German Ammunition Consumption during the Polish Campaign

It has been claimed that the Polish campaign depleted the German ammunition stocks enough so that an attack on France in the late Fall of 1939 would have been at serious risk of exhausting the available supplies of ammunition. The table below presents the amount of ammunition available at the start of the campaign and consumed during its course.
Production numbers below are derived from subtracting the holdings as of 1 September from the 1 April stocks and averaging them over the 5 months period. This cannot claim to be exact, but it gives a general guide to the quantities produced on a monthly basis. Some of these ammunition types may well have been out of production, other than those obvious as such, when the Germans invaded. Some of the data is incomplete. % of Production is the consumption during the campaign divided by the monthly average production and should be though of as 100% equaling 1 months pre-war production.

Weapon	Holdings 1 April	Production 1 Apr-1 Sep	Holdings 1 Sep	Average Monthly Production	Consumption	% of Stocks	% of Production
7.92mm	6,408,355,257	912,283,843	7,320,639,100	182,456,769	395,489,504	5.4%	217%
20mm	53,360,663	6,299,331	59,659,994	1,259,866	4,090,171	6.9%	325%
50mm mortar	23,888,275	3,641,226	27,529,501	728,245	940,096	3.4%	129%
81mm mortar	10,427,567	1,252,000	11,679,567	250,400	486,585	4.2%	194%
105mm mortar	4,191,900	108,652	4,300,552	21,730
37mm	5,236,000	1,261,000	6,497,000	252,200	1,968,817	30.3%	781%
75mm leIG	4,979,200	475,400	5,454,600	95,080	409,527	7.5%	430%
75mm KwK	5,639,249	400,508	6,039,757	80,102	150,722	2.5%	188%
75mm FK 18	558,000	90,000	648,000	18,000
75mm GebG 36	784,000		784,000	0
105mm K18	469,000		469,000	0	86,046	18.4%
105mm leFH18	10,030,715	960,332	10,991,047	192,066	1,408,193	12.8%	733%
150mm sFH18	4,880,328	370,544	5,250,872	74,109	296,560	5.7%	400%
150mm K18	58,080		58,080	0	6,232	10.7%
150mm sIG 33	557,440	157,157	714,597	31,431	25,206	3.5%	80%
210mm Mrs 18	204,900	8,300	213,200	1,660	3,794	1.8%	229%
240mm K3	8,784	1,800	10,584	360	264	2.5%	73%
280mm K5(E)	800		800	0	52	6.5%

Abbreviations and Defintions:

Abb	Term	Translation	Abb	Term	Translation
E	Eisenbahn	Railroad	F	Feld	Field
G	Gesch¸tz	Gun (low-velocity)	Geb	Gebirgs	Mountain
H	Haubitze	Howitzer	I	Infanterie	Infantry
K	Kanone	Gun (high-velocity)	Kw	Kampfwagon	Armored vehicle
le	leichte	Light	Mrs	M–rser	Heavy howitzer
s	schweres	Heavy

Notes: 7.92mm ammunition was use by rifles and machine-guns. Anti-aircraft guns and the Pz II tank used 20mm ammo. 37mm rounds were used by anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns and the Pz III tank. I doubt that all the various types of 75mm, 105mm, and 150mm shells were interchangeable within their own calibers, otherwise why would they be listed separately? The K5(E) is a railroad gun, nicknamed Anzio Annie by GIs, of which a single example survives at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

My source was Hahn's Waffen und Geheimewaffen des deutschen Heeres 1933-1945

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