Mountain Corps Norway () was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

army unit 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 saw action 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, ...

. The corps was formed in July 1940 and was later transferred to

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

as part of '' Armeeoberkommando Norwegen'' ("army high command Norway"). Its first action was taking part in Operation Renntier ("reindeer"), the occupation of Finnish

Petsamo Petsamo may refer to: * Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922 * Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland * Pechengsky District Pechengsky District (; ; ; ; ) is an administrative district (raion), one of the six in Mur ...

to protect the

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

mines there from USSR. In June 1941 the corps attacked from Petsamo to

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 ...

Operation Platinum Fox Operation Platinum Fox (; ) was a German and Finnish military offensive launched during World War II. Platinum Fox took place on the Eastern Front and had the objective of capturing the Barents Sea port of Murmansk. It was part of a larger op ...

(German: ''Unternehmen Platinfuchs''). The attack failed and the corps never reached its goal. In April and May 1942 the corps faced one of its toughest challenges. Over a period of three weeks, the Soviet 14th Army attacked, trying to defeat the Corps. But there was another enemy - on 4 May 1942, a devastating, 90-hour-long polar storm took its toll on the soldiers. 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

*''

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German '' Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank w ...

Eduard Dietl Eduard Wohlrat Christian Dietl (21 July 1890 – 23 June 1944) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 20th Mountain Army. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Military career Born in ...

(14 June 1940 - 15 January 1942) *''

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire, (''Reichsgeneralfeldmarsch ...

Ferdinand Schörner Ferdinand Schörner (12 June 1892 – 2 July 1973) was a German military commander and convicted war criminal, who held the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the on ...

(15 January 1942 - 1 October 1943) *''

General der Gebirgstruppe ' (English: General of the Mountain Troops) was a category of German Army three-star, a new example of the traditional German '' 'General der'' rank introduced by the ''Wehrmacht'' in 1940, comparable to the NATO grade OF-8. Rank and rank in ...

Georg Ritter von Hengl Georg Ritter von Hengl (21 October 1897 – 19 March 1952) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the XIX Mountain Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. During World War I, ...

(1 October 1943 - 15 May 1944) *''General der Gebirgstruppe'' Ferdinand Jodl (15 May 1944 - 8 May 1945)

Area of operations

Organisation

* 2nd Mountain Division (''

Gebirgsjäger ''Gebirgsjäger'' () is a German language, German military term for light infantry trained in mountain warfare. Currently used in the militaries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the term includes the word ''Jäger (military), jäger'', anot ...

'' light infantry) * 3rd Mountain Division (until September 1941) * 6th Mountain Division *

210th Coastal Defense Division The 210th Coastal Defence Division was created from a ''Division zbV'' staff (an ''ad hoc'' headquarters that could be used to form a division around) in July 1942, and shipped north to defend the port Petsamo in Arctic Finland. In late 1944 it m ...

(a mixture of fortress infantry and coastal artillery units, 1943 - October 1944) * Division ''Rossi'' * Er.Os. P (Finnish Separate Detachment P) * Finnish 14th Regiment (2 battalions)

Strength based on supply documents

On 30 April 1942 the supply numbers for the Mountain Corps Norway showed the following numbers: 73,978 men and 8,913 horses Of the men: * 48,576 were Heer (Army) * 8,744 were Luftwaffe (Air Force) * 6,942 were Kriegsmarine (Navy) * 2,380 were Reichsarbeitsdienst (labor service) * 975 were

Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a Civil engineering, civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior member of the Nazi Party. The organisation was responsible ...

* Plus some Finns (border security, road maintenance), Norwegian and Dutch workers, Nationalsozialistisch Kraftfahrkorps (Speer) and 2,335 prisoners of war.

References

Bibliography

*James R. Smither, Review of "Arctic Front: The Advance of Mountain Corps Norway on Murmansk, 1941 By Wilhelm Hess," Michigan War Studies Review, accessed at http://www.miwsr.com/2021-101.aspx, 3 December 2021. Translation of 1956 German work. Smither comments that " ile this translation of Hess's work is a welcome addition to the Anglophone literature on Barbarossa, it has its limitations. essscrupulously avoids discussing Nazi ideology and policies, and skirts around issues relating to the mistreatment of civilians, especially in Norway, where he acknowledges the presence of a resistance movement. He concentrates on narrowly military issues or matters relating to German cooperation with the Finns." * *

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

M00N Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1942 German expatriates in Finland {{Germany-WWII-stub