SS-Division "Nordland"

[Hans]

Have just received details of one of my uncles from WAS[t]. He was a member of "Nordland" and was captured on 4 May 1945 by the "Westalliierte". He was released on 31.12.1947.

Can anyone tell me what "Nordland" was up to on 4 May 1945 or thereabouts? I'm not really all that interested in the division as such, but any info. would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

- Hans

[Cott Tiger]

Hi Hans,

I’m pretty sure by late April any surviving remnants of the Nordland Division were fighting a desperate battle in Berlin itself.

If memory serves me correctly, in early May (1st/2nd) after Hitler had committed suicide and as the Soviets neared the government buildings, Nordland attempted a (largely) unsuccessful breakout.

By the May 4th (not forgetting the Germans surrendered Berlin on the 2nd) Nordland in effect had ceased to exist as an entity. It’s members were either dead or POWs. Your Uncle must have been one of the few that successfully broke through the Soviet encirclement and actually managed to reach the Western allies. He was one of the lucky ones.

Regards,

André

[Hans]

Hi Andre,

Thanks. It tallies with the info. I had. The 4 May 1945 tallies with the surrender of German troops in northern Germany and therefore I could not figure out what he was doing in the west. I do know that after capture [by the Brits] he was first held at Dusseldorf - he managed to get a message to Nurnberg to his wife, who walked to Dusseldorf and back just to say goodbye before he was shipped out. He spent his time in captivity at Harwich.

If he was not one of the few that broke out of Berlin, it begs the question whether all of the divisions units were actually in Berlin. As he was a member of 2./SS-Flak-Ausbildungs-und Ersatz-Regiment this seems a strong possibilty.

- Hans

[Stephan H.]

Hans,

Here is another perspective:

The commander of Nordland ordered his forces to retreat west--through Berlin--on or about 20 April (I’m writing this from memory w/o my notes). Support elements of the division actually drove through the city of Berlin to the west, while the majority of the combat regiments were caught in bitter fighting along the east-south-east part of the city. Due to his obvious insubordination, the division commander (Zeigler) was replaced and the new commander (Krukenberg) quickly ordered the division's remnants back to the city. Not all of the division received the word and elements continued their retreat west.

Their were at least 3 major breakouts from Berlin and many smaller attempts to leave the city on the night of 1/2 May. The majority of these attempts failed. it is very likely, that your uncle never saw fighting in Berlin and actually passed through the city before it was sealed off by the Soviets. However, he could also have been one of the very few that did breakout and headed west, though I find this latter scenario very unlikely due to the fact that many of those that did breakout took a week or more to reach the Elbe River, where they were often caught by the waiting Russians. Seeing as your Uncle reached the Elbe River on 4 May he must already have been west of Berlin before 1/2 May.

Stephan

[Hans]

Thank you Stephan. I guess it all boils down to the fact that one should ask questions of the living and not wait until they die. Another of my missed opportunities.

- Hans

[monmax]

Hans,

I just finished reading Tieke's 'Tragedy of the faithful'l. It appears that I./ Norge and I./Danmark were fighting with 5. SS Wiking. These units whereabouts are not documented in the book. Furthermore Tieke writes that division units were staying in the vicinity of III. SS Corps, so not in the Berlin area but north of it. These divisional units surrendered to the west allies early may. So if yor uncle was a member of 2./ SS-Fla-Ausb u. Ers. Rgt. he very well could have been with these units.

If he indeed was in the city he was one of the very few who got lucky to escape Soviet encirclement at all. This seems unlikely to me.

Best regards,
Monmax.

[panzermahn]

Hans,

Here is another perspective:

The commander of Nordland ordered his forces to retreat west--through Berlin--on or about 20 April (I’m writing this from memory w/o my notes). Support elements of the division actually drove through the city of Berlin to the west, while the majority of the combat regiments were caught in bitter fighting along the east-south-east part of the city. Due to his obvious insubordination, the division commander (Zeigler) was replaced and the new commander (Krukenberg) quickly ordered the division's remnants back to the city. Not all of the division received the word and elements continued their retreat west.

Their were at least 3 major breakouts from Berlin and many smaller attempts to leave the city on the night of 1/2 May. The majority of these attempts failed. it is very likely, that your uncle never saw fighting in Berlin and actually passed through the city before it was sealed off by the Soviets. However, he could also have been one of the very few that did breakout and headed west, though I find this latter scenario very unlikely due to the fact that many of those that did breakout took a week or more to reach the Elbe River, where they were often caught by the waiting Russians. Seeing as your Uncle reached the Elbe River on 4 May he must already have been west of Berlin before 1/2 May.

Stephan

Hi Stephan,

If I am not mistaken (either in Antony Beevor or Cornelius Ryan's books), there was an order from Himmler to all combat units of the Waffen SS to retreat to Schleswig-Holstein near the Danish border. I think probably Ziegler secretly ordered the Nordland to retreat (I remember the commander of Nordland explained that the lack of fuel cost the delay of Nordland to reach Berlin). When Krukenberg took over the command of Nordland, he countermanded Ziegler's orders.

Panzermahn

[Simon H]

Rather than starting a new thread I thought I'd tag this onto this one as it is related. I'm trying to find out a little more about Kampfgruppe Strippenitz which was made up of soldiers of 6th Batt. SS Danemark under the command of an SS Untersturmführer Strippernitz. This unit was very small and fought within Berlin during the last days of the battle.

[larsdenmark]

Simon, do you mean Josef Stippernitz who commanded 7th./II./Danmark?

[Simon H]

Hi Lars,

Yes I do mean him. I have a dog tag that was found in Berlin recently and although in poor condition I believe it comes from a member of this battlegroup. I haven't found much information on this unit, possibly there is some more written in Denmark?

Kind Regards,
Simon

[Jan]

Hi
Stippernitz was Commander from 11.03.1945 - 06(??).04.1945
Then to led Uscha. Pösch the company.
Jan

[Simon H]

Thanks for the info Jan.

[zoltay]

Does anyone have any information on a Hungarian Kampfgruppe that fought with ,,Nordland" in Berlin. I am not sure if they were attached to the same kampfgruppe or just fought along side ,,Nordland"

[Massimiliano Afiero]

member of Kampfgruppe Schweizter?

Waffen

[zoltay]

In early February 1945 a number of officer cadets from 25.SS Division ,,Hunyadi" left Neuhammer camp bound for Stettin, about a month later they were moved to Rostock and then ended up in Haslev. They were ordered to the front in mid April which turned out to be Berlin. The commanding office may have been a SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Himpel who joined them there. They fought around the Brandenburg gate and the SS Headquarters and ended up losing 83 men and 12 men were listed as missing. Thats all the details I have, but I have also read that on April 30 1945 a Hungarian company fighting in the Berlin pocket under the command of the ,,Nordland” division, was totally destroyed in a break out attempt at Chausse Allé. I am not sure if they are the same group fighting in different areas or two different groups.
The Hungarians in Kampfgruppe ,,Schweitzer” (Rechnitz April 1945) were from I battalion of SS Brigade ,,Ney"