Lapland War

Part of the Arctic Theater of World War II

German withdrawal from Finland, 1944

Date	15 September 1944 – 25 April 1945 (7 months, 1 week and 3 days)
Location	Lapland, Finland
Result	Finnish victory

Belligerents

Germany

Finland

Commanders and leaders

Strength

214,000

75,000

Casualties and losses

~1,000 dead
~1,300 POW
~2,000 wounded

774 dead
262 missing
2,904 wounded

The Lapland War (Finnish: Lapin sota; Swedish: Lapplandskriget; German: Lapplandkrieg) was fought between Finland and Germany from September 1944 to April 1945 in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. For the Finns, this was a separate conflict, much like the Continuation War. From a German perspective, the retreat through Lapland was part of the Second World War as part of their two campaigns to evacuate northern Finland and northern Norway: Operation Birke and Operation Nordlicht. The Finnish Army was required to demobilise their forces while at the same time fighting to force the German Army to leave Finland. German forces retreated to Norway, and Finland managed to uphold its obligations under the Moscow Armistice, although it remained formally at war with the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the British Dominions until the formal conclusion of the Continuation War was ratified by the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.

Germany and Finland had been at war with the Soviet Union since June 1941, co-operating closely in the Continuation War. However, as early as the summer of 1943, the German High Command began making plans for the eventuality that Finland might make a separate peace agreement with the Soviet Union. The Germans planned to withdraw their forces northward in order to shield the nickel mines near Petsamo.

...
Wikipedia