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HISTORY During the later parts of the war, the task of guarding the V-2 launch sites was seen as vital. To perform this task, the best and most experienced soldiers were 'gleaned' from the German panzer divisions. By march 1945, the V-2s were all but gone, and every available combat soldier was needed to halt the Soviets from taking Berlin. Three companies of V-2 guards arrived at the 9.Armee HQ on the Oder river in early March, 1945. Simultaneously, three companies of panzerjägers from SS-Jagdpanzer-Abteilung 560 z.b.V. under SS-Sturmbannführer Wöst, which had been used for training purposes, were sent to join Army Group Vistula on the Oder front. The crewmen of the panzerjägers (which were the Hetzer model) were some of the best trained and most experienced panzerjäger crews left in the Wehrmacht . ''General der Infanterie'' Theodor Busse , 9.Armee's commander, decided to form these elite troops into a kampfgruppe which could perform Fire-brigade actions to halt enemy breakthroughs. Veteran panzer leader and war hero Gustav-Adolf Blancbois was placed in command. Blancbois had been awarded the Knight's Cross for saving 15-20,000 German soldiers of the 9.Armee , who had been encircled near Bobruisk during Operation Bagration . During this period, he was command of a Panzer Kampfgruppe from 12.Panzer-Division , showing extreme bravery and skill in leading the unit. Blancbois action was the only successful rescue operation during Bagration. Unusually, the kampfgruppe was not christened after it's commander, instead receiving the peculiar title Kampfgruppe ''1001 Nachtes''. The reason for this is unknown. Soon after it's formation, a Motorcycle company and several Anti-tank guns, armoured cars and a platoon sized company of StuGs from 27.SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division ''Langemarck'' were added to the kampfgruppe. The kampfgruppe's strength was at about 500 infantry and forty-three serviceable panzerjägers. The kampfgruppe was divided into three combat formations titled ''Suleika'' , ''Harem'' and ''Sultan'' . The first recorded action of the Kampfgruppe is on 16 April , when it was sent, alongside the 25.Panzergrenadier-Division and StuG-Lehr-Brigade 111 to support the 606.Infanterie-Division near the town of Wriezen . In the ensuing battle, the Kampfgruppe inflicted heavy losses on the attacking Soviets of the 47th Army and 9th Guards Tank Corps . Despite initial gains, the German attack was eventually rebuffed with heavy losses. The kampfgruppe was reduced to only eighteen functioning panzerjägers and fifty men. On 27 March , the kampfgruppe was ordered into action in an attempt to reduce the ''Oderbruch'' bridgehead over the Oder. The kampfgruppe's took part in operations during the night of the 27th, near the town of Genschmar. The attack was repulsed, and the kampfgruppe suffered heavy losses. Despite this, many of the Hetzers were repaired, and the arrival of a begleit (escort) company from the élite SS-Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon 600 rebuilt the kampfgruppe's strength. After this, the kampfgruppe fell back towards Seelow , taking part in the Battle Of Seelow Heights . The kampfgruppe was dissolved near Müncheberg during the withdrawal to Berlin . The remnants of the kampfgruppe were encircled in Halbe Pocket , few survived the war. One exception is Oberstleutnant Blancbois, who, along with a small unit from his kampfgruppe, escaped to the west and surrendered to the Americans on the Elbe . Blancbois survived the war, living in Germany until his death on 15 January 1993 . COMMANDER
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