Liberation of Finnmark

The fight for Kirkenes started on October 23, 1944, as the Soviet 14th Rifle Division beat off a series of counter-attacks from Tarnet to Kirkenes as they pursued the retreating Germans from Finland.[10] That night, the 45th Rifle Division crossed the Jar Fjord, leaving their tanks and rocket launchers with the 14th Rifle Division. Further south, the 10th Guards Division crossed over a pontoon bridge at Holmfoss, accompanied by KV tanks and self-propelled artillery.

Kirkenes left burning by the Germans

On 24 October the 45th Rifle Division met little resistance as it advanced to the edge of Bøkfjord, just across from Kirkenes. The 14th Rifle Division had more trouble at Elvenes, where the Germans destroyed the local bridge to prevent them from crossing the fjord. Two companies were able to cross the fjord further south, where the gap was only 150–200 meters wide.[10] The 10th Guards Division had advanced within 10 kilometers south of Kirkenes, securing the iron ore mines where many civilians were sheltering. The 28th Rifle Regiment was detached from the Guards division to cut off a potential German escape around the Langfjord, as the forces originally assigned with this task were low on supplies. Soviet air reconnaissance noticed German columns withdrawing from Kirkenes towards Neiden. Fires and explosions were seen in the town itself, as the withdrawing Germans had set the town ablaze as part of a scorched earth campaign. The 10th Guards Division reached the southern outskirts of the town by 03:00 25 October and engaged the withdrawing Germans.

The Soviet forces at Elvenes attempted once again to cross the Bøkfjord at around 05:00. The Germans withstood the assault for about an hour before being forced to retreat by direct attack and heavy artillery bombardment. Using amphibious Lend-Lease vehicles and makeshift rafts, the majority of the Soviet corps were able to cross the river by 09:00.[10] From there they headed to the southeastern outskirts of Kirkenes.

Supported by tanks and artillery, the 10th, 65th, and 14th Rifle Divisions cleared out the last of the German rearguard from Kirkenes by midday 25 October.[10]

On 26 October the 10th Rifle Division captured a German airfield 15 kilometers west of Kirkenes. The 28th Rifle Regiment arrived at Highway 50 in Munkelv that morning, only to find German units were still retreating through the area. Fighting ensued, and the Soviets summarily blocked off the road, forcing the Germans to evacuate to the north where they were extracted by sea. By evening, the entirety of the Munkelv area was secured and the Soviets were pushing up the Neiden river.

The German rearguard had hastily prepared a defense in Neiden on a ridge line. With the help of local fishermen, the Soviets were able to cross the river on 27 October and capture the ridge. Fighting was fierce, and the Germans managed to burn every building in the village, save for the local church, before withdrawing.

Faced with rugged terrain and increasingly cold temperatures, the 14th Army forces in the area were ordered to halt their advance and assume a defensive posture.[10] Only a reconnaissance force from the 114th Rifle Division continued west. It went 116 kilometers northwest of Neiden before halting on 13 November in Tana.

Colonel Arne Dagfin Dahl (left) in conversation with Peder Holt (right), the interim Governor of Finnmark, in Vadsø, in late 1944

On 25 October 1944, upon hearing that the Soviets were now entering Northern Norway, the British ordered the immediate deployment of Norwegian forces to the area to assist. The Norwegians assembled under Colonel Dahl, with a military mission (for liaison with the Soviets and to reestablish civil administration in Norway), the 231 strong "Bergkompani 2" (2nd Mountain Company)[3] under Major S. Rongstad, an area naval command with 11 men, and an "Area Command Finnmark" with 12 men. Marked Force 138 by the British, the Norwegians embarked on HMS Berwick as part of Operation Crofter, arriving in Murmansk on 6 November.[5] From there, they took a Soviet ship to Liinakhamari, boarding trucks that finally got them to Finnmark on 10 November. Colonel Dahl headquartered his mission in Bjørnevatn.[11]

Free Norwegian Forces march through Bjørnevatn in November 1944.

The Soviet commander at the front, Lieutenant General Shcherbakov, wished for the Norwegians to be deployed to the front lines as soon as possible. Too small to cover the front themselves, the Norwegians enlisted local volunteers, putting them into hastily formed "guard companies" armed with Soviet weaponry, pending the arrival of reinforcements from the United Kingdom. Approximately 1,500 men from the Kirkenes area were recruited.[12] On 29 November Norwegian corvettes Eglantine and Tønsberg Castle and three minesweepers were dispatched from Loch Ewe as part of Convoy JW 62 with 2,000 tons of supplies to assist the Norwegian forces in Finnmark. They reached Kola Inlet without incident on 7 December.[13] On 14 December the Tønsberg Castle struck a mine and sank with heavy loss of life.[14]

Norwegian police troops in Kautokeino.

Norwegian police troops - who for two years had been training secretly in Sweden – began arriving on 12 January 1945.[1] Overall 1,442 men and 1,225 tons of material would be flown in from Kallax, Sweden to Finnmark.[5] The United States sent nine Dakota transports to assist in moving the troops.[14] By April 1945, there would be over 3,000 Norwegian soldiers in Northern Norway.

One of the first undertakings of the Norwegian force was reconnaissance at the front lines. This was to monitor German troop movements and to investigate the whereabouts of the local population. Reports from Porsanger showed that the Germans were in the process of withdrawing, but were busy laying mines and torching buildings. Few civilians were left.[5]

Norwegian officers examine skis left behind by retreating German troops in Finnmark

During this time some locals who had been hiding in the area began to return to their destroyed settlements. In Gamvik, about 300 civilians who had avoided evacuation built temporary shacks out of wreckage to shelter in. On 19 December 1944, German E-boats deployed landing parties to destroy the town a second time. Some townspeople managed to arm themselves and hold off the Germans long enough for the bulk of the population to escape. 17 people were captured and forced to evacuate.[15]

The Norwegian troops sent rescue parties under Colonel Gunnar Johnson to assist civilians left stranded in scorched western Finnmark. By Christmas 1944, nearly 900 people had been successfully evacuated to liberated territory. In January 1945 he began making plans for a rescue operation on the island of Sørøya. On 15 February, in the only direct military action undertaken by the Western Allies (other than Norway) during the campaign, one Canadian and three British destroyers rescued 502 men, women, and children from the island.[11][16] By 1945 a group of Norwegian militiamen began operating on the island, ambushing German patrols while trying to avoid destruction. Various skirmishes and raids between February and March result in the deaths of six militiamen, and the capture of 14 more. Six fishing vessels employed by the militia were destroyed in a German air attack. Several Germans were also killed on the island.[4]

Elsewhere the Norwegians assisted the locals and dealt with the occasional German raid. Bergkompani 2 lost four men while retaking Finnmark. On 26 April 1945 the Norwegians declared Finnmark to be free. By the time of the German general surrender in Europe on May 8, the 1st Varanger battalion was poised on the Finnmark-Troms border.[5]