The withdrawal of troops from the Kola Peninsula after the war. Defense of the Arctic

Active fighting in the Kola North began on June 29, 1941. The enemy delivered the main blow in the Murmansk direction. During the first half of July, the troops of the 14th Army stopped the enemy 20-30 kilometers from the border. Great assistance to the soldiers of the 14th Army was provided by units marines Northern Fleet. The amphibious assaults on the enemy's flank on July 7 and 14 played a significant role in frustrating the plans of the fascist command.

The Nazis also failed to capture the Rybachy Peninsula - a strategic point from which the entrance to the Kola, Motovsky and Pechenga bays was controlled. In the summer of 1941, Soviet troops, with the support of the ships of the Northern Fleet, stopped the enemy on the Musta-Tunturi ridge. The Rybachy Peninsula became the "unsinkable battleship of the Arctic" and played an important role in protecting the Kola Bay and the city of Murmansk.

On September 8, 1941, the Nazis resumed their offensive in the Murmansk direction, but the troops of the 14th Army forced the enemy to go on the defensive, and on September 23 they launched a counterattack and threw the enemy back across the Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa River. In these battles took baptism of fire the Polar Division formed in Murmansk. When the enemy managed to move forward and create a direct threat to the capture of Murmansk, the regiments of the Polar Division immediately engaged in battle with the group that had broken through and threw the enemy back to their previous positions.

At the turn of the Western Litsa River, the front line ran until October 1944. The enemy delivered an auxiliary blow in the Kandalaksha direction. The Nazi troops made their first attempt to cross the border in this sector of the front on June 24, but were repulsed. On July 1, 1941, the enemy began a more massive offensive, and again he failed to achieve tangible success. Enemy units were able to move deeper Soviet territory only 75-80 kilometers, and were stopped thanks to the stamina of our troops.

By the autumn of 1941, it became clear that the blitzkrieg in the Arctic had been thwarted. In heavy defensive battles, showing courage and heroism, Soviet border guards, soldiers of the 14th Army, sailors of the Northern Fleet bled the advancing enemy units and forced him to go on the defensive. The fascist command failed to achieve any of the goals set in the Arctic. Here was the only sector of the Soviet-German front, where the enemy troops were already stopped a few tens of kilometers from the line of the State border of the USSR, and in some places the enemy could not even cross the border.

Residents of the Murmansk region provided invaluable assistance to units of the Red Army and the Navy. On the first day of the war, martial law was introduced in the region. In the military commissariats, the mobilization of those liable for military service began, the military registration and enlistment offices received about 3,500 applications from volunteers. Every sixth inhabitant of the region went to the front - more than 50 thousand people in total. Party, Soviet, military bodies organized a general military training population. In cities and districts, units of the people's militia, fighter detachments, sanitary squads, and formations of local air defense were created. The Murmansk Fighter Regiment, in the first weeks of the war alone, went on missions 13 times related to the elimination of enemy sabotage groups. The fighters of the Kandalaksha fighter battalion were directly involved in the fighting in Karelia in the area of the Loukhi station. The fighters of the Kola and Kirov regions guarded the railway.

About 30 thousand people were mobilized for military construction work. On the outskirts of Murmansk and Kandalaksha, several belts of defensive structures were created, with the participation of the population, mass construction of cracks, trenches, bomb shelters was carried out.

Since the end of June, the evacuation of industrial equipment and the population from the Murmansk region began - first by rail, later - by ships to Arkhangelsk. They took out children, women, stocks of strategic raw materials, equipment of the Severonickel plant, units of the Tuloma and Nivsky hydroelectric stations. In total, more than 8 thousand wagons and over 100 ships were sent outside the region. The work of the remaining enterprises was restructured in a military way, reoriented to fulfilling, first of all, front-line orders.

All serviceable fishing trawlers were handed over to the Northern Fleet. Shipyards converted them into combat drifters - submarine hunters. On June 23, 1941, all enterprises switched to round-the-clock operation. The factories of Murmansk, Kandalaksha, Kirovsk, Monchegorsk mastered the production of machine guns, grenades, mortars, the Apatit plant began production of a mixture for incendiary bombs, ship repair shops manufactured boats, drags, mountain sledges, a furniture factory - skis. Artels of trade cooperation produced reindeer teams, soap, potbelly stoves, camping utensils for the front, sewed uniforms, and repaired shoes. Reindeer collective farms provided reindeer and sleds at the disposal of the military command, regularly sent meat and fish. Women, adolescents and pensioners, who replaced men in production, mastered new professions, fulfilled the norms by 200% or more. Already in the fall of 1941, Murman fishermen resumed fishing for fish needed for the front and rear. Although the Murmansk region itself experienced difficulties with food, several echelons with fish and fish products were sent to besieged Leningrad.

The northerners took an active part in raising funds for the Defense Fund: they donated 15 kg of gold, 23.5 kg of silver to the fund, in total, during the war years, more than 65 million rubles were received from the inhabitants of the region. In 1941, residents of the region transferred 2.8 million rubles for the creation of the squadron "Komsomolets Zapolyarye", railway workers built the squadron "Soviet Murman" at their own expense. More than 60,000 gifts were sent to the soldiers of the Red Army. School buildings in cities and towns were converted into hospitals.

In 1942, the North Atlantic became the main arena of battles in the Arctic. First of all, this was caused by the beginning of deliveries by countries - allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition of military equipment, food, military equipment, and other cargo. In turn, the Soviet Union supplied these countries with strategic raw materials. In total, during the war, 42 allied convoys (722 vehicles) arrived in the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, 36 convoys were sent from the USSR (682 vehicles reached the port of destination).

To combat the allied convoys, significant forces of German aviation, submarines and large surface ships located in Norwegian bases were involved. Ensuring the escort of caravans was entrusted to the British Navy and the Soviet Northern Fleet. To protect the allied convoys, the ships of the Northern Fleet made 838 exits to the sea. Through the joint efforts of the Allied and Soviet covering forces, 27 enemy submarines, 2 battleships and 3 destroyers were sunk. On the way, 85 transports were sunk by the enemy, and more than 1,400 reached the port of destination. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the Northern Fleet destroyed over 200 enemy warships and auxiliary vessels, more than 400 transports with a total tonnage of over 1 million tons, about 1,300 aircraft.

In 1942, hostilities continued on land. In order to disrupt the new offensive that the Nazis were preparing in the Arctic, the troops of the 14th Army, with the support of the Northern Fleet, in the spring of 1942, carried out a private offensive operation in the Murmansk direction, which pinned down the enemy forces. On April 28, the Northern Fleet landed the 12th separate brigade Marine Corps, which captured the beachhead and held it for two weeks. Only on May 12-13, by decision of the command of the Karelian Front, the landing was withdrawn.

In the summer of 1942, at the initiative of the Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, partisan detachments "Bolshevik of the Arctic Circle" and "Soviet Murman" were formed in the Murmansk region. Since the region was practically not occupied, the detachments were based on their territory and carried out deep raids behind enemy lines. The main object of the partisans' actions was the Rovaniemi-Petsamo highway, along which the enemy troops located in northern Finland were supplied.

With the beginning of the receipt of goods from the allies, the importance of the Murmansk Commercial Sea Port increased many times over. The first allied caravan arrived in Murmansk on January 11, 1942, and in total during the war, about 300 ships were unloaded in the port of Murmansk, and more than 1.2 million tons of imported cargo was processed.

Failing to capture Murmansk and block the sea communications through which strategic cargoes entered the USSR, the Nazis intensified their bombing attacks on the port and the regional center. The city was subjected to especially cruel bombardments in the summer of 1942. On June 18 alone, 12,000 bombs were dropped on Murmansk, over 600 wooden buildings burned down in the city.

In total, from 1941 to 1944, 792 Nazi air raids were made on Murmansk, about 7 thousand high-explosive and 200 thousand incendiary bombs were dropped. More than 1,500 houses (three quarters of the housing stock), 437 industrial and service buildings were destroyed or burned down. During the hostilities, an average of 120 bombs were dropped for every kilometer of the Kirov highway. In 1941-1943, 185 enemy aircraft were shot down over Murmansk and the strip of the Kirov railway.

By the autumn of 1944, the Red Army firmly held the strategic initiative on the Soviet-German front. In early September, in the Kandalaksha direction, the troops of the 19th Army went on the offensive and by the end of the month reached the Soviet-Finnish border. On September 19, 1944, Finland withdrew from the war.

On October 7, 1944, units of the 14th Army and ships of the Northern Fleet, with the support of aviation from the 7th Air Army and the Air Force of the Fleet, launched the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation, which aimed at the complete expulsion of the Nazi invaders from the Soviet Arctic. The main blow was delivered by the left flank of the 14th Army in the direction of Luostari and Petsamo. On the night of October 10, ships of the Northern Fleet landed the 63rd Marine Brigade on the southern coast of Malaya Volokovaya Bay. On October 15, the troops of the 14th Army, in cooperation with the forces of the Northern Fleet, liberated Petsamo, by October 21 they reached the border with Norway, and on the 22nd they captured the village of Nikel. At the same time, amphibious assaults, landed by ships of the Northern Fleet, launched offensive operations along the coast of the Varanger Fjord Bay. During the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, the territory of the Soviet Arctic was completely cleared of Nazi invaders.

The heroic defense of the Arctic, the dedication of the workers of the Murmansk region fettered significant enemy forces in the Arctic, ensured the uninterrupted operation of strategic sea and land communications in the north of the country, and the regular flow of military supplies from our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.

In 1982, the city of Murmansk, and in 1984 - Kandalaksha were awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree.

For the courage and stamina shown in the defense of Murmansk by the city's workers, soldiers of the Soviet Army and Navy during the Great Patriotic War, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 6, 1985, Murmansk was awarded the title "Hero City"

In Russia, speaking of the Great Patriotic War, they recall the defeats of 1941-1942, the battle near Moscow, the blockade of Leningrad, the battle for Stalingrad, North Caucasus, the fiery arc and a number of other famous operations. But they can say little about the war in the North, on the Kola Peninsula, if they have heard about this page at all great war.

The Kola Peninsula occupied a large place in the aggressive plans of the German military-political command. Firstly, Berlin was interested in the city of Murmansk - an ice-free port, the base of the Northern Fleet of the USSR. In addition, the Kirov railway connected the Murmansk port with the main part of the country, which made it possible to receive military cargo and quickly deliver them to Central Russia. Therefore, the Germans planned to capture the port and cut the railway as soon as possible. Secondly, Hitler was attracted to the rich natural resources Kola land, and especially nickel deposits - a metal very necessary for the German military-industrial complex and the economies of Germany's allies. Thirdly, these lands were of interest to the Finnish elite, according to their plans, the Kola Peninsula was to become part of the "Great Finland".

To capture the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic theater of operations, the army "Norway" was concentrated (it was formed in December 1940) as part of 3 corps - two mountain German corps and one Finnish corps. It was led by Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. The army had 97 thousand people, 1037 guns and mortars, 106 tanks. This army was supported by part of the forces of the 5th air fleet and the Navy of the Third Reich.

They were opposed by the Soviet 14th Army, which took up defense in the Murmansk and Kandalaksha directions, under the command of Valerian Frolov. At the time of the outbreak of hostilities, the army included: 4th Rifle Corps (10th and 122nd Rifle Divisions), 14th, 52nd Rifle Divisions, 1st Tank Division, 1st Mixed Air Division, 23 th fortified area and a number of other formations. The 23rd fortified area (UR) was located on the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas and occupied a defense zone along the front of 85 kilometers, a depth of 5 kilometers, having 7 defense centers, consisting of 12 built and combat-ready long-term defensive structures, and 30 located on construction stage. The UR was defended by two machine-gun battalions (two more were planned to be deployed), in addition, one of the regiments of the 14th Rifle Division operated in its zone. The army had 52.6 thousand personnel, 1150 guns and mortars, 392 tanks. From the sea, the 14th Army was covered by ships and aviation of the Northern Fleet (8 destroyers, 7 patrol ships, 15 submarines, 116 aircraft).

It must be said that in the future the composition of the forces of the two armies was constantly changing, because the parties constantly increased them.

Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst.

The failure of the Arctic Blitzkrieg

The Great War in the Arctic began on the night of June 22, 1941 with massive air raids on cities settlements, industrial facilities, frontier posts and naval bases.

The Germans, after the occupation of Norway, began to develop a plan for waging war in the Arctic. Planning for the operation began on 13 August 1940 and was completed in October of the same year. The Murmansk operation (Blaufuks plan or Silberfuks plan, German Unternehmen Silberfuchs - "Polar Fox") was an integral part of the Barbarossa plan. It was divided into several stages. During the first - Operation Renntir ("Reindeer") - the German 2nd Mountain Rifle Division and the 3rd Mountain Rifle Division from the Norway Mountain Corps invaded the Petsamo area (there were nickel mines) and captured it.

It should be noted that the Soviet troops were not taken by surprise, as the beginning of the Great Patriotic War often shows. Already on June 14-15, the 122nd Rifle Division from the 14th Army, by order of the commander of the Leningrad Military District M. M. Popov, was advanced to the state border. The division was supposed to cover the Kandalaksha direction. It was of strategic importance - in case of success, the enemy troops went to the Kandalaksha Bay White Sea and cut off the Kola Peninsula from central regions countries. On the 19th, the 1st Panzer Division began to advance to the border, on the 21st, the 52nd Rifle Division was alerted, it was deployed in Murmansk, Monchegorsk and Kirovsk. On the night of June 22, two regiments were transferred to the border and reconnaissance battalion 14th sd. In addition, the success of the defense was accompanied by the factor of difficult terrain.

On June 28-29, 1941, active hostilities began in the Murmansk direction (the main blow). This was the second stage - Operation Platinfuks (German: Platinfuchs - "Platinum Fox"), German forces advanced through Titovka, Ura-Guba to Polyarny (the main base of the Northern Fleet) and Murmansk. The Nazis planned to capture the bases of the Northern Fleet, blockade and capture Murmansk, and then go to the coast of the White Sea and occupy Arkhangelsk. In the course of the second phase of the operation, they were going to carry out the third one - to carry out the operation "Arctic fox" (it. "Polarfuchs"). The 2nd German mountain division was advancing on Polyarnoye, and one Finnish division and one German division were to go east from Kemijärvi.

On April 28, the 2nd and 3rd mountain rifle divisions, the 40th and 112th separate tank battalions went on the attack in the Murmansk direction. They had a 4-fold advantage in the decisive direction - the 95th rifle regiment of the 14th rifle division could not withstand the blow and retreated, breaking the orders of the 325th rifle regiment of the same division that came to the rescue. But the Nazis failed to defeat the garrison of the 23rd URA on the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas. The garrison, relying on powerful fortifications and coastal batteries (3 x 130 mm and 4 x 100 mm guns), repelled all attacks.

By June 30, the 52nd Rifle Division was entrenched on the Western Litsa River (“Valley of Glory”) and throughout July repelled all German attempts to force water barrier. On the right flank, the regrouped units of the 14th Rifle Division held the defense. In September, the defense was reinforced by the 186th Rifle Division (Polar Division), after which the front in this sector stabilized until 1944. For 104 days of fighting, the Germans advanced 30-60 km and did not solve the assigned tasks. Marines of the Northern Fleet also played a positive role - attacks on the enemy's flank were delivered on July 7 and 14. And also the "unsinkable battleship of the Arctic" - the Rybachy Peninsula, in the area of the 23rd UR and the 135th rifle regiment of the 14th rifle division, the Nazis did not manage to cross the border sign No. 1.

On the Kandalaksha direction, the first blow was repulsed on June 24. On July 1, 1941, the Germans, using the 36th Army Corps, which included the 169th Infantry Division, the SS Nord mountain rifle brigade, as well as the Finnish 6th Infantry Division and two Finnish Jaeger battalions, launched a general attack on Kandalaksha. The enemy was opposed by the 122nd SD, 1st tank division(until mid-July 1941, then she was taken to another sector of the front) and the 104th rifle division later transferred to the Kairala region (without the 242nd rifle regiment, which was located in the Kestenga direction). Until the beginning of August, there were fierce battles with little advance of enemy units. In early August 1941, a reinforced Finnish battalion penetrated the rear of the Soviet forces. The Finns saddled the road near the Nyamozero station, as a result, the Soviet group had to fight for two weeks in a strange environment. Only one enemy battalion blocked five rifle regiments, three artillery regiments and other formations. This case speaks of the complexity of the theater of operations, the lack of a developed road network, the difficult terrain among forests and swamps. When the road was unblocked two weeks later, the enemy delivered a strong blow from the front and forced the Red Army units to withdraw. Soviet troops entrenched four kilometers east of Alakurtti, and there the front line stabilized until 1944. The maximum advance of the enemy was about 95 kilometers.

On the Kestenga direction, the 242nd Rifle Regiment of the 104th Rifle Division held the defense. Active hostilities began in early July 1941. By July 10, the Germans managed to reach the Sofyanga River, and in November capture Kestenga and move east from it for about 30 km. By November 11, 1941, the front line had stabilized 40 km west of Loukhi. By that time, the grouping of Soviet troops in this sector of the front had been reinforced by the 5th Rifle Brigade and the 88th Rifle Division.

German ski unit in the Arctic.

Results of the 1941 campaign. By the autumn of 1941, it became clear that the plan for a lightning war in the Arctic had been thwarted. In fierce defensive battles, showing courage and stamina, Soviet border guards, soldiers of the 14th Army, sailors of the Northern Fleet bled the advancing enemy units and forced the Germans to take a break and go on the defensive. The German command failed to achieve any of the goals set in the Arctic. Despite some initial successes, the German troops failed to reach the Murmansk railway in any area, as well as to capture the bases of the Northern Fleet, reach Murmansk and capture it. As a result, there was the only section of the Soviet-German front where the enemy troops were already stopped a few tens of kilometers from the line of the Soviet State border, and in some places the Germans were not even able to cross the border.

Marines of the Northern Fleet on the deck of the MO-4 project boat.

The role of the rear in the defense of the Arctic

Residents of the Murmansk region rendered enormous assistance to the formations of the Red Army and the Navy of the USSR. Already on the first day of the Great War, martial law was introduced in the Murmansk region, the military commissariats began to mobilize those liable for military service, and the military registration and enlistment offices received up to 3.5 thousand applications from volunteers. In total, every sixth inhabitant of the region went to the front - more than 50 thousand people.

Party, Soviet and military bodies organized general military training for the population. In districts and settlements, units of the people's militia, fighter detachments, sanitary squads, and local air defense formations were formed. Thus, in the first few weeks of the war alone, the Murmansk fighter regiment went on missions 13 times that were associated with the destruction of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups. The fighters of the Kandalaksha Fighter Battalion directly participated in the fighting in Karelia in the area of the Loukhi station. The fighters of the fighter formations of the Kola and Kirov regions served to protect the Kirov railway.

In the summer of 1942, at the initiative of the regional party committee, partisan detachments "Bolshevik of the Arctic Circle" and "Soviet Murman" were formed in the region. Given the fact that the Murmansk region was practically not occupied, partisan formations based on their territory and went into deep raids behind enemy lines. The Rovaniemi-Petsamo road became the main target of the actions of the partisan detachments; it was used to supply the German troops located in the regions of Northern Finland. During raids, Murmansk partisans attacked enemy garrisons, disrupted lines of communication and communications, carried out reconnaissance and sabotage activities, and captured prisoners. Several partisan detachments also operated in the Kandalaksha direction.

Approximately 30 thousand people were mobilized for military construction work. These people on the outskirts of Murmansk and Kandalaksha created several defensive lines. With the participation of the civilian population, the mass construction of trenches, cracks, bomb shelters was carried out. From the end of June 1941, a mass evacuation of the civilian population and industrial equipment began from the region. Initially, it was carried out with the help of railway transport, then with the help of ships and vessels they were transported to Arkhangelsk. They took out children, women, the elderly, stocks of strategic raw materials, equipment from Severnickel, the Tuloma and Nivsky hydroelectric stations. In total, 8 thousand wagons and more than 100 ships were taken out of the Murmansk region - this evacuation became part of a larger operation, which was carried out in all western regions Soviet Union. Those enterprises that were left in the region were transferred to a military footing and focused on fulfilling military orders.

All fishing trawlers were transferred to the Northern Fleet. Ship repair enterprises carried out work to re-equip them in warships, they installed weapons. Shipyards also repaired warships and submarines. Since June 23, all enterprises of the region have switched to a round-the-clock (emergency) mode of operation.

The enterprises of Murmansk, Kandalaksha, Kirovsk, Monchegorsk in the shortest possible time mastered the production of automatic, grenades, mortars. The Apatit plant began producing a mixture for incendiary air bombs, ship repair shops made boats, drags, mountain sleds, and a furniture factory produced skis for soldiers. Artels of trade cooperation produced reindeer teams, soap, portable stoves (bourgeois stoves), various camping utensils, sewed uniforms, and repaired shoes. Reindeer-breeding collective farms handed over reindeer and sleds to the army, supplied them with meat and fish.

The women, teenagers and old people who remained in the region were replaced in the production of men who had gone to the front. They mastered new professions at various courses, fulfilled the norms not only of healthy men, but also set records. The working day at enterprises has grown to 10, 12 hours, and sometimes even 14 hours.

Fishermen resumed fishing in the fall of 1941, catching fish necessary for the front and rear in combat conditions (they could be attacked by enemy aircraft, submarines). Although the region itself experienced a shortage of food, nevertheless, several echelons with fish were able to send to besieged Leningrad. In order to improve the food supply of the population of the Murmansk region at industrial enterprises, subsidiary farms were created, gardens were cultivated by people. A collection of berries and mushrooms was organized, medicinal herbs, needles. Teams of hunters were engaged in the extraction of game - elk, wild deer, birds. On the inland waters of the Kola Peninsula, fishing was organized for lake and river fish.

In addition, residents of the region took an active part in raising funds for the Defense Fund: people donated 15 kg of gold, 23.5 kg of silver. In total, over the years of the Great War, more than 65 million rubles were received from the inhabitants of the Murmansk region. In 1941, 2.8 million rubles were transferred to the creation of the squadron "Komsomolets of the Arctic", and the railway workers built the squadron "Soviet Murman" at their own expense. More than 60,000 gifts were collected and sent to the front for the soldiers of the Red Army. School buildings in settlements were converted into hospitals.

And all this was done in the most difficult conditions of the frontline zone, settlements were subjected to constant air strikes. So, since the summer of 1942, Murmansk was subjected to severe bombing, only on June 18, German planes dropped 12 thousand bombs, the fire destroyed more than 600 wooden buildings in the city. In total, from 1941 to 1944, 792 raids by the German Air Force were carried out on the main city of the region, the Luftwaffe dropped about 7 thousand high-explosive and 200 thousand incendiary bombs. In Murmansk, more than 1,500 houses (three quarters of the entire housing stock), 437 industrial and service buildings were destroyed and burned. German aircraft regularly attacked the Kirov railway. During the hostilities in the Arctic, for every kilometer of the railway, the German Air Force dropped an average of 120 bombs. But, despite the constant danger of falling under bombardment or shelling, the Murmansk railway workers and port workers did their job, and communication with the mainland was not interrupted, trains went along the Kirov railway. It should be noted that 185 enemy planes were shot down by air defense forces over Murmansk and the Kirov railway in 1941-1943.

Murmansk after the bombing. In terms of the number and density of bombings inflicted on the city, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad among Soviet cities. As a result of German bombardment, three-quarters of the city was destroyed.

Arctic and allies

A big battle in 1942 unfolded in the sea zone. The allies of the USSR in the Anti-Hitler coalition began supplying military equipment, equipment, food. The Soviet Union supplied the Allies with strategic raw materials. In total, during the Great War, 42 allied convoys (722 transports) came to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, 36 convoys were sent from the Soviet Union (682 transports reached the ports of destination). The first allied convoy arrived at the port of Murmansk on January 11, 1942, and in total during the Great Patriotic War, up to 300 ships were unloaded in it, more than 1.2 million tons of foreign cargo were processed.

The German command tried to disrupt the supply of goods, to cut off this strategic communication. To combat the Allied convoys, large forces of the Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine and surface forces were involved, which were located in Norwegian bases. The main burden of protecting the convoys was assigned to the forces of the British fleet and the Soviet Northern Fleet. Only for the protection of convoys, the ships of the Northern Fleet made 838 exits. In addition, she conducted reconnaissance from the air, and naval aviation covered the convoys. The Air Force also attacked German bases and airfields, enemy ships on the high seas. Soviet submarine forces went to sea and kept a combat watch at German naval bases and on possible routes for the passage of large surface ships naval forces Reich. The combined efforts of the British and Soviet covering forces destroyed 27 enemy submarines, 2 battleships and 3 destroyers. In general, the protection of the convoys acted successfully: under the cover of sailors and pilots of the Northern Fleet and the British Navy, sea caravans lost 85 transports, reached their target more than 1400.

In addition, the Northern Fleet was active in combat activities off the coast of the enemy, trying to disrupt the German sea transportation along the coast of Northern Norway. If in 1941-1942 these operations were mainly involved in the submarine fleet, then from the second half of 1943 the naval aviation forces began to play the first violin. In total, in 1941-1945, the Northern Fleet, mainly through the efforts of the Northern Fleet Air Force, destroyed more than 200 enemy ships and auxiliary vessels, over 400 transports with a total tonnage of 1 million tons and about 1.3 thousand aircraft.

Project 7 destroyer of the Soviet Northern Fleet "Grozny" at sea.

Front line in 1942-1944

In the zone of operations of the 14th Army, the front line in the period from autumn 1941 to autumn 1944 was very stable. Both sides experienced the same difficulties. Firstly, natural and climatic conditions interfered with a quick, maneuverable war. There was no solid front, battle formations replaced stone ridges, swamps, rivers, lakes, forests that were insurmountable by large formations. Secondly, the defensive orders of the German and Soviet troops were constantly improved. Thirdly, neither the Soviet command nor the Germans had a decisive superiority in forces.

Basically, the armies opposing each other carried out reconnaissance, sabotage (including with the help of partisans), and improved defense. Of the most significant actions, one can note the counteroffensive of the Red Army at the end of April 1942 in the Kestenga direction. Soviet troops actually thwarted the German offensive, intelligence revealed the concentration of enemy forces in this direction. But after a 10-day battle, the situation stabilized at the same positions. At the same time, the Red Army tried to go on the offensive in the Murmansk direction - at the turn of the Western Litsa River. Soviet troops were able to break through several kilometers ahead, but soon the Germans restored the front.

After that, there were no more or less large-scale hostilities in the zone of the 14th Army until October 1944.

Soviet submarines of the "C" series in the port of Polyarny.

The defeat of the Germans in the Arctic

By the autumn of 1944, Soviet troops firmly held the strategic initiative along the entire length of the Soviet-German front. The time has come to defeat the enemy in the northern sector of the front.

The 14th Army became the main fighting force in the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation (held from October 7 to November 1, 1944). The army received the task of destroying the main forces of the 19th German mountain rifle corps (corps "Norway"), which fortified in the Petsamo region, and in the future to continue the offensive in the direction of Kirkenes in Northern Norway.

The 14th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Vladimir Shcherbakov included: 8 rifle divisions, 5 rifle, 1 tank and 2 engineering brigades, 1 brigade rocket launchers, 21 artillery and mortar regiments, 2 self-propelled gun regiments. It had 97 thousand soldiers and officers, 2212 guns and mortars, 107 tanks and self-propelled gun mounts. The army was supported from the air by the 7th Air Army - 689 aircraft. And from the sea, the Northern Fleet under the command of Admiral Arseny Golovko. The fleet participated in the operation with detachments of ships, 2 brigades of marines and 276 naval aviation aircraft.

In the German 19th mountain corps there were: 3 mountain divisions and 4 brigades (53 thousand soldiers and officers), 753 guns and mortars. It was commanded by General of the Mountain Infantry Troops Ferdinand Jodl. From the air, the forces of the 5th Air Fleet covered up to 160 aircraft. The German Navy operated at sea.

The situation was complicated by the factor that in three years the Germans built the so-called. Lapland defensive rampart. And after Finland left the war (September 19, 1944), military construction work took on a very active character. At the 90 km front, minefields, wire fences, anti-tank ditches and gouges stretched, reinforced concrete and armored firing points, shelters, trenches, and communication passages were erected. The fortifications intercepted all the passes, hollows, roads, dominating heights. From the sea side, positions were reinforced by coastal batteries and anti-aircraft positions arranged in caponiers. And this despite the fact that the terrain was already impassable - rivers, lakes, swamps, rocks.

On October 7, 1944, after the artillery preparation, the offensive began. Even before it began, engineering units were abandoned behind enemy lines in order to destroy the enemy's fortifications. On the right flank strike force the 131st Rifle Corps was advancing, its target was Petsamo, it was supported by a distracting task force and two brigades of marines. On the left flank, the 99th Rifle Corps went on the attack, it had the task of advancing in the direction of Luostari. On the left flank, the 126th light rifle corps performed a deep detour maneuver (its target was also Luostari).

The 131st Corps by 1500 broke through the first German defense line and reached the Titovka River. On October 8, the bridgehead was expanded, and movement began in the direction of Petsamo. The 99th Corps was unable to break through the German defenses on the first day, but did so in a night attack (on the night of October 7-8). In the zone of his offensive, a reserve was brought into battle - the 127th light rifle corps, on October 12 they captured Luostari and began moving towards Petsamo from the south.

The 126th light rifle corps, making a difficult detour maneuver, by October 11 went west of Luostari and cut the Petsamo-Salmiyarvi road. With this, the Soviet command did not allow the approach of German reinforcements. The corps received the following task - to saddle the Petsamo-Tarnet road from the west with a new roundabout maneuver. The task was completed on October 13th.

On October 14, the 131st, 99th and 127th corps approached Petsamo, and the assault began. October 15 Petsamo fell. After this, the army corps regrouped and on October 18 the second stage of the operation began. Parts of the 4 corps already participating in the battle and the new reserve 31 rifle corps were thrown into the battle. Basically, during this stage, the enemy was pursued. The 127th Light Rifle Corps and the 31st Rifle Corps were advancing on Nikel, the 99th Rifle Corps and the 126th Light Rifle Corps were advancing on Akhmalakhti, and the 131st Rifle Corps was advancing on Tarnet. Already on October 20, the coverage of Nikel began, on the 22nd it fell. The rest of the corps also reached the planned lines by October 22.

Amphibious landing, 1944.

On October 18, the 131st Rifle Corps entered Norwegian soil. The liberation of northern Norway began. On October 24-25, Yar Fjord was crossed, the forces of the 14th Army fanned out on Norwegian territory. The 31st Rifle Corps did not cross the bay and began to move deep south - by October 27 it reached Nausti, reaching the border of Norway and Finland. The 127th Light Rifle Corps was also moving south along the western bank of the fjord. The 126th light rifle corps moved westward, and on October 27 reached Neiden. The 99th and 131st rifle corps rushed to Kirkenes and occupied it on October 25th. After that, the operation was completed. A large role in the operation was played by amphibious assaults and the actions of the Northern Fleet. It was a complete victory.

Operation results

With the expulsion of German troops from Kirkenes and reaching the line of Neiden, Nausti, the Soviet 14th Army and the Northern Fleet completed their tasks in the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation. On November 9, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the 14th Army to stop the movement and go on the defensive. During the 19-day battles, the army troops advanced westward up to 150 km, liberating the Petsamo-Pechenga region and Northern Norway. The loss of these territories severely limited the actions of the German Navy in the Soviet northern communications and deprived the Third Reich of the opportunity to receive nickel ore (a strategic resource).

German troops suffered significant losses in manpower, weapons and military equipment. So, Jodl's 19th mountain rifle corps lost only about 30 thousand people killed. The Northern Fleet destroyed 156 enemy ships and vessels, and the forces Soviet aviation eliminated 125 Luftwaffe aircraft. The Soviet army lost more than 15 thousand people killed and wounded, including more than 2 thousand soldiers and officers in Norway.

During the offensive of the Soviet troops in the Far North, the high military art of the Soviet military command was shown. Operational-tactical cooperation was organized at a high level ground forces with the forces of the Northern Fleet. The Soviet corps carried out the offensive in the conditions of the difficult nature of the terrain, often without elbow communication with neighboring units. The forces of the 14th Army skillfully and flexibly maneuvered, used specially trained and prepared light rifle corps in battle. High level showed engineering parts Soviet army, formations of the Navy, Marine Corps.

During the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, Soviet troops liberated the occupied areas Soviet Arctic and rendered great assistance in the liberation of Norway.

Finally, Norway was also liberated with the help of the USSR. On May 7-8, 1945, the German military-political leadership agreed to complete surrender and the German group in Norway (it consisted of about 351 thousand soldiers and officers) received an order to surrender and laid down their arms.

General Vladimir Ivanovich Shcherbakov.

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- combat operations of the troops of the Northern and Karelian (since September 1, 1941) fronts, the Northern Fleet and the White Sea military flotilla against German and Finnish troops on the Kola Peninsula, in North Karelia, in the Barents, White and Kara Seas in June 1941 - October 1944.

Murmansk is the world's largest city located beyond the Arctic Circle. Murmansk is located on the rocky eastern coast of the Kola Bay Barents Sea. One of the largest ports in Russia.

On May 6, 1985, Murmansk was awarded the title of Hero City for defense against German troops during the Great Patriotic War. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Gold Star medal.

"Murmans", "Urmans" Russians called Norwegians, Normans. Later, this name was also transferred to the land where events took place with the participation of foreigners. "Murman" began to be called the coast of the Barents Sea, neighboring Norway, and then the entire Kola Peninsula. Accordingly, the name "Murmansk" means "the city on Murman". (A. A. Minkin. Toponyms of Murman)

Pre-war years

By the early 1920s, Murmansk had less than 2,500 inhabitants and was in decline. The industry was represented mainly by handicraft artels, the fishing industry fell into decay. The urban landscape was made up of two or three streets of one-story houses, overcrowded workers' barracks, a disorderly cluster of shacks, railway cars adapted for housing, and "suitcases" abandoned by the interventionists - houses made of corrugated iron with a semicircular roof. One of the districts of the city was nicknamed the "Red Village" because of the red caravans adapted for housing.

From the second half of the 1920s, the city began to develop rapidly, since the Soviet Union had a strategic need to equip a large port, transit through which would not depend on relations with neighboring countries. Since 1933, Murmansk has been one of the supply and ship repair bases for the Northern Fleet. In addition to military-strategic goals, sea communication was carried out through the port with the Norilsk MMC under construction, the development of the Murmansk port also pursued the task of increasing fish catches: in the city, a fish port was created on the site of the former military enterprise for fish processing and ship repair, which began to develop rapidly, and after for several years, it provided supplies to other regions of the USSR of two hundred thousand tons of fish annually.

Streets were laid with wooden sidewalks and rows of one- and two-story log houses. In 1927, the first multi-storey brick building appeared, which has survived to this day. In 1934, the first shuttle bus went through Murmansk - from the northern outskirts to the southern part of the city. At the same time, the Polar Arrow express train began to run to Leningrad along the railway line. In 1939, for the first time in the city, asphalt laying began on Leningradskaya Street. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there were already several dozen brick and stone buildings in Murmansk, and the population of the city reached 120 thousand inhabitants.

In the 1920s-1930s, due to changes in the administrative-territorial division, the city changed its status several times. In 1921, Murmansk became the center of the province of the same name, since 1927 - the district of the same name as part of Leningrad region, and since 1938 - the Murmansk region.

Panorama of the central part of the city of Murmansk (filmed from an airplane), 1936

Defense of the Arctic

The German command planned to capture an important strategic point in the North - Murmansk and the Kirov railway, defeat the bases of the USSR Northern Fleet and take possession of the Kola Bay. To do this, German and Finnish troops struck in three directions: Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Loukhi.

Planned operations of Germany and Finland in the Kola Arctic

The command of the Wehrmacht considered the Arctic as an auxiliary (albeit important) section of the Eastern Front. The German command developed plans for military operations for the mountain army "Norway" in advance, giving them code names: "Renntier" ("Reindeer", beginning June 22, 1941) - capturing the area of nickel mines in the Petsamo Region, carrying out activities (building roads, etc.) .) for the implementation of the next operation - "Platinfuchs" ("Black Fox", beginning June 22, 1941 + 7 days) - an attack on Port Vladimir, Polyarny along the Arctic coast to Murmansk. The XXXVI Army Corps of the Wehrmacht was supposed (according to the plan "Polarfuchs" - "Arctic fox"), advancing from Rovaniemi (Finland), where it ended up by June 14, 1941 as a result of the implementation of a sea transport operation from Norway ("Blaufuchs 2"), take Salla, Kandalaksha, then turn north and, advancing along the Kirov railway, connect with the mountain rifle corps "Norway" to take Murmansk. Joint actions of the German and Finnish armies north of the Oulu-Belomorsk line until June 05, 1941 were code-named "Silberfuchs" ("Silver Fox"). It was planned to master the Kola Peninsula in two weeks.

German troops enter Petsamo (Pechenga) as part of Operation Silberfuchs. June 1941.

On the northern flank, Soviet troops were opposed german army"Norway" (from January 1942 - "Lapland", from June 1942 - XX mountain) under the command of Colonel-General N. von der Falkenhorst as part of 3 army corps, the mountain rifle corps "Norway", which were considered the elite of the German ground forces and had valuable combat experience in mountain warfare, including in high latitudes; operationally subordinate to the III Finnish Army Corps; parts of the forces of the 5th Air Force of Germany and a few Navy. The Finnish Karelian army had the task of capturing the southern regions of Karelia and the Karelian Isthmus, and after reaching the line of the river. Svir in the Leningrad region to connect with the troops of the German Army Group North. The enemy grouping consisted of 530 thousand people, 4.3 thousand guns and mortars, 206 tanks, 547 aircraft, 80 ships and 6 submarines.

From the side of the Red Army, which was part of the Northern Front (formed on 06/24/1941), the 14th Army (commander until 08/23/1941 Lieutenant General V. A. Frolov) covered the Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Ukhta directions. The Northern Fleet provided defense against invasion from the sea and protected the northern sea lanes. To protect transports in the White Sea, in eastern regions Barents Sea and the Northern Sea Route in August 1941, the White Sea military flotilla was created, during the war years it ensured the escort of more than 2,500 transports. In the troops of the Northern Front under the command of Lieutenant General M. M. Popov, together with the Northern Fleet, there were 420 thousand people, 7.8 thousand guns and mortars, 1.5 thousand tanks, 1.8 thousand aircraft, 32 ships and 15 submarines.

On June 29, 1941, German and Finnish troops launched an offensive, delivering the main blow in the Murmansk direction and secondary in the Kandalaksha and Loukh directions. By July 4, Soviet troops retreated to the line of defense on the Zapadnaya Litsa River, where the Germans were stopped by the 52nd Infantry Division and units of the Marine Corps. A huge role in the disruption of the German offensive on Murmansk was played by the landing in the bay of Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa (1941). On the Kandalaksha and Louhi directions, Soviet troops stopped the advance of the German-Finnish troops, who failed to reach the railway, and they were forced to go on the defensive.

Military operations in the Arctic resumed on September 8, 1941. Having not achieved success in the Kandalaksha and Loukh directions, the command of the army "Norway", in accordance with the order of the Wehrmacht headquarters, transferred the main blow to the Murmansk direction. But here, too, the offensive of the reinforced German mountain rifle corps failed. The northern group of Germans, advancing on Polyarny, was able to advance only 4 km in 9 days. By September 15, the southern group, with the support of aviation, managed to cut the Titovka-Murmansk road and create a threat of access to the Murmansk region. However, the 14th Army, with part of its forces (1st Polar Rifle Division), supported by aviation and artillery of the Northern Fleet, launched a counterattack on September 17, defeated the 3rd Mountain Rifle Division, throwing its remnants across the Zapadnaya Litsa River, and turned the tide of hostilities for defense the city of Murmansk in favor of the troops of the Karelian Front. After that, the German command stopped the attack on Murmansk. The Germans, unable to break through the defenses of the Red Army in the region of the peninsulas, entrenched themselves on the plateau of the same name and the Musta-Tunturi ridge 40 kilometers in the direction of Murmansk, turning their citadel with a defense in depth (in four rows of fortifications and barriers). Full-length trenches and trenches were cut in the body of the ridge, bomb shelters, ammunition depots, headquarters, hospitals, and so on were built. Fortifications in a monolithic granite rock about four kilometers long, in some places towering 260 meters above the sea: there were guns, mortars, pillboxes, stationary, remotely controlled flamethrower installations. Roads were built along the plateau to the coast. Within three s extra years there were continuous fierce and bloody battles.

Border sign A-36 (apparently a copy) in the Museum of Defense of the Sredny and Rybachy Islands

The height of 115.6 ridge has its own given name The border sign is better known as the place where our soldiers kept intact the A-36 border sign of the former Soviet-Finnish border throughout the war.
Scouts of the Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet on the Musta-Tunturi Ridge.

The offensive of the German mountain rifle corps, which began on September 8, 1941 in the Murmansk direction, was stopped by a counterattack by the 14th Army. September 23, the enemy was driven back over the river. Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa, where the front stabilized until October 1944. Great importance in the disruption of the plans to capture Murmansk had the Polar Division, which became a necessary reserve for the bloodless Soviet troops. The German troops were exhausted, but due to Hitler's desire to ensure the safety of Norway from being captured by Britain at any cost, they did not receive the necessary forces to carry out the operation. The underestimation by the German command of the enemy and the features of the terrain also had an effect. By October 1941, the Norge GC, having lost 10,290 people killed and wounded, advanced only 24 km towards Murmansk.

Defensive battles of the Soviet troops in the Murmansk direction in 1941-1944

The fighting in the Kandalaksha direction, where more enemy troops were concentrated than in the Murmansk direction, began on July 1, 1941 and went on with particular ferocity: the fighting was carried out here by the 101st border detachment, the 42nd rifle corps (122nd, 104th rifle divisions). On July 7, Soviet troops began to withdraw to the second line of defense, which was defended by the 104th Infantry Division. On September 17, the spacecraft troops occupied a line along the Verman River (90 km from Kandalaksha), where hostilities stabilized for three years. "Silberfuks" (attack on Kandalaksha), according to the German generals, was just an "expedition" (F. Halder), the main military operations unfolded to the south (although this "expedition" cost the Finns alone 5 thousand killed and wounded soldiers to mid-September 1941).

In the southern direction, the Finns, having created a great superiority in forces and means in the direction of the main attack, on September 5, 1941, captured the city of Olonets, reached the river. Svir, cut the Kirov railway, captured Petrozavodsk on October 2, but did not achieve success in the offensive in the Medvezhyegorsk direction. The plan to connect the German and Finnish troops to create a second ring of blockade around Leningrad was prevented. The active actions of the Red Army troops fettered more than 20 enemy divisions, exhausting and bleeding them. The losses of the Soviet troops in this defensive operation amounted to: irretrievable - over 67 thousand people, sanitary - about 69 thousand people, as well as 540 guns and mortars, 546 tanks, 64 aircraft, 8 ships.

Jaegers under the protection of seid. May 1942

From 1942 the main fighting shifted to the sea, where the German Navy and Air Force tried to disrupt maritime traffic by allied convoys. The importance of Murmansk increased after the failure of the blitzkrieg and the start of allied aid under Lend-Lease (the Wehrmacht command, of course, did not count on such a development of events in its plans).

Attack of the Soviet Marine Corps on the Northern Front. 1942

The enemy concentrated his efforts on defeating Murmansk and its port from the air in order to paralyze the work of processing and sending goods to the center of the camp. The city was almost completely burned (despite the fact that at the beginning of the war the USSR had 4 times more aircraft in the North than Germany), but the Nazis failed to complete the task - the port continued to work even in those conditions that made it possible to call Murmansk "a city of front." A busy life was going on in Murmansk and the region: fish was caught for the front and rear of the country, all enterprises worked for victory.

Murmansk watch the air battle over the city. 1943

The Luftwaffe made up to fifteen or eighteen raids on separate days, dropped a total of 185 thousand bombs during the war years and made 792 raids.

In terms of the number and density of bombings inflicted on the city, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad among Soviet cities.

As a result of the bombing, three-quarters of the buildings were destroyed, wooden houses and buildings were especially damaged. The heaviest bombing was on June 18, 1942. German planes dropped mainly incendiary bombs on the predominantly wooden city; in order to make it difficult to fight fires, mixed bombardments were used using fragmentation and high-explosive bombs. Due to dry and windy weather, the fire spread from the center to the northeastern outskirts of Murmansk.

Fire after the bombing of the city, 1942

The feat of volunteer builders who rebuilt the city during the war is immortalized in the monument "In honor of the builders who died in 1941-1945", opened in 1974.

Monument "In honor of the builders who died in 1941-1945"

During the first year of the war, 7 convoys (PQ-0 ... PQ-6) were carried out from England and Iceland to the ports of the White Sea. 53 transports arrived, including Soviet ones. 4 convoys (QP-1 ... QP-4) were sent from our ports to England. A total of 47 transports left.

From the spring of 1942, the German command deployed active actions on the sea. In northern Norway, the Germans concentrated large naval forces. From March 1942, the Germans carried out a special sea and air operation against each allied convoy. However, the Royal Navy of Great Britain, with the support of the Federation Council of the USSR, as well as American ships, thwarted the plans of the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe to isolate the USSR in the North from Great Britain and the USA.

In total, during the years of the Second World War, the Northern Fleet provided 1471 convoys to the GDP, in which there were 2569 transport ships, while the merchant fleet lost 33 ships (19 of them from submarine attacks).

Throughout 1943, there was a stubborn struggle for air supremacy, which was eventually won by Soviet aviation. The Northern Fleet managed to ensure the escort of allied convoys in its zone of responsibility and began operations to destroy enemy combat and transport ships - the crews of submarines and torpedo boats especially distinguished themselves in these tasks.

The TKA-12 torpedo boat, commanded by twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Osipovich Shabalin during the Great Patriotic War, is installed on a pedestal on Courage Square in the city of Severomorsk, Murmansk Region.

In 1944, as a result of the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation successfully carried out by the Soviet troops (06/10-08/09/1944), which led to Finland's withdrawal from the war (09/19/1944), the Wehrmacht command decided to withdraw its troops operating in the Kandalaksha and Kestenga directions and strengthen the defense in the Arctic. On September 3, 1944, the German command approved the withdrawal operation plan (codenamed Birke - “Birch”): break away from the Soviet troops in the Loukhi and Kandalaksha sectors, transfer the liberated troops through Rovaniemi to the north of the Kola Peninsula and gain a foothold there. The September offensives of the 19th and 26th armies in the Kandalaksha and Ukhta directions, despite the well-echeloned defense of the German troops, were successful: on September 14, 1944, Alakurtti was taken, in the last decade of September, the divisions of the 19th army reached the state border with Finland, freeing 45 settlements, incapacitating 7 thousand German soldiers and officers; The 26th Army, which was opposed by the XVIIIth German Mountain Corps, by the end of September advanced 35 km deep into Finland. Nevertheless, at the direction of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the troops went on the defensive, saving forces for the primary task in the Arctic - the liberation of the Pechenga region. Thus, it became possible to successfully carry out the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation, compressed in time (07.10-29.10.1944).

Musta-Tunturi Ridge

Soviet scouts on the slope of the Musta-Tunturi ridge. 1943.

On a rainy night on October 10, 1944, the assault on the German fortifications on Musta Tunturi began from several directions, including bypassing. The most difficult task fell to the lot of the 614th separate penal company, equal in number to a battalion or regiment: 750 people. In heavy weather conditions to divert the attention of the enemy, she had to from below, from the sea, from the side of the Sredny Peninsula, climbing up the sheer wall through barbed wire and machine-gun fire, storm the height of 260.0 in order to capture the peak dominating the Small Range. Almost all the fighters of the company perished in the gorge between the heights, but gave the opportunity to other units to capture the ridge and, through the joint efforts of the Soviet troops, clear the western part of the Kola Peninsula from the invaders. From here, from the banks of the Zapadnaya Litsa River, the troops of the Karelian Front began the expulsion of the Nazi troops from the Kola Arctic and the liberation of the territory of northern Norway.

German military burial in Petsamo.

On October 7, 1944, Soviet troops went on the offensive, delivering the main blow from the area of Lake Chapr on the right flank of the 19th German Corps in the direction of Luostari - Petsamo. Pursuing the retreating German troops, the 14th Army, supported by the forces of the fleet, drove the Germans out of Soviet territory, crossed the Finnish border and began to capture Petsamo, on October 22, Soviet troops crossed the Norwegian border and on October 25 liberated the Norwegian city of Kirkenes. By November 1, the fighting in the Arctic ended, the Petsamo region was completely liberated by Soviet troops.

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 5, 1944 established the medal "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic" (awarded 307,000 people). The army, navy and workers of industrial enterprises and agriculture of the region during the war years managed to carry out the most important strategic task: they thwarted the plans of the German command to isolate the USSR from the allies, did not allow cutting the Northern sea route and ensured the ever-increasing supply of equipment, military equipment and food that entered the country under the Lend-Lease program.

Losses of Soviet troops and civilians for 1941-44. - OK. 200 thousand people (killed, missing, wounded). For the courage and heroism shown by the inhabitants of Murmansk, the city received honorary title"Hero City" (1985), Kandalaksha was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1984).

Memorial "To the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War" ("Alyosha") is a memorial complex in the Leninsky district of the city of Murmansk.

The main figure in the memorial is the figure of a soldier in a raincoat, with a machine gun over his shoulder. The height of the pedestal of the monument is 7 meters. The height of the monument itself is 35.5 meters, the weight of the hollow sculpture inside is more than 5 thousand tons. The statue of "Alyosha" is inferior in height in Russia only to the Volgograd statue "Motherland". The monument belongs to one of the highest monuments in Russia.

The gaze of the warrior is directed to the west, towards the Valley of Glory, where during the Great Patriotic War the most fierce battles took place on the outskirts of Murmansk. In front of the monument is the podium "Eternal Flame", which was made of black blocks of natural stone. A little higher, next to the figure of a soldier, is a sloping trihedral pyramid. As conceived by the authors, this is a battle banner lowered to half-mast as a sign of mourning for the fallen soldiers. Next to it is a polished granite stele with the inscription:

To the defenders of the Arctic - the soldiers of the 14th Army, the 19th Army, the Red Banner Northern Fleet, the 7th Air Army, border detachments No. , Bolshevik. Glory to those who defended this land!

Slightly away from the monument are two anti-aircraft guns. During the hostilities, anti-aircraft batteries were located on this peak, covering the city of Murmansk from the air. Two capsules are immured at the foot of the monument. One with sea water from the place of the heroic death of the legendary ship "Fog", the other - with land from the Valley of Glory and from the battle area at the Verman line.

Defense of the Arctic


	Murmansk region, North Karelia, Petsamo
	USSR victory. Capture of Petsamo by Soviet troops

	Third Reich
	Finland
Commanders
Kirill Meretskov	Nicholas von Fankelhorst
Valerian Frolov
Arseniy Golovko
Side forces
unknown	unknown

unknown	unknown

Defense of the Arctic (Battle for the Arctic)- combat operations of the troops of the Northern and Karelian (since September 1, 1941) fronts, the Northern Fleet and the White Sea military flotilla against German and Finnish troops on the Kola Peninsula, in North Karelia, in the Barents, White and Kara Seas in June 1941 - October 1944.

Side Plans

The German command planned to capture an important strategic point in the North - Murmansk and the Kirov railway. To do this, German and Finnish troops struck in three directions: Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Loukhi.

natural conditions

The combat area is a mountain tundra, with many lakes, impenetrable swamps and vast expanses cluttered with boulders, with harsh climatic conditions. The nature and time of hostilities are influenced by the polar night.

balance of power

Germany and Finland

Army "Norway" (January 15, 1942 it was renamed the army "Lapland", from June 1942 - "20th mountain army") (commander Nicholas von Falkenhorst, from June 1, 1942 - Eduard Dietl, from June 28, 1944 years - Lothar Randulich) was located in the Petsamo region and Northern Finland. It included 5 German and 2 Finnish divisions. The offensive was supported by the 5th Air Fleet (about 160 aircraft in the Murmansk direction) (General Hans-Jurgen Stumpf).
On June 22, 1941, the German Navy in Northern Norway had 5 destroyers, 3 destroyers, 6 submarines, 1 mine layer, 10 patrol ships, 15 minesweepers, 10 patrol boats (55 units in total). In connection with the failure of the offensive, the following were deployed: 1 battleship, 3 heavy and 1 light cruisers, 2 destroyer flotillas, 20 submarines, up to 500 aircraft.

the USSR

The 14th Army of the Northern Front (from August 23, 1941 of the Karelian Front) (commander Valerian Frolov) was located in the Murmansk region and North Karelia. Consisting of: 42nd Rifle Corps (104th Rifle Division, 122nd Rifle Division), 14th Rifle Division, 52nd Division, 1st Division.
7th Army consisting of: 54th Rifle Division, 71st Rifle Division, 168th Rifle Division, 237th Rifle Division.
23rd Army as part of the 19th Rifle Corps (142nd Rifle Division, 115th Rifle Division), 50th Rifle Corps (43rd Rifle Division, 123rd Rifle Division), td, 198 md).
The Northern Fleet (SF) (commander Arseniy Golovko) was located in the Barents and White Seas. It included: a squadron destroyer brigade of a two-divisional composition, which included seven destroyers (five - of the "7" project and 2 destroyers of the "Novik" type): one ship was in overhaul. Brigade commander Captain 2nd rank M. N. Popov, 15 submarines, 2 torpedo boats, 7 patrol ships, 2 minesweepers, 14 small hunters and 116 aircraft.

German offensive (June - September 1941)

On June 29, 1941, German and Finnish troops launched an offensive, delivering the main blow in the Murmansk direction (see Murmansk operation (1941)) and secondary in the Kandalaksha and Loukh directions. By July 4, Soviet troops retreated to the line of defense on the Zapadnaya Litsa River, where the Germans were stopped by the 52nd Infantry Division and units of the Marine Corps. A huge role in the disruption of the German offensive on Murmansk was played by the landing in the bay of Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa (1941). On the Kandalaksha and Louhi directions, Soviet troops stopped the advance of the German-Finnish troops, who failed to reach the railway, and they were forced to go on the defensive.

In the spring of 1942, both sides were preparing offensive actions: the Germans with the aim of capturing Murmansk, the Soviet troops with the aim of pushing the enemy back beyond the border line. Soviet troops were the first to go on the offensive. During the Murmansk operation (1942) and the amphibious assault in the bay of Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa, it was not possible to achieve decisive success. But the planned German offensive was also thwarted and the front in the Arctic stabilized until October 1944.

Naval battles (September 1941 - October 1944)

At the time of the outbreak of hostilities in the Arctic region, Germany and Finland did not have large warships.

According to the mobilization plan, 29 patrol ships (SKR) and 35 minesweepers converted from fishing trawlers, 4 minelayers and 2 SKR - former icebreaking ships, 26 patrol boats and 30 boat minesweepers were enlisted in the Navy of the Federation Council (USSR) in June - August 1941 , converted accordingly from drifterbots and motobots.

Only on July 10, 1941, the 6th flotilla of Kriegsmarine destroyers arrived in Kirkenes: Z-4, Z-7, Z-10, Z-16, Z-20.

Their first operation was undertaken on July 12-13, destroyers in the area of Kharlov Island attacked a Soviet convoy consisting of trawlers (EPRON vessels) RT-67 and RT-32 (towing underwater fuel tanks from Murmansk to Yokangu), guarded by a patrol ship (former fishing trawler armed with 2x45-mm cannons and machine guns under the command of Okunev V. L.) "Passat" (died) (RT-67 also died). The second operation was carried out on July 22-24 near Teriberka, the Germans sank the Meridian hydrographic vessel. In the third campaign on August 10, 3 destroyers attacked the guard ship Tuman, which was on patrol on the Kildin reach (died). After an air raid by the Northern Fleet, Z-4 received serious damage and the ships returned to base. The combat activity of the 6th flotilla ended there, and its ships went to Germany for repairs.

At the end of 1941, the 8th flotilla appeared on the theater of operations, consisting of destroyers: Z-23, Z-24, Z-25, Z-27. Her ships undertook an operation against the transports and ships of the PQ-6 convoy, but had no combat success. German destroyers tried to attack the Allied convoys. During the German attack on the PQ-13 convoy, the destroyers "Crushing" and "Thundering" discovered German ships and opened fire. The destroyer Z-26 was hit by a shell from a Soviet destroyer and was forced to hide in a snow charge. However, the Germans soon returned and attacked the convoy. They managed to damage english easy cruiser "Trinidad", but at the same time, the destroyer Z-26 was lost in a battle with British and Soviet ships.

The first allied convoy arrived in Arkhangelsk on August 31, 1941. It was called "Dervish", only then received the code PQ-0. It consisted of 6 transports guarded by 1 aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 4 patrol ships and 3 minesweepers.

Since the spring of 1942, the German command launched active operations at sea. In northern Norway, the Germans concentrated large naval forces. From March 1942, the Germans carried out a special sea and air operation against each allied convoy. However, the Royal Navy of Great Britain, with the support of the Federation Council of the USSR, as well as American ships, thwarted the plans of the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe to isolate the USSR in the North from Great Britain and the USA.

5th Air Fleet and the Finnish Air Force, which totaled up to 900 aircraft. Over 150 machines acted against the ships.

On July 20, at the entrance to Ekaterinskaya Harbor (where the main base of the fleet was located in Polyarny), 11 aircraft sank the destroyer Stremitelny.

On September 18-21, 1942, aviation made more than 125 sorties on transports and escort ships PQ-18.

Since 1942, the activity of submarines began to increase, the number of which in the theater reached 26.

On August 16, the Admiral Scheer left Narvik with the aim of disrupting the communications of the Northern Fleet. On August 26, the icebreaker Aleksandr Sibiryakov destroyed near Belukha Island in the Kara Sea, and on August 27, she fired at the Soviet base Port Dixon, damaging 2 ships stationed there.

Operation "Queen" - the goal is to lay mines in the Matochkin Shar Strait. "Admiral Hyper" took 96 mines and September 24, 1942 went on a campaign from Alta Fjord. On September 27 he returned having completed the task.

In 1942, the Allies handed over seven AM-type minesweepers and five MMS-type minesweepers to the USSR, and ten AM-type ships the following year. Also received were 43 large SC-class submarine hunters, 52 Higgis, Vosper, and ELKO-class torpedo boats.

The Northern Fleet received a major replenishment in 1944, when, on account of the USSR’s share in the division of the Italian fleet, the Allies temporarily transferred 9 destroyers (US-built 1918-1920), the battleship Arkhangelsk (the same years Royal Sovereign) and 4 submarines of the B type "(one under the command of I. I. Fisanovich did not reach), as well as the American light cruiser Milwaukee" ("Murmansk"). From the arrived ships and those available in September 1944, a squadron of the Federation Council of the USSR was formed.

During the years of the Second World War, the Northern Fleet provided escort of 1471 convoys to the GDP, in which there were 2569 transport ships, while the merchant fleet lost 33 ships (19 of them from submarine attacks).

Politics

In February 1944, the Finnish government sent its representative Paasikivi to Stockholm to clarify, through the Soviet ambassador to Sweden, Kollontai, the conditions for Finland to withdraw from the war. On February 19, Paasikivi received Soviet conditions - a break in relations with Germany, the restoration of the Soviet-Finnish treaty (that is, the border) of 1940, the transfer of the Finnish army to a peaceful position, compensation for the damage caused to the Soviet Union in the amount of $ 600 million and the transfer of Petsamo to the USSR. On April 19, the Soviet terms were rejected.

On July 2, 1944, from a speech on the radio, Prime Minister Linkomies - Germany was given an obligation not to conclude a separate peace with the USSR, only after that, on June 30, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Finland. On June 10, the Vyborg offensive operation of the Soviet troops begins - on June 20, Vyborg is liberated.

On June 19, the Finnish government asked the German government to urgently send 6 divisions and a significant amount of aviation to Finland. The German command could not fulfill this request.

On June 21, the Svir-Petrozavodsk offensive operation begins - on June 28, Petrozavodsk is liberated.

On August 1, President Ryti resigned. On August 5, the Sejm elects Mannerheim as president. On August 8, a new government headed by A. Hackzell was formed, which declared that it did not consider itself bound by the obligation given to Hitler by Ryti. On August 25, the Finnish government asked Soviet government receive a delegation in Moscow to negotiate an armistice or peace between Finland and the Soviet Union. The Soviet government agreed to negotiations with the obligatory acceptance by Finland of the preliminary condition. The Finnish government must publicly declare that it is cutting off relations with Germany and will demand the withdrawal of German troops from the country no later than September 15th. This precondition has been accepted. Finland ceased hostilities on the morning of September 5, 1944. On September 19, an armistice agreement was signed. Finland pledged to transfer the army to a peaceful position, disband organizations of the fascist type, lease the territory of Porkka-Udd (near Helsinki) to the USSR for the naval base, and compensate for losses in the amount of $ 300 million.

Petsamo-Kirkenes operation (October - November 1944)

During the entire period of confrontation between the USSR and Nazi Germany in the North, Soviet sabotage units carried out reconnaissance activities in the rear of the Germans in the border regions of Northern Norway.

It is advisable to call the armed struggle in the rear of the German group in this geographical area precisely reconnaissance and sabotage activities, and not partisan movement Norwegian people, as was customary in Soviet historiography, since the fight behind enemy lines was carried out mainly by regular units of the Red Army, only with the support of Norwegian citizens.

The operations of Soviet reconnaissance and sabotage units on the territory of Northern Norway during the Second World War is the topic of the research activities of the Murmansk historian Dmitry Alekseevich Kurakulov:

The basis of the reconnaissance detachments that worked in East Finnmark were officers of the reconnaissance department of the Northern Fleet, the NKVD and immigrants from Norway. Scouts monitored German fortifications, troop movements and military depots. From their hiding places along the coast, they observed, with the help of binoculars, the anchorage of German ships. Then they transmitted all information about the deployment and movement of ships to bases in the Murmansk region. Thus, the USSR and the Allies received important information that helped them to carry out air strikes and destroy important German objects in Finnmark.

From 80 to 120 German ships were sunk by the USSR and the Allies thanks to data received from the Soviet-Norwegian sabotage groups. In the region of Murmansk, a training camp was founded to train scouts, including Norwegians. Here they underwent a short but thorough training course.

After training, the groups landed in Finnmark from Soviet submarines and boats or dropped from the air by parachute. The troops were fairly well equipped. They had with them food, clothing, weapons and means of communication. However, it often happened that supplies were damaged as a result of airdrops or landings from sea vessels. Such cases put the life of the scouts in serious danger and, of course, this prevented them from carrying out their tasks.

Human losses among the military personnel operating behind enemy lines were quite serious. When the Germans uncovered this or that group, they spared no one. Scouts were shot when resisting or executed after short trials. Some committed suicide so as not to fall into the hands of enemies and not give them any important information. Many fighters against fascism have been imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. Finally, many agreed to cooperate with the Germans.

In Russia, speaking of the Great Patriotic War, they recall the defeats of 1941-1942, the battle of Moscow, the blockade of Leningrad, the battle for Stalingrad, the North Caucasus, the Fire Arc and a number of other famous operations. But little can be said about the war in the North, on the Kola Peninsula, if at all they have heard about this page of the Great War.

The Kola Peninsula occupied a large place in the aggressive plans of the German military-political command. Firstly, Berlin was interested in the city of Murmansk - an ice-free port, the base of the Northern Fleet of the USSR. In addition, the Kirov railway connected the Murmansk port with the main part of the country, which made it possible to receive military cargo and quickly deliver them to Central Russia. Therefore, the Germans planned to capture the port and cut the railway as soon as possible. Secondly, Hitler was attracted by the rich natural resources of the Kola Land, and especially the deposits of nickel, a metal very necessary for the German military-industrial complex and the economies of Germany's allies. Thirdly, these lands were of interest to the Finnish elite, according to their plans, the Kola Peninsula was to become part of the "Great Finland".

Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst

The army had 97 thousand people, 1037 guns and mortars, 106 tanks. This army was supported by part of the forces of the 5th Air Fleet and the Navy of the Third Reich.

It must be said that in the future the composition of the forces of the two armies was constantly changing, because the parties constantly increased them.

The failure of the Arctic Blitzkrieg.

The Great War in the Arctic began on the night of June 22, 1941 with massive air raids on cities, towns, industrial facilities, frontier posts and naval bases.

It should be noted that the Soviet troops were not taken by surprise, as the beginning of the Great Patriotic War often shows. Already on June 14-15, the 122nd Rifle Division from the 14th Army, by order of the commander of the Leningrad Military District M. M. Popov, was advanced to the state border. The division was supposed to cover the Kandalaksha direction. It was of strategic importance - if successful, the enemy troops would go to the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea and cut off the Kola Peninsula from the central regions of the country. On the 19th, the 1st Panzer Division began to advance to the border, on the 21st, the 52nd Rifle Division was alerted, it was deployed in Murmansk, Monchegorsk and Kirovsk. On the night of June 22, two regiments and a reconnaissance battalion of the 14th Rifle Division were transferred to the border. In addition, the success of the defense was accompanied by the factor of difficult terrain.

By June 30, the 52nd Rifle Division entrenched itself on the Zapadnaya Litsa River (“Valley of Glory”) and throughout July repelled all German attempts to force a water barrier. On the right flank, the regrouped units of the 14th Rifle Division held the defense. In September, the defense was reinforced by the 186th Rifle Division (Polar Division), after which the front in this sector stabilized until 1944. For 104 days of fighting, the Germans advanced 30-60 km and did not solve the assigned tasks. Marines of the Northern Fleet also played a positive role - attacks on the enemy's flank were delivered on July 7 and 14. And also the "unsinkable battleship of the Arctic" - the Rybachy Peninsula, in the area of the 23rd UR and the 135th rifle regiment of the 14th rifle division, the Nazis did not manage to cross the border sign No. 1.

On the Kandalaksha direction, the first blow was repulsed on June 24. On July 1, 1941, the Germans, using the 36th Army Corps, which included the 169th Infantry Division, the SS Nord mountain rifle brigade, as well as the Finnish 6th Infantry Division and two Finnish Jaeger battalions, launched a general attack on Kandalaksha. The enemy was opposed by the 122nd Rifle Division, the 1st Panzer Division (until mid-July 1941, then it was taken to another sector of the front) and the 104th Rifle Division, which was later transferred to the Kairaly area (without the 242nd Infantry Regiment, which was located in the Kestenga direction ). Until the beginning of August, there were fierce battles with little advance of enemy units. In early August 1941, a reinforced Finnish battalion penetrated the rear of the Soviet forces. The Finns saddled the road near the Nyamozero station, as a result, the Soviet group had to fight for two weeks in a strange environment. Only one enemy battalion blocked five rifle regiments, three artillery regiments and other formations. This case speaks of the complexity of the theater of operations, the lack of a developed road network, the difficult terrain among forests and swamps. When the road was unblocked two weeks later, the enemy delivered a strong blow from the front and forced the Red Army units to withdraw. Soviet troops entrenched four kilometers east of Alakurtti, and there the front line stabilized until 1944. The maximum advance of the enemy was about 95 kilometers.

German ski unit in the Arctic

By the autumn of 1941, it became clear that the plan for a lightning war in the Arctic had been thwarted. In fierce defensive battles, showing courage and stamina, Soviet border guards, soldiers of the 14th Army, sailors of the Northern Fleet bled the advancing enemy units and forced the Germans to take a break and go on the defensive. The German command failed to achieve any of the goals set in the Arctic. Despite some initial successes, the German troops failed to reach the Murmansk railway in any area, as well as to capture the bases of the Northern Fleet, reach Murmansk and capture it. As a result, there was the only section of the Soviet-German front where the enemy troops were already stopped a few tens of kilometers from the line of the Soviet State border, and in some places the Germans were not even able to cross the border.

Marines of the Northern Fleet on the deck of the MO-4 project boat

Partisans of the Arctic

In the summer of 1942, at the initiative of the regional party committee, partisan detachments "Bolshevik of the Arctic Circle" and "Soviet Murman" were formed in the region. Given the fact that the Murmansk region was practically not occupied, partisan formations were based on their territory and went into deep raids behind enemy lines. The Rovaniemi-Petsamo road became the main target of the actions of the partisan detachments; it was used to supply the German troops located in the regions of Northern Finland. During raids, Murmansk partisans attacked enemy garrisons, disrupted lines of communication and communications, carried out reconnaissance and sabotage activities, and captured prisoners. Several partisan detachments also operated in the Kandalaksha direction.

Approximately 30 thousand people were mobilized for military construction work. These people on the outskirts of Murmansk and Kandalaksha created several defensive lines. With the participation of the civilian population, the mass construction of trenches, cracks, bomb shelters was carried out. From the end of June 1941, a mass evacuation of the civilian population and industrial equipment began from the region. Initially, it was carried out with the help of railway transport, then with the help of ships and vessels they were transported to Arkhangelsk. They took out children, women, the elderly, stocks of strategic raw materials, equipment from Severnickel, the Tuloma and Nivsky hydroelectric stations. In total, 8 thousand wagons and more than 100 ships were taken out of the Murmansk region - this evacuation became part of a larger operation that was carried out in all the western regions of the Soviet Union. Those enterprises that were left in the region were transferred to a military footing and focused on fulfilling military orders.

All fishing trawlers were transferred to the Northern Fleet. Ship repair enterprises carried out work on re-equipping them into warships, weapons were installed on them. Shipyards also repaired warships and submarines. Since June 23, all enterprises of the region have switched to a round-the-clock (emergency) mode of operation.

The enterprises of Murmansk, Kandalaksha, Kirovsk, Monchegorsk mastered the production of automatic weapons, grenades, mortars. The Apatit plant began producing a mixture for incendiary air bombs, ship repair shops made boats, drags, mountain sleds, and a furniture factory produced skis for soldiers. Artels of trade cooperation produced reindeer teams, soap, portable stoves (bourgeois stoves), various camping utensils, sewed uniforms, and repaired shoes. Reindeer-breeding collective farms handed over reindeer and sleds to the army, supplied them with meat and fish.

Fishermen resumed fishing in the fall of 1941, catching fish necessary for the front and rear in combat conditions (they could be attacked by enemy aircraft, submarines). Although the region itself experienced a shortage of food, nevertheless, several echelons with fish were able to send to besieged Leningrad. In order to improve the food supply of the population of the Murmansk region at industrial enterprises, subsidiary farms were created, gardens were cultivated by people. A collection of berries and mushrooms, medicinal herbs, needles was organized. Teams of hunters were engaged in the extraction of game - elk, wild deer, birds. Fishing for lake and river fish was organized in the inland waters of the Kola Peninsula.

Murmansk after the bombing.

In terms of the number and density of bombings inflicted on the city, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad among Soviet cities. As a result of German bombardment, three-quarters of the city was destroyed.

A big battle in 1942 unfolded in the sea zone. The allies of the USSR in the Anti-Hitler coalition began the supply of military equipment, equipment, and food. The Soviet Union supplied the Allies with strategic raw materials. In total, during the Great War, 42 allied convoys (722 transports) came to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, 36 convoys were sent from the Soviet Union (682 transports reached the ports of destination). The first allied convoy arrived at the port of Murmansk on January 11, 1942, and in total during the Great Patriotic War, up to 300 ships were unloaded in it, more than 1.2 million tons of foreign cargo were processed.

The German command tried to disrupt the supply of goods, to cut off this strategic communication. To combat the Allied convoys, large forces of the Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine and surface forces were involved, which were located in Norwegian bases. The main burden of protecting the convoys was assigned to the forces of the British fleet and the Soviet Northern Fleet. Only for the protection of convoys, the ships of the Northern Fleet made 838 exits. In addition, she conducted reconnaissance from the air, and naval aviation covered the convoys. The Air Force also attacked German bases and airfields, enemy ships on the high seas. Soviet submarine forces went to sea and kept a combat watch at German naval bases and on possible routes for the passage of large surface ships of the Reich naval forces. The combined efforts of the British and Soviet covering forces destroyed 27 enemy submarines, 2 battleships and 3 destroyers. In general, the protection of the convoys acted successfully: under the cover of sailors and pilots of the Northern Fleet and the British Navy, sea caravans lost 85 transports, reached their target more than 1400.

Project 7 destroyer of the Soviet Northern Fleet "Grozny" at sea

Basically, the armies opposing each other carried out reconnaissance, sabotage (including with the help of partisans), and improved defense. Of the most significant actions, one can note the counteroffensive of the Red Army at the end of April 1942 in the Kestenga direction. Soviet troops actually thwarted the German offensive, intelligence revealed the concentration of enemy forces in this direction. But after a 10-day battle, the situation stabilized at the same positions. At the same time, the Red Army tried to go on the offensive in the Murmansk direction - at the turn of the Western Litsa River. The Soviet troops were able to break through several kilometers ahead, but the Germans soon restored the front. After that, there were no more or less large-scale hostilities in the 14th Army zone until October 1944.

Soviet submarines of the "C" series in the port of Polyarny

The 14th Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Vladimir Shcherbakov, consisted of: 8 rifle divisions, 5 rifle, 1 tank and 2 engineering brigades, 1 brigade of rocket launchers, 21 artillery and mortar regiments, 2 regiments of self-propelled guns. It had 97 thousand soldiers and officers, 2212 guns and mortars, 107 tanks and self-propelled gun mounts. The army was supported from the air by the 7th Air Army - 689 aircraft. And from the sea, the Northern Fleet under the command of Admiral Arseny Golovko. The fleet participated in the operation with detachments of ships, 2 brigades of marines and 276 naval aviation aircraft.

The situation was complicated by the factor that in three years the Germans built the so-called. Lapland defensive rampart. And after Finland left the war (September 19, 1944), military construction work took on a very active character. At the 90 km front, minefields, wire fences, anti-tank ditches and gouges stretched, reinforced concrete and armored firing points, shelters, trenches, and communication passages were erected. The fortifications intercepted all the passes, hollows, roads, dominating heights. From the sea, the positions were strengthened by coastal batteries and anti-aircraft positions arranged in caponiers. And this despite the fact that the terrain was already impassable - rivers, lakes, swamps, rocks.

On October 7, 1944, after the artillery preparation, the offensive began. Even before it began, engineering units were abandoned behind enemy lines in order to destroy the enemy's fortifications. On the right flank of the shock group, the 131st Rifle Corps advanced, its target was Petsamo, it was supported by a distracting task force and two brigades of marines. On the left flank, the 99th Rifle Corps went on the attack, it had the task of advancing in the direction of Luostari. On the left flank, the 126th light rifle corps performed a deep detour maneuver (its target was also Luostari).

Amphibious landing, 1944

German troops suffered significant losses in manpower, weapons and military equipment. So, Jodl's 19th mountain rifle corps lost only about 30 thousand people killed. The Northern Fleet destroyed 156 enemy ships and vessels, and the Soviet aviation forces destroyed 125 Luftwaffe aircraft. The Soviet army lost more than 15 thousand people killed and wounded, including more than 2 thousand soldiers and officers in Norway.

During the offensive of the Soviet troops in the Far North, the high military art of the Soviet military command was shown. The operational-tactical interaction of the ground forces with the forces of the Northern Fleet was organized at a high level. The Soviet corps carried out the offensive in the conditions of the difficult nature of the terrain, often without elbow communication with neighboring units. The forces of the 14th Army skillfully and flexibly maneuvered, used specially trained and prepared light rifle corps in battle. A high level was shown by the engineering units of the Soviet army, the formations of the Navy, and the Marine Corps.

During the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, Soviet troops liberated the occupied regions of the Soviet Arctic and provided tremendous assistance in the liberation of Norway.