Operation Arctic Fox

A column from Panzerabteilung 40 during the advance on the Murmansk railway, 1941.

Date	1 July 1941 – 17 November 1941
Location	Salla, Kestenga, Alakurtti, Verman River
Result	Stalemate

Belligerents

Nazi Germany

Finland

Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

Strength

XXXVI Corps

III Corps

14th Army

(reinforcements)
Grivnik brigade(reinforcements)

7th Army

54th Rifle Division

Casualties and losses

XXXVI Corps: 9,463 men
III Corps: unknown

Heavy casualties

Operation Arctic Fox (German: Unternehmen Polarfuchs, Russian: Кандалакшская операция) was the codename given to a World War II campaign by German and Finnish forces against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland in July 1941. The operation was part of the larger Operation Silver Fox (Silberfuchs) which aimed to capture the vital port of Murmansk. Arctic Fox was conducted in parallel to Operation Platinum Fox (Platinfuchs) in the far north of Lappland. The principal goal of Operation Arctic Fox was to capture the town of Salla and then to advance in the direction of Kandalaksha (Finnish: Kantalahti) to block the railway route to Murmansk.

As a joint operation by German and Finnish forces, it combined experienced Finnish arctic troops with relatively unsuitable German forces from Norway. They managed to capture Salla after fierce fighting, but the German troops were unable to overcome the old, pre-war Soviet border fortifications further east. The Finnish units were able to make better progress, and came to within 30 km (19 mi) of the Murmansk railway. Strong Soviet reinforcements prevented any further advance. Because of the escalating situation further south in Central Russia, the Germans were unwilling to assign more units to this theatre, calling an end to their offensive. While the Finns were reluctant to continue the attack on their own due to diplomatic pressure from the United States. Arctic Fox ended in November 1941, when both sides dug in at their current positions.

The German High Command (OKW) included Finland in its plan for its major offensive against the Soviet Union: Operation Barbarossa. A joint Finnish-German offensive named Operation Silver Fox was planned to support the Germany's main effort in central Russia. The goal of Silver Fox was to capture or disable the port of Murmansk, which was to be a major destination for Western Allied shipping aid to the Soviet Union, by executing pincer attack against it. The southern pincer of the attack was named Operation Arctic Fox and was launched from the Kemijärvi region of Central Finland against the defenses at Salla.

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