Army Detachment Kempf

Army Detachment Kempf
German: Armeeabteilung Kempf
Active	1 February 1943 – 22 August 1943
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	German army ( Wehrmacht)
Engagements	Battle of Kursk
Commanders
Notable commanders	Werner Kempf

Army Detachment Kempf was an army-sized formation of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front during World War II. As part of Army Group South, Detachment Kempf saw action during Operation Citadel, the German attempt to cut off the Kursk salient and destroy a large part of the Soviet Army.

Operational history

The detachment was formed on 1 February 1943 as Armee-Abteilung Lanz, led by Hubert Lanz. On 21 February 1943 Lanz was replaced by Werner Kempf and the detachment was renamed to reflect this change. In February–March that year, The detachment fought in the Third Battle of Kharkov.

The detachment took part in the Battle of Kursk. Beginning on the night of 4/5 July 1943, the III Panzer Corps, the detachment's primary attack formation, spearheaded the thrust east of Belgorod. After the failure of the operation, Army Detachment Kempf retreated with the rest of Army Group South. Kempf was relieved of command on 17 August 1943. He was replaced by Otto Wöhler on August 16 and the detachment was designated as the 8th Army.

The order of battle for Operation Citadel was:

• III Panzer Corps: 6th, 7th, & 19th Panzer Divisions, 168th Infantry Division
• XI Army Corps: 106th, 198th, 320th Infantry Divisions
• XLII Army Corps: 39th, 161st, 282nd Infantry Divisions

Commander

No.	Portrait	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Lanz, HubertGeneral der Gebirgstruppe Hubert Lanz (1896–1982)	1 February 1943	21 February 1943	20 days
2		Kempf, WernerGeneral der Panzertruppe Werner Kempf (1886–1964)	21 February 1943	16 August 1943	176 days
3		Wöhler, OttoGeneral der Infanterie Otto Wöhler (1894–1987)	17 August 1943	22 August 1943	5 days