Volksgrenadiers
Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 11:57 am
The German army for centuries was raised by local cities and states, much as the American National Guard. Hessians who fought in the American Revolution were raised in Hesse, (the capital of which is Frankfurt am Main).
One of the plusses of being assigned to a local unit is that you go into combat with your neighbors and friends you grew up with. The downside is, any failure on your part, in combat, will be reported back to your neighbors and loved ones at home.
Obviously, the impetus is very real to "do good"
Other units were raised on the national level, Grossdeutchland and SS units, and Panzer Lehr come to mind, the latter originating from the panzer school, itself.
After units had proven themselves in combat, it was possible for a good unit to be given the honorific title of "Volksgrenadier", which might be similar to the Russian title of "Guards".
The TOE of those Volksgrenadier units might change, as they might be given a further unit of "Fusiliers", (somewhat similar to an infantry heavy weapons unit, infantry-wise).
As the war progressed, and attrition become horrific, ad hoc (decimated units) were put together to form a single unit(for organisational purposes), and given the title of "Volksgrenadier", as more a way of identifying them within the German army as being reconstitued or recycled units.(Several depleted divisions might be brought back to life as a single VG division.)Local identity ended as well.
While the cadre of these units were battle-hardened troops, the enlisted rank in late 1944 were commonly the proverbial "young boys and old men."
For this reason,while some of the earlier VG units were strack hardcore troops, later VG units might only be a battle force on paper only.......
One of the plusses of being assigned to a local unit is that you go into combat with your neighbors and friends you grew up with. The downside is, any failure on your part, in combat, will be reported back to your neighbors and loved ones at home.
Obviously, the impetus is very real to "do good"
Other units were raised on the national level, Grossdeutchland and SS units, and Panzer Lehr come to mind, the latter originating from the panzer school, itself.
After units had proven themselves in combat, it was possible for a good unit to be given the honorific title of "Volksgrenadier", which might be similar to the Russian title of "Guards".
The TOE of those Volksgrenadier units might change, as they might be given a further unit of "Fusiliers", (somewhat similar to an infantry heavy weapons unit, infantry-wise).
As the war progressed, and attrition become horrific, ad hoc (decimated units) were put together to form a single unit(for organisational purposes), and given the title of "Volksgrenadier", as more a way of identifying them within the German army as being reconstitued or recycled units.(Several depleted divisions might be brought back to life as a single VG division.)Local identity ended as well.
While the cadre of these units were battle-hardened troops, the enlisted rank in late 1944 were commonly the proverbial "young boys and old men."
For this reason,while some of the earlier VG units were strack hardcore troops, later VG units might only be a battle force on paper only.......