Volkssturm

German civilian home defence organization, established September 1944 to supplement the regular armed forces toward the end of World War II.

All civilian males between 16 and 60 capable of bearing arms were liable for service. Although organized and trained on military lines, the shortage of weapons and instructors made it largely ineffective. In January 1945 Hitler ordered it should be amalgamated with regular army units, which accounted for the large number of schoolboys and old men taken prisoner by the Allies in the final days of the war.