6th SS Mountain Division Nord

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6th SS Mountain Division Nord
6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord
XC Army Corps
  • LXXXII Army Corps
  • LXXXIX Army Corps
    • Engagements
    Commanders
    Notable
    commanders

    The 6th SS Mountain Division Nord (German: 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord) was a World War II mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, the military wing of the German Nazi Party, primarily consisting of ethnic Germans along with some Norwegian and Swiss volunteers. It was the only Waffen-SS division to operate in the Arctic Circle.

    It was founded in early 1941 as the SS Battle Group Nord (German: SS-

    Allgemeine-SS paramilitary units and had low combat effectiveness. In the second half of 1941 the division was effectively destroyed by the Red Army during Operation Arctic Fox, when it advanced into Soviet territory alongside the Finnish Army
    and the Wehrmacht. After taking massive losses in its first operation the Nord Division was entirely rebuilt starting from late 1941.

    The SS Division Nord remained in Finland and northern Russia, where most of its personnel were replaced over the course of 1942 and 1943. From that point they consisted of combat veterans and graduates of the Waffen-SS mountain warfare school. With the improvement in its combat capability, the division fought off multiple Soviet attacks. It was also renamed again as the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord. After Finland signed an armistice with the Soviet Union in 1944, the Nord Division broke through lines of Soviet and Finnish troops in a fighting retreat back to Norway. It was then redeployed to the Western Front against the Western Allied invasion of Germany.

    Elements of the 6th SS Mountain Division took part in

    Operation Nordwind in January 1945 along the French–German border, where they took heavy losses in several failed attempts to break through the U.S. Seventh Army in the Vosges mountains to reach Alsace. Afterwards the division was reinforced by poorly trained conscripts and new recruits, though it remained one of the most capable German divisions remaining in Army Group G, defending the Rhineland. In March 1945 it fought near Trier and Koblenz before retreating west of the Rhine, and was encircled by the U.S. 5th and 71st Infantry Divisions near Büdingen
    . After several days of fighting the Nord Division effectively ceased to exist on 4 April 1945.

    Background and formation

    After Germany

    Allgemeine-SS,[2] the general service branch of the Nazi Party militia,[1] becoming known as the Norges-SS.[2]

    On 24 February 1941, two SS infantry regiments in German-occupied southern Norway, the 6th and 7th, were ordered to form a Kampfgruppe (battle group) ahead of the anticipated German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. These regiments consisted of ethnic Germans from annexed Czechoslovakia who had infantry training and were used in paramilitary functions by the Allgemeine-SS in Sudetenland.[3] They included members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (concentration camp guards).[4] The two regiments were transferred from the Allgemeine-SS to the Waffen-SS to form the Kampfgruppe Nord.[3]

    Under the command of SS-Brigadeführer Richard Herrmann, the Kampfgruppe received a full headquarters, including a cartographic section, two pioneer (combat engineer) companies, a reconnaissance battalion, and other support units in March 1941. In April and May, the Kampfgruppe Nord was moved into the Kirkenes region of northern Norway. There they were joined by the 9th SS Infantry Regiment. The unit still lacked training and could not effectively fight with combined arms.[3]

    On 17 June 1941, Herrmann was replaced by SS-Brigadeführer

    XXXVI Army Corps. By 18 June they completed their deployment to the positions for the invasion near Salla. Demelhuber noted that the division was not combat ready, because most of the troops had no experience in combat and their vehicles had maintenance problems.[3]

    Operation Barbarossa

    The German-Finnish plan for Operation Arctic Fox.

    When Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June 1941, Finland initially chose not to attack the Soviet Union unless it was provoked, and so the German-Finnish invasion of

    Finnish Armed Forces, while the northern Finnish and the Norwegian portions were overseen by the German Army High Command Norway. In the north, the German and Finnish forces had the objective of capturing Murmansk and cutting off the Murmansk railway that connected the vital Arctic Sea port with central Russia.[6]

    The SS Division Nord attacked the Soviet border in central Finland (as part of

    armored counterattack that pushed back the remaining SS troops, who abandoned their positions and fled in panic. This lasted until 8 July, when the 169th Infantry Division attacked from the north and the Finnish 6th Division from the south, threatening the Red Army with a double-envelopment. The successful Finnish and Wehrmacht advance forced the Soviets to withdraw from Salla, though they did not make it to their objective, the Murmansk railway. By the end of August 1941 the SS Division Nord had lost 1,085 dead.[4][6][7]

    The terrible performance damaged the Nord Division's reputation among Wehrmacht and SS leaders, including

    Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and the head of Army Command Norway, Nikolaus von Falkenhorst.[6][7] After this, the Nord Division was temporarily divided between other units. The 6th SS Infantry Regiment and the Artillery Regiment were sent to the 169th Infantry Division, the 7th SS Infantry Regiment went to the Finnish III Corps, and the 9th Regiment was with Mountain Corps Norway patrolling near the Arctic Sea.[6] Now subordinated to the III Corps, there was tension between the SS Division Nord staff and the Finns, with the former seeing the situation as a humiliation.[8] Despite this, the Nord Division troops learned tactics from the Finns and the other units they were attached to in the continued fighting. In late August and early September, Army Command Norway sent all of the remaining SS troops to III Corps, recreating the division as a unified formation. The Nord Division was also reinforced with the arrival of 700 Waffen-SS troops, who were trained infantrymen, unlike the former paramilitary members of the Allgemeine-SS.[6] In addition, it received three artillery battalions in September.[7] From October to November, SS-Standartenführer Franz Schreiber briefly took command in Demelhuber's place.[9]

    The Nord Division had a role in the final offensive of Operation Arctic Fox, in the first two weeks of November 1941. The Finnish III Corps and the Nord Division advanced together in the Loukhsky District in a last attempt to sever the Murmansk railway. Although they made progress and inflicted losses on the Red Army, the SS and Finnish troops also sustained casualties from the strong Soviet resistance. The attack was called off by Finland on 17 November.[10] The Nord Division conducted mopping-up operations and anti-partisan patrols in the forests of Karelia for the rest of November and December 1941.[4]

    Northern Russia and Finland

    1942–1943

    SS-Mountain Division Nord troops on skis in early 1943.

    The high casualties taken during Operation Barbarossa led to almost all of the Nord Division's original members being replaced by new reinforcements by January 1942,[10] including by Volksdeutsche Germans from Hungary and Romania.[4] On 20 April 1942, the division received a new commander, SS-Brigadeführer Matthias Kleinheisterkamp, after Franz Schreiber briefly assumed command in the interim from 1 April until his arrival.[11][9] The division was used to guard nickel mines in Finland and later was planned to take part in another German offensive toward the railway. Before this could happen, on 24 April 1942 the Soviets launched an attack in the sector where SS Division Nord was. The 23rd Guards Rifle Division, the 8th Ski Brigade, and the 80th Independent Brigade made some initial advances before the SS troops counterattacked. The Soviet offensive was fought off[10] and the front line remained static for the rest of 1942.[11]

    In the early summer of 1942, the SS Division Nord was renamed SS-Mountain Division Nord (SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord) to solve its supply problems. The infantry and artillery regiments were reformed. This included reducing the number of regiments from three to two, both of which became mountain regiments staffed by experienced personnel.

    German Alps to prepare recruits for fighting in mountain and Arctic environments. The Nord Division was involved in occasional skirmishes with Soviet troops along the front in which they were able to defend their positions, and German commanders began seeing the division as more combat capable. At the start of 1943 the SS-Mountain Division Nord had 560 officers and 20,176 NCOs and soldiers.[11]

    In late 1943 Waffen-SS divisions were reorganized and given a number based on seniority, with the unit being renamed the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord. New recruits trained at the Waffen-SS mountain warfare school continued to be sent to the division in late 1943, and around that time they also received two Norwegian SS units, a police company and the volunteer ski company "Norway" (SS-Freiwilligen-Schikompanie-Norwegen).[12] There were also some Swiss volunteers.[13] The SS had plans to expand the 6th Mountain Division into a two-division corps, so it had about 22,000 troops, larger than a normal German mountain division, but this was never implemented because of events in 1944.[14]

    1944

    Operation Birke, the German evacuation from Finland.

    On 15 January 1944,

    Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger.[12]

    Much further to the south, on 10 June 1944 the Red Army launched an

    Gottlieb Renz. Together they were able to push the Soviets out and prevent a possible Soviet encirclement of the division, for which Renz and the 82nd battalion commander were both awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 23 August 1944, Krüger was assigned to another unit and relinquished command to SS-Standartenführer Gustav Lombard until 1 September, when his replacement arrived, SS-Gruppenführer Karl-Heinrich Brenner.[12] Later that month Finland signed the Moscow Armistice with the Soviet Union, following the successful Red Army offensive in the south, requiring Finland to cut its ties with Germany. The Nord Division staff then received word of the 20th Mountain Army's plans for Operation Birke, the evacuation of all troops from Finland into Norway.[14]

    The Nord Division left its positions and passed through central Finland before taking a road along the Swedish border into Norway. As the SS troops withdrew from northern Russia they fought off units of the Soviet

    Günther Degen, led an attack that broke through the Soviet lines and rescued the surrounded troops. He was awarded the Knight's Cross. The 11th Regiment reunited with the rest of the Nord Division, which began the march out of Finland towards Norway in late September 1944.[14]

    On 26 October, Finnish troops began attacking the 11th Regiment near

    Denmark by ship.[16] Karl-Heinrich Brenner was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for commanding the division's successful withdrawal from Finland. The Norwegian ski battalion did not join the rest of the division when it was sent back to Germany, and other units also got reassigned, bringing down its strength to about 15,000 from the previous 22,000.[17]

    Western Front

    Operation Nordwind

    After arriving in Denmark the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord was immediately sent to reinforce the

    7th Army of Lieutenant General Alexander Patch in southeastern France, which held a relatively weak position in the Allied line.[18] On 1 January 1945 the offensive commenced, and the lead elements of the Nord Division, known as Kampfgruppe Schreiber after its commander, took part in the attack, subordinated to the 361st Volksgrenadier Division. The Nord Division troops were tasked with capturing the town of Wingen-sur-Moder.[19]

    The town was the headquarters of the

    180th Infantry Regiments, but took heavy losses in the process.[20]

    Even after taking losses, the 6th SS Mountain Division was still in a better condition than the 361st Volksgrenadier Division. The remaining divisional units also arrived at the front and rejoined what was left of the 12th Regiment. Fighting continued between the Germans and the Americans in this sector after 11 January, with no German breakthrough initially, and around this time the division was reassigned to the

    157th Infantry. After this success, Brenner was ordered to capture Zinswiller on 23 January. This was the last offensive action by the Nord Division before the end of Operation Nordwind, and it failed despite making initial advances. By the end of the operation, the infantry regiments had taken 50% losses, although the other divisional units were intact. The losses were replaced by poorly trained conscripts and volunteers in February 1945.[21]

    Defense of Germany

    With the failure of the last German offensive in the West, the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord and the rest of Army Group G was tasked with holding the Rhineland in southwest Germany. At this point it was one of the most capable divisions remaining in Army Group G,[22] though its losses in the offensive and the arrival of new replacements was changing the Nord Division from the experienced mountain infantry unit it had been in Finland.[21] In early March 1945 the division was given new orders to retake the German city of Trier, becoming part of the LXXXII Army Corps. Brenner moved the division headquarters to Holzerath in Rhineland. On 7 March 1945 the Nord infantry crossed the Ruwer river and attacked positions held by the U.S. 94th Infantry Division.[23] They cut off the highway south of Trier, the main American line of communication in the area. However, the Nord Division took significant losses and was ordered to withdraw. One infantry regiment, the 12th, stayed behind while the rest of the division made their way to the section of the Moselle river between Koblenz and Cochem, where it was nominally assigned to the LXXXIX Army Corps, which consisted of several infantry divisions. The U.S. XX Corps and XII Corps began attacking the positions held by the LXXXII and LXXXIX Army Corps, respectively, on 12 March.[22][24]

    The American troops encountered fierce resistance, including from the regiment of the Nord Division that stayed behind with the LXXXII Army Corps, which launched a counterattack that slowed down the

    80th Infantry Division. Meanwhile, the Nord reconnaissance battalion reached the Moselle river ahead of the rest of the division, where it fought against American troops on 14 March. The rest of the SS division minus the regiment that stayed behind arrived by 15 March to the Moselle. They were immediately sent into battle against the U.S. 90th Infantry Division, to hold a route eastward to the Rhine for the rest of the corps. The SS troops held out and cut off an American infantry company when they attempted to force their way into the area the Nord Division troops were holding.[22] When the rest of the 6th SS Mountain Division caught up with the recon battalion, they continued to hold out and created a route towards the Rhine from Waldesch as the Americans began taking the rest of the German positions in the Moselle area. On 16 March the LXXXIX Army Corps was ordered to withdraw, and they evacuated from the western side of the Rhine. Koblenz and Trier had both fallen by 17 March, creating a risk of collapse in the German defensive positions.[25] The regiment that remained behind with the LXXXII Corps continued to fight separately from the rest of the Nord Division before dissolving in mid-April 1945.[24]

    The rest of the Nord Division, which remained the most intact unit in the LXXXIX Corps, remained in the Rhine valley until it was ordered by Field Marshal

    George Patton's troops crossing the Rhine near the city.[26] Kesselring then changed his order, sending the 6,000 survivors of the Nord Division eastward to Limburg an der Lahn to hold the river crossing there. The division reached the southern outskirts of Limburg on 26 March, having marched there after they ran out of fuel, but the U.S. 9th Armored Division was already there. On 27 March the American division broke through the line of defense that the Nord troops had established south of Limburg before advancing to the southeast. Having taken heavy losses from the American attack, the Nord Division was down to just 2,000 men, and remained west of Limburg before attempting to reach German lines further east as the Americans overran the surrounding area.[27] By this point in late March 1945 American troops had broken through the German front along the Rhine, cutting off Army Group G in the south from Army Group B to the north, and advanced deeper into Germany. The remnants of some German units were left behind as the American main force advanced, including the Nord Division.[28]

    On 30 March, Brenner led those who were left in an attempt to break out of the American encirclement as units of the 5th and 71st Infantry Divisions were tasked with finishing them off.[29][30][31] In the early days of April 1945, the SS Mountain Division Nord was in an area near Büdingen, where there was fierce fighting against U.S. troops with the use of Sherman tanks and other captured American weapons.[29][30] Organized resistance ceased with the surrender of the last divisional units on 3 April.[32] The division was no longer an effective force by 4 April,[30] and formally ceased to exist on 8 May 1945 with the dissolution of all German units.[24] Some members of the division were able to escape eastward from Büdingen, including the commander, Karl-Heinrich Brenner. Later that month a significant number of the survivors were combined with SS officer cadets in Bavaria to form the 38th SS Grenadier Division Nibelungen, though this unit did not finish forming before the defeat of Germany in early May.[24]

    Commanders

    The following is a list of the division's commanding officers.[3][6][9]

    • SS-Brigadeführer Richard Herrmann (24 February – 17 June 1941)
    • SS-Brigadeführer Karl-Maria Demelhuber (17 June – October 1941)
    • SS-Standartenführer Franz Schreiber (October – November 1941)
    • SS-Brigadeführer Karl-Maria Demelhuber (November 1941 – 1 April 1942)
    • SS-Standartenführer Franz Schreiber (1 April 1942 – 20 April 1942)
    • SS-Gruppenführer Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (20 April 1942 – 15 January 1944)
    • SS-Gruppenführer Lothar Debes (15 January – 20 May 1944)
    • SS-Gruppenführer Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (20 May – 23 August 1944)
    • SS-Standartenführer Gustav Lombard (23 August – 1 September 1944)
    • SS-Gruppenführer Karl-Heinrich Brenner (1 September 1944 – 4 April 1945)

    Organization

    The division had several names during its history.[7][10]

    • SS Battle Group Nord (German: SS-Kampfgruppe Nord) – February to June 1941.
    • SS Division Nord (German: SS-Division Nord) – June 1941 to June 1942.
    • SS-Mountain Division Nord (German: SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord) – June 1942 to October 1943.
    • 6th SS Mountain Division Nord (German: 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord) – October 1943 to May 1945.

    Structure

    Order of battle 22 April 1941 (as Kampfgruppe Nord)[33]
    • 6th SS-Infantry Regiment (3 Battalions & 13, 14th companies)
    • 7th SS-Infantry Regiment (3 Battalions & 13, 14th companies)
    • Reconnaissance Battalion
    • Artillery Regiment (3 Light Battalions)
    • Pioneer Companies (2 of)
    • Signals Battalion
    • Supply Troop
    • Divisional Administration
    • Medical Service
    • Military Police Detachment
    • Field Post Office
    Order of battle September 1941[34]
    • Division Staff
    • SS-Infantry Regiment 6 (formerly SS Totenkopf-Standarte 6)[35]
    • SS-Infantry Regiment 7 (formerly SS Totenkopf-Standarte 7)[36]
    • SS-Infantry Regiment 9 (formerly SS Totenkopf-Standarte 9) (left the division in December 1941)[37]
    • SS-Gebirgs Artillery Regiment "Nord"
    • SS-Panzerjäger (Tank Hunter) Battalion "Nord"
    • SS-Reconnaissance Battalion "Nord"
    • SS-
      Flak
      Battalion "Nord"
    • SS-Gebirgs Engineer Battalion "Nord"
    • SS-Gebirgs Signal Battalion "Nord"
    • SS-Division Supply Commander "Nord"
    Order of battle 1942[9]
    • Division Staff
    • SS-Gebirgsjäger Regiment 11 "Reinhard Heydrich" with three battalions
    • SS-Gebirgsjäger Regiment 12 "Michael Gaißmair" with three battalions
    • SS-Infantry Regiment (motorized) 5 (added in 1944)
    • SS-Skijäger Battalion "Norge" (a Norwegian volunteer unit)
    • SS-Gebirgs Artillery Regiment 6 with three artillery groups
    • SS-Werfer Battalion 6 (Rocket artillery)
    • SS-Gebirgs Panzerjäger Battalion 6 (Anti-tank cannons)
    • SS-Gebirgs Reconnaissance Battalion (motorized) 6
    • SS-Flak Battalion 6 (Anti-aircraft artillery)
    • SS-Gebirgs Engineer Battalion 6
    • SS-Gebirgs Signal Battalion 6
    • SS-Division Supply Commander 6
    • SS-Feldersatz Battalion 6 (Reserve and training battalion used to prepare new arrivals to fill up depleted units)
    • SS-Sturmgeschütz Battery 6 (Assault Guns)
    • SS-Gebirgs-Kriegsberichter Platoon 6 (Propaganda Platoon)
    • SS-Feldgendarmerie Platoon 6 (Military Police)

    Citations

    1. ^ a b Tucker-Jones 2022, pp. 5–6.
    2. ^ a b Tucker-Jones 2022, pp. 25–27.
    3. ^ a b c d e f g Rusiecki 2010, pp. 1–2.
    4. ^ a b c d Baxter 2018, pp. 1–7.
    5. ^ Baxter 2018, p. 16.
    6. ^ a b c d e f Rusiecki 2010, pp. 3–4.
    7. ^ a b c d e Tucker-Jones 2022, pp. 20–24.
    8. ^ Sotatieteen laitos 1993, pp. 53–54.
    9. ^ a b c d Mitcham 2007, pp. 145–148.
    10. ^ a b c d e Rusiecki 2010, pp. 5–6.
    11. ^ a b c d Rusiecki 2010, p. 7.
    12. ^ a b c Rusiecki 2010, pp. 8–9.
    13. Swissinfo
      . Published 7 January 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
    14. ^ a b c Rusiecki 2010, pp. 12–14.
    15. ^ Rusiecki 2010, pp. 17–18.
    16. ^ a b Rusiecki 2010, pp. 19–20.
    17. ^ Rusiecki 2010, pp. 39–40.
    18. ^ Rusiecki 2010, pp. 23–25.
    19. ^ a b Rusiecki 2010, pp. 26–28.
    20. ^ Rusiecki 2010, pp. 29–37.
    21. ^ a b Rusiecki 2010, pp. 39–45.
    22. ^ a b c MacDonald 1993, pp. 242–248.
    23. ^ Rusiecki 2010, pp. 46–47.
    24. ^ a b c d Rusiecki 2010, pp. 339–344.
    25. ^ MacDonald 1993, pp. 249–252.
    26. ^ MacDonald 1993, pp. 274–275.
    27. ^ MacDonald 1993, pp. 349–350.
    28. ^ Rusiecki 2010, pp. 91–92.
    29. ^ a b MacDonald 1993, p. 378.
    30. ^ a b c Wilson 1999, pp. 164–170.
    31. ^ Rusiecki 2010, pp. 243–244.
    32. ^ Rusiecki 2010, p. 322.
    33. ^ Nafziger 2001, p. 73.
    34. ^ "6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord: RS 3-6: 1941-1943" (in German). April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
    35. ^ Tessin 1965, p. 46.
    36. ^ Tessin 1965, p. 84.
    37. ^ Tessin 1965, p. 157.

    Bibliography

    Further reading

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