Back to Blog
Panzer corps 2 norway north5/26/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() In late November, the Danmark regiment was involved in heavy fighting with a force of 5,000 partisans near Glina. Soon after its arrival, the SS-Freiwilligen-Legion Niederlande was attached to the division and it began combat operations against Josip Tito's partisans. By the end of the war, Danish, Hungarian, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Finnish, French, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss and British volunteers had either served in the division or been attached to it.Īfter its formation in Germany, the division was attached to SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner's III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps and was moved to occupied Croatia for training and to complete its formation. The regimental titles were a reference to the location where the majority of the regiment's recruits were from, SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 Norge (Norwegians) and SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 Danmark (Danes).ĭespite most volunteers hailing from Scandinavia, the Nordland carried the widest range of nationalities found in any single division. The Nordland's two Panzergrenadier regiments were also given titles. It was decided that the division was to continue using the already-existing regiment’s name, Nordland. The division was originally to receive the name Waräger (Varangians) but the name was rejected by Hitler himself. The Wiking's SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment Nordland, a Scandinavian volunteer regiment, was pulled out of the line to be used as a basis for the new division. In February 1943, Hitler ordered the creation of an SS Division which would be officered by foreign volunteers. However, the Wiking, whose enlisted men were predominantly Nordic volunteers, was officered by Germans. The 5th SS Panzergrenadier Division Wiking, a volunteer division, had been in action since 1940 and had amassed an impressive combat record. By 1943, the foreign legions of the Waffen-SS had proven their worth in battle many times over. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |