navy Department were separate cabinet agencies; in 1947 they were merged into the new Department of Defense. Also in 1947 the Army Air Forces became an entity independent of the Army.
The War Department supported the United States Army, which consisted of three components, with a combined peak strength around 11.2 million:
- Army Ground Forces.
- Army Air Forces, peak strength 2.4 million.
- Army Service Forces.
The Navy Department supported the following:
- United States Navy, peak strength 4.2 million.
- United States Marine Corps, peak strength 660,000.
- United States Coast Guard (temporarily transferred from the Treasury Department during WW II).
The merchant marine was not part of the military, and was overseen by the War Shipping Administration during most of WW II. Civilian merchant mariners had a high death rate; 215,000 served, 8,600 died, however this may include the deaths of foreign nationals. In addition, many merchant marine ships carried Navy gun crews, where 145,000 served and 1,800 died.
United States WW II Army Deaths (K denotes 1,000):
Army Ground Forces:
Army Air Forces:
- 88K died in service.
- 52K battle deaths, of which 46K were killed in action.
- 36K non-battle deaths, of which 26K were killed in aircraft accidents.
United States WW II Military Deaths
- 318K Army (including Army Air Force)
- 63K Navy
- 25K Marine Corps
- 2K Coast Guard
Other United States WW II Deaths
- 9K - Merchant Marine (many were not from the United States)
- 2K - Other Civilians died while interned or from friendly fire (my estimate)
- 4K - Former Veterans, died of wounds, physical or psychic, after release from service (my estimate)
- unknown - Philippine Scouts, Filipinos who were members of the US Army
Worldwide WW II combat deaths, military deaths, and civilian deaths:
We cannot hope to know the total worldwide deaths - military and civilian - caused by World War II. Reliable approximations are surprisingly hard to find. Figures offered by seemingly solid sources are often incorrect. As two examples:
- The French Army Museum at Les Invalides in Paris has ignored my two request to include Hungarian deaths of around 300,000 military and 600,000 civilians in their display of World War II losses by country.
- For years, figures for total Allied deaths in Normandy on D-Day were grossly understated at 2,500. Recent research gives a confirmed figure of 4,400+, of whom about 2,500 were American.
The problem of unreliable data is compounded by slopping writing and the misuse of the word casualty. A casualty is either killed in action, captured, or wounded and is no longer an effective combatant. In most land combat, casualties far outnumber those killed.
- As an example of sloppy writing, I quote from a current history.com article: "German casualties on D-Day, meanwhile, have been estimated to be between 4,000 and 9,000 killed, wounded or missing. The Allies also captured some 200,000 German prisoners of war." The first figures are for June 6 only. The 200,000 captured figure is for the entire Normandy Campaign, which began on June 6.
The World War II US Missing:
Unlike the Vietnam War, Americans in WW II who went missing in combat or from accidents and didn't resurvace were declared dead, usually after one year, unless evidence existed to support otherwise. However, there are over 70,000 Americans whose bodies have not been recovered and identified. These are the WW II missing. Lists are available at dpaa.mil.
The WW II Draft in the United States:
Manpower needs were satisfied by a series of drafts, as detailed below.
World War II Draft Registration Dates courtesy of fold3.com
New States Added to WWII Draft Registration Card Collection! April 24, 2019 by Jenny Ashcraft
We’ve updated our WWII Draft Registration Card collection and added records from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Washington! We now have Draft Registration Cards from 38 states or regions in this collection!
There were seven draft registration periods in the United States for World War II service. The first draft registration was held on October 16, 1940—before the United States had entered the war. Men ages 21—36 were required to register at their local draft board. The second draft registration was also held prior to the American entrance into the war, on July 1, 1941. This registration was for men who had turned 21 since the previous registration date nine months earlier.
The third (February 16, 1942) and fifth (June 30, 1942) registration periods expanded the ages required to register; the age ranges for the third were extended to 20–21 and 35–44, while the fifth extended them to ages 18–20. The sixth registration (December 10–31, 1942) was for men who had turned 18 since the fifth registration six months prior. There was also a seventh registration, known as the “Extra Registration,” from November 16 to December 31, 1943, which was for American men ages 18–44 who were living abroad.
The cards from the fourth registration (April 27, 1942; for men ages 45–64) are not included in the WWII Draft Registration Cards but in Fold3’s WWII “Old Man’s Draft” Registration Cards collection.
Information on the WWII Draft Registration Cards may include the man’s name, address, telephone number, age, place of birth, country of citizenship, name and address of the person who will always know the registrant’s address, employer’s name, place of employment, and a description of the registrant.
Sources for the WW II Data webpage:
- The webpage header photo, "Mobile Data Processing", shows the inside of a 32nd Machine Records Unit truck. It is taken from an on-line book, http://www.ibiblio.org/cizewski/signalcorps/32mru/32mruhistory.pdf, courtesy of Donna Barolla, the niece of the book's late author, Otis F. Wollenberg. In the pre-computer era of World War II, the United States Army used a number of mobile data processing centers. Card punch machines were used to code data onto what were popularly called IBM Cards and massive decks of cards were then processed by different machines such as sorters and tabulators. Printers would then generate reports.
- https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Forces
- http://www.armed-guard.com