11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland was formed in 1943 to combine all the Scandinavian and Dutch volunteer formations, but the Dutch did in the end not end up in Nordland, instead it contained a majority of volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) and a minority of Scandinavians.

It was sent to Croatia in September 1943 for training where it was also used to fight partisans. It was sent to the Oranienbaum front near Leningrad in November and December 1943 and suffered heavy losses during the Soviet offensive in January 1944, fighting on the Luga River and at Narva before retreating to the Tannenberg Line July 1944 where it remained until September 1944 when it retreated into Latvia seeing action in the Kurland battles.

It was transferred to Pomerania in February 1945 where it fought until 19 March when it was evacuated and sent to the Oder front. Much of the surviving parts of Nordland were caught up in the battle for Berlin and only a few suvivors managed to break out of the city.

The surviving elemets of the divisions surrendered to the Allies at the Elbe river.

Known war crimes

Pukovnik Stjepan Peričić, the commander of the Croatian I Mountain Brigade reported in a letter that an SS unit had killed 100 people in Popovaca on 16 September 1943 following an attack by partisans, the killed included civilians as well as partisans. This incident occurred in the area controlled by units of the Nordland division. (2)

Honor titles
The name “Nordland” translates as “Northern Land” and was chosen as this formation consisted mainly of “Germanic” SS volunteers. This division inherited its name from the regiment of the same name, which was transferred in from the “Wiking” division. The “Nordland” division was originally intended to receive the name “Waräger” (= Vikings, see also 5th division “Wiking”) but that name was rejected by Hitler himself, who wanted the division to keep using the already-existing regiment’s name.

Three of the division’s units were also named:
SS-Grenadier-Regt. 23 „Norge“
“Norge” is Norwegian for “Norway”; the regiment received its name because it was composed mainly of Norwegian SS volunteers.
SS-Grenadier-Regt. 24 „Danmark“
“Danmark” is Danish for “Denmark” and was adopted as the regiment’s name because it consisted of Danish volunteers.
SS-Pz. Abt. 11 „Hermann von Salza“
Hermann von Salza (1170 – 1239) was the Großmeister des Deutschritterordens (Grand Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights) from 1209 until his death and a close associate of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. An extraordinarily capable diplomat and leader, he is recognized as the most important Grand Master of his order. The order, which is also known as the Deutscher Orden and the Deutschherren, was founded in the late 1190s during the crusades and was heavily involved in eastern expansion and, at the peak of its power in the mid-14th century ruled, among others, Prussia, Estonia and Courland. (Which is also the reason why the heraldic shield of the Grand Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights was incorporated into the design of the “Kurland” cuffband, the Third Reich’s last instituted campaign award.)

Holders of high awards
Holders of the Close Combat Clasp in Gold (4)
  Seebach, Walter, 16.03.1944, SS-Obersturmführer, Kp.Fhr. 5./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 24
  Ternedde, Rudolf, 23.04.1945, SS-Sturmbannführer, Kdr. SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 24
  Viehmann, Karl, 03.04.1945, SS-Oberscharführer, Zugführer i. d. 14./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 23
  Wettstein, Willi, 00.00.0000, SS-Hauptscharführer, Zugführer im SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 23
Holders of the Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army  (1)
  Kusch, Hans, 25.12.1944 (4970), SS-Unterscharführer, Richtkreis-Unteroffizier i. d. 13./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 23 “Norge”
Holders of the German Cross in Gold (30)
Holders of the German Cross in Silver  (4)
  Conrad, Siegfried, 10.01.1945, SS-Sturmbannführer, Div.Int. (IVa) 11. SS-Frw.Pz.Gren.Div. “Nordland”
  Gläsker, Friedrich, 02.06.1944, SS-Sturmbannführer, SS-Div.Nachsch.Tr. 11
  Heindel, Kurt, 29.04.1945, SS-Hauptscharführer, 5./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 23 “Norge”
  Tiburtius, Joachim, 21.02.1945, SS-Hauptsturmführer d.R., Ib 11. SS-Frw.Pz.Gren.Div. “Nordland”
Holders of the Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer (12)
Holders of the Knight's Cross (32, including 5 unofficial/unconfirmed)

Order of battle (fall 1943)

Stab
SS-Grenadier-Regiment 1 Danmark
SS-Grenadier-Regiment 2 Norge
SS-Kradschützen-Regiment
SS-Panzer-Regiment
SS-Artillerie-Regiment
SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung
SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung
SS-Pionier-Bataillon
SS-Nachrichten-Abteilung

Order of battle (May 1944)

SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 Norge

SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 Danmark

SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 Hermann von Salza

SS-Panzer-Artillerie Regiment 11

SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs Abteilung 11 (1)

SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 11

SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 11

SS-Nachrichtung-Abteilung 11

SS-Pionier-Bataillon 11

SS-Nachrichtung-Abteilung Truppen 11

SS-Nachschub-Truppen 11

SS-Instandsetzungs-Abteilung 11

SS-Wirtschafts-Abteilung 11

SS-Kriegsberichter-Zug 11

SS-Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 11

SS-Feldersatz-Bataillon 11

SS-Bewährungs-Kompanie 11

SS-Sanitäts-Abteilung 11

SS-Werfer-Battalion 521

SS-Jäger-Regiment 11

Notable members

Kurt Gildisch (Commander of the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers, Hitlers bodyguard unit, 1933-1934, served in Nordland after he was expelled from the SS and NSDAP for his drinking. Sentenced to 15 years in prison post-war for the murder of Catholic politician Erich Klausener during the Night of long knives)

Hans-Gösta Pehrsson (Swedish volunteer and commander of the so called Schwedenzug, the highest ranking Swedish volunteer in the Waffen-SS)

Erik Wallin (Swedish volunteer on whose experiences the book Ragnarök, Twilight of the Gods, is based)

Officers serving in the Einsatzgruppen and Concentration Camps
Concentration Camps 12
(includes officers serving in the Einsatzgruppen or Concentration Camps either prior to or after service in this unit)

Insignia

The "Nordland" cuff title was authorized for this unit.

The "Danmark" cuff title was authorized for SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 Danmark.

The "Hermann von Salza" cuff title was authorized for SS-Panzer Abteilung 11 Herman von Salza on 15 February 1944.

The "Norge" cuff title was authorized for SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 Norge.

A sonnenrad swastika (sunwheel) was to be used instead of the SS runes on the rollar tabs but the SS runes were often used.

Photo © The Ruptured Duck

SS-Untersturmführer Johan-Petter Balstad, note the special collar tabs and cuff-title

(Courtesy of Bjørn Jervås)

The vehicle insignia was a sunwheel swastika. 

A well known photo of a destroyed SdKfz 250 belonging to Nordland in Berlin 1945, it is belived to be the command vehicle of SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans-Gösta Pehrsson, commander of the so called Schwedenzug, the "Sweden Platoon", and the dead driver SS-Unterscharführer Ragnar Johansson.

(Courtesy of Julian)

Panther of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 Hermann von Salza at Narva (or possibly Kurland)

(Courtesy of Hjalmar)

Footnotes.

1. The 4. Zug of the 3. Kompanie is often referred to as the Schwedenzug, the "Sweden Platoon". A total of 26 Swedes and 18 Estonia-Swedes served in that platoon with an additional five Swedish war correspondents being attached to it. It was commanded by the Swede Hans-Gösta Pehrsson.

2. Document D-578, from the Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression volumes, Supplement A: Closing Address, Closing Arguments, Closing Statements; Documents Introduced in Evidence By British and American Prosecutors, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia:1947, pp. 889-91.

Sources used

John R. Angolia - Cloth insignia of the SS

Roger James Bender & Hugh Page Taylor - Uniforms, Organization and History of the Waffen-SS, vol 3

Philip H Buss - Divisional signs of the Waffen-SS (Military Advisor, vol 19, number 4)

Georges M. Croisier - Waffen-SS (PDF)

Lars Ericson - Svenska frivilliga: Militära uppdrag i utlandet under 1800- och 1900-talen

Terry Goldsworthy - Valhalla's Warriors: A history of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front 1941-1945

Lars Gyllenhaal & Lennart Westberg - Svenskar i krig 1914-1945

Dr. K-G Klietmann - Die Waffen-SS: eine Dokumentation

Herbert Poller - Pansarspaning med Waffen SS på Östfronten: SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 Nordland och svenska SS-Plutonen I Baltikum, Pommern Och Berlin 1943-45

Marc J. Rikmenspoel - Waffen-SS Encyclopedia

George H. Stein - The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939-1945

Frank Thayer - SS Foreign volunteer collar insignia and their reporductions (in The Military Advisor, Vol 4 No 2)

Gordon Williamson & Thomas McGuirl - German military cuffbands 1784-present

Gordon Williamson - The Waffen-SS: 11. to 23. Divisions

Mark C. Yerger - Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, corps and divisional leaders of a legend (2 vol)

Reference material on this unit

Massimiliano Afiero - Nordland: I volontari europei sul fronte dell'Est

Thorolf Hillblad & Erik Wallin - Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45 (also published with Bosse Schön listed as co-author)

Franz Kurowski - SS-Obersturmbannführer Paul-Albert Kausch: Kommandant der Waffen-SS-Panzerabteilung "Hermann von Salza"

Richard Landwehr - Nordic Warriors: SS-Pz.Gr.-Regiment 24 Dannmark, Eastern Front 1943-45

Jean Mabire - La Division Norland

Rolf Michaelis - Die 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Nordland"

Rolf Michaelis - Nordland

Erik S. Norling - Raza de Vikingos: La division SS Nordland 1943-1945

Erik Norling - Viento del Norte: La división Norland Epopeya y muerte 1943-1945

Herbert Poller - SS-Panzer-Aufklärungsabteilung 11: The Swedish SS-Platoon in the Battles for the Baltic, Pomerania and Berlin 1943-1945

Wilhelm Tieke - Tragedy of the Faithful: A history of III. (germanisches) SS-Panzer-Korps