Battle of the Bulge: Volks-Grenadiers

I highly recommend Douglas E Nash's Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp for anyone seeking

information on the Volks-Grenadiers. The subject is the 272nd Volks-grenadier Division which fought in the Battle of Hürtguen Forest and concentrates on Füsilier Company 272, the division's reconnaissance company.

The Volks-Grenadier divisions were Germany's answer to an ever decreasing pool of manpower by trading troops for firepower. The success of these divisions depended on the experience of the founding cadre and time available to train green, or in the case of drafted Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine personnel, reluctant recruits.

Chapter 2 of this book discusses how the Volks-Grenadier divisions came into being, the politics behind them, and has a wealth of organizational information. So far, this chapter contains the most comprehensive coverage in the English language I can find on the Volks-Grenadiers and I will share some interesting facts from the book below.

For anyone interested in the administration of a German company in WW2, this book is a must. Much of the book's information came from records recovered from a suitcase containing a treasure trove of Füsilier Company 272's records which the dedicated Kompanie Schreiber (company clerk) carried with during the retreat into Germany to be left long forgotten in a small village in the Harz Mountains.

Politics

• Almost immediately after the assassination attempt upon Hitler, Himmler convinced Hitler to place him as the head of the Replacement Army (responsible for the training and assignment of personnel).
• Himmler's assignment was to help ensure the Army's ideological loyalty though his goal was the creation of a revolutionary army imbued with National Socialism.
• Officer assignments to VG formations were supposed to be centrally managed and candidates vetted for ideological soundness. At this stage of the war, this was beyond impractical. In fact, the realities of war at this point ensured that, in practice, the differences between the VG formations and regular army units was in the organization and equipment. 
• Himmler insisted that the divisional chaplain position be eliminated from the VG Divisions. 
• A political officer was assigned to each division. They were usually a first lieutenant or captain and reported up through their own chain of command.  They were almost the direct counterpart of the Soviet commissars. Some were viewed with derision and were ineffective (as was the case with the 272nd VG Division) though in a few cases the lower ranked political officer did intimidate the divisional commander, usually to ill effect in combat effectiveness.  

Filling the Ranks

• Mobile drafting units were sent out to re-activate new discharged soldiers from hospitals who were designated not fit for front line duty, conscripting boys of 16 and 17 years of age along with able-bodied workers from industry and even forced laborers from conquered territories. 
• Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) from conquered territories were used to fill the ranks.
•  The 62nd VG Division that fought at St. Vith had a high portion of Czech and Polish conscripts, probably Volksdeutsche, that did not speak German. These were referred to as Beutedeutscher (booty Germans). If they survived the wary, they were to be granted conditional citizenship in the Reich. 

Firepower

• Compared with regular infantry divisions the VGs had more infantry support weapons, especially 80mm and 120mm mortars and 75mm infantry howitzers.
• There was a lack of anti-tank weapons allocated to the VG regiments. A VG division had an antitank battalion and the 1st Battalion of each artillery regiment had 75 mm AT guns assigned.
• Regiments were authorized 88mm antitank rocket launcher (Panzerschreck "tank terror"). These are described as heavy and ungainly. 
• The Panzerschrecks could easily destroy most Allied tanks though its maximum effective range of 120 meters and conspicuous back blast made it suicidal to use in the open. Allied commanders soon learned to overwhelm their objectives with artillery fire, prior to launching an armored attack due to the effectiveness of this weapon system.
• VG formations were equipped with a higher number of machine-pistols or sub-machine guns. The Sturmgewehr 44 or MP-44 was the weapon of choice and first modern assault rifle. The only draw back was the high rate of ammunition consumption, especially when fired by green troops.

There is a lot more information useful to the wargamer and scenario designer and much of this information will find its way into future posts of my WW Battle of the Bulge series.

An Amazon affiliate link below added to support this site: