- Volksgrenadier
"Volksgrenadier" was the name given to a type of
German Army division formed in the Autumn of1944 after the double loss ofArmy Group Center to the Soviets inOperation Bagration and theFifth Panzer Army to the Allies inNormandy . The resulting strategic emergency and concomitant manpower shortage required the creation ofinfantry divisions that economized on personnel and emphasized defensive strength over offensive strength. The "Volksgrenadier" divisions met this need by using only six line infantrybattalion s instead of the normal nine for infantry divisions — already a common reality for many existing divisions — and by providing more short-range firepower in the form of automatic weapons like the new "wonder weapon"Sturmgewehr 44 . One of the battalions was provided with bicycles, in order to provide some semblance of a mobile reserve. The name itself was intended to build morale, appealing at once to nationalism ("Volk") and Germany's older military traditions ("Grenadier"). Around 50 were formed late in the war.Many prior infantry divisions that had been mauled or destroyed in combat were rebuilt to the new "Volksgrenadier" standard, and new divisions were raised as well. They were formed out of anything the Replacement Army could get its hands on: boys and elderly men, men previously rejected as physically unfit for service, wounded soldiers returning from hospitals, and transfers from the "jobless" personnel of the quickly shrinking
Kriegsmarine andLuftwaffe , usually organized around small cadres of hardened veterans."Volksgrenadier" divisions participated in the
Battle of the Bulge , the defense of theSiegfried Line and Eastern Front, and the final battles in Germany. Many of the divisions were rushed into battle with a minimum of training, theirmorale shattered by earlier events and thus performed very poorly, though others acquitted themselves very well and fought bravely despite their weak organization and the poor strategic situation."Volksgrenadiers" should not be confused with "
Volkssturm ".See also
*
List of German divisions in WWII References
* [http://aberjonapress.com/catalog/vwbtg/index.html Nash, Douglas E., Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp: With the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division from the Hurtgen Forest to the Heart of the Reich. Bedford, PA: Aberjona Press, 2008)]
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