SOME OF THE PRISONERS
HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11


NAME: Generalmajor Adrian Freiherr van der Hoop

PW NO:          560394

RANK:            Generalmajor

CAPTURED:   Norway

DATE:             16th October 1945

PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH:     28 July 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH:  Offenbach/Main
DATE OF DEATH:   20 December 1967
PLACE OF DEATH: Hof Schnitte bei Rodheim a. d. Lieber
NATIONALITY:       German
RELIGION:               Evangelical
OCCUPATION:        Regular Soldier
HEIGHT:                   6'10"
WEIGHT:                  156lbs
HAIR COLOUR:       Grey
EYE COLOUR:         Grey
NEXT OF KIN:         Dorethea v.d. Hoop, Rodheim an der Lieber (US Zone)

Promotions:

Commands & Assignments:

  • 3 July 1916: Entered the Army as a Fahnenjunker in 1. Großherzoglich-Hessisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.25.
  • 29 October 1916: In the field with Field Artillery Regiment 25.
  • 15 November 1917-10 December 1917: Detached to the Maubeuge Artillery Firing School.
  • 18 February 1918: Signals Officer on the staff of Field Artillery Regiment 25.
  • 1 April 1919: Transferred to Reichswehr Light Artillery Regiment 18.
  • 2 October 1919: Transferred to Reichswehr Artillery Regiment 11.
  • 15 May 1920: Separated from the Army.
  • 1 February 1923: Reactivated in the Army with rank of Leutnant in Artillery Regiment 1.
  • 1 October 1923-15 August 1924: Detached to the Artillery School.
  • 1 October 1924: Detached to the Artillery School, Detachment B.
  • 1 October 1928: Transferred to Artillery Regiment 7 and detached to Transport Battalion 7.
  • 1 February 1929: Transferred to Transport Battalion 7.
  • 1 October 1934: Chief of the 1st Squadron of Transport Battalion “München.”
  • 15 October 1935: Chief of the 1st Company of Observation Battalion 19.
  • 6 October 1936: Commander of Observation Battalion 9.
  • 1 February 1937: Commander of the Observation Demonstration Battalion.
  • 3 October 1939: Consultant in the Artillery Department of the General Army Office/Army High Command.
  • 3 February 1941: Army High Command Leader Reserve.
  • 1 April 1941: Detached to Mountain Artillery Regiment 118 of the 6th Mountain Division. [Commanded by Generalmajor Ferdinand Schörner, the 6th Mountain Division took part in the invasion of Greece in April 1941. Attacking from Bulgaria as a component of General der Infanterie Franz Böhme’s XVIII Mountain Corps, the 6th Mountain Division attacked Greece from its assembly area in southern Bulgaria. Launching a frontal attack on the Metaxas Line, Böhme’s corps finally broke through after three days of tough fighting during which each individual group of fortifications had to be reduced by a combination of frontal and enveloping attacks with strong tactical air support. The capture of Salonika by the 2d Panzer Division and the penetration of the Metaxas Line caused Greek resistance east of the Vardar River to collapse and, on 9 April 1941, the Greek Second Army surrendered unconditionally.]
  • 3 July 1941: Leader Reserve in Army Group South on the Eastern Front.
  • 18 September 1941: Delegated with the leadership of Panzer Artillery Regiment 19 of the 19th Panzer Division on the Eastern Front.
  • 20 January 1942: Commander of Mountain Artillery Regiment 82 of the 7th Mountain Division in Finland.
  • 12 September 1943: Mountain Artillery Commander (Gebirgs Arko) 109 of the XXXVI Mountain Army Corps commanded by General der Infanterie Karl Weisenberger in Finland.
  • 25 June 1944: Commander of Division Group "van der Hoop" and Fortress Commandant of Petsamo, Finland. [After the Finnish government concluded an armistice with the Soviet Union on 4 September 1944, all German troops in that country were required to withdraw by the middle of the month or face internment. At the time, the 20th Mountain Army commanded by Generaloberst Dr. Lothar Rendulic was based in northern Finland: General der Gebirgstruppe Ferdinand Jodl's XIX Mountain Army Corps was dug in along the Litsa River guarding the nickel mines near Petsamo and the iron ore mines at Kirkenes, while the other two corps-General der Infanterie Friedrich Hochbaum's XVIII Mountain Army Corps and General der Gebirgstruppe Emil Vogel's XXXVI Mountain Army Corps-were further south. In light of the political developments, Adolf Hitler granted permission for Rendulic's army to withdraw from Finland into Norway. However, on 7 October 1944, the 97,000-man Soviet 14th Army (Lieutenant General Vladimir I. Shcherbakov) of General (later, Marshal) Kirill A. Meretskov's Karelian Front, supported by Admiral A. G. Golovko's Northern Fleet launched a major offensive against General Jodl's corps before its withdrawal could be initiated (the other two corps had already withdrawn to new positions). Assigned to the XIX Mountain Army Corps, Oberst Adrian Freiherr van der Hoop's 3,992-man division group (Grenadier-Brigades 193 and 503) was defending positions from the Petsamo Fjord east across the Srednii isthmus to the mouth of the Titovka River. Despite the difficulties of fighting in the bleak tundra above the Arctic Circle, the Soviets made steady headway against the German XIX Mountain Army Corps withdrawing westward along the limited road network into Norway. Supported by naval infantry amphibious landings, the Soviet 14th Army captured Petsamo on 15 October and Kirkenes ten days later. Although the Soviet offensive was highly successful, the German 20th Mountain Army, including Division Group "van der Hoop," escaped destruction and, by January 1945, established a new defensive position in Norway running south of the Lyngen Fjord to the Swedish border and encompassing a small section of northwestern Finland centered on the town of Kilpisjärvi. The German front in northern Norway remained fairly stabilized along this line for the remainder of the war although they abandoned the Kilpisjärvi position in April 1945.]
  • 3 February 1945-8 May 1945: Commander of Division Staff for Special Employment 613 (Division Nr. 613) in Norway. [Headquartered at Drammen, the division staff served under General der Artillerie Hermann Tittel’s LXX Army Corps as part of the German garrison in southern Norway. At the time of the German surrender, Generalmajor van der Hoop’s division staff acted as the Territorial District Oslo Fjord and had, as such, the Army Coastal Artillery Regiment 980 with Army Coastal Artillery Battalions (HKAA) I./980 and II./980 under its command. Additionally, the division staff consisted of the following units: Fortress Infantry Regiment 859 (Fortress Battalions 663 and 664) which had transferred from the 210th Infantry Division; Fortress Battalion 645; and Grenadier-Regiment 517 (two battalions with 13th and 14th companies). The division staff also controlled the following artillery batteries: the old Norwegian 2x12cm turret battery at Greaaker (between Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad); a 3x10.5cm battery with French field guns at Lahaugmoen (north of Oslo); a 4x15.5cm sFH414(f) battery at Rygge airfield; and the 2x28cm Railway Battery 689 at Knatteröd (east of Sarpsborg). The batteries, less the Lahaugmoen battery, were tactically subordinated to Artillery Group Fredrikstad (HKAA II./980). Note: A special thanks to the many knowledgeable persons at the “Norway During World War II” website forum (http://www.nuav.net/ndWW2.html) for providing this detailed order of battle for the Division Staff for Special Employment 613 (Division Nr. 613).]
  • 8 May 1945-21 May 1948: Prisoner of war in British captivity.
    • 9th January 1946 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from Camp 1
    • 12th May 1948 transferred to Camp 186 for repatriation.

Decorations & Awards:

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