11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland

11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
Divisional insignia
Active	July 1943 – May 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Waffen-SS
Type	Panzergrenadier
Size	Division
Engagements	Battle of Narva (1944) Battle of Tannenberg Line Battle of Berlin
Commanders
Notable commanders	Franz Augsberger Fritz von Scholz

The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland was a Waffen-SS division recruited from foreign populations. It saw action in the Independent State of Croatia and on the Eastern Front during World War II.

In February 1943, Hitler ordered the creation of an SS division which would be officered by foreign volunteers. In March 1943, the , a Scandinavian volunteer regiment, was separated from the Division and pulled out of the line to be used as the nucleus for the new division. The Nordland's two Panzergrenadier regiments were also given titles that referenced the location where the majority of the regiment's recruits were from, SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 Norge (Norway) and SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 Danmark (Denmark). Both regiments had addition men made up of conscripts from Hungary.

After its formation in Germany, the division was attached to the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps under the command of Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner and was moved to Croatia, where the SS Volunteer Legion Netherlands was attached to it. The division began combat operations against Yugoslav partisans in September 1943.

Nordland, along with the rest of III. (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps arrived at the front near Leningrad and was put into action against the Red Army attacks aimed at breaking the German encirclement of the city. The Red Army forced the Nordland to withdraw to Oranienbaum. On 14 January 1944, the Soviet Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive succeeded in collapsing the German front, forcing the Nordland to retreat and fight "rear-guard" actions back to the city of Narva in northeastern Estonia to a new defensive line.

From 27 July 1944, Nordland fought alongside the 20th SS Grenadier Division (1st Estonian) and elements of the Grossdeutschland Division In the Battle of Tannenberg Line. During these battles the commanders of the Norge and Danmark regiments were killed in action. While visiting the front line, Nordland Division's commander, Gruppenführer Fritz von Scholz was caught in an artillery barrage and received a head wound. Scholz died on 28 July 1944. Thereafter, Brigadeführer Joachim Ziegler took over command of the Nordland Division. It retreated into what was known as the Courland Pocket. From late October to December 1944, the Nordland remained in the pocket; by early December the divisional strength was down to 9,000 men. In January 1945, the division was ordered to the Baltic port of Libau, where it was evacuated by sea.