6th SS Mountain Division Nord
Ian Baxter takes a look at a specialised Waffen-SS division of WWII
During the early part of the war the WaffenSS had fought with fanatical determination and bravery, even when greatly outnumbered and other units had withdrawn. As a result of its reputation and success on the battlefield, it had expanded from one Waffen-SS division to five in less than a year. However, as the war against Russia loomed, further large-scale recruitment continued. This included yet another new SS battle group or Kampfgruppe. For this the men were initially drafted from the concentration camp guards or SS-Totenkopfverbande, and created into what was known as SS-Kampfgruppe Nord. Later this new SS unit began recruiting more men, mainly volunteers from Hungary, Romania and a few Norwegians, all built around a German cadre.
The SS-Kampfgruppe Nord’s first duties were to guard the border with Russia in February 1941 following the German occupation of Norway in 1940. Two months later in the spring of 1941, the Kampfgruppe now with two new Standarten (Regiments) comprising of mainly the 6th and 7th was moved into positions at Salla in northern Finland under the command of General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst.
When the invasion of Russia finally came on 22 June 1941, Nord, which was part of the German Army Group North striking force, was given the objective to advance through Finland into Russia in an attempt to take the port of Murmansk. During its advance the SS-Kampfgruppe was thrown in the battle at Markajarvi-Salla, known as Operation Arctic Fox. After Salla the objective was to advance in the direction of Kandalaksha to block the main railway route to Murmansk. The operation was a joint attack by both German and Finnish troops, combining experienced Finnish arctic troops and relatively unsuitable German forces from Norway including the Nord Kampfgruppe which was attached to the Norwegian Army with unit strength of 9,505 men.
However, Russian resistance was strong and the fighting was so fierce that men of the SS Nord, fearing complete annihilation, panicked during the assault on
Salla, abandoned their weapons
and ran from the battlefield. In just two days of fighting around Salla the Nord regiments had suffered huge losses.
Despite this, both German and
Finish units managed to capture the town but the Germans were unable to overcome the old, pre-war Soviet border fortifications further east. The Finnish units on the other hand were able to make better progress, and got to within 19-miles of the Murmansk railway. Yet again, strong Russian reinforcements prevented any further advance. As a result the German front stagnated and because of the increasing situation further south in Central Russia, German commanders were unwilling to assign more men and equipment to northern theatre, calling an end to their offensive.
Over the next days and weeks whilst Nord licked its wounds, infantry and Panzers of Army Group North attacked and bulldozed their way across northern Russia. The strategic goal was Leningrad, with operational objectives being the territories of the Baltic States and securing the northern flank of Army Group Centre in Northern Russia between the Western Dvina River and Daugavpils-Kholm Army Group line.
Meanwhile, a replenished Kampfgruppe Nord received some 700 Waffen-SS troop replacements and was attached to the Finnish III Corps operating in the Kiestinki area. Fighting in the region had been moderate and losses to the SS regiments minimal.
In September 1941 the Kampfgruppe was redesignated as a Division and renamed as the SS Gebirgs Division Nord (SS Mountain Division North) under its new leader the well-respected Finnish commander General Hjalmar Siilasvuo.
In November SS-Division Nord, together with Wehrmacht and Finnish troops, participated in a final major drive towards the Murmansk railway in the last phase of Operation Arctic Fox. However, the troops were, yet again, met with strong Russian resistance. General Siilasvuo soon realised that neither the Finnish nor the German High Command was going to provide him with additional forces or substantial reinforcements to advance. As a result he slowed down his eastern advance and, instead, concentrated on clearing and securing the area. Those mop-up operations were completed by 13 November. By that point the Finnish 3rd Division had killed 3,000 Soviet soldiers and captured 2,600.
It was then, in the Kenstenga region, in the forests along the Kiestinki-Louhi road, that Nord began conducting long range patrols, raids against partisans and static combat against Russian troop defences, in November and December 1941. Life for the Nord Division in the forests, marshes, and frozen lakes that surrounded the Kestenga region was tough and difficult for the men.
By the time the spring thaw arrived, conditions on the static Kestenga
Front improved. In June 1942 the
Nord Division was upgraded to the SS Gebirgsjäger Nord Division. Two months later the Nord Division was withdrawn from the front and transported to
Finland for a refit. Here in Finland the Division was once again re-designated as the SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord WaffenSS Norwegian Freiwilligen. The division was replenished with more well-trained soldiers, given additional weapons, and under the command of Gust Jonassen began forming an elite ski unit. The ski recruits went to Alsace for training.
During the late winter of 1942 the Nord Division was back on the Kestenga Front, replenished and ready for action. Here it continued patrols and fighting skirmishes with Russian troops. In February 1943 the SS-FreiwilligenSchikompanie Norge was attached to the Division. This unit was a group of volunteers of Norwegians, Swedes and Danish expert skiers under the command of Gust Jonassen. Their primary task was to advance across the snow at
speed to implement ambushes and patrols. However, its service was shortlived. Apart from suffering a number of casualties, including Jonassen, who stepped on a mine in May 1943 and was replaced by Otto Andreas Holmen, the unit was withdrawn Finland, ending its service with Nord.
By the summer of 1943, Division
Nord saw only minor enemy activities. However, morale was low and illness high. Here in the dank, dark forests and swampy ground mosquitoes continued to plague the men.
In October, all Waffen-SS divisions were numbered according to formation dates, and Nord finally became known as the 6th SS Gebirgs-Division Nord.
By the end of 1943 the German tactical position in Army Group North had become precarious. This was made worse on 14 January 1944 when the
Red Army launched its winter offensive against the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts. By the morning of 18 January the fronts east of Oranienbaum and west of Leningrad were collapsing. The same was happening at Novgorod where a number of German units were being encircled. The Russian 2nd Shock and 42nd Armies then joined the attack against Army Group North. Along the Baltic coast some German elements escaped, but many were trapped and destroyed as the Russians swept in from the east and west. At Novgorod eight Soviet divisions encircled five German battalions. Their one hope was to escape annihilation by hiding in the swamps west of the city. As Novgorod was pulverised into oblivion by heavy Russian artillery, the 42nd Army attacked toward Krasnogvardeysk and started battering German units defending the town. On 23 January Pushkin and Slutsk were evacuated. However, in spite the deteriorating situation, the Germans front held as the Russians built up their reserves for a new offensive. Although the temporary lull had given the Germans time to build a number of new defensive positions, Army Group North was now exposed to an even greater menace that would threaten Finland and the Baltic States. With concerns that Finland would soon be overrun by the Red Army the Nord Division meticulously prepared defensive positions and planned to evacuate as much materiel as possible from the region. The German withdrawal from Finland was codenamed Operation Birch.
This began with Division Nord forming the rear guard for the retreating German units in southern Finland.
From September to November 1944 it marched over 1,000 miles to Mo i Rana in Norway, where it entrained for the southern end of the country. However, the Norwegian Ski Battalion unit was left behind and merged into the SSund-Schi-Jäger-Polizei-Battalion 506 (mot.) with a number of personnel from various German Police units in Southern Norway. The rest of the Nord Division was then transferred to Denmark where it briefly refitted. Due to a serious lack of troop reserves the Division was given a mixof local militia, postal defence units, and Volksdeutsche (Ethnic Germans) that were undertrained and badly equipped. From Denmark, Nord Division was transferred to the Western Front.
The end approaches
Whilst German forces in the East tried to contain the Red Army, in the West the situation was equally dire. The German Ardennes Offensive had failed. However, it did not deter Hitler from unleashing one more offensive on the Western Front. The unlikely plan was to break through the lines of the US Seventh Army and French 1st Army, in the Upper Vosges mountains and the Alsatian
Plain, and destroy them. This would create an opening for what was known as Operation Dentist or Unternehmen Zahnarzt, a planned major drive into the
rear of the US Third Army, which would lead to the destruction of that army. The code name was Operation North Wind or Unternehmen Nordwind.
The Nordwind offensive comprised 17 German divisions from Army Group G and Army Group Oberrhein, including the 17th SS Panzergrenadier, 21st Panzer, 25th Panzergrendier Divisions, and the 6th SS Gebirgs Division Nord. Though these Waffen-SS mountain troopers were now well-seasoned veterans, the offensive was doomed from the start. Nonetheless, supported by the 2nd Gebirgs-Division, the Nord-Division pressed home its attacks and caused severe damage to a number of American units. Although the Americans were superior in both armour and infantry, the Nord troops were masters at fighting in the surrounding pinewoods. SS Gebirgs Regiment 12 and 506th Battalion which was attached to the 361st Volksgrenadier Division saw extensive action against the US 45th Infantry Division. For nearly a week the SS troops fought in and around the town of Wingen.
By the second week of January the Nordwind offensive was becoming increasingly desperate. The SS mountain troopers often bitterly contested large areas of the countryside. As result of the fighting, on 16 January, six companies of the American 157th Infantry Regiment found themselves surrounded by SS Regiment 11. Reluctantly, American troops were forced to surrender three days later, losing 482 men. Nord then continued to advance for another four more days before being blunted by strong American counterattacks.
Despite the gradual stagnation of the Nordwind offensive, troops continued to fight on, withdrawing steadily as British and American units advanced towards the River Rhine. The Nord Division remained on the Western front and began organising its units in defensive positions around Trier and Koblenz on the Moselle River. However, troop concentrations became so depleted that they were encircled and annihilated.
By late March 1945, Division Nord had only 2,000 soldiers left, a mixture of Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, Volkssturm and Hitlerjugend troops. Even though the Waffen-SS Divisions were severely worn down, Nord refused to give up, and decided to withdraw east to re-establish contact with other German units.
As it moved, the Division was detected by the US Army. What followed, in early April 1945 over a period of a week, was a series of engagements with the US 71st Division. Division Nord fought doggedly but American strength soon began overwhelming the Germans. As a result, what was left of the Division retreated across the Rhine into the German countryside. American forces destroyed the main body of the Division with individual units then scattering into Bavaria where they were finally captured in May 1945.