A German Kampfgruppe (plural Kampfgruppen, abbreviated KG or KGr) in the Second World War was an ad-hoc, temporary combined-arms battlegroup formed by the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, or other German forces from available infantry, panzer, artillery, pioneer, reconnaissance, and support elements—often drawn from different divisions, corps, or even services such as the Luftwaffe or Kriegsmarine—to accomplish a specific tactical or operational mission, ranging from a few days to several months; rooted in late First World War Sturmtruppen tactics and formalized in interwar doctrine that emphasized flexibility and mission-oriented command (Auftragstaktik), these formations varied widely in size from company- or battalion-level groups of a few hundred men to brigade- or even division-sized forces of several thousand, and were typically named after their commander (e.g., Kampfgruppe Peiper under SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper during the Ardennes Offensive of December 1944, or Kampfgruppe Scherer that held the Kholm Pocket for 105 days in early 1942). Employed extensively on every front, they enabled rapid local breakthroughs, counterattacks, defensive stands, or anti-partisan operations when formal units were depleted, overstretched, or fragmented—examples include the motorized Kampfgruppen that spearheaded advances during the 1940 Western Campaign and Operation Barbarossa, the improvised groups that sealed the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket or fought at Kharkov, the Kampfgruppe Das Reich reconstituted from remnants of the 2. SS-Panzer-Division, and the mixed formations such as Kampfgruppe Spindler that helped contain the British airborne bridgehead at Arnhem in September 1944. Their strength lay in the German army’s ability to improvise cohesive fighting units under experienced officers who coordinated armor, infantry, and supporting arms on the fly, often achieving disproportionate results despite shortages of men, fuel, or heavy equipment in the later war years; however, the same improvisational nature sometimes led to logistical strain, uneven quality, or involvement in war crimes (as with elements of Kampfgruppe Peiper at Malmedy), and by 1944–45 hundreds of such groups were documented as the Wehrmacht increasingly relied on them to plug gaps, conduct delaying actions, and prolong resistance amid collapsing fronts until final surrender.
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KAMPFGRUPPE SCHERER (1942)
Generalleutnant
Theodor Scherer (1889-1951) was born on 17 September 1889 in Höchstädt
an der Donau, Bavaria, and began his military career on 14 July 1908 as a
Fahnenjunker in the 12. Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Arnulf“ of the
Bayerische Armee, receiving his commission as Leutnant in 1910; during
the First World War he served on the Western Front, was captured by the
British in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, later interned in
the Netherlands, and released after the armistice, thereafter leaving
the army on 30 August 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
and joining the Bavarian Landespolizei, rising to Oberstleutnant der
Polizei by 1935 before re-entering the Wehrmacht that November in the
same rank and serving as Bataillonskommandeur and later Kommandeur of
Infanterie-Regiment 56, then as Oberst and Kommandeur of
Infanterie-Regiment 507 during the Western campaign of 1940, where he
led an assault across the Marne and earned the Spange to both classes of
the Eisernes Kreuz. Promoted to Generalmajor in November 1940, he
briefly commanded Adolf Hitler’s headquarters at the OKH in Zossen from
March to September 1941 before assuming command of the 281.
Sicherungs-Division on 1 October 1941 for rear-area security duties
against partisans in the occupied Soviet Union; in January 1942, when
Soviet forces and partisans attacked and encircled German units at Kholm
(Cholm), Scherer took charge of the ad-hoc Kampfgruppe Scherer,
initially some 3,500 men drawn from elements of his division, police
companies, and other stragglers that later grew to around 5,000–6,000,
organizing improvised defenses without heavy artillery or adequate
supplies amid severe winter conditions, repeatedly repelling superior
Soviet assaults, coordinating limited aerial resupply and wounded
evacuations, and holding the pocket for 105 days until relief forces
linked up on 5 May 1942. For his leadership during the first month of
the siege he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20
February 1942 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 281.
Sicherungs-Division, and following the successful relief he received the
Eichenlaub (92nd award) on 5 May 1942, along with a mention in
the Wehrmachtbericht and the newly created Cholmschild for the
survivors; subsequently promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 November 1942,
he commanded the 34. Infanterie-Division and then the 83.
Infanterie-Division (which suffered heavy losses at Velikiye Luki),
later served as Inspekteur des Küstenschutzes for the Eastern Front, and
at the war’s end directed field-gendarmerie units in the Elbe sector
before entering captivity, dying in a car accident near Ludwigsburg on
17 May 1951.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampfgruppe
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