The 7th SS Police Regiment () was named the 7th Police Regiment (''Polizei-Regiment 7'') when it was formed from existing
Order Police
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...
(''Ordnungspolizei'') units for security duties in
Occupied Norway
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the World War II, Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the Norwegian Campaign, German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi G ...
. It was redesignated as an
SS unit in early 1943. It remained in Norway for most of the rest of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Formation and organization
The regiment was formed in July 1942 in
Wehrkreis
The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military dist ...
VI in Western Germany.
Police Battalion 309 (''Polizei-Batallion 309''),
Police Battalion 317 and
Police Battalion 123 were redesignated as the regiment's first, second and third
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
s, respectively. The regiment was transferred to Norway shortly after formation. In July 1943, the regimental headquarters and I Battalion were stationed in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
, II Battalion was in
Spillum
Spillum is a village in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the south side of the Namsen river about directly south of the centre of the town of Namsos and about north of the village of Klinga. The ...
, and III Battalion was in
Narvik
() is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...
.
[Arico, pp. 324, 424, 464; Tessin & Kanapin, p. 618] All of the police regiments were redesignated as SS police units on 24 February 1943.
[Tessin & Kannapin, p. 557]
Notes
References
* Arico, Massimo. ''Ordnungspolizei: Encyclopedia of the German Police Battalions'', Stockholm: Leandoer and Ekholm (2010).
*Tessin, Georg & Kannapin, Norbert. ''Waffen-SS under Ordnungspolizei im Kriegseinsatz 1939–1945: Ein Überlick anhand der Feldpostübersicht'', Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag (2000).
{{SS Police Regts
#