The 210th Coastal Defence Division was created from a Division zbV staff (an ad hoc headquarters that could be used to form a division around) in July 1942, and shipped north to defend the port Petsamo in Arctic Finland. In late 1944 it moved westward to take up the defense of Vardø in the Norwegian Finnmark. The division had a non-standard organization, consisting of several battalions of fortress infantry and coastal artillery.