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 command Norway"). Its first action was taking part in Operation Renntier ("reindeer"), the occupation of Finnish Petsamo to protect the nickel mines there from USSR. In June 1941 the corps attacked from Petsamo to Murmansk in Operation Platinum Fox (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 Eduard Dietl (14 June 1940 - 15 January 1942) Generalfeldmarschall Ferdinand Schörner (15 January 1942 - 1 October 1943) General der Gebirgstruppe Georg Ritter von Hengl (1 October 1943 - 15 May 1944) General der Gebirgstruppe Ferdinand Jodl (15 May 1944 - 8 May 1945)
Area of operations
DateAreaSubordinate toOperations1 July 1940 - 19 December 1940NorwayArmy Group XXIOperation Weserübung19 December 1940 - 14 January 1942Finland Army Norway Operation Platinfuchs14 January 1942 - 22 June 1942FinlandArmy Lappland-22 June 1942 - 24 April 1945Finland, Norway20th Mountain ArmyOperation Nordlicht
Organisation 2nd Mountain Division (Gebirgsjäger light infantry) 3rd Mountain Division (until September 1941) 6th Mountain Division 210th Coastal Defense Division (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 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 "[w]hile this translation of Hess's work is a welcome addition to the Anglophone literature on Barbarossa, it has its limitations. [Hess] scrupulously 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."