by Gareth Collins

Formed in Bergen in May 1940 for the area of the Admiral der norwegische Westküste. The Staff Quarters were on the Wohnschiff 'Tan' then 'Westwärts'. In May 1944 it was divided into the 5. Küstensicherungsverband & 6. Küstensicherungsverband.

Known war crimes

During a raid against a farm house in the Norwegian fishing village of Telavåg 26 April 1942, two SOE agents (Arne Vaerum and Emil G Hvaal) were surprised, one captured and the other killed, and two Gestapo officers (Kriminalrat Gerhard Berns and Kriminalsekretär Henry Bertram) killed. In retaliation for the actions of SOE agents and the help they received from the local population the village was burned to the ground, 18 men shot, 76 men deported to German camps, 260 interned in Norway, cattle killed and fishing vessels sunk. Soldiers from Küstensicherungsverband Westküste took part in this action. (1)

Verbandschef

Korvettenkapitän der Reserve Hans Bartels (00 May 1940-00 Dec 1942)
Korvettenkapitän der Reserve Karl Wolters (00 Dec 1942-00 Sep 1943)
Korvettenkapitän der Reserve Hans Joachim Tapolski (00 Sep 1943-00 May 1944)

Footnotes

1. Deutsche Zeitung in Norwegen, 1 May 1942 and "The Bitter Years: The Invasion and Occupation of Denmark and Norway, April 1940-May 1945" by Richard Petrow.

Sources used

Research by Gareth Collins
Deutsche Zeitung in Norwegen, 1 May 1942
Erich Gröner - Die Schiffe der deutschen Kriegsmarine und ihr Verbleib 1939-1945, J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, München (1976)
Hans H. Hildebrand - Die organisatorische Entwicklung der Marine nebst Stellenbesetzung 1848 bis 1945, Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück (2000)
Hans H. Hildebrand & Ernest Henriot – Deutschlands Admirale 1849-1945, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück (1989)
Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr & Hans-Otto Steinmetz – Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe, Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg (1980)
Walter Lohmann & Hans H. Hildebrand – Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine, Verlag Hans-Henning Podzun, Bad Nauheim (1956)
Richard Petrow - The Bitter Years: The Invasion and Occupation of Denmark and Norway, April 1940-May 1945

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -