World War 2 Stand on the oder

Stand on the Oder: In Hitler’s Wehrmacht, the term “Special Forces” applied to something quite different from the Allied notion of an elite, but small battle unit. The German “Special Forces” were composed of large independent battle groups or “Kampfgruppen” operating with their own artillery, tanks and heavy weapons. They were designed to operate under special conditions and while not as large as a division they were large enough to hold the line in an emergency. Rapid response was the critical…