Gruppe
Gruppe (Ger., lit. group), in military terminology, part of a skirmish line, consisting of 8–12 riflemen, corresponding to the Sektion of a close order formation. Gruppenführer, leader of a section (Brit.) or squad (US), Unteroffizier (corporal) or Gefreiter (private first class). Gruppenschießen, a group‘s live-fire exercise; in artillery, the firing of a number of rounds with equal elevation.
Gruppe, in the infantry, corresponds to the British “section” and the US “squad”. In the modern German Bundeswehr, the Schützengruppe rifle section/squad consists of nine or more soldiers. For the smallest military subunit see Trupp (Trp).
The Gruppe pictured above consists of the Gruppenführer (GrpFhr) section/squad leader, his Truppführer (TrFhr) team leader, the LMG-Trupp light machine gun team with four LMG-Schützen and the Schützentrupp rifle team of 7–9 Schützen riflemen. These 20 mm Raventhorpe were painted with artist acrylic paints, and they are based for Crossfire wargames.
Festungsgruppe, s. Batteriegruppe, s. Fortress Warfare.
Source: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, 6. Auflage 1905–1909