-
Battle region North Atlantic / Arctic Circle 1941-1944 : map showing close proximity of German air and naval bases (red squares) dotting from Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany up towards Kirkenes-Norway, interdicting Allied convoys making "Murmansk Run" from US and British Isles to Soviet port cities of Murmansk and Archangel. These convoys had to run the gauntlet of German bomber and U-boat assaults being hemmed in by Norway shoreline in east and Greenland in west. With addition of arctic winter iceberg drifts, convoys compelled to move closer to Norway shore before banking into Murmansk. The Murmansk Convoys - www.curassow.com/2dvrc/maps/murmansk.html
-
With Soviet ports Murmansk and Archangel nestled in northern Soviet Union, Allied convoys forced to sail closer to German bases in Norway and Finland before making mad dash for the ports. Challenge was more acute during winter season as iceberg flows constricted sealane passages. During WW2, Norway was occupied by German forces after her 1940 defeat, Norway's right-wing collaboration parties were then elevated to govern the country. One notable personality was Vidkun Quisling, leader of Nasjonal Samling (National Unity Party) since 1933. Germany appointed him as Norway's Minister President 1942-1945. Allies condemned this collaboration in propaganda venue to such an extent that word QUISLING is now synonymous with Traitor. Using personal names as subjective nouns is common in most modern cultures, such as America's "Benedict Arnold", France's "Vichy", or Britain's "Bloody Mary". Vidkun Quisling - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling
-
Nevertheless, WW2 Norway did contributed significant contingent to German Heere and  Waffen-SS formations, deployed to Finland and Russian fronts, and were quite combat effective. Rationale for these volunteers varied, most wanted to fight against traditional nemesis Soviets (which invaded Finland in 1939), others were devout Catholics and viewed atheist Soviet Bolsheviks as the anti-christ, while still others upon enduring 1930s corporate corruption and social decadence desired to form a new socio-economic order via nationalist and fascist political dogma, so take your pick. Norwegian Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII - www.feldgrau.com/norway.html
-
Inset 1 : Henschel Hs-293 missile operator in Heinkel He-111 bombardier cockpit, remotely controlling missile via joystick. Aerial flair ignited at missile's tail end, giving operator visual queue on location and trajectory. He had to literally "eyeball it" until it arrives on target, crude by today's standards, but major leap in weapon technology in 1940s.
-
Contrasted with WW2 Finland, this country was ally of Germany, hence granted German bases in the country, notably airbase at Petsamo in close distance to Soviet airbases Polyarny and Vaegna, and Murmansk port. As WW2 commenced, Soviet Union and Germany signed mutual non-aggression pact (also called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, named after their foreign ministers), thus allowing each nation to execute political intrigue and military conquests in their respective European spheres. August 23, 1939 - Nazis and Soviets Sign Pact - www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pact.htm
-
Soviets wasted no time and by 1940 conquered northern Romania (for her oilfields) and Baltic States of Latvia - Estonia - Lithuania (for more naval access). Thus some historians lamented that Soviets were far less than aggrieved WW2 victim since she was in collusion forging dictatorial conquests, slave labor camps, and extra-judicial executions in synchronicity with Nazi Germany before rivals turn on each other in June 1941. Finland was caught in this initial Soviet conquest, but fought them to rough stalemate in 1939-1940 Winter War. Winter War - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_war
-
June 1941 German invasion of Soviet Union strategically altered military balance, hence Finland joined German alliance to regain lost 1940 territory, this conflict called 1941-1944 Continuation War. Besides military cooperation, battalion of Finnish volunteers fought in German Waffen-SS. It should be noted that foreign volunteers served in German Heere (Army) formations since WW2 commencement, but with attempted Army assassination of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944, the SS directorate transferred all foreign volunteers to Waffen-SS branch. Continuation War - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuation_War
-
Unfortunately for Finland, massive June 1944 Soviet summer offensive shattered German Army Group Center along a 300 mile front with Germans in full retreat until reaching the Baltic States up north, Warsaw-Poland in center, and Romania in south. With strategic landscape altered once again, Finland forced to severe German alliance in Sept 1944, join Soviet alliance against Germany, and ceded additional territory to Soviet Union (such as Petsamo region, nowadays called Russian Pechengsky District). This conflict called 1944-1945 Lapland War. Lapland War - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapland_War
-
 Related Model and History : German Stug3 assault gun and 1944 Soviet Summer Offensive - UweMilitaria.org/2-Track/Stug3/index.html
-
Rollover : In addition to bomber interdictions against Allied Murmansk convoys, Germans also launched U-Boot (or Unterseeboot, aka Submarine) assaults out of Norway. One famous U-Boot operating out of Trondheim-Norway (map top left) was U-995, which operated from Sept 1943 - May 1945. Oct 1944, her first commander Kapitänleutnant Walter Köhntopp was sacked for dereliction of duty and lack of combat initiative. Story has it his combat cruise became progressively shorter from weeks to mere days as war weariness crippled his judgment, thus he was removed to restore crew morale and combat effectiveness. Second and last commander was Oberleutnant Hans-Georg Hess, he would go down in history with major military exploits winning the coveted German WW2 Knight's Cross for combat bravery during his Feb 1945 attack against Soviet-occupied Kirkenes-Norway port city. Hans-Georg Hess - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Georg_Hess
-
9 Feb 1945 | Kirkenes-Norway - Soviet offensive out of Lapland in northern Finland conquered Norway port city of Kirkenes (map top right), Germans retreated but able to laid mines at port entrance. Nevertheless, port facilities and anchored ships now in Soviet possession. Hans-Georg Hess's U-995 stealthily transit the 35-mile mine-laden fjord and fired torpedoes against anchored merchant ship, scoring a victory. Given dire military retreats across all European fronts, German naval command elated at audacious act and reminded them of former submariner elan, such as Lieutenant Commander Günther Prien 1939 attack on Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow, thus was first U-boot commander to win the Knight's Cross. Günther Prien - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Prien
-
Inset 2 : "Fang Den Hut", das Symbol am Turm des Unterseebootes 995 | "Cap the Hat", the  symbol on conning tower of German Submarine 995. "Cap the Hat" was a popular 1920s German children board game, hence selected by U-boot crew for vessel insignia. Fang den Hut - http://www.funagain.com/control/product/~product_id=014688
-
U-995 would become even more famous in postwar era, she along with German submarine U-505, are the only 2 German submarines to survive intact from WW2. All other German U-boots were either destroyed in combat or scrapped by Allies. U-505 was captured on 4 July 1944 in Atlantic Ocean off Africa by US Naval forces, this submarine is on display at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Unterseeboot 505 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-505
-
U-995 had a different history twist, she surrendered at her homebase Trondheim-Norway to British forces 8 May 1945. In 1948, British transferred U-995 to Norway's navy, which renamed her as submarine "Kaura" from 1952-1965. Then as gesture of postwar friendship, submarine was sold to West Germany in 1971 for token price of one Deutsch Mark currency, and now sits in outdoors museum at German Naval Memorial at Laboe-Germany. U-995: War at Sea - www.hnsa.org/conf2004/papers/berryman.htm
-
Inset 3 : Custom designed artwork for Do-217 model display base titled "Murmansk Jagder" (German for Murmansk Hunter), showing photos of actual German bomber coupled to Hs-293 missiles and accompanying missile operator via joystick control, color maps of Murmansk combat area, and related historical captions. Graphical assets copied into Microsoft PowerPoint and resized accordingly since application had fast and efficient rastoring features.
|
