From German information, it is apparent that Mihailov received consent to create battalions consisting of volunteers armed with German weapons and munitions.

There is a buzz of activity, however, inside the home of 69-year-old Shiro Chiba, where volunteers, armed with shovels, bags and wheelbarrows, are cleaning sludge from between the wooden floor joists.

In that offensive, swarms of young volunteers armed with hand grenades made suicide charges, clearing the minefields and barbed wire in front of the Iraqi positions with their own bodies.

They were then hosed off and sent to the drying area - more volunteers, armed with towels.

Then volunteers, armed with sticks, served as emergency snake wranglers, while men wearing thick boots and heavy-duty pants waded onto the rock pile and removed the victim's body in a litter.

They began training an elite group of volunteers in the art of tunnel warfare, armed only with a gun, a knife, a flashlight and a piece of string.

He was sometimes assisted in his work by a group of mounted volunteers, armed with whips and clubs, who came to be known as "the sheriff's posse."

Three hours later, despite the continued downpour, fans were still being ferried from the many stall tents to the gift shop by fete volunteers armed with huge umbrellas.

Quale had in the days since the invasion organised a militia force of around 100 civilian volunteers armed mostly with Krag-Jørgensen rifles and shotguns, though with a sprinkling of more improvised arms such as clubs, pitchforks and knives.

Mr. McDonald of Historic Savannah explained how a rotating contingent of volunteers armed with cellphones would guard the public squares day and night.