Army Norway (''Armeeoberkommando Norwegen'', abbreviated ''AOK Norwegen'') was a German army operating in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

during

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 ...

. It was one of the two army

echelon Echelon may refer to: * A level formation ** A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society ** A military sub-subunit smaller than a company but larger than a platoon ** Echelon formation, a step-like arrangement of units * ECHELO ...

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

controlling German troops in the far north. Army Norway was directly subordinate to

OKH The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat ...

, the high command headquarters of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. It was created from Army Group XXI in December 1940, itself a successor of the XXI Army Corps, and disbanded in December 1944, with its tasks and assets taken over by the 20th Mountain Army. As of 15 January 1941, the actual strength (''Iststärke'') of Army Norway was 129,759 personnel in total.A.O.K. Norwegen, IIa. Abschrift für Kriegstagebuch. Iststärke nach dem Stande vom 15 Januar 1941. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RW 39/14, fol. 189.

Operations

On 27 June 1941, shortly after the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

(22 June), Army Norway consisted of XXXVI Command (SS Kampfgruppe Nord, 169th Division),

Mountain Corps Norway Mountain Corps Norway () was a German army unit during World War II. It saw action in Norway and Finland. The corps was formed in July 1940 and was later transferred to Northern Norway as part of '' Armeeoberkommando Norwegen'' ("army high comm ...

( 2nd Mountain Division, 3rd Mountain Division, 199th Division, 702nd Division), XXXIII Command ( 181st Division, 196th Division) and LXX Command ( 69th Division, 163rd Division, 214th Division). A Headquarter Detachment of Army Norway took part in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. In talks between Finnish and German staffs in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in June 1941, the Germans were given military responsibility over northern Finland; Army Norway was to take

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

and the Murmansk railway. The plan was codenamed

Operation Silberfuchs Operation Silver Fox (; ) or Murmansk operation () from 29 June to 17 November 1941, was a joint German– Finnish military operation during the Continuation War on the Eastern Front of World War II against the Soviet Union. The objective of the ...

(''Silver Fox''). In January 1942 this HQ detachment became Army Lapland and was responsible for all German forces in Finland. In June 1942 it was renamed 20th Mountain Army.

Commanders

Commander-in-Chief

Assets

German Army of Norway ( Falkenhorst) * From January 1941: ** XXXIII Corps ** XXXVI Corps **

* From July 1941: (during

) ** XXXIII Corps ** XXXVI Corps ** LXX Corps **

* From September 1941: ** XXXIII Corps ** XXXVI Corps ** LXX Corps **

** Finnish III Corps * From March 1942: (after creation of German Twentieth Mountain Army) ** XXXIII Corps ** LXX Corps ** LXXI Corps

References

A N Norway in World War II Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 {{Germany-WWII-stub

Operations

Commanders

Commander-in-Chief

Assets

See also

References