11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland - East Prussia and Pomerania

East Prussia and Pomerania

In early February, the refitted Panzer Battalion returned to the division, and a trickle of reinforcements began arriving. Among these units was the platoon-sized British Free Corps, a British Waffen-SS formation. On 16 February, the division was ordered onto the offensive as a part of Operation Sonnenwende, the operation to destroy a Soviet salient and to relieve the troops besieged in the town of Arnswalde. The offensive had been conceived by Generaloberst Heinz Guderian as a massed assault all along the front but had then been reduced by Hitler to the level of a local counter-attack. Initially, Nordland's attack achieved a total tactical surprise and the division soon advanced to the banks of Lake Ihna in all sectors. However, as the Soviet forces realized what was happening, resistance grew stiffer and the advance began to slow. On 17 February, the division reached Arnswalde and relieved the exhausted garrison. Over the next few days the town was secured and the surviving civilians were evacuated. Soon, however, strong Soviet counter-attacks halted the divisions advance, and Steiner called off the attack, pulling the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps back to the Stargard and Stettin on the northern Oder River.

By the 21 February the conclusion was drawn that no more useful gains could be made against an increasingly powerful enemy without incurring undue casualties, so Steiner ordered a general withdrawal back to the north bank of the Ihna. Between the 23 and 28 February, III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps made a slow withdrawal to the area around Stargard and Stettin on the northern Oder River.

The Soviet offensive of 1 March, pushed Nordland along with the rest of the depleted III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps before them. In a desperate fighting withdrawal, the Nordland and the rest of III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviet forces, but by 4 March, the division was falling back to Altdamm, the last defensive position east of the Oder itself. During the next two weeks, Nordland grimly held onto the town, inflicting and suffering heavy casualties. On the 19 March, the battered defenders fell back behind the Oder, the Danmark and Norge regiments had fought virtually to the last man. The division was ordered back to the area west of Schwedt-Bad Freinwalde for a refit.

During this time, the 33rd Waffen-Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne, a 300 man unit of French SS volunteers and the Spanish Volunteer Company of the SS No.101, a company of Spanish SS men were attached to the division. The division's strength was replenished with the addition of several vehicles and some personnel from the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine.