Volksgrenadiers were German infantry units formed in the autumn of 1944 as impromptu defense units for the final defense of Nazi Germany from the Soviet Union and the Allied Powers. Volksgrenadier units consisted mostly of hardened veterans, recovering wounded soldiers, teenaged and elderly recruits, jobless personnel of the shrinking Kriegsmarine navy and Luftwaffe air force, and soldiers from broken formations returning from the battlefield. Volksgrenadier divisions had six line infantry battalions, each of them equipped with more MP40s and StG-44s than bolt-action Karabiner 98ks. Ultimately, the Volksgrenadiers would prove to be some of the hardest German forces fought by the Allies, and they had good morale and effectiveness until the end of World War II in May 1945.