The Kampfgruppe was an ad hoccombined arms formation, usually employing a combination of tanks, infantry, and artillery elements, generally organised for a particular task or operation. A Kampfgruppe could range in size from a company to a corps, but the most common was an Abteilung -sized formation. Kampfgruppen were generally referred to by either their commanding officer's name or the parent division.
The Stormtroopers were specialist military troops which were formed in the last years of World War I as the German army developed new methods of attacking enemy trenches, called "infiltration tactics". Men trained in these methods were known in German as Sturmmann, formed into companies of Sturmtruppen. Other armies have also used the term "assault troops", "shock troops" or fire teams for specialist soldiers who perform the infiltration tasks of stormtroopers.
With respect to their ad hoc nature and objective-oriented strategy, Finnish ski troops employed during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940 could, in principle, be considered to be an equivalent to Kampfgruppen. However, given the poor equipment of the Finnish forces, the combined-arms aspect of the Kampfgruppen could not have been applied. In the Continuation Warbattle groups were commonly used by Finns and were now bigger having not only infantry but artillery and anti-tank units under commander of battle group. In many cases there were several units of different regiments, brigades and divisions in same battle group. For instance in June 1944 Battle group Ehrnrooth consisted: I/7th Regiment, III/7th Regiment, III/6th Regiment, fortification battalion 4, II/field artillery Regiment 19, light field artillery battalion 24, heavy artillery battalion 20 and heavy artillery battalion 27. For few days regiment commander had more firepower under his command than ordinary infantry division commander. Finnish battle groups were relatively short period ad hoc but very common phenomena especially in 1941 and 1944. Field artillery and even anti aircraft artillery units created their own artillery battle groups.
Examples
Hundreds of Kampfgruppen are documented to have taken part in operations ranging from a few days to over a year during the war. They left a significant impact in the popular culture and the picture of the Second World War. Famous examples include:
Kampfgruppe Peiper was a mechanised brigade-sized formation formed under the command of SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper which took part in the 1944 Battle of the Bulge. KG Peiper was to be the striking arm of the 1st SS Panzer DivisionLeibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.
Kampfgruppe 1001 Nacht was a German Kampfgruppe formed on the Oder front during the final German offensive of the Second World War. The formation is most notable for its unusual title, referring to the medieval Persian book of 1001 Nights, a collection of tales and fables.
While the original concept of Kampfgruppe is usually reserved to the land warfare, some German tacticians and strategists applied it also for naval warfare. The most obvious change was the design and the type of units involved. The examples include German Kampfgruppe 5 employed during Operation Weserübung. This unit consisted of the heavy cruiser Blücher, the heavy cruiser Lützow, the light cruiserEmden, 3 torpedo boats and 8 minesweepers carrying 2,000 troops to Oslo. During the Second World War Luftwaffe, Kampfgeschwader bomber units consisted of several Kampfgruppen, which in terms of size were situated somewhere between squadrons and groups of Anglo-American air forces.
Post-War influence
Currently, the formation closest in use is US ArmyTask force or the battlegroup formation used by several NATO countries, notably the UK and Norway. The Norwegian borderstation Korpfjell still use the German nameKampfgruppe Korpfjell.
