Editing Siegfried Line campaign (section)

===Manpower===
The German armies had lost large numbers of troops in Normandy and the subsequent pursuit. To counteract this, about 20,000 ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' personnel were reallocated to the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]], invalided troops were redrafted into the front line and ''[[Volkssturm]]'' units were formed using barely trained civilians.

British manpower resources were limited after five years of war and through worldwide commitments. Replacements were no longer adequate to cover losses and some formations were disbanded to maintain the strength of others. The Canadians were also short of manpower, due to a reluctance to require conscripts to serve outside Canada or Canadian waters. This had arisen from [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]] during [[World War I]]; to avoid similar problems in World War II, the [[National Resources Mobilization Act]] of 1940 prohibited sending conscripts overseas.  However, this provision of the Act was later removed, leading to the [[Conscription Crisis of 1944]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Stacey|first=Colonel C.P.|author-link=C.P. Stacey|title=Chapter IV - Recruiting and Training in Canada|pages=118–123|work=Official History of the Canadian Army|publisher=[[Department of National Defence (Canada)|Department of National Defence]]|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Canada/CA/SixYears/SixYears-4.html|access-date=18 Feb 2010}}</ref>{{efn|The legal embargo on compulsory overseas service was the subject of a national [[plebiscite]] on 27 April 1942: 83% of the English-speaking population supported the removal of the restriction, but in [[Francophone]] [[Quebec]], 72% were against.}}

American losses now called on replacements direct from the United States. They were often inexperienced and not used to the harsh conditions of the latter part of the campaign. There were also complaints about the poor quality of troops released into the infantry from less-stressed parts of the U.S. Army. At one point, after the Battle of the Bulge had highlighted the shortage of infantrymen, the Army relaxed its embargo on the use of [[Buffalo soldiers|black soldiers]] in combat formations.<ref>{{cite web|title=African American Volunteers as Infantry Replacements|publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]|date=October 2003|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/topics/afam/aa-volinfreps.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120803163046/http://www.history.army.mil/html/topics/afam/aa-volinfreps.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 August 2012|access-date=4 October 2007}}</ref> Black volunteers performed well throughout the phase<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mattimore|first=Ryan|title=The Original Black Panthers Fought in the 761st Tank Battalion During WWII|url=https://www.history.com/news/761st-tank-battalion-black-panthers-liberators-battle-of-the-bulge|access-date=2021-04-27|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref> and prompted a permanent change in military policy.