The Volksgrenadier divisions were formed in the autumn of 1944, after the destruction of Army Group Center by the Soviets in the east and of the Fifth Panzer Army in Normandy in the west. The new infantry divisions were designed to economize on personnel and to be primarily focused on defense.
The Volksgrenadier units were armed with a higher proportion of automatic weapons to create a higher volume of firepower. The Sturmgewehr 44 (or StG 44) assault rifle was used to arm two of the platoons in each Volksgrenadierkompanie, giving them devastating firepower, but only at short ranges.
They were also issued with very large numbers of Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons - once again short-ranged, but still a powerful asset against Allied tanks.
The highly efficient MG42 machinegun still played an important role with the assault-rifle-armed Sturm (assault) platoons, issued with two in the third squad, and three issued to the third Schützen (rifle) platoon to provide their main firepower.
