World War 2 has been an interest of mine for many years. Books by many historians and participants have been read. Often I find myself picking up my phone and looking for additional information to better understand a point being made (as an aside, I often put my phone in the other room because I go off on too many tangents). These searches can be frustrating just getting basic top level data to corroborate or better understand a point. Specifically, ww2data.com wants to provide data at the national, alliance, and theater levels addressing total military and civilian manpower, deaths, casualties, military platform production and losses, natural resources, food resources, economic, and demographic data.
This site’s mission is to aggregate data and make it available to other history buffs like myself. There are many sites providing specific data for a tank, a plane, a ship, etc. This site doesn’t intend to duplicate those efforts because they already do it well. But hopefully, ww2data.com will eventually provide data to help a history buff understand or make an argument that Germany would have been better off putting more of their limited resources into making tanks, submarines, or artillery. Or what would have been UK’s or USSR’s fate if Lend Lease didn’t happen. Would they have lost the war, would the war take a few months longer, would there have been a negotiated peace with Germany, or would have the Soviet Union drove to the Atlantic.
Often there is conflicting data on a given topic. For example, estimated total deaths and casualties vary widely from source to source. In cases like this it is this site’s intention to provide multiple data sets and allow the user to determine which is best. Data will be provided with a source citation to allow the user access the source data to facilitate their assessment.
Help Needed
I need your help in two ways.
First, is there any erroneous data or information in this website. Often data is manually transcribed and human error will have its way. Please identify what is in error so that it can be updated.
- If a posting is in error please identify it by the posting’s name. Provide details regarding error.
- If a graphic is in error please identify it by the number in the bottom right corner having the following format; ‘ww2data.com Chart XXXX’. Provide details regarding error.
Note: Data from a different source that is in conflict with posted data doesn’t mean the posted data is in error. Post war records were often in a shamble due to the war’s effects or were assigned to the trash heap. Published data could be an estimate based upon what was available at the time or location. Thereby, conflicting data could arise over the years as new data was unearthed or new estimating techniques were used.
Second, I am looking for data sources such as:
- WW2 government or military reports summarizing or tabulating at the military branch or national levels
- manpower,
- equipment production, usage, and losses (good loss data is hard to find),
- resources consumed,
- etc.
- Manufacturing data
- Manhours per platform
- Learning curves
- Number of changes per platform and how implemented (block changes or on-going changes)
- Resources consumed per unit
- Social or demographic data
- Work force demographic changes by nation, year, gender, age, ethnicity, slave, etc.
- Draft by nation year, age, deferments, etc.
- Logistical data
- Number of locomotives produced and lost
- Number of trucks produced and lost
- Number of merchant marine convoys, loss rate, etc.
- Whatever you may think that fits the ww2data.com parameters that isn’t currently presented.
- If you have other sources that differ from what is currently posted please provide that data. The original posting will remain but separate postings with differing data can be presented as well.
Please provide the following source information;
- If a website include; website name and URL,
- If a book include; book title, author’s name, publisher, year published, page number, and if applicable table number, or
- Other sources such as magazine article, etc. include; magazine/journal’s name, Date published or year and volume number, article title, author’s name.
Please email corrections or suggested data sources using the contact form below.