I think most of you know that after the end of the war in Norway, iron crosses were awarded to some soldiers carrying out the extremely dangerous job of mine clearing. A couple of weeks ago i was doing some research at the Norwegian national archives and came across two thick folders concerning these awards, which must have been some of if not the last awards of the EK. One can discuss the legitimacy of these awards but the fact of the matter is they were awarded and are a very real part of the overall story of the iron cross.
First i should set the scene a little. At the end of the war in Europe, the German troops stationed in Norway were in a slightly different position than their comrades on the continent. To start with, the allies were short of resources and couldn't simply 'invade' Norway to take over after the surrender, the plans drawn up relied heavily on the co-operation of the Germans themselves, as such the Wehrmacht in Norway enjoyed a far greater amount of freedom than many might realise. In essence it meant that the allies gave German high command in Norway orders and the Germans themselves disseminated and carried out those orders. Other than immediate arrest catagories (SS, polizei, suspected war criminals etc.) German troops were ordered to gather in to designated reservations, where they would by and large adminsister themselves and in many cases guard themselves, this also meant that the regular life and bureaucracy of the army carried on, with promotions and awards (mostly those that hadn't finished the paperwork process but also the lappland shield). Their main task was to gather in weapons and equipment and to clear the millions of mines laid over the 5 years of occupation. During the summer of 45 this operation was very much ad-hoc, lacking in specialist equipment it was a highly dangerous job which led to over 350 men killed by august 45.
In order to recognise the bravery it took to go out day in day out and clear these mines it was decided quite early that these efforts should be recognised. In the archives i found the actual orders from General Franz Böhme, commander of AOK 20 in Norway authorising the award of the EK for mineclearing. The first order is dated 22 May 1945, it basically states that as a rule of thumb the personal removal of 250 mines could qualify a soldier for the EKII, this number wasn't set in stone and could vary according to mine type and other factors such as wounding.
First i should set the scene a little. At the end of the war in Europe, the German troops stationed in Norway were in a slightly different position than their comrades on the continent. To start with, the allies were short of resources and couldn't simply 'invade' Norway to take over after the surrender, the plans drawn up relied heavily on the co-operation of the Germans themselves, as such the Wehrmacht in Norway enjoyed a far greater amount of freedom than many might realise. In essence it meant that the allies gave German high command in Norway orders and the Germans themselves disseminated and carried out those orders. Other than immediate arrest catagories (SS, polizei, suspected war criminals etc.) German troops were ordered to gather in to designated reservations, where they would by and large adminsister themselves and in many cases guard themselves, this also meant that the regular life and bureaucracy of the army carried on, with promotions and awards (mostly those that hadn't finished the paperwork process but also the lappland shield). Their main task was to gather in weapons and equipment and to clear the millions of mines laid over the 5 years of occupation. During the summer of 45 this operation was very much ad-hoc, lacking in specialist equipment it was a highly dangerous job which led to over 350 men killed by august 45.
In order to recognise the bravery it took to go out day in day out and clear these mines it was decided quite early that these efforts should be recognised. In the archives i found the actual orders from General Franz Böhme, commander of AOK 20 in Norway authorising the award of the EK for mineclearing. The first order is dated 22 May 1945, it basically states that as a rule of thumb the personal removal of 250 mines could qualify a soldier for the EKII, this number wasn't set in stone and could vary according to mine type and other factors such as wounding.
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