Combat group

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The Kampfgruppe ( KG ) was a widespread formation of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the Second World War and a major unit in the early years of the Bundeswehr .

In the Wehrmacht

The personnel of a combat group could range from company to corps strength. Most combat groups, however, had battalion strength . Combat groups were ad hoc and temporary associations of allied weapons and usually comprised infantry and artillery as well as tanks and other specialized troops. The combat groups were named after their commanders , the forming units or neutral names, such as "Kampfgruppe Mangold" (deployed at the end of the war in Vogtland and Sudetenland).

In the Bundeswehr

Lineup

In the early years of the armed forces ( army structure 1 ) is the combat group was the usual formation of a plurality of service branches composite dressing below the plane of division . This form of organization was based on the model of the Battle Group in the Pentomic structure of the US Army , which had been introduced in 1957 under Chief of Staff Maxwell D. Taylor in view of the likely conditions of a nuclear war . A combat group was an association whose strength lay between the conventional battalion and the regiment . Eleven combat groups, six tank combat groups, one tank training group, two mountain combat groups and two airborne combat groups were set up.

Designation system

The combat groups of the division carried combat group numbers according to the pattern -kampfgruppe A / B / C division number . The Panzerkampfgruppe C3 So for example, was the third battle group of the 3rd Division . The rapid growth and frequent reclassifications did not always result in a stringent numbering according to this pattern. The tank training group was not subordinate to a division, but to the tank troop school .

Reclassification to Army Structure 2

Already in Army Structure 2 , the combat groups were reclassified into brigades and renumbered according to NATO standards by around March 1959 . Combat groups as a formation in the army no longer existed.

List of combat groups

designation Location staff Lineup Insinuation "Successor"
Tank training group Muenster Jun 1, 1958 Armored Force School → Panzer Lehrbrigade 9
Combat group A 1 Hanover Jul 1, 1956 1st Grenadier Division → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 2
Combat group B 1, "old" Neumunster Jul 1, 1956 1st Grenadier Division → Combat group B 6
Combat group B 1, "new" Hildesheim Apr 1, 1958 1st Grenadier Division → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 1
Combat group C 1 Nienburg Jul 10, 1957 1st Grenadier Division → Armored Brigade 3
Combat group A 2 Hann. Münden Marburg
from 1956 		Jul 1, 1956 2nd Grenadier Division → Armored Brigade 6
Combat group B 2 Goslar
from 1956 Holzminden
from 1957 Kassel 		Jul 1, 1956 2nd Grenadier Division → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 5
Combat group C 2 Goettingen May 1958 2nd Grenadier Division → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 4
Combat group A 3 Hamburg Aug 1, 1956 3rd Armored Division → Panzerbrigade 8
→ Panzergrenadierbrigade 17
Panzer Group B 3 Schleswig
from 1958 Schwanewede 		Aug 1, 1956 3rd Armored Division → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 32
Panzer Group C3 Unna
from 1959 Augustdorf 		Aug 15, 1957 3rd Panzer Division
→ 7th Panzer Division (7th Division) 		→ Armored Brigade 21
Combat group A 4 On the mountain Jul 1, 1956 4th Grenadier Division → Panzer Brigade 12 → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 10
Combat group B 4 Coburg
from 1956 Ellwangen
from 1958 arch 		Jul 1, 1956 4th Grenadier Division → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 11
Panzer Group C4 Regensburg
from 1958 Ellwangen 		May 12, 1958 4th Grenadier Division → Tank Brigade 30
Panzer Group A 5 Hohenfels
from 1957 Koblenz 		Nov 6, 1956 5th Armored Division → Tank Brigade 14
Panzer Group B 5 Grafenwöhr
from 1957 Wetzlar 		Aug 1, 1956 5th Armored Division → Panzer Grenadier Brigade 13
Panzer Group C 5 Koblenz Apr 1, 1957 5th Armored Division → Armored Brigade 15th
Combat group A 6 Koblenz Jan. 2, 1958 6th Grenadier Division (6th Division) → Panzergrenadierbrigade 16
→ Panzergrenadierbrigade 17
Combat group B 6 Neumunster Apr 1, 1958 6th Grenadier Division (6th Division) → Panzerbrigade 18
→ Panzergrenadierbrigade 17
Mountain Group A 8 Bad Reichenhall May 1957 1st Mountain Division → Mountaineering Brigade 23
Mountain Combat Group B 8 Mittenwald Jul 1, 1957 1st Mountain Division → Mountain Infantry Brigade 22nd
Airborne Combat Group A 9 Esslingen
from 1958 Sigmaringen 		May 1, 1957 1st Airborne Division → Paratrooper Brigade 25
Airborne Combat Group B 9 Esslingen
from 1958 Sigmaringen 		Sep 1958 1st Airborne Division → Airborne Brigade 26

International

The concept of the combat group of the Wehrmacht was later z. B. adopted by the United States Army ("Combat Team") and the Israeli army . The NATO or the EU represents multinational EU battle groups on.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c location database of the Bundeswehr in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the training grounds used by the Bundeswehr abroad. In: Website of the Military History Research Office . Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr , Military History Research Office , accessed on February 17, 2020 (For technical reasons, direct links to individual search queries or search results are not possible. Please use the “search form” to research information on the individual departments).
  2. ↑ Section MA 3 : BArch BH 9-4 / Panzergrenadierbrigade 4. In: Research application invenio . President of the Federal Archives , 1993, accessed on February 17, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Section MA 3 : BArch BH 9-11 / Panzergrenadierbrigade 11 - Bayerwald -. In: Research application invenio . President of the Federal Archives , 2013, accessed on February 17, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Section MA 3 : BArch BH 9-23 / Gebirgsjägerbrigade 23. In: Research application invenio . President of the Federal Archives , 2004, accessed on March 10, 2020 .