Figure 1.--Assignment to units in Norway was some of the most pleasant duty a German soldier could hope for during the War. And because of Hitler's fixation on Norway, some 0.5 million men were stationed there. Here German officers in Norway are relaxing and enjoying a plesant picnic in a flowery mountain meadow during the summer of 1942. At the time German forces in the Soviet Union were moving toward Stalingrad where the War would be essentially decided.

Norway was the most heavily occupied country during World War II in terms of country population. The Germans commited several hundred thousand men to occupying Norway, eventually some 0.5 million troops, includng the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine. The German garison included 6,000 SS troops commanded by Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Rediess. The ratio was an incredible one German soldier for every eight Norwegians. It was a huge strategic miscalculation. There were several important reasons for holding Norway, including guaranteeing iron ore shipments to the Reich and air and sea opeations against Allied Arctic Convoys to the Soviets. NAZI Germany was, however, heavily outnumbered by the Soviets and Allies. It simply did not have the manpower reserves to garrison a country like Norway that did not play a central role in the war. World War II was largely decided on the Eastern Front where the Germans were desperately short of manpower. This meant that the substantial Norwegian garison played only a minor role in the War. Actually the Norwegian garrison had a rather pleasant war with no one shooting at them unil the final months of the War when the Soviets began to make headway in the far north. This involved only a small part of the German garrision. Nor did the German garrison play an important role after the Allies crossed the Channel with the D-Day landings and began the drive toward the Reich. As part of the planning for Overlord, the Allies tried to convince the Germans that an invasion of Norway was being planned. This was not very convincing for military commanders, but Hitler's fixation on Norway apparently helped prevent the Germans from drawing down and redeploying the Norwegian garrison. Actually not only Hitler was fixated on Norway, but so was Churchill. Both before and after the 1940 German invasion, Churchill wanted to invade Norway. He was, however, after 1940 never able to convince War Cabinet or the Americans who were focused on the Cross Channel invasion.

Created: 6:41 PM 7/1/2015
Last updated: 2:32 AM 8/29/2018