German tactical and operational doctrine was not nearly as successful as some later writers would have it - Germany did, after all, end the war in total defeat - but did have its useful components. One was the battle group, an ad-hoc unit formed for a specific task and drawing troops and weapons from many different formations. Here a fast-moving German battle group comes down the road to grab a prominent hill as an artillery base to support the overall German advance.

The British found their "Jock Columns" too small to operate effectively in the desert campaigns, but Germans continued to field their battle groups until the end of the war. The concept would be adopted by other armies after the Second World War, extending across formations and even services in the name of "jointness." But with a dynamic leader and a clear objective, the combined-arms battle group could be a dangerous opponent in any environment.