Mountain Corps Norway

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Mountain Corps Norway (German: Gebirgskorps Norwegen) 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 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 Gebirgskorps 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 1940 Norway Gruppe XXI Operation Weserübung
19 December 1940 - 14 January 1942 Finland AOK Norwegen Operation Platinfuchs
14 January 1942 - 22 June 1942 Finland AOK Lappland -
22 June 1942 - 24 April 1945 Finland, Norway GebAOK 20 Operation 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


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