Volksgrenadiers

Formed around a core of battle-hardened veterans and equipped with the revolutionary StG44 assault rifle, the Volksgrenadiers were deployed to defend the German homeland during the final stages of World War II. Following devastating losses—including Army Group Centre during Operation Bagration and the Fifth Panzer Army in Normandy—the German military established approximately 78 Volksgrenadier divisions starting in the autumn of 1944.