6th SS Mountain Division Nord The 6th SS Mountain Division " Nord " was a German unit of the Waffen SS during World War II , formed in February 1941 as " SS Kampfgruppe Nord " ( SS Battle Group North ) . The Division was the only Waffen SS unit to fight in the Arctic Circle when it was stationed in Finland and northern Russia between June and November 1941 . It fought in Karelia until the Finnish armistice in September 1944 when it marched on foot 1 , 600 km through Finland and Norway . It arrived in Denmark in December and then transferred to western Germany . It fought in the Nordwind offensive in January 1945 , where it suffered heavy losses and surrendered to the American forces in Austria at the end of the war . Their logo features the Hagal ( Armanen rune ) . Formation . After the Norwegian Campaign and the surrender of Norway , Adolf Hitler did not want units of the " Wehrmacht " ( regular army ) to guard the new border between occupied Norway and the Soviet Union , created when Joseph Stalin annexed northernmost Finland , so he decided to send units of the " SS - Totenkopfverbände " ( SS - Death ' s Head Units ) formed from concentration camp guards . The first unit to assemble in Kirkenes , was the SS Battalion Reitz , named after their commander Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Reitz . The SS 9th " Totenkopf " Regiment , led by Obersturmbannführer Ernst Deutsch soon followed . They were joined in the Spring of 1941 , by the SS 6th and 7th Regiments and moved into positions at Salla in northern Finland . The formation was well equipped but barely trained , and the commanding General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst did not trust their fighting ability . Operation Barbarossa . The formation was in position on the Norwegian – Finnish border by late June and as the invasion of the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) started they were committed to the attack , in Operation Arctic Fox . Involved in the battle at Salla , against strong Soviet forces they suffered 300 killed and 400 wounded in the first two days of the invasion . The battle at Salla was a disaster : the thick forests and heavy smoke from forest fires disoriented the troops , and the units completely fell apart . The Brigade got a new unit attached , SS " Gebirgsjäger " ( Mountain ) Artillery Regiment 6 , and was now designated as a Division , the SS Division " Nord " . In September 1941 SS Division " Nord " was attached to the Finnish III Corps under Finnish General Hjalmar Siilasvuo ( this was the only time that an SS Division was under the command of a non - German officer ) , and took up new positions at Louhi , Kiestinki . By the end of 1941 , it had suffered severe casualties . Over the winter of 1941 – 42 it received replacements from the general pool of Waffen SS recruits , supposedly younger and better trained than the SS men of the original formation . 1942 / 1943 . The rebuilt Division was called into action against the Soviet spring offensive in 1942 and this time managed to hold its lines . Throughout the rest of 1942 and through 1943 it remained on the Kestenga front , which was quiet compared to other areas of the Eastern Front . In September 1942 , the unit was renamed the " SS Gebirgs - Division " Nord " " ( SS Mountain Division " North " ) and in October 1943 became the " 6th SS Gebirgs - Division " Nord " " . 1944 / 1945 . In the Soviet summer offensive the division held its lines in heavy fighting until it was ordered to withdraw from Finland , upon the conclusion of a separate armistice between the Finns and the Soviets in September 1944 . The 6th SS Mountain Division then formed the rear guard for the three German corps withdrawing from Finland in " Operation Birch " and from September to November 1944 marched 1 , 600 kilometers to Mo i Rana , Norway , where it entrained for the southern end of the country . The Norwegian Ski - Battalion unit was then left behind , in accordance with their contracts . They were merged into " SS - und - Schi - Jäger - Polizei - Battalion 506 ( mot . ) with app . 50 % men from different German Police units in South Norway . The rest of the Division headed for Germany . After crossing the Skagerrak in a naval convoy , the division briefly refitted in Denmark . The Division ' s losses were replaced for the greater part of young " Volksdeutsche " ( ethnic Germans ) who had received only a brief training and had not volunteered but been drafted to the Waffen SS in the normal conscription procedure . Their fighting value was therefore correspondingly lower than had been the case with the former personnel and naturally lowered the combat abilities of the entire division . The division was slated for participation in the German offensive in the Ardennes known as the Battle of the Bulge , but did not assemble in Aarhus , Denmark , until 20 December , several days after the attack had already begun . Instead , the division was allotted to Operation Nordwind in the Low Vosges mountains of southeastern France . Arriving at the front lines just before New Year ’ s Day . Nord was the largest German division involved in " Nordwind " , and it had young and fit personnel compared to regular Army outfits . By 2 January , part of the division ( SS Gebirgs Regiment 12 and 506th Battalion ) went into action against the U . S . 45th Infantry Division , attached to 361st Volksgrenadier Division . For six days the SS men fought in and around the town of Wingen , finally being pushed back by the Americans with most of the battle group killed or captured . On 16 January , the " SS Gebirgs Regiment 11 " surrounded six companies of the American 157th Infantry Regiment . The Americans were forced to surrender three days later , losing 482 men . The " Nord " advanced for four more days before being stopped by American counterattacks . The Division remained on the western front after the " Nordwind " offensive , fighting the Americans around Trier and Koblenz on the Moselle River in March before going into 7th Army ' s reserve in April . By this point the division had lost most of its heavy weapons ( officially to fuel shortages ) and was grossly understrength . In May 1945 , the unit ' s survivors surrendered to the Americans in Austria . Insignia . Vehicle Insignia : Collar Patches :