Mountain Corps Norway

Mountain Corps Norway (German: Gebirgskorps Norwegen) was a German army unit during World War II. It saw action in Norway and Finland.

Mountain Corps Norway
Generalkommando Gebirgskorps Norwegen
Active1 July 1940 – 10 November 1942
Disbanded10 November 1942
Country Nazi Germany
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Eduard Dietl

The corps was formed in July 1940 and was later transferred to Northern Norway as part of AOK Norwegen. Its first action was taking part in Operation Renntier, the occupation of Finnish Petsamo. In June 1941 the corps attacked from Petsamo to Murmansk in an operation codenamed Platinfuchs. The attack failed and the corps never reached its goal.

In April and May 1942 the Corps faced one of its toughest challenges. During a period of three weeks, the 14th Soviet Army attacked, trying to defeat the Corps. But there was another enemy - on May 4, 1942, a devastating, 90-hour-long polar storm took its toll on the soldiers.[1]

In November 1942 the corps was renamed the XIX. Gebirgs-Armeekorps or XIX Mountain Corps.

In 1944 the corps finally had to retreat back to Norway, where it surrendered in May 1945. From November 1944 onwards the corps was also sometimes known as Armeeabteilung Narvik.

Commanders

Area of operations

Date Area Subordinate to Operations
1 July 1940 - 19 December 1940NorwayGruppe XXIOperation Weserübung
19 December 1940 - 14 January 1942FinlandAOK NorwegenOperation Platinfuchs
14 January 1942 - 22 June 1942FinlandAOK Lappland-
22 June 1942 - 24 April 1945Finland, NorwayGebAOK 20Operation Nordlicht

Organisation

Strength based on supply documents

On April 30, 1942, the supply numbers for the Mountain Corps Norway showed the following numbers: 73,978 men and 8,913 horses [2]

Of the men:

References

  1. Book(German language) 'Winterschlacht im Mai' - Karl Ruef ISBN 3-7020-0472-6
  2. Book(German language) 'Winterschlacht im Mai' - Karl Ruef ISBN 3-7020-0472-6

Bibliography

  • Tessin, Georg (1980). Die Landstreitkräfte: Namensverbände / Die Luftstreitkräfte (Fliegende Verbände) / Flakeinsatz im Reich 1943–1945 [Ground forces: Named units and formations / Air forces (Flying units and formations) / Anti–aircraft service in the Reich 1943–1945]. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen–SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). 14. Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3-7648-1111-0.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.