Slaget om Tannenberglinjen.

The Battle of Tannenberg Line (German: Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung; Estonian: Sinimägede lahing; Russian: Битва за линию «Танненберг») was a military engagement between the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front. They fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus from 25 July to 10 August 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. The strategic aim of the Soviet Estonian Operation was to reoccupy Estonia as a favourable base for the invasions of Finland and East Prussia. Several Western scholars refer to it as the Battle of the European SS for the 24 volunteer infantry battalions from Denmark, East Prussia, Flanders, Holland, Norway, and Wallonia within the Waffen-SS. Roughly half of the infantry consisted of local Estonian conscripts motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The German force of 22,250 men held off 136,830 Soviet troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, the casualties of the battle were 150,000–200,000 dead and wounded Soviet troops and 157–164 tanks.

Leningrad – Narva

Nordland anlände tillsamman med resten av III. SS-Panzerkorps till fronten vid Leningrad och sattes nästan omedelbart in mot de ryska angreppen mot staden för att bryta dess inneslutning. Efter att inneslutningen var bruten gjorde divisionen en taktisk stridande reträtt 60 kilometer bakåt. Den 14 januari lyckades en sovjetiskt offensiv tränga igenom den tyska fronten och Nordland förflyttades ytterligare bakåt till Narva i Estland där en ny försvarslinje upprättades. Den 13 februari inleddes sovjeternas attacker mot Narva, synkroniserade med ett amfibiskt angrepp från Östersjön nära Merekule.

Tyskarna utplånade landstigningsstyrkorna och höll stånd de kommande fem månaderna under kraftiga strider. När Operation Bagration drog igång i juni 1944 resulterade det i att Armégrupp Nord inneslöts, men efter månader av hård kamp slog sig Nordland ur fällan och förflyttade sig 25 kilometer västerut mot Tannenberglinjen.

Tannenberg Line – Courland Pocket
Main article: Battle of Tannenberg Line

The Tannenberg Line anchored on three strategic hills. Running west to east, these were known as Hill 69.9, Grenadier Hill and Orphanage Hill. From Orphanage Hill, the rear side of the town of Narva could be protected. From 27 July 1944, Nordland fought alongside the 20th SS Grenadier Division (1st Estonian), Sturmbrigade Langemarck and Kampfgruppe (Strachwitz) from the Grossdeutschland Division to keep control of Orphanage Hill. Despite the death of the Nordland Division's commander, Gruppenführer Fritz von Scholz, (killed in action) and the subsequent deaths of the commanders of the Norge and Danmark Regiments, the division helped to hold onto Orphanage Hill and it destroyed 113 tanks between 27 and 29 July.

On 4 August, men from Penal Company 103, were reinstated and absorbed into the Danmark Regiment. The III SS Panzer Corps bled itself white defending the Tannenberg Line, until on September, the headquarters of the Army Group North pulled it back into Latvia to defend the capital, Riga. The city fell on 12 October; by the end of the month, all Waffen SS units had been withdrawn into what was known as the Courland Pocket.

From late October to December 1944, the Nordland fought fierce defensive battles in the pocket; by early December the divisional strength was down to 9,000 men. In January 1945, the division was ordered to the Baltic port of Libau, where it was shipped out of the pocket to Pomerania. The division disembarked at Stettin, with the Panzer Battalion Hermann von Salza being sent on to Gotenhafen for refitting. In late January, Nordland was assigned to Steiner's 11th SS Panzer Army, which was now forming in anticipation of the defence of Berlin.

Roughly half of the infantry consisted of local Estonian conscripts motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation.