Volkssturm

Volkssturm Small Arms

Germany Small Arms Volkssturm 10 Min Read

Primitiv-Waffen-Programm As a last-ditch measure in the nearly lost war, on 18 October 1944 the Deutscher Volkssturm was mobilized – a German national militia. To arm them under conditions of depleted manpower and limited available production capacities the Primitiv-Waffen-Programm (“primitive weapons program”) was initiated. It called for weapons that were as easy as possible to produce. Walther designed the Volkssturmgewehr…

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Germany Small Arms Volkssturm 10 Min Read

Volkssturm Small Arms

Primitiv-Waffen-Programm As a last-ditch measure in the nearly lost war, on 18 October 1944 the Deutscher Volkssturm was mobilized – a German national militia. To arm them under conditions of depleted manpower and limited available production capacities the Primitiv-Waffen-Programm (“primitive weapons program”) was initiated. It called for weapons that were…

German Units SS Volkssturm Waffen-SS 21 Min Read

The State of the German Forces Late 1944

The German Army suffered from a catastrophic shortage of replacements ever since it had gone to war in Russia, but particularly from 1944 onwards.  That the army had come to this state was in part a response to the failed attempt on Hitler’s life in July 1944, but also due…

Operations Volkssturm 5 Min Read

Volkssturm Casualties

For a variety of reasons, German personnel losses are hard to determine with any precision. Few of these cobbled-together units kept any records of losses, German graves registration had largely ceased to exist, and sympathetic civilians buried some of those killed. To gain a sense of the intensity of the…

Volkssturm Waffen-SS 11 Min Read

VOLKSSTURM I

Soldiers of the Volkssturm man a trench system in the late months of the war, armed mainly with World War l-vintage rifles. The price paid by the Volkssturm for their last-ditch defence of the Reich is unclear, but the number of those killed or captured would potentially reach 175,000. The…

Volkssturm Waffen-SS 11 Min Read

Volkssturm

In his new capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Replacement Army, Himmler was able to extend his policing powers to the military sphere. Hitler gave him full authority to ‘establish order’ in the areas behind the fighting zone and sent him, at the beginning of September, to the western border region…

Germany Volkssturm Waffen-SS 15 Min Read

The Backbone of Der Deutscher Volkssturm: The Hitler Youth in WWII.

Compiled by A.M. de Quesada In order for a regime to survive time, there must be support for it in future generations. Hitler was well aware of this and planned for it. The Hitler-Jugend (Hitler Youth) was Hitler’s tool to ensure that the younger generation would be totally loyal to…

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The State of the German Forces Late 1944

The German Army suffered from a catastrophic shortage of replacements ever since it had gone…

Volkssturm Small Arms

Primitiv-Waffen-Programm As a last-ditch measure in the nearly lost war, on 18 October 1944 the…

VOLKSSTURM I

Soldiers of the Volkssturm man a trench system in the late months of the war,…

Deutscher Volkssturm Area Leaders

Oberste Führung des Deutschen Volksturms – Leiter der Parteikanzlei (Bormann) with Arbeitstab Deutscher Volksturm (Stabsführer…