It was shipped to Finland shortly afterwards and was assigned to the sector of the 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord. Its duties were generally limited to light patrolling, but even so Jonassen was killed in action before the company was granted home leave in July.
As it had done well in its baptism of fire it was ordered expanded into a full battalion. Men were recruited from the SS-Panzergrenadier-Rgt. Norge of the Nordland Division and training began at Oulu, Finland in the autumn. The battalion comprised three ski companies and a headquarters company. It was deemed ready for combat by year's end and was transferred to the front in January 44.
There it was posted on Nord's northern flank which was mostly inactive until late March when the Soviets moved a force into 'No-Man's Land'. Two companies of Norge were assigned to the kampfgruppe tasked to destroy the interlopers. That they failed to accomplish, but the Soviets did abandon their new positions.
Things quieted down until the Soviets launched their summer offensive on 25 June. Their primary objective in Norge's sector was the strongpoint at Kaprolat. The Soviets succeeded in surrounding two companies of Norge on the first day of their offensive with an entire rifle regiment, but they were rescued by troops from the SS-Gebirgsjäger-Rgt. 11 Reinhard Heydrich the following day. The battle cost Norge 135 casualties from its paltry initial strength of 300; the single bloodiest day of the war for any of the Norwegian Waffen-SS units. Norge was pulled out of the line by the end of June. It received 50 new replacements in mid-August, just in time to assist in Norge's new role.
It was assigned to cover Nord's withdrawal to Narvik through a suddenly hostile Finland. Finland had acceded to the Soviet armistice terms which included forcing those German units on Finnish soil to leave. Initially things were quiet as there were few Finnish troops in position to bother the Germans in their retreat. By the time that Nord reached the chokepoint of Rovaniemi the Finns had redeployed troops to the area and began steadily harassing the retreating Germans. Once Narvik was reached in December it was shipped to Mysen, near Oslo. There it was to be converted into motorized security battalion of 6 companies, including one each of anti-tank guns and flak. It was to be redesignated as SS-Polizei-Btl. 506. Although it was brought up to strength with new volunteers (!) the reinforced battalion received little in the way of new equipment before it surrendered on 8 May 1945.
Its replacement, the 3. Police Company, didn't arrive until mid-August when its 150 men were very welcome to help replace the losses suffered by Norge earlier in the summer. It served under Norge for the duration of its six months on the front. It was disbanded in early 1945, but some men volunteered for a successor, the 4. Police Company in May 1945, after Berlin had been captured!
Commanders:
Ostuf. Gust Jonassen (February 43-? 43)
Ostuf. Otto Andreas Holmen (? 43-April '44)
Stubaf. Frode Halle (April-December? 44)
Ostubaf. Egil Hoel (December? 44-8 May 45)
Return to Obscure Combat Formations of the SS.
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