I was reading about the Battle of Berlin and it really stuck out to me that so many World War I veterans had to go to war all over again in the battle.
Were there accounts of these experienced men being particularly effective? Perhaps they were assigned positions of leadership commanding the younger or non-veteran draftees?
Overall, no. The Volkssturm were activated so late into the war that they, like most German army units, were not very effective at all. They were facing a huge Soviet army and had very few provisions, weapons or training.
An order from Hitler to High Command states:
"Experience in the East has shown that the Volksstrum ... have little fighting value when left to themselves, and can be quickly destroyed. The fighting value of these units, which are for the most part strong in numbers, but weak in the armaments required for modern battle, is immeasurably higher when they go into action with troops of the regular army in the field." (Sorge, 49).
Therefore, Sorge's perspective, which I agree with, is that the Volksstrum were merely fodder for the Soviet Army and served no other purpose than to slow the Soviet advance. By this time in the war, almost every German civilian and soldier (except for a few fanatical members of the SS, Hitler Youth, and Volksstrum) knew that defeat was inevitable and so morale was extremely low. Max Hastings in Inferno writes: "Friedrike Grensemann came home from work to find her father preparing to obey a summons to join the Volkssturm. He handed her his pistol, saying, 'It's all over, my child. Promise me that when the Russians come you will shoot yourself."
Sorge does state that members of the Volksstrum fought fanatically, and perhaps effectively as detailed by U.S 100th Infantry Division, although I am not sure how accurate this word is. However, it is important to note that the Volksstrum was not only composed of WWI veterans but also of males from 16-60 who had not been previously conscripted. As a result, I cannot specifically state that the WWI veterans themselves were the ones who were noted for fighting effectively. I also cannot answer if they were assigned to officer positions, although I suspect not, as many Volksstrum units were integrated into other German army units simply due to the depletion of manpower.
Source:
The Other Price of Hitler's War: German Military and Civilian Losses Resulting From World War II by Martin Sorge