Liberation of Finnmark

Part of World War II

Soviets meet Norwegians sheltering in a mine in Finnmark

Date

23 October 1944 – 26 April 1945

Location

Finnmark, Norway

Result

Allied victory

Finnmark liberated
German withdrawal into Festung Norwegen

Belligerents

Soviet Union
Norway
Naval support:
United Kingdom

Material support:

Sweden

Nazi Germany

Commanders and leaders

Vladimir Shcherbakov

Strength

Soviet Union:
14th Army
Northern Fleet
Norway:
3,000+ soldiers & police troops
1,500+ militia
2 corvettes
3 minesweepers
Various auxiliary vessels
United Kingdom:
Home Fleet

20th Mountain Army

Casualties and losses

Soviet Union:
6,084 killed or missing
15,149 wounded
Norway:
10 killed
14 captured
1 corvette sunk
6 fishing vessels destroyed

Unknown

Over 300 civilians died while evacuating Finnmark

Allied victory

Soviet Union
Norway
Naval support:
United Kingdom

20th Mountain Army

The liberation of Finnmark was a military operation, lasting from 23 October 1944 until 26 April 1945, in which Soviet and Norwegian forces wrestled away control of Finnmark, the northernmost county of Norway, from Germany. It started with a major Soviet offensive that liberated Kirkenes.

After the Moscow Armistice between the Soviet Union and Finland on 4 September 1944, the Petsamo region, still largely occupied by the Germans, was ceded to the Soviet Union, and the Finnish government agreed to remove the remaining German forces from their own territory by 15 September (leading to the Lapland War). During the retreat of the German 20th Mountain Army, called Operation Birke, the decision was made by the German Armed Forces Command to withdraw completely from northern Norway and Finland in Operation Nordlicht. While the Germans prepared for this operation, the Soviets decided to seize the offensive initiative on the Karelian Front.

...
Wikipedia