Two simultaneous but independent attempts were made to raise the division in the waning days of the war; the resulting units are conventionally distinguished as Nord ("North") and Ost ("East"), after the respective theaters where they were being assembled.

In September it received the additional designation of 140th Special Purposes Division, and as a result is mentioned once in late-war documentation as "Div.Gr.K (Div.z.b.V.140)".

The unit had withdrawn from Lappland into Norway as German fortunes in the Arctic waned, and surrendered to the British at the end of the war.

(Some documentation from the post-war period further confuses matters by referring to this unit as the 10th Mountain Division.)

The division's two regiments were composed of a very diverse mix of personnel from the Army, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, police, and other organizations.