Difference between Alarmeinheien and Kampfgruppen?

[STURM]

Could anyone please explain what is the difference between an Alarm unit [Alarmein heiten] and a Kampgruppe? I know both were formed ad-hoc for certain duties by the Germans in WW2 and several Kampgruppen became permanent units but what are the key differences? Thank you.

[GermanHerman]

Originally Posted by STURM

Could anyone please explain what is the difference between an Alarm unit [Alarmein heiten] and a Kampgruppe? I know both were formed ad-hoc for certain duties by the Germans in WW2 and several Kampgruppen became permanent units but what are the key differences? Thank you.

Alarm Einheiten:

Very quickly formed (12-24 hrs or less) out of units of the Ersatzheer (army reserve) or anyone around and send directly into combat.
They where formed to stop enemy break throughs or to reinforce / replace units in battles.
You could call them emergency-units.

Kampfgruppen:

Kampfgruppen (Battlegroups) where large(r) combined-arms formations formed (out of regular Army / SS / etc) for special purposes like conquering a city or region.
But it's not precicely defined so a kampfgruppe could also be a special group of the SS operating behind the fighting forces against for example russian resistance, or a Kampfgruppe could be a larger part of an army cut off from supply / reinforcment and trys to jailbreak.

You actualy can't compare both of them, but the main difference would be that a Kampfgruppe would be able to operate on their own while the sense of an alarm einheit is just to slow down the enemy and buy some time.

[STURM]

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

[kato]

A Kampfgruppe is in essence a proto-brigade, a combined-arms combat command formed from available troops of a higher level. The term was used in early Bundeswehr times (1956-1959) to describe brigade-level commands btw.

An Alarmeinheit isn't necessarily a temporary command. It just means it's not a standing, regular unit, usually filled with whoever is available - the Luftwaffe e.g. had Alarmeinheiten for protecting airfields from partisans, formed by anyone who wasn't useful in other roles. Larger-scale Alarmeinheiten (formed in 1942/43) were usually drawing from rear-area units, i.e. e.g. a supply battalion would be "converted" into an infantry battalion.

The temporary kind of Alarmeinheit is a hastily drawn-up adhoc combat command, as described (sometimes also called "Alarmkampfgruppe", if the units form a combined-arms force at brigade level). Were formed e.g. by remaining parts of the 6th Army outside Stalingrad to build an adhoc defense line.