The Great Patriotic War in the Arctic. USSR vs Finland

"We passed, not knowing defeat, through forests, swamps and snow, and breaking through the steel fortifications, we defeated the evil enemy!"- this bravura song ends documentary about the war with the "White Finns". The picture was released on the screens of the Land of the Soviets in the spring of 1940, shortly after the conclusion of peace with Finland.

The main theater of operations was the Karelian Isthmus, which was crossed by a strip of fortifications known as the Mannerheim Line. The breakthrough of the "Mannerheim Line" was dedicated to the film of the same name. It, not surprisingly, said nothing about the huge losses suffered by the Red Army in frontal attacks.

The battles in the Arctic were much less intense and bloody than the battles on the Karelian Isthmus, north of Lake Ladoga and in Karelia and were not honored with a mention in newsreels. But it was on the northernmost sector of the front that the Soviet troops achieved the greatest success with the least losses.

In the north, the struggle was for the ice-free port of Petsamo (now Pechenga), nickel deposits and fleet bases. Both the USSR and Finland were interested in them. Interest in ports and mines was shown by Germany and Western allies - Britain and France.

Petsamo Liinakhamari, Finnish photography, 1939

Polar surprise

The fighting on all sectors of the front of the Soviet-Finnish front began on November 30, 1939. The Soviet 14th Army was advancing in the Far North. It was commanded by division commander Valerian Frolov. The 52nd Division moved south along the only Petsamo-Rovaniemi road. The 13th and 104th divisions and the forces of the Northern Fleet were tasked with protecting the coast.

The Finns, the researchers note, did not expect that the Soviet Union would throw into the tundra an entire combined arms army consisting of three divisions, five attached artillery regiments, an anti-aircraft division and two tank battalions.

On December 2, Soviet troops captured the port of Petsamo and cut off Finland from the Barents Sea, occupied the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas. Soon the offensive was stopped. The battles were reduced to repulse raids by Finnish skiers.

“There was no solid front line at all north of Lake Ladoga,” says Finnish historian Karl-Frederick Geust. “There was nothing like the Mannerheim Line in the north. where there are no roads. The Finns thought that it was impossible to conduct offensive battles with large forces in the conditions of a roadless tundra. But the Kremlin thought differently."

A surprise for the Finns, according to Russian historian Bair Irincheev, was the deployment of the Soviet 9th Army in Karelia. "The appearance of the 52nd division, as well as three divisions of the 9th army, the 122nd, 163rd and 44th was a very big surprise for the Finns. Finnish pre-war plans did not provide for the possibility of deploying such large formations in the tundra."

Historian Mikhail Meltyukhov describes the situation in the Arctic in November-December 1939 as follows: "The Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas were separated by a border. It was these peninsulas that were the objects of territorial claims. An offensive began, and it turned out that there were simply no Finns there."

As a result, says Mikhail Meltyukhov, the 52nd division occupied Petsamo and captured the nickel mines. Having lost Petsamo, Finland lost the opportunity to receive assistance from friendly states. In addition, the 14th Army was supposed to prevent the possible landing, as Meltyukhov says, of the troops of "third countries."

Fortitude, knowledge of the area, dexterity

In the summer of 1939, the Red Army, despite the failures of the first stage of the fighting, convincingly defeated the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol. In the second half of September, the Red Army made a successful campaign in Eastern Poland.

These victories played a cruel joke on the Soviet command. The People's Commissariat of Defense, the General Staff and the Kremlin believed that Finland could be dealt with quickly and with minor losses.

Many units and formations that fought in Mongolia and Poland were transferred to the Leningrad Military District. However, the war in the north turned out to be completely different.

The Finnish army, according to historian Carl-Fredrik Geust, had at least three advantages. "Firstly, the Finns defended their country. Secondly, the Finns were to a certain extent prepared for war in the Arctic conditions, in particular, they all knew how to ski. And thirdly, - this was a secret for a long time - The Finnish army had very effective radio intelligence."

Thanks to a well-established radio interception service, says Geust, the Finns had a complete understanding of the intentions of the Soviet command and were able to successfully maneuver their small forces, throwing them into the most threatened sectors of the front. This partly explains the seemingly paradoxical circumstance that the Finns during the war more than once managed to surround units and formations of the Red Army.

"The 54th mountain rifle division, the place of pre-war deployment of which was the city of Kandalaksha, was equipped local residents, the division was good. If the Finns managed to defeat the 163rd and 44th divisions and force them to retreat, then the 54th, although it was encircled, held out until the end of the war and diverted the entire 9th Infantry Division of the Finnish army, "says Bair Irincheev.

The 44th division, defeated near Suomusalmi, as well as the 52nd division operating in the Petsamo region, which suffered minor losses, were among those formations of the Red Army that took part in the Polish campaign in September 1939.

On December 2, 1939, the 52nd division occupied Petsamo, - Mikhail Meltyukhov restores the course of events, - "and by December 18 it is advancing to Rovaniemi ... And the 44th division found itself in a very unpleasant situation, panic began there, and a significant part of the losses connected precisely with panic. It is clear that the losses of the 44th were simply incomparable with the losses of the 52nd. "

Finnish D.O.T. on Rybachy, July 2009 globant.narod.ru

“The open area in the tundra,” notes Bair Irincheev, “did not allow the Finns to strike with impunity and retreat. In addition, Frolov, the commander of the 14th Army, very quickly gave the order to set up sidings, bolkhouses, checkpoints along the road in the tundra in order to secure communications of the 52nd division and its entire army from raids by Finnish skiers.

“We must not forget,” continues Bair Irincheev, “that the entire 9th division of the Finns was deployed against the 44th division. It is often found in literature, especially in Western literature, that the Finns destroyed the 44th division with almost one battalion. This is not so. After the Finns forced the 163rd division to withdraw, the 44th found itself in front of a comparable Finnish grouping."

Exotic General

The actions of the Finnish troops in the area of Petsamo and Salla were led by the commander of the Lapland group, General Kurt Wallenius, known for his sympathies for the Nazis. The Lapland group, together with the North Karelian group, was part of the North Finnish group.

In the Salla area, the Finns had four separate battalions, an infantry regiment and an artillery battery. Their forces in the vicinity of Petsamo were even more modest: three separate companies, a separate artillery battery and a reconnaissance group.

"Mannerheim, the commander-in-chief of the Finnish army, at the beginning of March 1940 sent Wallenius to the Vyborg Bay area. It was believed that since Wallenius organized a very strong defense in Lapland, he would also be able to successfully organize the defense of Vyborg. However, nothing came of it, and a day later - two after the arrival of Wallenius near Vyborg, he was removed," says Karl-Fredrik Geust.

Bair Irincheev says that the reason for the disgrace was very prosaic: "Wallenius, when he was called from Lapland to the Karelian Isthmus, went into a binge three days later, and was dismissed by Mannerheim."

"Since the 52nd Division was ordered to stop and in fact most war stood still, then, probably, the Finnish commander also somehow distinguished himself. But I can hardly imagine what he would have done if the 52nd Division had been ordered to move on. He just didn’t have the strength to stop her,” says Mikhail Meltyukhov.

The American newspaper Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in its issue of December 18, 1939 cites excerpts from an interview with General Wallenius to Swedish journalists. He argued that the war could last at least a year, and so characterized the enemy:

“Soviet artillery is good, tanks are nothing, and planes are piloted ineptly,” the general said. “Some captured Soviet pilots were found printed multiplication tables, with which they had to solve technical problems.”

Swedish ally

Foreign volunteers arrived to help Finland throughout the war - Hungarians, Norwegians, Danes, British, Estonians. Few of them managed to visit the front line. The largest contingent was put up by the Swedes, who really had to smell the gunpowder.

In northern Finland there was a Swedish volunteer corps with a total of about eight thousand people. The volunteers were commanded by General Ernst Linder. With the permission of the Swedish government, a volunteer squadron was formed, which had 12 light bombers and 12 fighters.

“Valleinus had a Swedish volunteer corps, which arrived at the front in Salla in the last days of February 1940. The Swedish squadron arrived in Lapland in January. It was the only squadron in Lapland,” says Carl-Fredrik Geust. “The Swedish squadron fought for two months, and Swedish infantry and artillery only two weeks."

According to a Finnish historian, before the arrival of the Swedish squadron, Finland had no aircraft in Lapland. Soviet bombers operated without fighter escort. According to Karl-Fredrik Geust, Swedish pilots shot down 9 Soviet aircraft. The losses of the Swedes amounted to 5 aircraft. Three pilots were killed and two were captured.

“The Swedish infantry went on the defensive and freed the Finnish 40th Infantry Regiment, which was sent in full force to the Karelian Isthmus. The Swedes took over the front from the 40th Infantry Regiment on February 28, 1940,” says Bair Irincheev.

"The Swedes provided real help. Not only stew, as they say. They supplied the Finns with weapons, there were a lot of volunteers there. For the Swedes, Finland has always been the front line of defense. That is, the farther the Soviet border from Sweden, the better. That is why the Swedes provided the greatest assistance," explains Mikhail Meltyukhov.

Landing is canceled

The port of Petsamo, nickel mines and naval bases were of interest to almost everyone - the USSR, Germany, the British, the French, and the Americans.

The capture of Petsamo for the Soviet command was explained by strategic considerations. Karl-Fredrik Geust recalls that the Western powers - Britain and France - planned to land troops on the coast of the Barents Sea.

Bair Irincheev believes that the threat of a British-French landing was one of the factors that prompted the Soviet command to "finish the matter in peace", although the Finnish army was already holding out with all its might.

“The Soviet-Finnish war was, to put it mildly, not very interesting for the British and French,” says Mikhail Meltyukhov. stealthily seize the iron ore deposits in Sweden, which supplied Germany with 75 percent of the ore."

Britain and France, continues Meltyukhov, could try, on the one hand, through Norway and Narvik, and on the other, through Petsamo, to occupy this region and control it. The Western allies, the Russian historian believes, firstly, were in no hurry to land. They expected that the war would drag on, and in every possible way contributed to this.

However, the landing of the Franco-British troops required the request of the government of Finland, as well as the consent of Norway and Sweden. The operation was supposed to start on March 20. The peace treaty between Finland and the USSR was concluded on March 12.

The British, French and Polish units, which did not have a chance to land in Petsamo, had to fight in April not with the Soviet, but with the German troops near Narvik in Norway. The Germans did not need permission to carry out the Weserubung operation.

The Soviet Union, which had partnered with Germany after the conclusion of the non-aggression pact and the treaty of friendship and border, provided the German naval forces with a supply point at Zapadnaya Litsa on the Kola Peninsula.

Documentation:

Memorandum of the USSR to the Government of Finland, October 14, 1939
"New provocations of the Finnish military", Pravda, November 29

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 lane. 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, towns, 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 integral part Plan Barbarossa. 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 - 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.

On June 28-29, 1941, active fighting in the Murmansk direction ( 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 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 strengthened 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. The 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 in a strange environment for two weeks. 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 not in any sector, as well as to capture the bases of the Northern Fleet, go to 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 were based on their territory and went into deep raids behind enemy lines. The main object of action partisan detachments became the road Rovaniemi - Petsamo, it was the supply of 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 civilian population massive 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 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 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 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, but still several echelons with fish were able to send besieged Leningrad. In order to improve the food supply of the population of the Murmansk region with industrial enterprises, subsidiary farms were created, vegetable 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, poultry. Fishing for lake and river fish was organized in the inland waters of the Kola Peninsula.

In addition, the residents of the region Active participation in fundraising 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 guarding the convoys was assigned to the forces of the British Navy 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.

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, 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.

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, 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).

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 heavy detour maneuver, by October 11 came out 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. Big role 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 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.

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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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 they can say little about the war in the North, on the Kola Peninsula, if they even 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.

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.

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.

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. The 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.

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.

The enterprises of Murmansk, Kandalaksha, Kirovsk, Monchegorsk in the shortest possible time 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, but still several echelons with fish were able to send 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, poultry. Fishing for lake and river fish was organized in the inland waters of the Kola Peninsula.

In addition, residents of the region took an active part in raising funds for the Defense Fund: people handed over 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.

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.

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, the counteroffensive of the Red Army at the end of April 1942 in the Kestenga direction can be noted. 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 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 side of 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.

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.

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

Our Victory in the Great Patriotic War has been and will be holy at all times!

A significant part of my family's life is connected with the Kola Arctic. For several years now I have been living in central Russia, but ... "if you love the North, you will never stop loving it" ... Therefore, in such a burning topic as the anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, I want to be closer to my native North.

Speaking of the Great Patriotic War, people recall the defeats of 1941-1942, the battle of Moscow, the blockade of Leningrad, the battle for Stalingrad, the North Caucasus, the Fiery 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. This is how the desire arose to find material about how the Arctic fought during the Great Patriotic War, how Murmansk survived, and why it was awarded the honorary title "Hero City" (1985).

After processing all the material, a rather long article was obtained, somewhat burdened with numbers, geographical names and historical details. But I deliberately did not remove them, because, thanks to the statistical data and other detailed information, you understand the depth, scale and tragedy of the events of those years, the price and greatness of the patriotic feat accomplished by our army, navy and residents of the city and region.

So, to everyone who really cares about the Kola Arctic...

Panorama of Murmansk (mid-30s of the XX century) - unfortunately, there was no other photo of pre-war Murmansk...

German aerial photography of airfields along the Kola Bay

The first Luftwaffe aircraft appeared over the Polyarnoye naval base on the afternoon of June 18, 1941. It was a reconnaissance aircraft. On the afternoon of June 19, the plane was met with barrage fire and considered it good to turn towards its airfield.

The Great Patriotic 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.

The Kola Peninsula occupied a large place in the aggressive plans of the German military-political command:

1 - Murmansk was of interest to the Nazis as an ice-free port and a large base of the Northern Fleet of the USSR. In the future, it was planned to capture the neighboring port of Arkhangelsk, where our ships delivered vital cargo from Far East, from Siberia - along the rivers Yenisei and Ob.

2 - The Kirov railway was also of strategic importance for the delivery of military cargo, since it connected Murmansk with the center of the country. It was supposed to reach the railway line in the Kandalaksha region and cut off the Kola Peninsula from the rest of the country.

3 - Hitler was attracted by the rich natural resources of the Kola land, especially the nickel deposits, the goal was to capture the nickel mining area in the historical region of Petsamo (now the Pechenga district of the Murmansk region) and defend it together with the Finns - this operation was of a local nature, but was important for fate the German military-industrial complex and the economies of Germany's allies.

4 - The Finnish elite were interested in the Kola lands, according to their plans, the Kola Peninsula was to become part of the "Great Finland".

Therefore, the 150,000-strong German army stationed in the Arctic had Hitler's directive to capture the city and the railway as soon as possible.

The Murmansk operation of 1941 (Blaufuks plan or Silberfuks plan, German Unternehmen Silberfuchs - "Polar Fox") - the offensive of the German-Finnish troops on the Murmansk sector with a length of up to 120 km of the Northern Front - began on June 28 and lasted until November 1941.

The enemy offensive on land began on June 28, 1941. The delay in the offensive for 7 days (from June 22) was due to the fact that the German command miscalculated using tanks in the tundra.

To seize the lands of the Kola Peninsula from Norway and Finland, the German army "Norway" was created (it was formed in December 1940) as part of 3 corps - two mountain German corps and one Finnish corps:
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.

According to the calculations of the German command, Murmansk was to be taken in a few days, since the invaders had a double superiority in manpower and almost 4-fold superiority in aviation.

German motorcyclists in the village of Alakurtti

For three days, the German army made attempts to capture Murmansk and destroy the warships of the Northern Fleet. The Nazis subjected frontier posts, bases of the navy and settlements located on the Kola Peninsula to massive bombing strikes.

The offensive of the Nazi troops in the North went in several directions at once: Murmansk, Kandalaksha (access to the White Sea in order to cut the Kirov railway) and Loukhi (railway station on the Leningrad-Murmansk line in the north of Karelia).

In the direction of the main blow of the Nazis (the village of Titovka - Murmansk) there were 3 outposts of the Polar Frontier District of the NKVD of the USSR, a rifle regiment.

The number of Soviet troops did not exceed 7 thousand people. Taking into account mountain training, special equipment and experience, the German mountain rangers had an undeniable advantage. Two of the three outposts, fighting heroically, retreated under superior enemy forces. The first attempts to stop the enemy were unsuccessful. 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.

From July 1941 to October 1944, the main sector of the front in the battles for Murmansk ran along the Zapadnaya Litsa River, from its source to its mouth. This was the longest and most dangerous section of the front, because from here lay the shortest road to Murmansk - only 50 - 60 kilometers.
Many fascist forces were thrown into this sector of the front. With powerful artillery and mortar support, the mountain rangers stormed the positions of the Soviet troops. The battle went on for every height, for every fortified point. Despite a significant superiority in manpower, the Nazis expanded the bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Western Litsa by only 4 kilometers and, having lost hundreds of soldiers, were forced to go on the defensive. The result of the battles in the Valley of Glory is the failure of the German offensive against Murmansk.
The fierceness of the fighting and the resistance of our troops is evidenced by the fact that throughout the valley you can find traces of the war: trenches, dugouts, cartridges, etc. The further into the hills from the road, the more finds can be found.

The shells and logistics of the German troops are still scattered over the surrounding hills for several tens of kilometers.

Huge role in disruption German offensive on Murmansk, the landing of units of the Marine Corps played in the bay of Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa (1941).
As elsewhere on the Soviet-German front, the fighting in the North immediately became fierce. Soviet fighters and marines responded with fierce resistance, iron stamina. The war in the Arctic is called "positional". And also "lieutenant". Here there were no bright victories of the generals, and decisions often had to be made by junior officers in order to ensure local victories over the enemy. A fierce struggle was waged for each hill, and the dead did not have time to bury.

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.

The sailors nicknamed this legendary patch of land the "granite battleship". The defender of the Rybachy Peninsula, Nikolai Bukin, wrote a poem "I can't live without the sea", which was published in the newspaper of the Northern Fleet "Krasnoflotets". Later, the song "Farewell, Rocky Mountains" was composed on these verses. She became the anthem of the fighting Arctic.

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. It stretches in a latitudinal direction along the coast of the mainland and breaks off with rocks into the sea from the north side. In the extreme eastern part of the ridge there is the only pass through which the road goes to the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas. The line of defense has not changed for almost 3.5 years. This is the only section of the front where the Germans could no longer advance deeper into our country even a centimeter ... On one of the heights of Musta-Tunturi, the events described by K. Simonov took place famous poem"Son of an artilleryman."

Sailors and pilots of the Northern Fleet, border guards, infantrymen showed miracles of heroism and stamina. The soldiers of the regular army were also helped by local rangers, who, fighting furiously, left up to one and a half thousand German corpses on the battlefield after one attack.

The fascist German troops again launched a general offensive against Murmansk in the autumn of 1941. Hostilities in the Arctic resumed on 8 September. The German command threw all its forces to achieve the goal. The fighting continued for more than 10 days ...

However, the 14th Army of the Karelian Front, with the support of aviation and artillery of the Northern Fleet, launched a counterattack on September 17 and defeated the German 3rd Mountain Rifle Division, throwing its remnants across the Zapadnaya Litsa River and lakes Upper and Lower Verman (Kandalaksha direction). Thus, the enemy's offensive was stopped 70 km west of Murmansk near the Zapadnaya Litsa River.

Western Litsa River

The Germans called the river valley "the valley of death." For our fighters, it has become the Valley of Glory.

For several days of fighting, the invaders suffered thousands of losses here. Especially the German rangers were afraid of fights with the sailors of the 1st and 2nd volunteer detachments of the Northern Fleet, who fought with unparalleled courage and courage on land.

The first downed planes these days were chalked up to pilot B.F. Safonov, the future twice Hero of the Soviet Union (he died in May 1942 at the age of 26)

The last photo of Lieutenant Colonel Boris Feoktistovich Safonov

The result of the battles in the Valley of Glory is the failure of the German offensive against Murmansk. The enemy lost more than 1,500 soldiers and officers killed and even more wounded, many machine guns, mortars, an arms depot and prisoners were captured.
On September 22, 1941, Hitler signed OKW Directive No. 36, which spoke of a temporary halt to the offensive of the Mountain Rifle Corps on Murmansk. In the Kandalaksha and Loukh directions, Soviet troops also stopped the advance of the German-Finnish troops.

The townsfolk in Germany in those days were accustomed to victorious reports from the Eastern Front. But no such reports have been received from its polar area. As in the battle near Moscow, the enemy was stopped and defeated not by frost, not by snow, not by tundra, not by hills near Murmansk - the heroism and selflessness of the defenders of the Arctic stopped the Nazis.
The Murmansk operation ended in the disruption of the plans of the German-Finnish command and the stabilization of the front.

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. On April 28, 1942, the Murmansk offensive began. Its goal is to defeat the enemy and push him back to the west, to ensure the safety of Murmansk, the Kirov and Obozerskaya railways. But the Nazis did not waste time.

During the winter, powerful strongholds-fortresses made of stone and reinforced concrete were built at all heights. Even cable cars were built in the German rear. The Germans were very well armed. Our fortifications were significantly inferior: there were no materials and tools for their construction. The army received only half of the required ammunition. For success offensive operation our troops needed a triple superiority in the number of troops over the enemy. It was in such unequal conditions that this operation began. No decisive success was achieved. Nevertheless, one of the main tasks of the operation was completed - the enemy, having committed almost all of his reserves into battle, was bled and was unable to launch the attack on Murmansk planned for 1942.

At the cost of fierce fighting and boundless courage Soviet soldiers and sailors, the front line in the Arctic remained unchanged until the autumn of 1944. The offensive of the German-Finnish troops in the Far North did not achieve most of its goals.
Despite some initial successes, neither the Germans nor the Finns reached the Kirov railway in any section - Main way the receipt of military goods in the USSR was preserved and continued to operate throughout the war, and the Nazi troops did not take possession of the base of the Soviet navy in the Far North and were forced to go on the defensive.

On October 7, 1944, the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation of the Soviet troops began. The main blow was delivered from the region 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 Soviet troops and.

In 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the medal "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic".

As a result of the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation by the troops of the Karelian Front and the Northern Fleet, the threat to Murmansk was removed.
Soviet troops advanced 3 - 150 km, liberated the Petsamo region (now Pechenga, Murmansk region) and the northern regions of Norway, thereby laying the foundation for the deliverance of this country from Nazi occupation. The enemy lost only about 30 thousand people killed.

The Northern Fleet sank 156 enemy ships and vessels. Aviation destroyed 125 enemy aircraft. For distinction in battles, 51 formations and units received the honorary titles "Pechenga" and "Kirkenes", 70 formations and units were awarded orders, 30 soldiers of the Karelian Front and 26 sailors of the Northern Fleet were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Memorial to the defenders of the Soviet Arctic in the Valley of Glory

Valley of Glory - a valley on the right bank of the Western Litsa River in the lower reaches. 74-76 km of the highway Murmansk - Pechenga. Here in July 1941 there were fierce battles. It used to be called Death Valley.

Until now, the search engines find the remains of our soldiers and their dying messages - short, hastily written down ... This is the last cry of the soul ... The lines of these notes are reproduced on the monument in the Valley of Glory with the preservation of handwriting and spelling. Perhaps this is the best monument to our soldiers. Many people weep aloud as they read these messages...

***
Silence on the nameless hill.
Only the cries of a bird
Above the frontier, cursed
Polar Lyceum.
Sunk between the stones
Helmets and ammo.
Here they fell asleep in a grave sleep
Russian barriers.
The whiteness of the bones argue
With shaggy moss.
And the waters flow to the sea
On the bones of a soldier.
Edelweiss rusty
The stone is growing.
There was a body, but decayed,
"Got mit uns" leaving.
Through black eye sockets
The blood of lingonberries.
Western River Litsa -
Jaegers barrier.

Vsevolod Barzhitsky

During the Great Patriotic War, it is difficult to find a sector of the front more difficult in terms of climate than the Arctic. Opponents had to operate in a harsh climate, sparsely populated and other "charms" of the nature of the Far North and the Arctic. Magnetic storms are not uncommon here, affecting, among other things, radio communications. During the polar night, foggy weather is not uncommon, and storms rage in autumn.

These heavy natural conditions significantly complicate the combat activities of aviation. At the same time, the war in the Arctic on the border between the USSR and Germany, which occupied Norway, and since June 25 - in Soviet and Finnish Lapland, was waged on both sides in conditions of extremely limited resources (both material and human). At the same time, the almost nowhere described air war that took place in this area is one of the most interesting chapters in the history of air conflicts. Here, between the best aces of the opposing sides, real knightly duels took place, comparable to those that took place in the sky above Western Front during the First World War.

Much attention is paid to the role of aviation in ensuring the escort of allied convoys to the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, as well as the participation of allied (primarily British) aviation. At the same time, almost the entire layer of domestic and foreign printed sources, documents and memoirs of veterans available today was used.

Over the past seven decades, the topic has received fairly broad, but one-sided coverage.

A comprehensive study of the air war in the Arctic began immediately after its end. Among the priorities at that time was the creation official history. Thus, in 1945–1946, the Chronicle of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union at the Northern Theater appeared, as well as the Historical Report on the Combat Activities of the Northern Fleet Air Force in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. The monograph Wings of the Northern Fleet by V. Boyko, published in 1976 in Murmansk, completed the creation of the “varnished” history of the aviation of the Northern Fleet in the Second World War. It should be noted that even today this work is practically the only generalizing work on the topic of aviation of the Northern Fleet in the war. Of course, the author did not manage to get away from the role of the party in general and political workers in particular - the time was such.

A new surge of interest in the topic (as well as in the entire history of the Great Patriotic War) began in the 90s of the XX century. First of all, the works of aviation historians such as Alexander Mardanov and Yuri Rybin stand out, who published three dozen articles on various aspects of the air war in the Arctic in various specialized journals.

Separately, it is worth noting the activities of Associate Professor Pomorsky international university M.N. Suprun from Arkhangelsk, who was able to organize the release of four issues of the collection of articles “Northern convoys. Research. Memories. Documentation". In addition, in collaboration with R.I. Larintsev, he published an excellent book "The Luftwaffe under the North Star", which today is a help to all those who are interested in the topic of the opponents of the North Sea.

All the same Roman Larintsev, together with the well-known researcher from Taganrog Alexander Zablotsky, in a relatively short time published a whole series of articles on the confrontation between Soviet aviation and the Kriegsmarine in the north, which eventually resulted in the book "Soviet Air Force against the Kriegsmarine" (M .: Veche, 2010).

Attempts were also made to evaluate actions with the opposite sign - that is, the Luftwaffe against the Northern Fleet. This was done in the book of the trio of authors known for their Germanophile views - M. Zefirov, N. Bazhenov and D. Degtev "Shadows over the Arctic: Luftwaffe actions against the Soviet Northern Fleet and allied convoys" (M .: ACT, 2008).

Assessing the published literature on the topic as a whole, it is worth recognizing that this moment there is no complete picture of the air war in the Arctic yet. And I hope that the proposed work will be the first sign in understanding the results of the war on the northern sector of the huge Soviet-German front.

German offensive (June-September 1941)

The region of the Soviet Arctic has always been famous for its large reserves of raw materials, fuel and seafood. After the revolution, powerful sawmills were built in Arkhangelsk, Onega, Mezen, industrial development of copper-nickel ores and apatites on the Kola Peninsula, the Vorkuta coal deposit, fluorite deposits in the Amderma region, coal in Norilsk, salt and coal in Nordvik began.

Of particular importance was the only ice-free port in the north of the Soviet Union - the small town of Murmansk. Founded on October 4, 1916 as Romanov-on-Murman, it was originally intended to ensure the supply of military supplies from Europe from the Entente allies. It is precisely because of this that it had its own specifics and Civil War in the North, when, under the pretext of protecting huge warehouses with weapons and ammunition, an allied expeditionary force was landed here. Largely because of this, Soviet power in the Arctic was established relatively late - only on March 7, 1920. Over the next 12 years, the city received serious development. Thus, the population of Murmansk increased 16 times, reaching 42 thousand people.

At the time of the start of Operation Barbarossa, compared to other sectors of the front in Finland and Norway, the group opposing the Soviet troops was actually the weakest of all, since Hitler only tried to prevent the British landing in this area. Therefore, very limited forces were deployed on the border of the Soviet Union with Norway and Finland. On the other hand, the entire Karelian sector, from Lake Ladoga northeast of Leningrad to the southern coast of the Barents Sea far to the north - and this is 950 kilometers - was covered by only two Soviet armies(7th and 14th). The 14th Army was located west of the Kola Peninsula and had the main objective of covering Murmansk.

The Air Force of the 14th Army and attached units of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet were commanded by a talented pilot, Major General of Aviation Alexander Kuznetsov. On June 22, 1941, Soviet aviation units defending Arctic zone and the Kola Peninsula, were located as follows:

According to pre-war plans, the 7th Army was stretched along almost the entire Soviet-Finnish border, from Lake Ladoga to the southern part of the Kola Peninsula. The army command had very limited air forces - only one air regiment (72nd sbap 55th garden).

The presence of a relatively small number of aircraft was compensated high level pilot training. Almost half of them served in Karelia and the Far North for more than two years, many had solid combat experience gained in the skies of Spain and Khalkhin Gol or during the Soviet-Finnish war.

As already noted, at the initial stage of the war against the USSR, the main task of the German group in Norway was to prevent any attempts by Great Britain to land troops on the continent (and such a possibility was seriously discussed in London). Therefore, limited contingents of ground and air forces were allocated for the offensive and capture of Murmansk.

As of June 22, 1941, Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpf's 5th Air Fleet had a total of 240 aircraft in Norway and a small unit in Finland. The main combat units were KG 30.1. / KG 26, separate parts of JG 77 and IV. (St) / LG 1. Before the war, the units intended to fight against the Soviet Union were united in the Luftwaffenkommando Kirkenes under the command of Colonel Andreas Nielsen .