Volkssturm
Moderator: Feldjager
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Hoffman Grink
Guys, who WAS 'regular' in 1945? The level of equipment and the generally deficient quality of troops and replacements in that period means very few units were in prime shape. Volkssgrenadier units had men in their fifties with very little training. Fallschirmjager divisions were filled with flak gunners, ground crew and naval personnel - none of which had any jump training.
Officially - and I'm not saying anything about in reality - the Volkssturm were intergrated into the German armed forces as a fourth arm. given all the rights, and theoretically equipment, of regular combatant units. Many of them were veterans of the great war and were not useless. They manned the westwall and prevented any allied breakthrough for months until they could be replaced by better quality units. Who, incidentally, did no better or worse. On the eastern front units of Volkssturm often performed better than their army counterparts when defending such places as Konigsberg as they had prior experience of shattering artillery barrages and trench warfare.
Doing a Volkssturm impression is not just a 'last gasp' end of the war impression. You've got from september 1944 (East prussia) to April-May 1945 (Berlin). A lot happened in between those dates which involved VS battalions. The Ardennes battles, Aachen, The Oder bridgehead, The Ruhr pocket etc.
I guess we're not going to agree on this though, which is a shame. Each to his own though. If we do it we'll do it properly.
Officially - and I'm not saying anything about in reality - the Volkssturm were intergrated into the German armed forces as a fourth arm. given all the rights, and theoretically equipment, of regular combatant units. Many of them were veterans of the great war and were not useless. They manned the westwall and prevented any allied breakthrough for months until they could be replaced by better quality units. Who, incidentally, did no better or worse. On the eastern front units of Volkssturm often performed better than their army counterparts when defending such places as Konigsberg as they had prior experience of shattering artillery barrages and trench warfare.
Doing a Volkssturm impression is not just a 'last gasp' end of the war impression. You've got from september 1944 (East prussia) to April-May 1945 (Berlin). A lot happened in between those dates which involved VS battalions. The Ardennes battles, Aachen, The Oder bridgehead, The Ruhr pocket etc.
I guess we're not going to agree on this though, which is a shame. Each to his own though. If we do it we'll do it properly.
Mark A - AFRA
To those who are still interested:
Memoir of Rudolf Honicker (born 14 December 1890)
Volkssturmmann, Volkssturmbattailon z. b. v. Hessen II
"At 2200 hours (8 Feb 1945), some 200-300 members of the VS from the most varied industries and authorities were gathered together. Then followed the recording of personal details, the issue of paybooks, and the issue of SS and SA uniforms... There was no medical examintion...
In Weilberg (9 Feb 45), the SS and SA uniforms were left behind; in their place we received used Wehrmacht uniforms. plus a rapid-firing rifle with - I think - 32 rounds. Then, together with VS men from other areas, including even 17 year-olds, we were divided into battalions. Besides officers, the backbone of battalions was formed by experienced front-line soldiers of the second world war, mostly NCO's..."
There's plenty more.
Memoir of Rudolf Honicker (born 14 December 1890)
Volkssturmmann, Volkssturmbattailon z. b. v. Hessen II
"At 2200 hours (8 Feb 1945), some 200-300 members of the VS from the most varied industries and authorities were gathered together. Then followed the recording of personal details, the issue of paybooks, and the issue of SS and SA uniforms... There was no medical examintion...
In Weilberg (9 Feb 45), the SS and SA uniforms were left behind; in their place we received used Wehrmacht uniforms. plus a rapid-firing rifle with - I think - 32 rounds. Then, together with VS men from other areas, including even 17 year-olds, we were divided into battalions. Besides officers, the backbone of battalions was formed by experienced front-line soldiers of the second world war, mostly NCO's..."
There's plenty more.
Mark A - AFRA
Here is the official VSt table of organisation laid down by the Party on the 25 September.
1st Levy: 1,200,000 men in 1,850 battalions of which 4,00 were in frontier districts. All physically fit men between the ages of 20-60 without essential war work exemption, assigned to frontline battalions, quartered in military barracks and liable for service outside their home districts. This levy included all NSDAP, Political officials, Allgemeine-SS, SA, NSFK and NSKK.
2nd Levy: 2,800,000 men in 4,860 battalions of which 1,050 were in frontier districts. All physically fit men between the ages of 20-60 with essential war work exemption. Quartered at home and liable for service in their home districts.
3rd Levy: 600,000 16-19 year olds, plus some 15 year old volunteers in approx 1,040 battalions: mainly 16 year old HJ trained in the HJ-Wehrertuchtigungslager (toughening up camps).
4th Levy: 1,400,000 20-60 year olds unfit for activie service, plus volunteers over 60, in approx 2,430 battalions, for guard duty, including concentration and POW camps.
Of the planned 10,180 battalions only a third of these were ever raised. Of these at least 700 battalions saw combat - mostly on the Eastern front. Danzig-West Prussia, Mark Brandenburg, Lower and Upper Silesia, East Prussia, Pomerania etc. In the West the only notable numbers of VSt to be raised were in Essen and Westmark.
Of the 3,000+ Battalions raised only those of the 1st and 2nd levies were issued with arms and clothing. The 3rd Levy was not armed and the 4th Levy was expected to manage with hunting rifles, shotguns and captured firearms. Note that the 4th Levy were never sent into combat. In the few recorded instances were this happened the local Wehrmacht Kampfkommanduer disbanded the units before they could fight.
A memo sent by Oberst Kissel to Reichsfuhrer-SS Himmler (commander of the reserve army) on 30 Nov '44 states that the folowing stocks of German arms were available for immediate issue to frontier battalions in the east:
9,690 rifles
32 LMG's
1,517 pistols
38 machine pistols
This does not include any stocks of captured firearms.
Exerpts from accounts by VSt men in the east:
Btl. Cdr. Stolpe (kreis Gostingen Btl.45):
"Total strength 280 men... Armament: Italian rifles , each with 70 rds, 60 panzerfauste, 3 soviet LMG's per platoon. SA overcoats over civilian clothes..."
Btl. adj. Ernst Graber (Kreis Birnbaum Btl.35):
"Battalion strength 206. Armament and equipment 206 Soviet rifles, 75 Panzerfauste..."
NSDAP Kreisgeschaftsfuhrer Schafer (Kreis Kolmar Btl's 69 and 71)
"Weapons per battalion 520 soviet rifles, 48 soviet autmatic rifles, 30 soviet machine guns, 45 panzerfauste. ammunition fo battalion 69: 115,000 soviet cartridges, with VSt battaion 71: 85,000 cartridges. Each battalion had 20 stick grenades."
The list goes on. Generally the units nearest to the Oder line received the best kit and equipment because of the halting of the soviet offensive. Units to the rear of threatened districts and those of 'safe' districts generally were not armed or clothed until it was too late. Units in the west were not raised because of the supposed security offered by the westwall. Those units that were raised were generally well equipped and were placed within the westwall defences to free up better quality units. Those handful of VSt battalions that were raised and sent into combat after the wall and the Rhine had been breached had no clothing or equipment and, predictably, suffered from low morale.
1st Levy: 1,200,000 men in 1,850 battalions of which 4,00 were in frontier districts. All physically fit men between the ages of 20-60 without essential war work exemption, assigned to frontline battalions, quartered in military barracks and liable for service outside their home districts. This levy included all NSDAP, Political officials, Allgemeine-SS, SA, NSFK and NSKK.
2nd Levy: 2,800,000 men in 4,860 battalions of which 1,050 were in frontier districts. All physically fit men between the ages of 20-60 with essential war work exemption. Quartered at home and liable for service in their home districts.
3rd Levy: 600,000 16-19 year olds, plus some 15 year old volunteers in approx 1,040 battalions: mainly 16 year old HJ trained in the HJ-Wehrertuchtigungslager (toughening up camps).
4th Levy: 1,400,000 20-60 year olds unfit for activie service, plus volunteers over 60, in approx 2,430 battalions, for guard duty, including concentration and POW camps.
Of the planned 10,180 battalions only a third of these were ever raised. Of these at least 700 battalions saw combat - mostly on the Eastern front. Danzig-West Prussia, Mark Brandenburg, Lower and Upper Silesia, East Prussia, Pomerania etc. In the West the only notable numbers of VSt to be raised were in Essen and Westmark.
Of the 3,000+ Battalions raised only those of the 1st and 2nd levies were issued with arms and clothing. The 3rd Levy was not armed and the 4th Levy was expected to manage with hunting rifles, shotguns and captured firearms. Note that the 4th Levy were never sent into combat. In the few recorded instances were this happened the local Wehrmacht Kampfkommanduer disbanded the units before they could fight.
A memo sent by Oberst Kissel to Reichsfuhrer-SS Himmler (commander of the reserve army) on 30 Nov '44 states that the folowing stocks of German arms were available for immediate issue to frontier battalions in the east:
9,690 rifles
32 LMG's
1,517 pistols
38 machine pistols
This does not include any stocks of captured firearms.
Exerpts from accounts by VSt men in the east:
Btl. Cdr. Stolpe (kreis Gostingen Btl.45):
"Total strength 280 men... Armament: Italian rifles , each with 70 rds, 60 panzerfauste, 3 soviet LMG's per platoon. SA overcoats over civilian clothes..."
Btl. adj. Ernst Graber (Kreis Birnbaum Btl.35):
"Battalion strength 206. Armament and equipment 206 Soviet rifles, 75 Panzerfauste..."
NSDAP Kreisgeschaftsfuhrer Schafer (Kreis Kolmar Btl's 69 and 71)
"Weapons per battalion 520 soviet rifles, 48 soviet autmatic rifles, 30 soviet machine guns, 45 panzerfauste. ammunition fo battalion 69: 115,000 soviet cartridges, with VSt battaion 71: 85,000 cartridges. Each battalion had 20 stick grenades."
The list goes on. Generally the units nearest to the Oder line received the best kit and equipment because of the halting of the soviet offensive. Units to the rear of threatened districts and those of 'safe' districts generally were not armed or clothed until it was too late. Units in the west were not raised because of the supposed security offered by the westwall. Those units that were raised were generally well equipped and were placed within the westwall defences to free up better quality units. Those handful of VSt battalions that were raised and sent into combat after the wall and the Rhine had been breached had no clothing or equipment and, predictably, suffered from low morale.
Mark A - AFRA
great photos
hi lah650 great photos thanks shergar
Photos from the top:
Members of the VSt on the Eastern front receive supplies of the early Panzerfaust 30 klein, 1945.
A VSt MG42 team in position during training exercises in the area of the technical university, Berlin- Charlottenburg, February 1945. They are wearing Luftwaffe issue uniforms with the VSt rank insignia of gruppenfuhrer (squad leader).
Members of the Tiroler Standschutzen, november 1944.
Knights Cross holder Battailons-Fuhrer und SA Hauptsurmfuhrer Ernst Tiburzy. February 1945.
A VSt MG42 position at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, 15 February 1945. The man in the foreground is holding a Volkssturmgewehr.
Members of the VSt on the Eastern front receive supplies of the early Panzerfaust 30 klein, 1945.
A VSt MG42 team in position during training exercises in the area of the technical university, Berlin- Charlottenburg, February 1945. They are wearing Luftwaffe issue uniforms with the VSt rank insignia of gruppenfuhrer (squad leader).
Members of the Tiroler Standschutzen, november 1944.
Knights Cross holder Battailons-Fuhrer und SA Hauptsurmfuhrer Ernst Tiburzy. February 1945.
A VSt MG42 position at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, 15 February 1945. The man in the foreground is holding a Volkssturmgewehr.
Mark A - AFRA
Strange, but I recall mentioning the companion book to this one in another thread and potty people jumped on me for so called slagging off your groups photos.Cookie wrote:This is turning into a hot topic!
I've got a copy of Hans Kissel's 'Hitler's Last Levy; The Volkssturm 1944-45' and there's a lot of really good pictures of VS in it...
However, I reckon there is ought to be a place for this scenario...somewhere...just can't think of where for the moment. It may not suit everyone but it should have a place in "living history".
I tell you what kids, this is a pretty interesting thread. You've done yer research I will give you that. The thing that sticks out in my mind though is PD stood in chip fat sawing his jewels off. Barnsley... they aren't right there I'm telling you. 
"hello is that customer services? This rifle is giving me manic depression. What you gonna do about it"?