Word: volkssturmer
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Young. Last week, soon after Britain's famed civilian Home Guard had "stood down," Heinrich Himmler spoke of new forces arising in the Reich. The best-publicized of these is the Volkssturm or Home Army. Promulgated in Hitler's name, the Volkssturm decree summoned all "able-bodied" males between 16 and 60 except those in the Todt (construction) organization, or in police and security units. Himmler's aim was for three million Volkssturm soldiers; perhaps one million have already been mobilized...
...rifles, carbines, tommy guns, automatic pistols, hand grenades, and a simple antitank rifle called the Panzerfaust ("tank fist"). The oldsters train in their spare time, on Sundays and in the evenings; the youngsters, mainly Hitler-Youth, get intensive four-day courses at special camps. Basic unit of the Volkssturm is the four-company battalion, but brigades and divisions may be activated when it becomes capable of disposing bigger units. It has a core of experienced officers, some of them fanatical Nazis...
...Volkssturm members captured at Metz, some in regular army uniforms and others in civilian clothes, wore arm bands in scribed "Deutscher Volkssturm Wehrmacht." They were pathetic specimens, unanimously glad to be out of the war. Their fellows in East Prussia made a dismal showing against the Reds, and Lieut. General Kurt Dittmar, Germany's top military commentator, publicly belittled them as fighting...
...Volksstürmer have done an immense amount of work on Germany's border fortifications. The East Prussian Gauleiter boasted that in 100 days they had dug enough antitank ditches to reach from Königsberg to Lisbon. By taking over garrison duties in the rear, the Volkssturm releases better soldiers for the front lines. Whether fighting or digging, they receive Wehrmacht pay and equal allowances for dependents...
...Enemy Fights. During their two months' respite, when the Allied push across France had run out of breath and fuel, the German commanders succeeded in piecing together an estimated 70 divisions, ranging in quality from the Volksgrenadiere (only a cut or two above the home-guard Volkssturm) to the pampered Elite Guards outfits. The divisions, many of which are far under strength, average about 10,000 men each. Latest reports indicate that 50 to 55 divisions were holding the lines when the big Allied drive started last month, with 15 or 20 of the best backing them...