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87-647: It was founded in early 1941 as the SS Battle Group Nord (German: SS- Kampfgruppe Nord ) in southern Norway before being upgraded and renamed the SS Division Nord in preparation for Operation Barbarossa . Its original personnel came from 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

174-754: A combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, the German Empire in World War I . It also referred to bomber groups in Luftwaffe usage , which themselves consisted of three or four Staffeln (squadrons), and usually (but not exclusively) existed within Kampfgeschwader bomber wings of three or four Kampfgruppen per wing. The Kampfgruppe

261-491: A few days to over a year during the war. They left a significant impact in the popular culture and the picture of the Second World War. Famous examples include: A Panzerkampfgruppe was effectively the main striking force of a Panzer division. The usual Panzerkampfgruppe organization consisted of 1 tank battalion,1 Panzergrenadier battalion, and 1 self-propelled artillery battalion for a well rounded mobile fighting force. It

348-471: A police company and the volunteer ski company "Norway" ( SS-Freiwilligen-Schikompanie-Norwegen ). There were also some Swiss volunteers. 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. On 15 January 1944, SS-Gruppenführer Lothar Debes became

435-585: 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 . Later that month Finland signed the Moscow Armistice with

522-571: 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 . On 17 June 1941, Herrmann was replaced by SS-Brigadeführer Karl-Maria Demelhuber and Kampfgruppe Nord

609-726: 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. The following is a list of the division's commanding officers. The division had several names during its history. Kampfgruppe In military history , the German term Kampfgruppe (pl. Kampfgruppen ; abbrev. KG , or KGr in Luftwaffe usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to

696-539: A train to the southern coast. On 19 December 1944, the Nord Division departed from Norway to Denmark by ship. 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

783-738: A training camp for arctic and mountain warfare in Oulu , Finland. The division became part of the Wehrmacht's 20th Mountain Army , and more specifically the XVIII Mountain Corps , which it formed along with the 7th Mountain Division . Under the corps commander, General of Mountain Troops Franz Böhme , the Nord Division and other German units were to hold the sector from the Loukhsky District area to

870-562: 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. In addition, it received three artillery battalions in September. From October to November, SS-Standartenführer Franz Schreiber briefly took command in Demelhuber's place. The Nord Division had a role in

957-577: Is Andersgrotta , a vast underground bunker built during World War II that provided shelter to the town's residents. Tours of the bunker are available. A pride parade held in 2017 in Kirkenes attracted participants from neighbouring Russia, who were unwilling to participate in LGBT events in Russia due to hostility from the government and police. In addition, the parade saw participants from Amnesty International and

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1044-664: Is a town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway . The town lies on a peninsula along the Bøkfjorden , an arm of the large Varangerfjorden , and is located just a few kilometres from the Norway–Russia border . The 2.29-square-kilometre (570-acre) town has a population (2023) of 3,404 and a population density of 1,486 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,850/sq mi). When

1131-505: Is a military base that is home to the Garrison of Sør-Varanger at Høybuktmoen . Connected to this base are the six border stations along the Russian border. This base and these border stations are there to protect against illegal immigrants as well as other illegal activities across the border. The only public border crossing is at Storskog , southeast of Kirkenes. In the city centre of Kirkenes

1218-511: Is also at a point further east than Saint Petersburg . Unlike the vast majority of Norway, Kirkenes is located east of the neighbouring country of Finland. Because of this, travelling directly west from Kirkenes actually changes the time zone forwards instead of backwards, as it usually does. Travelling directly east from Kirkenes (into Russia) changes the time zone forward by an hour in summer, but by two in winter. When Russia implemented permanent daylight saving time between 2011 and 2014, there

1305-465: Is northern taiga , with forest of pine and birch. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below 0 °C (32.0 °F)) in spring is 26 May and average date for first freeze in autumn is 22 September giving a frost-free season of 116 days (Kirkenes Airport, 1981-2010 average). Kirkenes Airport is situated 5 km outside the town and has been recording since 1940. Kirkenes is close to Norway's border with Russia, and this location influences

1392-507: Is situated about 400 kilometres (250 mi) north of the Arctic Circle , resulting in midnight sun and polar night both lasting for sustained lengths of time depending on season. Kirkenes is located just east of the 30th meridian east . As a result, it is further east than Istanbul , which marks one of the European borders with Asia. The easternmost point of Norway and the municipality

1479-594: The Norges-SS . On 24 February 1941, two SS infantry regiments in German-occupied southern Norway , the 6th and 7th SS-Totenkopf-Standarten , 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

1566-542: 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

1653-793: The 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 . The SS Division Nord attacked the Soviet border in central Finland (as part of Operation Arctic Fox ) on 1 July 1941, alongside

1740-565: 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

1827-525: The Kirkenes Church was built here in 1862. Kirkenes was a village until 1998 when it received town status. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany , Kirkenes was one of the many bases for the German Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe 's Jagdgeschwader 5 , and apart from that, the area served as a main base for supplies to the Murmansk front (see Lapland War ). Reportedly, Kirkenes

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1914-602: The Norwegian Helsinki Committee . Kirkenes's location on the Northeast Passage and the effect of climate change on sea ice have led to expressions of interest to develop port and transport infrastructure in the town, including from state-owned enterprises of China . Public reception to such projects in Kirkenes is mixed. Kirkenes is one end of the route of the Hurtigruten , which cruises daily up and down

2001-499: 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. After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the decision was made to expand the Waffen-SS, the front-line combat arm of

2088-683: The SS , which had to recruit from foreign countries because of limitations imposed in Germany by the Wehrmacht . Scandinavians were the first to be recruited into the SS as they were considered to be Aryan and Germanic. Shortly after the German invasion of Norway , Norwegian volunteers were used to form police and security units of the Allgemeine-SS , the general service branch of the Nazi Party militia, becoming known as

2175-475: The post mortem and memorial service, the bodies were returned to their homesteads. The majority of the inhabitants of Kirkenes are of a Norwegian background, and a minority are Sami . Others are originally from Finland, either members of the Kven population or of a newer influx of more or less recent Finnish immigrants. Also, about 500 people are relatively recent Russian immigrants . For several months in 2015,

2262-576: The 6th SS Mountain Division Nord commander. He was in command when the Soviets began an attack on the division on 7 March 1944, part of the Red Army winter spring campaign of 1944 . The main blow of the attack fell on the division's SS Volunteer Ski Battalion "Norway" and the 6th SS Mountain Reconnaissance Battalion. The SS troops were pushed back, but launched a successful counterattack that drove

2349-704: 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

2436-579: The Allgemeine-SS in Sudetenland . They included members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (concentration camp guards). The two regiments were transferred from the Allgemeine-SS to the Waffen-SS to form the Kampfgruppe Nord . Under the command of SS-Brigadeführer Richard Herrmann , the Kampfgruppe received a full headquarters, including a cartographic section, two pioneer (combat engineer) companies,

2523-526: The American main force advanced, including the Nord Division. 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. 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

2610-641: The Arctic Sea coast in the north. The division received more skis and other types of equipment for the Arctic environment over the course of 1942, and a divisional training battalion was established at Berchtesgaden in the 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

2697-536: The Finnish encirclement and reached Muonio, and continued the rest of the 320 kilometres (200 miles) into Norway without any more disruptions. In the first week of November 1944 they crossed the Finnish–Norwegian border , and continued marching in subzero temperatures before reaching Gratangen . There they took a ferry to Fauske , from where they marched to the most northern point of the Norwegian railway system to take

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2784-1340: The Finnish forces, the combined-arms aspect of the Kampfgruppen could not have been applied. In the Continuation War (1941–44) battle groups (Finnish: taisteluosasto ) were commonly used by Finns and were now bigger having not only infantry but artillery and anti-tank units under commander of battle group. In many cases there were several units of different regiments, brigades and divisions in same battle group. For instance in June 1944 Battle group (Taisteluosasto) Ehrnrooth (commander of 7th Regiment) consisted: I/7th Regiment, III/7th Regiment, III/6th Regiment (minus its 9th inf company), fortification battalion 4, II/field artillery Regiment 19, light field artillery battalion 24, heavy artillery battalion 20 and heavy artillery battalion 27. For few days regiment commander had more firepower under his command than ordinary infantry division commander. Finnish battle groups were relatively short period ad hoc but very common phenomena especially in 1941 and 1944. Field artillery and even anti aircraft artillery units created their own artillery battle groups. Hundreds of Kampfgruppen are documented to have taken part in operations ranging from

2871-514: The German-Finnish invasion of Karelia and the Kola peninsula did not begin for another week. Soviet aircraft bombed the Finnish side of the border shortly after the start of Barbarossa, causing Finland to enter the war. The Eastern Front along the Soviet border with Finland and German-controlled Norway consisted of two halves, with the southern portion of the Finnish border being the responsibility of

2958-509: The III Corps, there was tension between the SS Division Nord staff and the Finns, with the former seeing the situation as a humiliation. 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

3045-576: 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. 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. The rest of

3132-488: 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. 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

3219-463: 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 . The town was the headquarters of the 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron from the 14th Armored Division , and the area was reinforced by Task Force from the 70th Infantry Division (United States) Task Force Herren under

3306-511: 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 Albert Kesselring to move southeast to Wiesbaden shortly before 24 March, in preparation for a counterattack against General George Patton 's troops crossing the Rhine near the city. Kesselring then changed his order, sending the 6,000 survivors of the Nord Division eastward to Limburg an der Lahn to hold

3393-551: The Nord infantry crossed the Ruwer river and attacked positions held by the U.S. 94th Infantry Division . 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

3480-412: The Norway coast to and from Bergen . Kirkenes is served by Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen . There are non-stop flights to Oslo , Vadsø , Vardø , Alta and Tromsø . The European route E6 highway has its northern terminus at Kirkenes. The northern terminus of the European route E105 highway is located in Hesseng, just south of the town. Kirkenes is also the terminus of Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line ,

3567-421: 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. 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

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3654-444: The SS troops advanced toward the town on their own after the volksgrenadier units failed to capture their objective. The initial attack caught the American troops off guard, they were able to capture the town, taking 350 American prisoners at the 117th Cavalry headquarters. But by 6 January, the U.S. troops had captured positions behind them and cut off the Nord Division men still in Wingen-sur-Moder, who later received orders to abandon

3741-405: The SS troops came into contact with stragglers from other German units that fought in the recent battles of the Western Front. The division was to take part in Operation Nordwind , an attack on the U.S. 7th Army of Lieutenant General Alexander Patch in southeastern France, which held a relatively weak position in the Allied line. On 1 January 1945 the offensive commenced, and the lead elements of

3828-494: The SS troops counterattacked. The Soviet offensive was fought off and the front line remained static for the rest of 1942. 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. The division also established

3915-423: The SS troops withdrew from northern Russia they fought off units of the Soviet 26th Army . The 12th Regiment evacuated first while the 11th was left to cover the retreat of the rest of the division and the entire XVIII Mountain Corps. When the rear-guard battalion of the 11th Regiment was cut off by Soviet troops from the rest of the force, another battalion commander, Günther Degen , led an attack that broke through

4002-414: 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. The Nord Division left its positions and passed through central Finland before taking a road along the Swedish border into Norway. As

4089-424: 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. On 26 October, Finnish troops began attacking the 11th Regiment near Muonio while another Finnish unit blocked the road behind them. The Germans, led by Günther Degen, were able to break through

4176-404: The Soviets out of the area. Later, in May 1944, Debes was relieved of command by SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger . Much further to the south, on 10 June 1944 the Red Army launched an offensive to drive the Finnish Army out of the Karelian isthmus near Leningrad . The massive Soviet attack rapidly pushed back the Finns. The German XVIII Mountain Corps tried to assist them on

4263-411: The advance forces of the 45th Infantry Division after they overran the 256th Volksgrenadier Division . The attack encircled and captured several companies from the U.S. 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

4350-446: The coast, Kirkenes exhibits a more continental subarctic climate ( Dfc ) than further west along the Northern Norwegian coast. This is due to less maritime air from the west reaching across the land east to Kirkenes. The all-time high 32.7 °C (91 °F) was recorded in July 1972 and the record low −41.8 °C (−43 °F) in January 1999. The coldest low after 2000 was −32.7 °C (−27 °F) in February 2003. The vegetation

4437-400: The command of Brigadier General Thomas W. Herren Assistant Divisional Commander, and a regiment from the 45th Infantry Division . Troops from the 12th SS Mountain Infantry Regiment and the 361st Volksgrenadier Division were prepared to take Wingen-sur-Moder and other towns in the area, initially to break through a mountain pass and allow German forces to enter the Rhine Valley . On 3 January,

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4524-466: 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. 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,

4611-411: 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. 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

4698-508: 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. The Nord Division conducted mopping-up operations and anti-partisan patrols in

4785-458: The forests of Karelia for the rest of November and December 1941. 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, including by Volksdeutsche Germans from Hungary and Romania . On 20 April 1942, the division received a new commander, SS-Brigadeführer Matthias Kleinheisterkamp , after Franz Schreiber briefly assumed command in

4872-462: The formation closest in use is US Army Task force or the battlegroup formation used by several NATO countries, notably the UK and Norway. The Norwegian borderstation Korpfjell still use the German name Kampfgruppe Korpfjell . Kirkenes Kirkenes ( Norwegian ; pronounced [ˈçɪ̂rkəneːs] ) , Girkonjárga ( Northern Sami ; pronounced [ˈkir̥ː.ko.ˌɲaːrːka] , or Kirkkoniemi   ( Kven )

4959-399: The head of Army Command Norway, Nikolaus von Falkenhorst . 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. Now subordinated to

5046-506: The history of war and peace along the Norwegian–Russian border, Sami art exhibitions by the artist John Savio (1902–1938), and a history of the mining industry in the area. The museum has a small shop and café. Almost every last Thursday of each month the Russian Market takes place on the central square where traders from Murmansk sell their merchandise. Here you can find everything from matryoshkas , linen cloths, and handicrafts, to Russian crystal and porcelain dishes. Just outside Kirkenes

5133-438: 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

5220-419: The interim from 1 April until his arrival. 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

5307-408: The local economy. The Norwegian Barents Secretariat , which works to promote Norwegian-Russian collaboration, is located in Kirkenes. In 2010, Norway's and Russia's Foreign Ministers signed an agreement that made it easier for 9,000 Norwegians and 45,000 Russians living near the common border to visit each other. Tourist attractions include Grenselandmuseet (The Border Area Museum), which shows

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5394-402: The neighbouring suburban villages of Hesseng , Skytterhusfjellet , Sandnes , and Bjørnevatn are all included with Kirkenes, the urban area reaches a total population of almost 8,000 people. Although Kirkenes is the Norwegian town closest to the Russian border, the town of Vardø to its north is located further east in Norway. Due to its close proximity to Russians, Finns, and Skolt Sami,

5481-407: The northern flank but was also attacked by the Soviets, with three divisions hitting the 6th SS Mountain Division. The Red Army troops broke through the left flank of the Nord Division, causing the corps commander to send his reserve, Ski Battalion 82, and Krüger to send the Nord Division's 6th Rifle Battalion (reserve), led by Gottlieb Renz . Together they were able to push the Soviets out and prevent

5568-521: The parent division. The Stormtroopers (in German Stoßtruppen , shock troops , literally "punch/push troops") were specialist military troops which were formed in the last years of World War I as the German army developed new methods of attacking enemy trenches, called " infiltration tactics ". Men trained in these methods were known in German as Sturmmann (literally "assault man" but usually translated as Stormtrooper), formed into companies of Sturmtruppen (Storm Troops). Other armies have also used

5655-406: The partisans collect information about the German occupation. In the summer of 1943, their activities were discovered and many of them were sent to a prisoner-of-war camp near Kirkenes. Following a court-martial the 11 were sentenced to death and were killed near the memorial spot on 18 August 1943. When the common grave was opened in 1946 it was found that the men had been beaten to death. Following

5742-453: The previous 22,000. After arriving in Denmark the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord was immediately sent to reinforce the Western Front , where a German operation known as the Ardennes offensive failed to break through American positions in France in late 1944. On 29 December 1944 the lead elements of the Nord Division arrived near the French–German border by train from Denmark, marching to the villages of Ludwigswinkel and Eppenbrunn . There

5829-409: The rest of XXXVI Army Corps, which included the 169th Infantry Division . One of the Nord Division's infantry regiments, the 9th, was sent to the most northern sector near the Arctic Sea coast, where it was part of Mountain Corps Norway . The bulk of the division that was in the central region passed through the dense forests and swamps of Salla to attack Soviet positions. In the first week of fighting,

5916-406: 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,

6003-439: 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. The terrible performance damaged the Nord Division's reputation among Wehrmacht and SS leaders, including Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and

6090-405: The term "assault troops", " shock troops " or fire teams for specialist soldiers who perform the infiltration tasks of stormtroopers. With respect to their ad hoc nature and objective -oriented strategy, Finnish ski troops employed during the Soviet - Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940 could, in principle, be considered to be an equivalent to Kampfgruppen . However, given the poor equipment of

6177-468: The three countries ( Muotkavaara ), where the three time zones meet. There are only a few such places in the world. It is forbidden, according to both Norwegian and Russian law, to circumambulate the border marker , as the only lawful route across the Norwegian–Russian border is at the border control at Storskog . The midnight sun shines from May 17 to July 21. The corresponding polar night extends from November 21 to January 21. Despite its location at

6264-486: The town from the commander of the 361st Volksgrenadier Division. German attacks elsewhere also led to little progress, and offensive operations were temporarily called off. The 12th SS Mountain Infantry Regiment managed to break out of the American encirclement, facing troops from the U.S. 179th and 180th Infantry Regiments , but took heavy losses in the process. Even after taking losses, the 6th SS Mountain Division

6351-403: The town is also known as Kirkkoniemi   ( Finnish ) , Киркенес   ( Russian ) , and Ǩeârkknjargg   ( Skolt Sami ) . The area around Kirkenes was a common Norwegian–Russian district until 1826, when the present border was settled. The original name of the peninsula was Piselvnes ("Pis River headland"), but this was changed to Kirkenes (meaning "church headland") after

6438-573: The town served as a border crossing point for Syrian refugees, with hundreds per week crossing the border on bicycles, traveling into Norway from Russia (via Murmansk and Nikel ). Kirkenes is located in the extreme northeastern part of Norway on the Bøkfjorden , a branch of the Varangerfjorden , which is a vast bay connected to the Barents Sea near the Russian–Norwegian border . The town

6525-464: The two Nord Division regiments sustained massive losses. They launched three attacks to force the Red Army from its positions but all of them failed. The Soviets then launched an 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

6612-676: The type of units involved (instead of combined arms, different classes of naval vessels were employed). The examples include German Kampfgruppe 5 employed during Operation Weserübung . This unit consisted of the heavy cruiser Blücher , the heavy cruiser Lützow , the light cruiser Emden , 3 torpedo boats and 8 minesweepers carrying 2,000 troops to Oslo . During the Second World War Luftwaffe , Kampfgeschwader bomber units consisted of several Kampfgruppen , which in terms of size were situated somewhere between squadrons and groups of Anglo-American air forces. Currently,

6699-430: The use of Sherman tanks and other captured American weapons. Organized resistance ceased with the surrender of the last divisional units on 3 April. The division was no longer an effective force by 4 April, and formally ceased to exist on 8 May 1945 with the dissolution of all German units. Some members of the division were able to escape eastward from Büdingen, including the commander, Karl-Heinrich Brenner. Later that month

6786-458: The world's second-most northerly railway line, used to transport iron ore from the mines at Bjørnevatn to the port at Kirkenes. The proposed Arctic Railway would see Kirkenes connected with northern Finland. The town of Kirkenes is also the starting point of EV13 The Iron Curtain Trail , a cycling route that runs along the historic border between the capitalist West and the communist East during

6873-463: Was a three-hour difference travelling forward from the eastern part of the municipality to westerly Russian areas during winter. Kirkenes shares time zone with areas much further west, e.g. Galicia in Spain which has a solar time difference of 2½ hours. One can drive 100 kilometres (62 mi) south, and walk 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), into the Øvre Pasvik National Park , reaching the border point of

6960-435: Was an ad hoc combined arms formation, usually employing a combination of tanks , infantry , and artillery (including anti-tank ) elements, generally organised for a particular task or operation. A Kampfgruppe could range in size from a company to a corps , but the most common was an Abteilung ( battalion )-sized formation. Kampfgruppen were generally referred to by either their commanding officer's name or

7047-556: Was common for a mobile engineer company to also be attached to the Panzerkampfgruppe. Flak-Kampftrupps were mixed units which combined two or more heavy Flak pieces and light auto-cannons. While the original concept of Kampfgruppe is usually reserved to the land warfare , some German tacticians and strategists applied it also for naval warfare . The most obvious change was the design (units were usually earmarked for operation in advance instead of being organized ad hoc) and

7134-597: 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. 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

7221-667: Was one of the most capable divisions remaining in Army Group G, 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. 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

7308-531: Was part of the 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. When Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June 1941, Finland initially chose not to attack the Soviet Union unless it was provoked, and so

7395-620: Was renamed the SS Division Nord (German: SS-Division Nord ), becoming a motorized division. The division insignia was the Hagal rune, part of the system of runes invented by Guido von List . After Finland entered into an agreement with Nazi Germany to participate in Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, the new SS division was moved into central Finland opposite of the Soviet-occupied Finnish region of Salla . The division

7482-492: Was second after Malta on a list of European towns experiencing air-raid alarms and attacks, with more than 1,000 alarms and 320 air attacks. The town was occupied by the Red Army on 25 October 1944 when the German Wehrmacht was pushed out and fled the area after having destroyed most of the remaining infrastructure. Only 13 houses survived the war. Close to the town there is a memorial to 11 freedom fighters who helped

7569-557: 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 XC Army Corps . But on 15 January the 11th SS Mountain Infantry Regiment counterattacked

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