— fighting troops of the Northern and Karelian (since September 1, 1941) fronts, the Northern Fleet and the White Sea military flotilla against German and Finnish troops on the Kola Peninsula, North Karelia, the Barents, White and Kara Seas in June 1941 - October 1944.

Murmansk is the world's largest city located beyond the Arctic Circle. Murmansk is located on the rocky eastern coast of the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea. One of the largest ports in Russia.

For defense from German troops During the Great Patriotic War, Murmansk was awarded the title of Hero City on May 6, 1985. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Gold Star medal.

The Russians called the Norwegians and Normans “Murmans”, “Urmans”. Later, this name was transferred to the land where events took place with the participation of foreigners. “Murman” began to be called the coast of the Barents Sea, neighboring Norway, and then the entire Kola Peninsula. Accordingly, the name “Murmansk” means “city on Murman”. (A. A. Minkin. Toponyms of Murman)

Pre-war years

By the early 1920s, Murmansk had less than two and a half thousand inhabitants and was in decline. Industry was represented mainly by handicraft cooperatives, and fishing fell into decline. The city landscape consisted of two or three streets of one-story houses, overcrowded workers' barracks, a disorderly cluster of shacks, railway carriages adapted for housing, and "suitcases" abandoned by the interventionists - houses made of corrugated iron with a semicircular roof. One of the city’s districts received the nickname “red village” because of the red-colored heated cars adapted for housing.

From the second half of the 1920s, the city began to develop rapidly, as Soviet Union there was a strategic need for arrangement major port, transit through which would not depend on relations with neighboring countries. Since 1933, Murmansk has been one of the supply and ship repair bases for the Northern Fleet. In addition to military-strategic purposes, the port provided maritime communication with the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Complex under construction; the development of the Murmansk port also pursued the task of increasing fish catches: a fishing port was created in the city on the site of a former military enterprise for fish processing and ship repair, which began to develop rapidly, and only after for several years it provided supplies of two hundred thousand tons of fish annually to other regions of the USSR.

Streets were laid out with wooden sidewalks and rows of one- and two-story log houses. In 1927, the first multi-storey brick building appeared, which has survived to this day. In 1934, the first route bus ran across Murmansk - from the northern outskirts to the southern part of the city. At the same time, the Polar Arrow express began to run along the railway line to Leningrad. In 1939, for the first time in the city, asphalt laying began on Leningradskaya Street. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there were already several dozen brick and stone buildings in Murmansk, and the city’s population reached 120 thousand inhabitants.

In the 1920-1930s, due to changes in the administrative-territorial division, the city repeatedly changed its status. In 1921, Murmansk became the center of the province of the same name, and since 1927 - the district of the same name within Leningrad region, and since 1938 - the Murmansk region.

Panorama of the central part of Murmansk (photographed from an airplane), 1936.

Defense of the Arctic

The German command planned to capture an important strategic point in the North - Murmansk and the Kirov Railway, destroy the bases of the USSR Northern Fleet and take possession of the Kola Bay. To do this, German and Finnish troops attacked in three directions: Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Loukhi.

Planned operations of Germany and Finland in the Kola Arctic

The Wehrmacht command viewed the Arctic as an auxiliary (albeit important) sector of the Eastern Front. The German command developed in advance plans for combat operations for the mountain army “Norway”, giving them code names: “Renntier” (“Reindeer”, beginning June 22, 1941) - capturing the nickel mine area in the Petsamo Region, carrying out activities (road construction, etc. .) to carry out the next operation - “Platinfuchs” (“Silver Fox”, beginning June 22, 1941 + 7 days) - an attack on Port Vladimir, Polyarny along the Arctic coast to Murmansk. The XXXVI Army Corps of the Wehrmacht was supposed (according to the plan “Polarfuchs” - “Arctic fox”), moving from Rovaniemi (Finland), where it ended up by June 14, 1941 as a result of a maritime transport operation from Norway (“Blaufuchs 2”), to take Salla, Kandalaksha, then turn north and, advancing along the Kirov railway, connect with the Norway mountain rifle corps to capture Murmansk. The joint actions of the German and Finnish armies north of the Oulu-Belomorsk line until June 5, 1941 were codenamed “Silberfuchs” (“Silver Fox”). It was planned to capture the Kola Peninsula in two weeks.

German troops enter Petsamo (Pechenga) as part of Operation Silberfuchs. June 1941.

On the northern flank, the Soviet troops were opposed by the German army “Norway” (from January 1942 - “Lapland”, from June 1942 - XX Mountain) under the command of Colonel General N. von der Falkenhorst, consisting of 3 army corps, the mountain corps “Norway” , who were considered the elite of the German ground forces and had valuable combat experience in mountain warfare, including in high latitudes; operationally subordinate to the III Finnish Army Corps; part of the forces of the German 5th Air Fleet and a small navy. The Finnish Karelian Army had the task of capturing southern regions Karelia and the Karelian Isthmus and after reaching the border of the river. Svir in the Leningrad region to unite with the troops of the German Army Group North. The enemy group numbered 530 thousand people, 4.3 thousand guns and mortars, 206 tanks, 547 aircraft, 80 ships and 6 submarines.

On the part of the Red Army, the 14th Army, which was part of the Northern Front (formed on June 24, 1941) (commander until August 23, 1941, Lieutenant General V.A. Frolov) covered the Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Ukhta directions. The Northern Fleet provided defense against invasion from the sea and protected northern sea communications. To protect transport in the White Sea, in the eastern regions of the Barents Sea and the Northern Sea Route, the White Sea Military Flotilla was created in August 1941, which provided support for more than 2,500 transports during the war years. The troops of the Northern Front under the command of Lieutenant General M. M. Popov, together with the Northern Fleet, numbered 420 thousand people, 7.8 thousand guns and mortars, 1.5 thousand tanks, 1.8 thousand aircraft, 32 ships and 15 submarines.

On June 29, 1941, German and Finnish troops launched an offensive, delivering the main blow in the Murmansk direction and secondary ones in the Kandalaksha and Loukha directions. By July 4, Soviet troops retreated to the defensive line on the Zapadnaya Litsa River, where the Germans were stopped by the 52nd Infantry Division and units Marine Corps. The landing in the Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa Bay (1941) played a huge role in disrupting the German offensive on Murmansk. In the Kandalaksha and Loukh directions, Soviet troops stopped the advance of the German-Finnish troops, who failed to reach railway, and they were forced to go on the defensive.

Military operations in the Arctic resumed on September 8, 1941. Having failed to achieve success in the Kandalaksha and Loukh directions, the command of the Army of Norway, in accordance with the order of the Wehrmacht headquarters, transferred the main blow to the Murmansk direction. But here, too, the offensive of the reinforced German mountain rifle corps failed. The northern group of Germans advancing on Polyarny was able to advance only 4 km in 9 days. The southern group, with the support of aviation, managed to cut the Titovka-Murmansk road by September 15 and create a threat of access to the Murmansk area. However, the 14th Army, with part of its forces (1st Polar Rifle Division), with the support of aviation and artillery of the Northern Fleet, launched a counterattack on September 17, defeated the 3rd Mountain Rifle Division, throwing its remnants across the Zapadnaya Litsa River, and turned the tide of military operations for the defense the city of Murmansk in favor of the troops of the Karelian Front. After this, the German command stopped the attack on Murmansk. The Germans, having failed to break through the defenses of the Red Army in the area of ​​the peninsulas, entrenched themselves on the plateau of the same name and the Musta-Tunturi ridge, 40 kilometers in the direction of Murmansk, turning their citadel with a deeply echeloned (four rows of fortifications and barriers) defense. Full-length trenches and trenches were cut into the body of the ridge, bomb shelters, ammunition depots, headquarters, hospitals, etc. were built. Fortifications in a monolithic granite rock about four kilometers long, in some places rising 260 meters above the sea: there were guns, mortars, pillboxes, stationary, remote-controlled flamethrower installations. Roads were built along the plateau to the coast. For more than three years there were continuous fierce and bloody battles.

Border sign A-36 (apparently a copy) in the Museum of Defense of the Sredny and Rybachy Islands

The height of 115.6 ridges has its own name Border Mark and is better known as the place where throughout the war our soldiers kept intact the border sign A-36 of the former Soviet-Finnish border.

Marine reconnaissance officers of the Northern Fleet on the Musta-Tunturi ridge.

The offensive of the German mountain rifle corps, which began on September 8, 1941 in the Murmansk direction, was stopped by a counterattack by the 14th Army. On September 23, the enemy was thrown back across the river. Great Western Litsa, where the front stabilized until October 1944. Great importance in the failure of plans to capture Murmansk, the Polar Division had, which became a necessary reserve for the bloodless Soviet troops. The German troops were exhausted, but due to Hitler’s desire to ensure the safety of Norway at any cost from being captured by Britain, they did not receive the necessary forces to carry out the operation. The German command's underestimation of the enemy and the characteristics of the terrain also had an impact. By October 1941, the Norwegian Civil Corps, having lost 10,290 people killed and wounded, had advanced only 24 km towards Murmansk.

Defensive battles of Soviet troops in the Murmansk direction in 1941-1944

The fighting in the Kandalaksha direction, where a larger number of enemy troops were concentrated than in Murmansk, began on July 1, 1941 and went on with particular ferocity: the fighting here was carried out by the 101st border detachment, the 42nd rifle corps (122nd, 104th rifle divisions). On July 7, Soviet troops began retreating to the second line of defense, which was defended by the 104th Infantry Division. On September 17, spacecraft troops occupied a line along the Verman River (90 km from Kandalaksha), where hostilities stabilized for three years. “Silberfuchs” (the attack on Kandalaksha), according to German generals, was just an “expedition” (F. Halder), the main military operations took place to the south (although this “expedition” cost the Finns alone 5 thousand killed and wounded soldiers by mid-September 1941).

In the southern direction, the Finns, having created a great superiority in forces and means in the direction of the main attack, captured the city of Olonets on September 5, 1941, and reached the river. Svir, cut the Kirov railway, captured Petrozavodsk on October 2, but did not achieve success in the offensive in the Medvezhyegorsk direction. The plan to combine German and Finnish troops to create a second blockade ring around Leningrad was prevented. The active actions of the Red Army troops pinned down more than 20 enemy divisions, exhausting and bleeding them. The losses of Soviet troops in this defensive operation were: irrevocable - over 67 thousand people, sanitary losses - about 69 thousand people, as well as 540 guns and mortars, 546 tanks, 64 aircraft, 8 ships.

The huntsmen are protected by the seid. May 1942

From 1942, the main fighting moved to the sea, where the German Navy and Air Force tried to disrupt maritime transport by Allied convoys. The importance of Murmansk increased after the failure of the blitzkrieg and the beginning of allied assistance under Lend-Lease (the Wehrmacht command, of course, did not count on such a development of events in its plans).

Attack of the Soviet Marines on the Northern Front. 1942

The enemy concentrated his efforts on destroying Murmansk and its port from the air in order to paralyze work on processing and sending goods to the center of the country. The city was burned almost completely (despite the fact that at the beginning of the war the USSR had 4 times more aircraft in the North than Germany), but the Nazis failed to complete the task - the port continued to operate even in those conditions that made it possible to call Murmansk a “city-city”. front." In Murmansk and the region, life was tense: fish were being caught for the front and rear of the country, all enterprises were working for victory.

Murmansk residents watch the air battle over the city. 1943

The Luftwaffe carried out up to fifteen to eighteen raids on some days, dropped a total of 185 thousand bombs and carried out 792 raids during the war years.

Among Soviet cities, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad in terms of the number and density of bomb attacks on the city.

As a result of the bombing, three quarters of the buildings were destroyed, especially wooden houses and buildings. The heaviest bombing was on June 18, 1942. German planes dropped mostly incendiary bombs on the predominantly wooden city; To make it difficult to fight fires, mixed bombing was used using fragmentation and high-explosive bombs. Due to dry and windy weather, the fire spread from the center to the northeastern outskirts of Murmansk.

Fire after the bombing of the city, 1942

The feat of the volunteer builders who restored the city during the war is immortalized in the monument “In honor of the builders who died in 1941-1945,” opened in 1974.

Monument “In honor of the builders who died in 1941-1945”

During the first year of the war, 7 convoys (PQ-0 ... PQ-6) were carried out from England and Iceland to the ports of the White Sea. 53 transports arrived, including Soviet ones. 4 convoys (QP-1 ... QP-4) were sent from our ports to England. A total of 47 transports left.

Since the spring of 1942, the German command launched active operations at sea. The Germans concentrated large naval forces in Northern Norway. Since March 1942, the Germans carried out a special naval and air operation against each allied convoy. However, the British Navy, with the support of the Northern Fleet of the USSR, as well as American ships, thwarted the plans of the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe to isolate the USSR in the North from Great Britain and the USA.

In total, during the Second World War, the Northern Fleet provided escort for 1,471 convoys to the GDP, in which there were 2,569 transport ships, while the merchant fleet lost 33 ships (19 of them from submarine attacks).

Throughout 1943 there was a stubborn struggle for air supremacy, which was ultimately won by Soviet aviation. The Northern Fleet managed to ensure the passage of allied convoys in its area of ​​​​responsibility and began operations to destroy enemy combat and transport ships - the crews of submarines and torpedo boats especially distinguished themselves in performing these tasks.

The TKA-12 torpedo boat, which was commanded by twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Osipovich Shabalin during the Great Patriotic War, is installed on a pedestal on Muzhestvo Square in the city of Severomorsk, Murmansk Region.

In 1944, as a result of the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation successfully carried out by Soviet troops (06/10-08/09/1944), which led to Finland’s exit from the war (09/19/1944), the Wehrmacht command decided to withdraw its troops operating in the Kandalaksha and Kestenga directions and strengthen the defense in the Arctic. On September 3, 1944, the German command approved a plan for a withdrawal operation (codenamed Birke - “Birch”): break away from Soviet troops in the Louhi and Kandalaksha sectors, transfer the liberated troops through Rovaniemi to the north Kola Peninsula and gain a foothold there. The September offensives of the 19th and 26th armies in the Kandalaksha and Ukhta directions, despite the well-echeloned defense of German troops, were successful: Alakurtti was taken on September 14, 1944, in the last ten days of September the divisions of the 19th Army reached the state border with Finland, liberating 45 populated areas, putting 7 thousand out of action German soldiers and officers; The 26th Army, which was opposed by the XVIII German Mountain Corps, advanced 35 km into Finnish territory by the end of September. Nevertheless, at the direction of the Supreme Command Headquarters, the troops went on the defensive, preserving forces for the primary task in the Arctic - the liberation of the Pechenga region. Thus, it became possible to successfully carry out the time-shortened Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation (07.10-29.10.1944).

Musta-Tunturi Ridge

Soviet scouts on the slope of the Musta-Tunturi ridge. 1943.

On the stormy night of October 10, 1944, the assault on the German fortifications on Musta-Tunturi began from several directions, including a detour. The most difficult task fell to the 614th separate penal company, which was equal in size to a battalion or regiment: 750 people. In difficult weather conditions, in order to divert the enemy’s attention, it had to be from below, from the sea, from the side of the Sredny Peninsula, climbing up the vertical wall through barbed wire and machine-gun fire, storm height 260.0 to capture the peak dominating the Small Ridge. Almost all the company’s soldiers died in the gorge between the heights, but gave the opportunity to other units to capture the ridge and, through the joint efforts of Soviet troops, clear the western part of the Kola Peninsula from invaders. From here, from the banks of the Zapadnaya Litsa River, troops of the Karelian Front began to expel fascist German troops from the Kola Arctic and liberate the territory of northern Norway.

German military grave in Petsamo.

On October 7, 1944, Soviet troops went on the offensive, delivering the main attack from the area 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, with the support of naval forces, 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 liberated the Norwegian city of Kirkenes on October 25. By November 1, the fighting in the Arctic ended, the Petsamo area was completely liberated by Soviet troops.

By Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council On December 5, 1944, the USSR established the medal “For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic” (awarded to 307,000 people). During the war, the army, navy and workers of industrial enterprises and agriculture in the region were able to carry out the most important strategic task: they thwarted the plans of the German command to isolate the USSR from the allies, did not allow the Northern Sea Route to be cut and ensured an ever-increasing supply of equipment, military equipment and food that came to country under the Lend-Lease program.

Losses of Soviet troops and civilians for 1941-44. - OK. 200 thousand people (killed, missing, wounded). For the courage and heroism shown by the residents of Murmansk, the city received the honorary title “Hero City” (1985); Kandalaksha was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1984).

Memorial “Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War” (“Alyosha”) - memorial Complex in the Leninsky district of the city of Murmansk.

The main figure in the memorial is the figure of a soldier in a raincoat, with a machine gun over his shoulder. The height of the monument’s pedestal is 7 meters. The height of the monument itself is 35.5 meters, the weight of the hollow sculpture inside is more than 5 thousand tons. The statue of “Alyosha” is second in height in Russia only to the Volgograd statue of “Motherland”. The monument is one of the highest monuments in Russia.

The warrior’s gaze is directed to the west, towards the Valley of Glory, where during the Great Patriotic War the most fierce battles took place on the outskirts of Murmansk. In front of the monument there is the “Eternal Flame” podium, which was made of blocks natural stone black color. A little higher, next to the figure of a soldier, there is a sloping triangular pyramid. According to the authors, this is a battle flag lowered at half-mast as a sign of grief for fallen soldiers. Next to it is a polished granite stele with the inscription:

Defenders of the Arctic - soldiers of the 14th Army, 19th Army, Red Banner Northern Fleet, 7th Air Army, border detachments No. 82, 100, partisan detachments "Soviet Murman", "Bolshevik of the Arctic", "Polar Explorer", "Stalinist" , "Bolshevik". Glory to those who defended this land!

A little to the side of the monument there are two anti-aircraft guns. During the fighting, anti-aircraft batteries were located on this peak, covering the city of Murmansk from the air. Two capsules are walled up at the foot of the monument. One with sea water from the site of the heroic death of the legendary ship “Fog”, the other with earth from the Valley of Glory and from the battle area at the Verman line.

MUK Severomorskaya TsBS

Central Children's Library

The Great Patriotic War

in the Arctic

Bibliography lesson

Severomorsk

Scenario

Lesson Plan

1. War came to the North.

2. Vaenga in battles and campaigns.

3. Streets are named after them.

4. Labor rear of the Kola Peninsula.

5. Petsamo-Kirkenes operation.

6. Looking for the right book: skills in working with the library reference apparatus.

7. “The living, remember them!”: instead of a conclusion.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi troops in the Arctic. Our region has lived without war for 65 years.

The war came to the Kola land in June 1941.

The German government set the goal of seizing not only the nickel mines in Petsamo, but also the entire Kola Peninsula, thereby trying to solve at least three problems: to provide itself with strategically important raw materials; paralyze the Northern Fleet in order to achieve dominance in the North Atlantic; and cut the Murmansk railway connecting the center of the country with the outside world.

The defense of the Arctic continued for more than three years. Three years filled with fierce battles on earth, in the skies and at sea.

The reference book on the Great Patriotic War dispassionately reports: the defense of the Arctic (June 1941-October 1944), the military operations of the troops of the Northern (from September 1, 1941 Karelian) Front, the Northern Fleet and the White Sea military flotilla on the Kola Peninsula, in the northern part of Karelia, on the Barents, White and Kara Seas.

During the defense, Soviet troops, navy and workers of the Arctic did not allow the enemy to isolate the Soviet Union from external relations through the northern ports and cut the Northern Sea Route to the Far East, and ensured the uninterrupted operation of land and sea internal communications in the north of the country.

Poems by poets who fought on the Kola land help us understand at what cost the operation in the Arctic was won, what people experienced during the war.

No,

Not to gray hairs,

No time for fame

I would like to extend my life,

I would only like to go as far as that ditch over there

Live half a moment, half a step;

Hug to the ground

And in the azure

July clear day

See the grin of the embrasure

And sharp flashes of fire.

I just wish

This grenade

Stick her in

Cut it in the right way

In the four times damned bunker,

So that it becomes empty and quiet,

May it settle like dust on the grass!

I wish I could live these half a moment,

And I will live there for a hundred years!

Pavel Shubin “Polmiga” 1943

Of course, the Northern Fleet took an active part in the hostilities. After the fascist “reconnaissance” flew over the Kola Bay, Polyarny and Vaenga on June 17, 1941, combat readiness in the fleet was sharply increased. The fleet commander and a member of the Military Council, the division commissar, personally found out why the anti-aircraft gunners did not open fire on the German plane. The gunners explained that they were afraid of making a mistake. The order to open fire on violators brought clarity and increased vigilance. With regard to fascist planes violating our border, the fleet commander gave categorical instructions - to shoot them down. The entire fleet on the eve of the war was in the highest combat readiness.

On the first day of the war, artillerymen of the 221st battery spotted an enemy minesweeper on the opposite shore of the bay, which was covered by guns. The command rang out: “For battle!” The shells from the first three salvos covered the ship. The battery commander, senior lieutenant Pavel Kosmachev, reporting this to the fleet headquarters, did not think then that he was reporting on the opening of the North Sea combat account.

The Nazis brought down fire from their coastal batteries located on the other side of the bay on Kosmachev’s guns. The 221st battery was subjected to severe attacks by enemy aircraft. But Kosmachev’s artillerymen continued to fire at the enemy. And so month after month, year after year. After the war, the gun raised on a pedestal in Severomorsk became a symbol of perseverance and courage.

And the sky was scary

Watch how the sailors

Throwing himself into the fiery water.

They held the shaky bridges,

So that the Soviet infantry

She went ashore dry

And, uprooting pillboxes,

I found the right path.

As before, the mines rustled.

In a remote gorge the wind howled -

And the wounded did not want

Evacuate to the rear.

And even the dead seemed

Wouldn't give it up for anything

That inch that mixed with their blood

On the reclaimed plateau!

Alexander Oyslander "Landing"

This is what the front-line poet Alexander Efimovich Oyslender wrote in 1944. In commemoration of the feat of troops, heroism and courage of the population, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 5, 1944, the medal “For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic” was established, which was awarded to over 307 thousand soldiers and workers who participated in the defense.

The war has long died down. The blood and pain of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers have become part of history. And you need to know the history of your country, your region in order to be a full-fledged person and citizen.

Where can I read about the operation in the Arctic, how can I quickly find information about the Great Patriotic War? The library reference apparatus will help us with this. First of all, we need a Systematic Catalog. In the catalog in the box “Modern history (1917-)” there is a separator “63.3 Period of the Great Patriotic War ()”, behind which descriptions of all books about the war stored in our fund are collected. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in the catalogs of our (Central Children's) library you can find descriptions not only of books, but also of electronic disks and videos.

You can obtain additional information by using the Systematic Card Index of Articles. There you can find information about newspaper and magazine publications on the topic of the Great Patriotic War.

If you need to read about the operation in the Arctic, then it is better to turn to the Local History Card Index. There, information is collected about the most interesting articles from newspapers and magazines about the Murmansk region and Severomorsk and about local history books. The card index is organized by thematic headings, which makes searching easier. In this case, we are interested in the separators “Historical past of the region” and “Red Banner Northern Fleet”.

Why are we discussing these issues in such detail? The fact is that after some time you will become readers of adult (city or regional) libraries. And there you will have to work independently with catalogs and card files, and fill out the requirements for literature yourself. And you can only get the skills necessary for this from us, in the children's library.

We are separated from the liberation of the Arctic by 65 years. That's a long time for a man whole life. The heroes of the battles that died down are moving further and further away from us. They left us a bright memory and a saved country. Remember those who paid for the victory in the Great Patriotic War with their lives, remember your history and let this help you build the future of our Fatherland.

I won't open America to you

And I won’t sparkle with a catchy rhyme.

I just remember the flat beach

And the sea is a hard wave.

To the far northern latitudes

I wanted to take you away

To the boys from the Marine Corps.

Who are not even twenty.

Are they fighting?

Yes, they are fighting -

Fights all around and death all around.

Still dancing?

Yes, they dance

In the underground club at the front.

Boys need peace to be happy,

Their thirst is not quenched...

Between two alarms, without removing the weapon.

They dance the waltz.

There is a war going on.

Boys are someone's fathers

Could become... Could become.

But in the sea, in the hills, near Petsamo

They will not be resurrected, they will not get up.

They don't love, don't smile,

Don't touch hundreds of things.

Just stay forever young

The boys got their share.

Still got it - the price of life

They have to pay for the lives of others,

Those who replace them...

remember them!

Elizabeth Stewart "Memory"

List of used literature

1. There was a war...Front-line poetry of the Kola Arctic: a collection of poems / comp. D. Korzhov; Educational center "Dobrokhot". - Murmansk: Dobromysl, 200 pp.: ill.

2. The Great Patriotic War: dictionary-reference book / comp. ; under general ed. .- 2nd ed., additional - M.: Politizdat, 198 p.

3. Zhdanov, / , .- Murmansk: Book publishing house, 197 pp.: ill.- (Cities and districts of the Murmansk region).

4. Polar bridgehead: / ed. .- SPb.: KiNT-print, 2005.- p.: ill.

5. Simonov, K. Poems and poems: / Konstantin Simonov. - M.: Goslitizdat, 195p.

List of illustrations used

(entries are arranged in order of demonstration).

1. [Map of the Murmansk region] [Izomaterial] // From Murmansk to Berlin / .- Murmansk, 1984.- P.

2. [Battles on the Rybachy Peninsula] [Izomaterial] // From Murmansk to Berlin / .- Murmansk, 1984.- P.

3. Air defense systems [Izomaterial] // Polar bridgehead / ed. .- SPb., 2005.- P. 80.

4. Monument to the heroic artillerymen of the 221st Red Banner Battery of the Northern Fleet [Izomaterial] // Severomorsk. The capital of my destiny: photo album / comp. R. Stalinskaya.-Severomorsk, 2008.-P. .

5. Nyssa, torpedo boats. 1944 [Izomaterial] // Artistic chronicle of the Great Patriotic War / .- M., 1986.- No. 000.

6. [Severomorsk in 1951] [Izomaterial] // Severomorsk. The capital of my destiny: photo album / comp. R. Stalinskaya.-Severomorsk, 2008.-P. .

7. [Izomaterial] // From Murmansk to Berlin / .- Murmansk, 1984.- P.

8. Hero of the Soviet Union [Izomaterial]// Feat of the North Sea men / I. Ponomarev. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - Murmansk, 1970.- P.149.

9. [Portrait] [Izomaterial] // Military sailors - heroes of the underwater depths (): biographical reference book.-M.; Kronstadt, 2006.-P. 60.

10. [Deer] [Izomaterial] // From Murmansk to Berlin / .- Murmansk, 1984.- S.

11. Ivanov, V. For the Motherland, for honor, for freedom!: poster [Izomaterial] // Polar bridgehead / ed. .- SPb., 2005.- P. 82.

12. [Landing] [Izomaterial] // Polar bridgehead / ed. .- SPb., 2005.- P. 41.

13. Separators for the local history card index.

14. [Fighters of the Soviet Army] [Izomaterial] // From Murmansk to Berlin / .- Murmansk, 1984.- P.

Computer set and design: bibliographer CDB

Responsible for the release: Head of the Central Children's Library

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




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




Speaking about the Great Patriotic War, people remember the defeats of 1941-1942, the battle of Moscow, the siege of Leningrad, the battle for Stalingrad, North Caucasus, Arc of Fire 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. 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, the result was a rather long article, somewhat burdened with numbers, geographical names and historical details. But I deliberately did not remove them, because thanks to 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 is truly close to the Kola Arctic...

Panorama of Murmansk (mid-30s of the 20th century) - unfortunately, there was no other photograph 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 plane. On the afternoon of June 19, the plane was met with barrage fire and considered it best 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, border posts and naval bases.

The Kola Peninsula occupied great 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 for the USSR Northern Fleet. In the future, it was planned to capture the neighboring port of Arkhangelsk, where our ships delivered vital cargo from the Far East, from Siberia - along the Yenisei and Ob rivers.

2 - The Kirov Railway was also of strategic importance for the delivery of military cargo, as it connected Murmansk with the center of the country. It was supposed to reach the railway line in the Kandalaksha area 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 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 local in nature, but was important for fate the German military-industrial complex and the economies of Germany's allies.

4 - The Kola lands were of interest to the Finnish elite; according to their plans, the Kola Peninsula was to become part of “Greater 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 (Blaufuchs plan or Silberfuchs plan, German Unternehmen Silberfuchs - “Polar Fox”) - the offensive of German-Finnish troops in the Murmansk sector stretching 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 by 7 days (from June 22) was caused by the fact that the German command miscalculated the use of tanks in the tundra.

To seize the lands of the Kola Peninsula from Norway and Finland, it was created german army“Norway” (it was formed in December 1940) consisting of 3 corps - two German mountain 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 should have been 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 attempted to capture Murmansk and destroy the warships of the Northern Fleet. The Nazis subjected border outposts, naval bases and settlements located on the Kola Peninsula to massive bomb attacks.

The offensive of Hitler's 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 northern Karelia).

In the direction of the main attack of the Nazis (the village of Titovka - Murmansk) there were 3 outposts of the Polar Border 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 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 defensive line 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 passed 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 sent to this section 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 the significant superiority in manpower, the Nazis only expanded the bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Western Litsa by 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 was the failure of the German offensive against Murmansk.
The fierceness of the fighting and resistance of our troops is evidenced by the fact that throughout the valley you can find traces of war: trenches, dugouts, cartridges, etc. The further into the hills from the road, the more finds you can find.

The shells and logistical support of the German troops are still scattered across the surrounding hills for several tens of kilometers.


A huge role in disrupting the German offensive on Murmansk was played by the landing of marine units in the Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa Bay (1941).
As elsewhere on the Soviet-German front, the fighting in the North immediately became fierce. Soviet soldiers and marines responded with fierce resistance and iron stamina. The war in the Arctic is called “positional”. And also “lieutenant”. There were no striking 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 there was no time to bury the dead.


The Nazis also failed to capture the Rybachy Peninsula, a strategic point from which they controlled the entrance to the Kola, Motovsky and Pechenga bays.

The sailors nicknamed this legendary piece of land the “granite battleship.” Defender of the Rybachy Peninsula Nikolai Bukin wrote the poem “I Can’t Live Without the Sea,” which was published in the Northern Fleet newspaper “Krasnoflotets.” Later, the song “Farewell Rocky Mountains” was composed based on these verses. It became the anthem of the fighting Arctic.

In the summer of 1941, Soviet troops, with the support of 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 ends with cliffs into the sea with north side. In the extreme eastern part of the ridge there is a single pass through which the road goes to the Sredniy and Rybachy peninsulas. The defensive line has not changed for almost 3.5 years. This is the only section of the front where the Germans were unable to advance even a centimeter deeper into our country... At one of the heights of Musta-Tunturi, the events described by K. Simonov in the famous poem “The Artilleryman’s Son” took place.


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

Nazi troops again launched a general offensive against Murmansk in the fall of 1941. Military operations in the Arctic resumed on September 8. The German command threw all its strength into achieving the goal. The fighting lasted more than 10 days...




However, the 14th Army of the Karelian Front, with part of its forces, supported by aviation and artillery of the Northern Fleet, launched a counterattack on September 17 and defeated the German 3rd Mountain Rifle Division, throwing its remnants beyond the Zapadnaya Litsa River and lakes Upper and Lower Verman (Kandalaksha direction). Thus, the enemy advance 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 soldiers it became the Valley of Glory.


In just a few days of fighting, the invaders suffered thousands of losses here. The German rangers were especially afraid of battles with the sailors of the 1st and 2nd volunteer detachments of the Northern Fleet, who fought with unparalleled courage and bravery on land.

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


The last photograph of Lieutenant Colonel Boris Feoktistovich Safonov

The result of the battles in the Valley of Glory was 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, a weapons depot and prisoners were captured.
On September 22, 1941, Hitler signed OKW Directive No. 36, which stated a temporary cessation of the mountain rifle corps' offensive on Murmansk. In the Kandalaksha and Loukh directions, Soviet troops also stopped the advance of German-Finnish troops.

The inhabitants of Germany in those days were accustomed to victorious messages from the Eastern Front. But no such reports were received from its polar region. As in the battle of Moscow, the enemy was stopped and defeated not by frost, not snow, not the tundra, not the hills near Murmansk - it was the heroism and dedication of the defenders of the Arctic that stopped the fascists.
The Murmansk operation ended with 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 goal of capturing Murmansk, the Soviet troops with the goal of pushing the enemy beyond the border line. Soviet troops were the first to go on the offensive. On April 28, 1942, the Murmansk offensive operation began. Its goal is to defeat the enemy and throw him back to the west, to ensure the safety of Murmansk, the Kirov and Obozersk railways. But the Nazis did not waste time.

Over the winter, they managed to build powerful strongholds-fortresses made of stone and reinforced concrete 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 necessary ammunition. For the success of the offensive operation, our troops needed a triple superiority in troop numbers over the enemy. It was in such unequal conditions that this operation began. It was not possible to achieve decisive success. Nevertheless, one of the main objectives of the operation was completed - the enemy, having brought almost all of his reserves into battle, was bled dry and was unable to launch the attack on Murmansk planned for 1942.


At the cost of fierce battles and the boundless courage of Soviet soldiers and sailors, the front line in the Arctic remained unchanged until the fall 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 cargo into the USSR was preserved and continued to operate throughout the war; also, Hitler’s troops did not capture the base of the Soviet naval fleet 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 attack was carried out from the area 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, with the support of naval forces, 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 liberated the Norwegian city of Kirkenes on October 25. By November 1, the fighting in the Arctic ended, the Petsamo area was completely liberated by Soviet troops.




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 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 northern regions Norway, thereby marking the beginning of the liberation 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 their distinction in battle, 51 formations and units received the honorary names “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 is a valley on the right bank of the Western Litsa River in its lower reaches. 74-76 km of the Murmansk - Pechenga highway. Fierce fighting took place here in July 1941. Previously called Death Valley.


Until now, search engines are finding 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 handwriting and spelling preserved. Perhaps this is the best monument to our soldiers. Many people cry out loud when reading these messages...

***
Silence on the nameless hill.
Only the cries of a bird
Above the boundary, cursed
Polar Lyceum.
Sank between the stones
Helmets and cartridges.
Here we fell asleep like a grave
Russian barriers.
White bones argue
With shaggy moss.
And the waters flow to the sea
Over the bones of a soldier.
Edelweiss rusty
The stone sprouts.
There was a body, but it decayed,
"Got mit uns" leaving.
Through black eye sockets
Blood of lingonberries.
Western Litsa River –
The huntsmen are an obstacle.

Vsevolod Barzhitsky

There has already been a story about the days of the war in the Arctic: The Cableway of Death. The polar transport of the fascists, but fortunately there is a lot of materials and so I decided to continue.

On the Kola Peninsula, there was the only section of the Soviet-German front where enemy troops were stopped already several tens of kilometers from the Soviet State border line, and in some places the Germans were not even able to cross the border.

Write about the Murmansk Valley of Death (since 1965 - Valley of Glory) in isolation from the events of 1941-42. does not seem possible. The result is a voluminous article that will cover both a significant period and various areas of the fighting. From Titovka and the Musta-Tunturi ridge to the eastern bank of the Zapadnaya Litsa River - this was the main direction of attack of the German-Finnish troops, because it was here that the road to the village of Polyarny (the base of the Northern Fleet) and the city of Murmansk lay.

SUMMER 1941

On the night of June 28-29, German regular units crossed the state border of the USSR in the Titovka area. After an hour and a half of artillery shelling and bombing, in which more than a hundred Junkers-88 and Heinkel-111 aircraft took part, at 4 o’clock in the morning the enemy’s mountain infantry divisions went on the offensive.

The border guards, who took the first blow from the enemy, fought until the last bullet, until the last grenade. It was especially difficult for the 6th border outpost of the Ozerkovsky detachment, which, under the leadership of Lieutenant Yakovenko, repelled the furious onslaught of the rangers. German planes dived into the border guards' trenches, and the outpost was fired upon from cannons and mortars. Every hour there were fewer and fewer fighters, but the battle continued. The enemies asked the survivors to surrender, but the answer was machine gun fire. The outpost fought to the end.

Many years later, a farewell note from party organizer Goltunov was found:

“We are three communists here. And as long as at least one is alive, the Nazis will not pass.”

The inscription on the obelisk to the soldiers of the 6th border post.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the 100th border detachment consisted of 8 border outposts and 5 combat posts: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th border outposts and 5 combat posts guarded the coast of the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas , 6th, 7th, 8th border outposts guarded the border with Finland on the mainland. The headquarters of the border detachment was located in the village. Western Ozerko (Sredny Peninsula), hence its first name - Ozerkovsky. During the Great Patriotic War, the detachment’s border guards performed various tasks: they fought on the front line, operated behind enemy lines, and guarded the rear of the Soviet troops as part of the 181st separate border battalion formed in 1941 on the basis of the border detachment.

Red Army soldiers of the 95th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Major S.I. Chernov, fought bravely on June 29 and 30, 1941 in the Titovka area. The enemy, using bypass tactics, struck where he was not expected. This caused confusion at first. The situation was aggravated by two more circumstances. Wired communications in the defending troops were disrupted. The commander of the 14th Infantry Division, Major General A. A. Zhurba, did not know in detail the situation in the units subordinate to him and was forced to go to the scene of the fighting. During the afternoon of June 29, he tried to organize the defense of troops retreating from the border at Titovka, and the next day - on the approaches to the Sredny Peninsula. Several hundred recruits arrived in Titovka by sea. The newcomers, who had not been fired upon, were confused and were unable to provide real assistance to the soldiers holding the defense on this section of the front.
The most intense battles took place at the junctions of the Red Army units, on the flanks. The rangers bypassed border outposts and unfinished pillboxes, the entire fortification system and struck the battalions of the 95th Infantry Regiment, whose defense front stretched for three dozen kilometers. Soon the advanced units of the enemy managed to cross the Titovka River. Heavy, bloody battles continued along the border line, in which divisional and regimental artillery inflicted considerable damage on the enemy, although it often had to fight in semi-encirclement.
Crossing of German rangers across the Titovka River on improvised watercraft. 1941

TITOVSKY FORTIFIED AREA- a strip of terrain prepared for defensive actions. It consisted of 8 rubble concrete bunkers (half-caponiers, 7 two-machine guns, one three-machine gun) at an altitude of 255.4 (Uglovaya) and 5 bunkers at an altitude of 189.3 on the western bank of the river. Titovka. The semi-caponier fire system: at a height of 189.3 - in a ledge, in three echelons; at an altitude of 255.4 - according to the principle of all-round defense, but in both cases taking into account the most likely direction of advance of the enemy from the border. By the beginning of hostilities in the Murmansk direction, the bunkers were not covered with earth and camouflaged, minefields and wire barriers were not installed, and they were not covered by crossfire. The 2nd Battalion of the 95th Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division took up defensive positions in the Titovsky defensive region on June 22, 1941. When the German offensive began on June 29, 1941, the pillboxes were blocked by units of the German Mountain Corps “Norway”. Already by 9 o'clock in the morning, height 189.3 was taken using flamethrowers (with particularly stubborn resistance from spacecraft fighters), and by evening - height 255.4. It is believed that some of the fighters of the 4th company of the 95th joint venture escaped from the encirclement.
Titovsky defensive line and Height 189.3. Dot.
German tank crews at the pillbox on Titovka. 1941

The Nazis failed to achieve a lightning-fast defense breakthrough. Soviet border guards, infantrymen and artillerymen fought selflessly. Many enemy soldiers were killed here, but many Red Army soldiers and commanders were also killed. They departed from the border by order in two directions: to the north - to the Sredny Peninsula and to the east - to the Zapadnaya Litsa River. They retreated fighting, inflicting significant blows to the advancing rangers, knowing that help was already coming towards them - regiments of the 52nd Infantry Division and units of the 23rd fortified area, covering Rybachy from the south.

In the diary of Admiral A.G. Golovko in those days it was noted:

“Our units continue to retreat. Titovka passed. The commander of the site, Major General Zhurba, died along with his adjutant. Only one battalion approached the bay, led by a commander; Moreover, this commander has more than ten wounds. I saw him and was amazed at how he managed to get there. Even more surprising is the discrepancy between his physical condition - the man could barely stand on his feet - and his will. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember his last name.”

The enemy failed to defeat Soviet troops at the border. The 95th Infantry Regiment, which received the first blow at Titovka, retreated to the east in squadrons and platoons. The regiment retained its main personnel, headquarters, and Battle Banner.

The mountain rangers, rushing to Murmansk, tried to cross the Western Litsa and overcome the Musta-Tunturi ridge. The Finns, who crossed the border at the Lotta River, advanced in the restikent direction (the second direction to Murmansk - from the southwest). Thus, already in the first month of the war, in the battles for Murmansk, Soviet ground forces, with the support of the Northern Fleet and aviation, fought in three independent sectors, which were also separated from each other.
Four Wehrmacht mountain rangers at the entrance to a cave on a hill in the Arctic.

The 23rd fortified area (commandant Colonel D.E. Krasilnikov) together with the 100th border detachment (chief I.I. Kalenikov) defended the approaches to the Rybachy Peninsula. Here, on rocky salkas and swampy lowlands, the 135th Infantry Regiment (commanded by Colonel M.K. Pashkovsky) of the 14th Infantry Division, the second division of the 241st Howitzer Artillery Regiment, two separate machine-gun battalions and coastal batteries of the Northern Fleet occupied combat positions. In July, infantrymen, machine gunners and artillerymen defended the narrow (about 6 kilometers) isthmus between the Malaya Volokovaya and Kutovaya lips - the southern gate to Rybachye. This section of the front was supplied by sea, had the support of the Northern Fleet and fulfilled its task - did not allow the enemy to occupy Rybachy on the move. The Nazis, apparently, expected that the 135th Infantry Regiment and machine-gun battalions would go to the aid of the 95th Infantry Regiment, which was fighting at Titovka, expose the Musta-Tunturi ridge and the rangers behind the backs of the troops that had gone to Titovka would break into the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas. But that did not happen. Army commander V.A. Frolov sent reinforcements from the west to help the 95th Regiment, and ordered D.E. Krasilnikov to stand to the death and not go beyond the defense line. And the front line, established on the isthmus between the mainland and the Sredny Peninsula in the summer of 1941, held out throughout the war.

“... whoever owns Rybachy and Sredny holds the Kola Bay. The Northern Fleet cannot exist without the Kola Bay. The most important thing is that the state needs the Kola Bay. Murmansk is our ocean port, one of the most important, it is a window to the world.”

Commander of the Northern Fleet Admiral A.G. Golovko.

The first attempts to stop the enemy were unsuccessful. He overcame the resistance of Soviet troops and by the morning of July 2 he reached the Zapadnaya Litsa River. While the Red Army soldiers were hastily digging in on the right bank of the narrow but fast-flowing river, the rangers were trying to overcome it on the move. The only bridge across the river was blown up, and V. A. Frolov ordered artillery to be placed at the sites of possible crossing. As soon as the mountain rangers began to cross, the artillerymen rained down murderous fire.
Valley of Glory - view from the memorial. The flat landscape is rare for these places.

Early in the morning of July 6 - again on Sunday - the Nazis resumed their attack on Murmansk from the Western Litsa line. The main blow fell on the positions of the 58th Infantry Regiment. It was here that the mountain rangers sought to break through to the Kola Bay at any cost. Two battalions of rangers of the 137th Mountain Infantry Regiment of Colonel Hengl unexpectedly appeared there. Battalion Commissar Ivannikov skillfully organized the defense, and in a heavy battle, by the end of the day, both battalions of rangers were defeated, losing about 200 people killed and wounded. Our losses are 28 soldiers and commanders. The Nazis carried their dead and wounded from the battlefield.

The prisoners testified that they crossed the Western Litsa in its lower reaches along the shallows at low tide. Since our two battalions defended large plot the river is 25 kilometers long, there were not enough fighters for a continuous line of defense. The rangers, under the cover of fog, passed to our rear at the unguarded junction between the 1st and 3rd battalions.

One of the bloodiest battles was the attack of the first battalion of the 137th mountain rifle regiment of German troops on the height of 183.6 held by the Red Army. According to archives, more than 300 people on both sides died in this battle. According to some reports, it was the foot of the height of 183.6 that the soldiers nicknamed Death Valley.
The foot of the height is 183.6.

Having superior forces in numbers, reliable aviation and artillery support, engineering means of crossing and automatic weapons, the enemy managed to cross Zapadnaya Litsa and wedge 2-3 kilometers into the location of our troops. But the soldiers of the 52nd Infantry Division under the command of Colonel G. A. Veshchezersky (Major General N. N. Nikishin took over the 14th Division) counterattacked the enemy and forced him to retreat.
Defensive battles in the Murmansk direction. Valley of Glory.

MUSTA-TUNTURI

The Musta-Tunturi ridge (or Mustatunturi - from the Finnish “musta” - black, gloomy; “tunturi” - treeless mountain) was the northernmost section of the front during the Great Patriotic War. The Mustatunturi ridge is the only place where German troops were unable to cross the land border of the USSR. During the Great Patriotic War, the front line passed in this place for more than three years. At the same time, German troops were located on the southern slopes of the ridge, and Soviet troops on the northern slopes.

In this place, the events described by K. Simonov in the poem “The Artilleryman’s Son” take place.
“Border sign” - this is where the old border between the USSR and Finland passed.

The garrison of the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas was armed with: 5613 rifles, 144 heavy machine guns, 98 PPSh machine guns, 83 guns of various calibers, 2 tanks, 779 carbines, 210 light machine guns, 11 anti-aircraft guns, 101 mortars, 62 vehicles. The force was considerable, but it was scattered over a large area.
View from the ridge to the Sredny Peninsula.

By June 29, 1941, in the area from Kutova to Volokova there was the 15th separate machine gun battalion and the 55th, 56th and 57th separate machine gun companies. All of them were hastily formed from recruits - residents of the Murmansk region. Nikishin’s 4th machine gun company was also stationed here.
Other units in the said area included a reconnaissance detachment of the 135th regiment, an observation and communications station post of the Northern Fleet, a small unit of sappers and the 6th outpost of the 100th border detachment. There were also two auxiliary units - a club and a subsidiary farm of the 2nd battalion.

On the section of the border from Lake Titovskoye to Varanger Fiord, the Germans launched an offensive on June 29. By the end of the day, the first groups of fascists appeared on Musta-Tunturi. They were stopped. From then until the end of the war, the front line along the ridge remained unchanged!
On this section of the front, the Nazis had more advantageous strategic positions. As a rule, they occupied the tops of mountains and hills and controlled all approaches to our military outpost. The Germans used more advanced technology for constructing defensive structures. Headquarters, barracks, and infirmaries were hidden in catacombs specially dug into the rocks. At construction work used electricity compressor units, metal structures and concrete.

Fortifications in a monolithic granite rock about four kilometers long, in some places rising 260 meters above the sea: there were guns, mortars, pillboxes, remote-controlled stationary flamethrower installations.
The dugouts and firing points of our military outposts were built from stone, moss and logs. Former sapper Nikolai Mitrofanovich Abramov said:

These points were given to us by blood. The Germans kept all approaches at gunpoint. For every log delivered to Musta-Tunturi, the fighters paid with their lives or wounds. How can you build a stronghold fifty meters from the enemy’s line of defense? Any knock - and immediately a mine on the head. It was necessary to distract the rangers with false explosions and attacks.
Veteran fishermen remember one story related to the construction of firing points on Musta-Tunturi:

In the fall of 1942, telephone operator Foma Shapiro crawled to the strong point. He was a joker and an inventor, an unrivaled master of writing letters to girls. Having repaired the telephones and tested the connection, Foma told jokes to the resting shift of the combat guard. Then one of the sailors complained to him:

- Good for you, Foma, you will amuse us and crawl to the rear, and here we paint the stones with blood. The German has built up pillboxes, and we are shielding ourselves from the bullets with our elbows.

- What’s stopping you from getting the same job? - Foma asked.

- Of course, German. As soon as you move, he, the bastard, fumbles with a machine gun, or even treats you with a mine.

Thomas thought for a minute, then asked:

- Do you have a couple of sheets and a couple of poles?

Having climbed onto the stronghold again, Foma pulled a white cloth between the poles and a firebrand and drew a portrait of Hitler on it. The Fuhrer turned out great: with a mustache, signature hairstyle, bulging eyes and a demanding look.

At dawn, the mountain rangers saw before them the image of their commander-in-chief. What to do? You can't shoot at the Fuhrer. Russian machine gunners won't let you take it off. For two days there was a drawing of Thomas on Musta-Tunturi. During this time, under his cover, sappers managed to build two excellent pillboxes. And today it is clear that they turned out better than others.

Diorama of the front line along the Musta-Tunturi ridge with the designation of Soviet (asterisk) and German (cross) positions, strong points (OP), communication passages (arrows). Is the long-term work of former Marine G.M. Vozlinsky. The author completed the work in 1991 while bedridden.

Behind the outpost was the first line of defense, followed by the main line. Our strongholds were located as follows:

1st - on the northern slope of the ridge, opposite Lake Perajarvi. This strong point had 5 firing points and two mortars.

2nd - on the northern slope of height 187.0 (Middle Tunturi), opposite the western end of Lake Jauhonokanyarvi. The strong point had 5 firing points and one mortar.

3rd - on the northern slopes of height 121.0, opposite the eastern end of Lake Jauhonokanyarvi. The combat security headquarters was also located here. The strong point had 10 firing points and 2 mortar points. From the rear, a single communication passage led to the foot of the height. This is how our units were supplied. Large blockhouses, warehouses and a medical aid station were built under the cover of the rock.

4th - at an altitude of 115.6, known as the place where throughout the war our soldiers kept the border marker of the former Soviet-Finnish border intact. The strong point had 11 firing points and 2 mortar points.

5th - at an altitude of 93.0, which is opposite Lake Kairayarvi. This hill ends the Musta-Tunturi ridge. The strong point had 7 firing points and 2 mortar points.

6th - at the height of "Bezymyannaya", located in the foothills of height 122.0. The strong point had 8 firing points and 1 mortar point. There was a command observation post here.

7th - at an altitude of 40.1, on the shore of Kutovaya Bay. The strong point had 6 firing points. From the direction of Kutova the message flow was approaching him.

8th - at the height of "Pancake", eastern of Lake Chernyavka. This was a rear strong point in case of an enemy breakthrough at the junctions of the 5th, 6th and 7th strongpoints. The point had 4 firing points and 2 mortar points.

LANDING OPERATIONS 1941

In general, the situation in the Murmansk direction was extremely unfavorable for the Soviet troops. Losses in manpower in border battles, lack of reserves, enemy superiority in aviation and maneuverability, disunity and poor communications between individual sections of the front further complicated the task of defending Murmansk.

In this situation, the command of the 14th Army and the Northern Fleet decided to land detachments of border guards, Red Army and Red Navy soldiers from the sea behind enemy lines in order to divert enemy forces and force Dietl to send troops aimed at Murmansk to liquidate the landings. The main task of this operation was to delay the advance of the Nazi troops, to enable the defending divisions to receive reinforcements and strengthen their positions at the Western Litsa line.
Naval landing of the Northern Fleet.

On July 6, 1941, to assist units of the 52nd Infantry Division in conducting a counterattack against enemy troops on the bridgehead they occupied, a tactical landing force consisting of one rifle battalion (529 people) from this division was landed on the southern bank of Zapadnaya Litsa Bay. The landing was carried out by an amphibious detachment of the Northern Fleet (commanded by Vice Admiral A.G. Golovko, consisting of 3 patrol ships, 2 minesweepers, 4 patrol boats and 3 small hunter boats. The artillery support detachment included the destroyer Kuibyshev, 3 patrol boats, and Coastal batteries of the fleet were allocated for support. Air cover - 12 fighters. The commander of the landing force was the commander of the water area guard of the main base of the Northern Fleet, Captain 1st Rank V. I. Platonov. The command of the operation was retained by its initiator, Fleet Commander A. G. Golovko, thereby accepting full responsibility.This battalion sowed panic in the enemy defenses, destroyed several enemy positions and broke through to join the main forces.

On July 7, a battalion of border guards (up to 500 people) was landed on the western bank of Zapadnaya Litsa Bay for the purpose of reconnaissance and demonstration of large forces. The landing force was landed from 2 patrol ships, 3 patrol boats, 4 motorboats. Large enemy forces were transferred to the landing site; his attempt to break through to the main forces ended unsuccessfully. During July 9, the landing force was removed from the enemy shore by fleet ships (2 patrol ships).
Signalmen of one of the Northern Fleet Marine Corps units on the Sredny Peninsula.

Fearing for their left flank, the huntsmen weakened their attack in the center. Taking advantage of this, the 52nd Rifle Division drove the enemy across the river with energetic counterattacks. In just two days of fighting, the enemy lost more than a thousand soldiers and officers on Western Litsa, and over 2,500 rangers were hospitalized.

The decision to land these two troops was a pure improvisation (all preparations for the operations were carried out within one day), calculated on the surprise of such actions for the enemy and his sensitivity to the threat of the few communications linking the forces advancing on Murmansk with supply bases on the border. In general, this decision turned out to be justified. Both landings played a positive role in the development of the battle and diverted part of the enemy forces.
Marines of the Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula pose with Lenl-Lease Tommy guns.

But the enemy did not change his plans to break through to Murmansk. On July 11, the rangers resumed their offensive on the northernmost section of the polar front. On captured fishermen and their own inflatable boats They crossed the Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa Bay, landed at its southern end and began to go deeper in the direction of the southeast.

For the third time since the beginning of the war, there was a threat of a Nazi breakthrough to Murmansk and the main base of the Northern Fleet - Polyarny. Further aggravation of the situation forced the command of the 14th Army and the Northern Fleet to land larger forces behind Nazi lines.

Using the experience gained, the front and naval command decided to expand the tasks performed by the landing forces. The goal of the new, third landing was to capture and hold a bridgehead on the western bank of the bay. Thus, a unique situation would be created - a few kilometers from each other on the banks of the same river flowing into the bay, there is a German bridgehead on the eastern bank and a Soviet one on the western bank. A threat arises to the highway along which the Germans supply their bridgehead and its complete blockade, and with a favorable development of the operation, the possibility of its complete destruction. The position of the Soviet troops on the western shore is more stable, since the Northern Fleet has dominance in this section of the sea and can provide sea supplies and support for the landed troops. This operation had already been carefully prepared. To support the landing operations, several artillery batteries were hastily built on the eastern shore of the bay.
Marine reconnaissance officers under the command of Junior Lieutenant A.A. Petrova is in ambush. 1942

On July 14, the fleet forces landed a tactical landing force on the western bank of Zapadnaya Litsa Bay consisting of the 325th Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division and a Marine Corps battalion (1,600 people, commander - battalion commissar A. A. Shakito). The landing detachment included 3 patrol ships, 3 minesweepers, 5 patrol boats, the artillery support detachment included 1 destroyer, 1 patrol ship, 4 patrol boats, and the covering detachment included 3 destroyers. Simultaneously with the main landing, a diversionary reconnaissance group of 50 people landed in the area of ​​Cape Pikshuev.

The landing force managed to occupy a fairly significant bridgehead. The enemy really hastily began to pull forces towards the Soviet bridgehead, including from the land front. On July 15, the enemy made the first attempt to drop troops into the bay, but was repulsed. On July 16, another 715 marines were landed to reinforce the landing. Having strengthened themselves, the fighters fought a stubborn defense, repelling several enemy attacks a day. Fleet ships and artillery provided artillery support to the landing party. On July 18, the enemy launched a decisive attack on the bridgehead and pushed back the Soviet troops. The German offensive on Murmansk stopped, and on July 24-26, units of the 14th Army managed to push back the German troops.

The landing force and the ships going out in support of it were subjected to attacks by enemy aircraft, and small ships were periodically killed and damaged. Nevertheless, the supply of the landing force and the transfer of reinforcements were not interrupted. Northern Fleet aviation tried to provide support to ground forces, but was less successful.
Soviet marines under fire.

On August 1, the Germans launched another attack on the bridgehead, again pushing back the Soviet troops. It has already become obvious that on the land front without additional forces it is not possible to drive the enemy beyond Western Litsa. Therefore, on this day the decision was made to evacuate the landing force. The operation was carried out on August 2 by 15 patrol boats and 9 motorboats under the cover of a smoke screen. Personnel (1,300 people), all weapons and equipment, as well as food and horses were transferred to the eastern shore of Zapadnaya Litsa Bay to strengthen the ground front, the wounded (240 people) were delivered to Polyarny. The operation was carried out under the cover of naval aviation. However, when, after the landing of troops on the eastern shore, the ships returned empty to the fleet base and there was no air cover, enemy aircraft struck and sank 1 patrol boat and 4 motorboats.

During the landing of the third landing, the squad of senior sergeant V.P. Kislyakov received the task of gaining a foothold on the Nameless Height and delaying the enemy’s advance. The difficulty of the task was that a reinforced platoon of mountain riflemen was advancing against ten fighters of the volunteer detachment of the Northern Fleet. The sailors had an acute shortage of ammunition. And when most of the fighters ran out of ammunition and many were wounded, the senior sergeant ordered everyone to retreat:

- Tell our people that the order will be carried out - I will hold the hill until the end.

Only Kislyakov remained at the top. At his disposal is a light machine gun with four discs, six grenades and a rifle with a bayonet. And below, behind the stones, are the Nazis, armed with machine guns. Again, the officers rouse the soldiers to attack, and Kislyakov meets them with fire and uses ammunition very sparingly: who knows how long the battle will take. But the disks ran out, the machine gun fell silent. The fascists perked up, began to shout and went on the attack again. While they were at a distance, Vasily beat them with a rifle. An experienced hunter and sharp shooter from the Komi region never missed - several dozen enemies found a grave in a stone placer. And when the rangers got closer, grenades went into action. And here help arrived. An important defense stronghold was preserved. For his courage and perseverance, Vasily Pavlovich Kislyakov, one of the first warriors of the Arctic and the first among the North Sea residents, was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

This operation is one of the best Soviet landing operations the first year of the Great Patriotic War. On enough good level interaction between the landing force, the fleet, the front, coastal artillery and aviation was organized. The significant number of troops allowed him to organize a stable defense and successfully repel enemy attacks for a long time. For unprecedented exploits on the bridgehead, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to political instructor S. D. Vasilisin, senior sergeant V. P. Kislyakov and Red Navy man I. M. Sivko (posthumously). On August 2, 1941, on the northwestern approaches to Murmansk, another Marine soldier, Red Navy man Ivan Sivko, accomplished a feat.

Having landed as part of the landing force, Sivko carried out the tasks assigned by the commander. When the unit was ordered to withdraw, Sivko began to cover the retreat of his comrades. The hero fought to the last bullet, defending the hill dominating the coast. When the enemies tried to take the Red Navy man prisoner, he blew up a grenade. I.M. Sivko died, destroying a large group of fascists.

By order of the USSR Minister of Defense dated September 1, 1959, Sivko was forever included in the lists educational unit Northern Fleet. Streets in the cities of Murmansk, Severomorsk, Polyarny, Nikolaevsk, Solovetsky, Polyarnye Zoryakh are named after him.

In 1948, in the city of Severomorsk, the name of the hero was given to secondary school No. 1, the name of Sivko Ivan Mikhailovich is named after secondary school No. 2 in the city of Nikolaevsk, Volgograd region (place of his birth), in 1965, the USSR Ministry of Communications issued a postage stamp with the image of Sivko and his feat , in 2007 a memorial plaque was installed in Murmansk.

It is important to emphasize that the soldiers of the 14th Army, border guards and Severomorsk soldiers in the summer of 1941 not only defended themselves, but also often launched counterattacks, putting the enemy to flight. In July, a combined detachment of the 14th Army and border guards inflicted a major defeat on the advancing enemy battalion and captured rich trophies. In the valley of the Tuloma River, the Restikentsky border detachment under the command of Major Ya. A. Nemkov distinguished itself, throwing the Finns out of Soviet territory.

In Russia, when talking about the Great Patriotic War, they remember the defeats of 1941-1942, the battle of Moscow, the siege of Leningrad, the battle for Stalingrad, the North Caucasus, the Arc of Fire 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 at all 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 and the base of the USSR Northern Fleet. In addition, the Murmansk port was connected to the main part of the country by the Kirov Railway, which made it possible to receive military cargo and quickly deliver it 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 by 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 “Greater Finland”.

To capture the Kola Peninsula, the Army “Norway” was concentrated in the Arctic theater of operations (it was formed in December 1940) consisting of 3 corps - two German mountain corps and one Finnish corps. It was led by Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst.

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 occupied the defense in the Murmansk and Kandalaksha directions, under the command of Valerian Frolov. At the start 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 connections. The 23rd fortified area (UR) was located on the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas and occupied a defensive line along the front of 85 kilometers, 5 kilometers deep, having 7 defense units, 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 Infantry Division operated in its zone. The army had 52.6 thousand personnel, 1,150 guns and mortars, 392 tanks. From the sea, the 14th Army was covered by ships and aircraft 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 constantly changed, since the sides 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, border posts and naval bases.

After the occupation of Norway, the Germans began to develop a plan for waging war in the Arctic. Planning for the operation began on August 13, 1940 and was completed in October of the same year. The Murmansk operation (Blaufuchs plan or Silberfuchs 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 Division and the 3rd Mountain Division from the Norway Mountain Corps invaded the Petsamo area (where the nickel mines were located) and captured it.

It should be noted that the Soviet troops were not taken by surprise, as is often shown at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. 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, enemy troops reached 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 Tank Division began to advance to the border; on the 21st, the 52nd Infantry Division was alerted; it was stationed in Murmansk, Monchegorsk and Kirovsk. On the night of June 22, two regiments and a reconnaissance battalion of the 14th Infantry 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 hostilities began in the Murmansk direction (the main attack). This was the second stage - Operation Platinfuchs (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 Northern Fleet bases, blockade and capture Murmansk, and then go to the White Sea coast and occupy Arkhangelsk. During the second phase of the operation, they were going to carry out the third - to carry out Operation Arctic Fox (German: Polarfuchs). The 2nd German Mountain Division was advancing towards Polyarnoye, and one Finnish division and one German division were to move from Kemijärvi to the east.

On April 28, the 2nd and 3rd mountain rifle divisions, 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 Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division could not withstand the blow and retreated, breaking the ranks of the 325th Infantry 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 (3 130 mm and 4 100 mm guns), repelled all attacks.

By June 30, the 52nd Rifle Division secured a foothold on the Zapadnaya Litsa River (“Valley of Glory”) and throughout July repulsed all German attempts to force the water barrier. On the right flank, regrouped units of the 14th Infantry Division held the defense. In September, the defense was reinforced by the 186th Infantry Division (Polar Division), after which the front in this sector stabilized until 1944. In 104 days of fighting, the Germans advanced 30-60 km and did not solve the assigned tasks. The landings of the Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet also played a positive role - attacks on the enemy’s flank were carried out on July 7 and 14. And also the “unsinkable battleship of the Arctic” - the Rybachy Peninsula, on the site of the 23rd UR and the 135th Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division, the Nazis never managed to cross border marker No. 1.

In the Kandalaksha direction the first attack was repelled on June 24. On July 1, 1941, the Germans, with the help of the 36th Army Corps, which included the 169th Infantry Division, the SS Nord mountain brigade, as well as the Finnish 6th Infantry Division and two Finnish Jaeger battalions, launched a general offensive on Kandalaksha. The enemy was opposed by the 122nd Infantry Division, the 1st Tank Division (until mid-July 1941, then it was withdrawn to another section of the front) and the 104th Infantry Division, which was later transferred to the Kairaly area (without the 242nd Infantry Regiment, which was located in the Kesteng direction ). Until the beginning of August there were fierce battles with little advance of enemy units. At the beginning of August 1941, a reinforced Finnish battalion penetrated the rear of the Soviet forces. The Finns saddled the road in the area of ​​the Nyamozero station, as a result of which the Soviet group had to fight for two weeks in a strange environment. Just 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, and the difficult terrain among forests and swamps. When the road was unblocked two weeks later, the enemy struck swipe from the front and forced units of the Red Army to retreat. Soviet troops gained a foothold four kilometers east of Alakurtti, and there the front line stabilized until 1944. The enemy's maximum advance was about 95 kilometers.

In the Kestenga direction, the 242nd Infantry Regiment of the 104th Infantry 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 they captured Kestenga and advanced eastward from it by about another 30 km. By November 11, 1941, the front line had stabilized 40 km west of Loukha. By that time, the grouping of Soviet troops in this sector of the front had been reinforced by the 5th Infantry Brigade and the 88th Infantry Division.

German ski division in the Arctic

By the fall 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 perseverance, Soviet border guards, soldiers of the 14th Army, and 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 its goals in the Arctic. Despite some initial successes, German troops failed to reach the Murmansk railway in any sector, and also to capture the bases of the Northern Fleet, reach Murmansk and capture it. As a result, here was the only section of the Soviet-German front where enemy troops were stopped already several 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 a boat of the MO-4 project

Huge assistance to the formations of the Red Army and Navy The USSR was supported by residents of the Murmansk region. Already on the first day of the Great War, martial law was introduced in the Murmansk region, the military commissariats began mobilizing 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 resident of the region went to the front - more than 50 thousand people.

Party, Soviet and military bodies organized universal military training of the population. In regions and settlements, units of the people's militia, fighter squads, sanitary squads, and local air defense units were formed. Thus, in just the first few weeks of the war, the Murmansk fighter regiment went out on missions 13 times that were associated with the destruction of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Soldiers of the Kandalaksha fighter battalion directly participated in the fighting in Karelia in the area of ​​the Loukhi station. Fighters from fighter formations in the Kola and Kirov regions served as guards for the Kirov Railway.

Partisans of the Arctic

In the summer of 1942, on the initiative of the regional party committee in the region, the partisan detachments “Bolshevik of the Arctic” and “Soviet Murman” were formed. Considering the fact that the Murmansk region was practically not occupied, partisan formations were based on their own territory and went on deep raids behind enemy lines. The main target of the partisan detachments was the Rovaniemi-Petsamo highway, which supplied German troops located in the regions of Northern Finland. During raids, Murmansk partisans attacked enemy garrisons, disrupted communication lines, 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 approaches to Murmansk and Kandalaksha, created several defensive lines. With the participation of the civilian population, massive construction of trenches, crevices, and bomb shelters was carried out. From the end of June 1941, a mass evacuation of civilians and industrial equipment began from the region. Initially, it was carried out using railway transport, then using ships and vessels - they were transported to Arkhangelsk. They took out children, women, old people, supplies of strategic raw materials, equipment from Severnickel, Tuloma and Niva 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 throughout 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.

All fishing trawlers were transferred to the Northern Fleet. Ship repair enterprises carried out work to convert them into warships, and installed weapons on them. Shipyards also repaired warships and submarines. As of June 23, all enterprises in the region switched to round-the-clock (emergency) operation.

Enterprises in Murmansk, Kandalaksha, Kirovsk, and Monchegorsk quickly mastered the production of automatic weapons, grenades, and mortars. The Apatit plant began producing a mixture for incendiary bombs, ship repair shops made boats, drags, and mountain sleds, and a furniture factory produced skis for soldiers. Artels of fishing cooperation produced reindeer sleds, soap, portable stoves (potbelly stoves), various camping utensils, sewed uniforms, and repaired shoes. Reindeer collective farms handed over reindeer and sledges to the army, and supplied them with meat and fish.

The women, teenagers and old people who remained in the region replaced the men who had gone to the front in production. They mastered new professions at various courses, fulfilled the norms of not only healthy men, but also set records. The working day at enterprises increased to 10, 12 hours, and sometimes 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 planes and submarines). Although the region itself experienced a food shortage, several trains with fish were still able to send besieged Leningrad. In order to improve the food supply to the population of the Murmansk region with industrial enterprises, subsidiary farms were created, people cultivated vegetable gardens. The collection of berries and mushrooms was organized, medicinal herbs, pine needles. Brigades of hunters were engaged in catching game - elk, wild deer, birds. 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 donated 15 kg of gold and 23.5 kg of silver. In total, during the years of the Great War, more than 65 million rubles were received from residents of the Murmansk region. In 1941, 2.8 million rubles were transferred to create the Komsomolets Zapolyarya squadron, and the railway workers built the Sovetsky Murman squadron at their own expense. More than 60 thousand gifts were collected and sent to the Red Army soldiers at the front. School buildings in populated areas were converted into hospitals.

And all this was done in the most difficult conditions of the front-line zone, populated areas were subjected to constant air strikes. Thus, since the summer of 1942, Murmansk was subjected to severe bombing; on June 18 alone, German planes dropped 12 thousand bombs, the fire destroyed more than 600 in the city wooden buildings. In total, from 1941 to 1944, 792 German Air Force raids 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 total housing stock), 437 industrial and service buildings were destroyed and burned. German aviation regularly attacked the Kirov Railway. During the military operations in the Arctic, the German Air Force dropped an average of 120 bombs on every kilometer of the railway line. But, despite the constant danger of being bombed or shelled, Murmansk railway workers and port workers did their job, and communication with the mainland was not interrupted; trains were moving along the Kirov Railway. It should be noted that air defense forces shot down 185 enemy aircraft over Murmansk and the Kirov Railway in 1941-1943.

Murmansk after the bombing.

Among Soviet cities, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad in terms of the number and density of bomb attacks on the city. As a result of German bombing, three-quarters of the city was destroyed.

A big battle in 1942 took place in the sea zone. The USSR's allies in the Anti-Hitler Coalition began supplying 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) arrived in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, 36 convoys were sent from the Soviet Union (682 transports reached their destination ports). The first allied convoy arrived at the port of Murmansk on January 11, 1942, and during the Great Patriotic War Up to 300 ships were unloaded there and more than 1.2 million tons of foreign cargo were processed.

The German command tried to disrupt cargo deliveries and cut off this strategic communication. To combat the Allied convoys, large forces of the Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine and surface forces, which were located in Norwegian bases, were brought in. The main burden of protecting the convoys was placed on the forces of the British fleet and the Soviet Northern Fleet. Northern Fleet ships made 838 trips to guard convoys alone. In addition, naval aviation conducted reconnaissance from the air and covered the convoys. The Air Force also attacked German bases and airfields and enemy ships on the high seas. Soviet submarine forces went to sea and kept a combat watch at German naval bases and on possible ways transition 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 was successful: under the cover of sailors and pilots of the Northern Fleet and the British Navy, the sea convoys lost 85 transports, and more than 1,400 reached their goal.

In addition, the Northern Fleet conducted active combat activities off the enemy’s coast, trying to disrupt German maritime transport along the coast of Northern Norway. If in 1941-1942 the submarine fleet was mainly involved in these operations, then from the second half of 1943 naval aviation forces began to play the first fiddle. 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 Soviet Northern Fleet destroyer "Grozny" at sea

In the 14th Army's zone of action, the front line was very stable from the autumn of 1941 to the autumn of 1944. Both sides experienced the same difficulties. Firstly, a quick, maneuverable war was hampered by natural and climatic conditions. There was no continuous front; the battle formations were replaced by rock ridges, swamps, rivers, lakes, and forests that were insurmountable by large formations. Secondly, the defensive formations of the German and Soviet troops were constantly being 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 counter-offensive of the Red Army at the end of April 1942 in the Kesteng direction. Soviet troops actually thwarted the German offensive; reconnaissance revealed the concentration of enemy forces in this direction. But after a 10-day battle the situation stabilized in its previous positions. At the same time, the Red Army tried to go on the offensive in the Murmansk direction - at the turn of the Zapadnaya Litsa River. Soviet troops were able to get a few kilometers ahead, but the Germans soon restored the front. After this, there were no more or less large-scale military operations in the 14th Army zone until October 1944.

Soviet submarines of the C series in the port of Polyarny

By the fall of 1944, Soviet troops firmly held strategic initiative along the entire length of the Soviet-German front. The time has come to defeat the enemy on the northern sector of the front.

The 14th Army became the main fighting force in the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation (took place from October 7 to November 1, 1944). The army was given the task of destroying the main forces of the 19th German Mountain Corps (Norway Corps), which had fortified themselves in the Petsamo region, and then 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 self-propelled gun regiments. It had 97 thousand soldiers and officers, 2212 guns and mortars, 107 tanks and self-propelled artillery 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 marine brigades and 276 naval aviation aircraft.

The German 19th Mountain Corps had: 3 mountain divisions and 4 brigades (53 thousand soldiers and officers), 753 guns and mortars. It was commanded by General of the Mountain Troops Ferdinand Jodl. The forces of the 5th Air Fleet were covered from the air - up to 160 aircraft. The German Navy operated at sea.

The situation was complicated by the fact 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. On the 90 km front there were minefields, wire fences, anti-tank ditches and gaps, reinforced concrete and armored firing points, shelters, trenches, and communication passages were erected. The fortifications intercepted all passes, hollows, roads, and commanding heights. On the sea side, the positions were reinforced by coastal batteries and anti-aircraft positions located in caponiers. And this despite the fact that the terrain was already difficult to pass - rivers, lakes, swamps, rocks.

On October 7, 1944, after artillery preparation, the offensive began. Even before it began, engineering units were sent behind enemy lines in order to destroy enemy fortifications. On the right flank of the strike force, the 131st Rifle Corps was advancing, its goal 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, a deep outflanking maneuver was carried out by the 126th Light Rifle Corps (its target was also Luostari).

By 15.00, the 131st Corps broke through the first line of German defense 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, performing a difficult outflanking maneuver, reached west of Luostari by October 11 and cut the Petsamo-Salmijärvi road. By this, the Soviet command prevented the approach of German reinforcements. The corps received the following task - to seize the Petsamo-Tarnet road from the west with a new roundabout maneuver. The task was completed on October 13.

On October 14, the 131st, 99th and 127th corps approached Petsamo, and the assault began. On October 15, Petsamo fell. After this, the army corps regrouped and on October 18 the second stage of the operation began. Units of the 4 corps already participating in the battle and the new reserve 31st Rifle Corps were thrown into battle. The enemy was mainly pursued during this phase. 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, Nikel began to be captured, and on the 22nd it fell. The remaining corps also reached their target lines by October 22.

Amphibious landing, 1944

On October 18, the 131st Rifle Corps entered Norwegian soil. The liberation of Northern Norway has begun. On October 24-25, the Jarfjord was crossed, the forces of the 14th Army fanned out on Norwegian territory. The 31st Rifle Corps did not cross the bay and began moving deep to the south - by October 27 it reached Nausti, reaching the border of Norway and Finland. The 127th Light Rifle Corps also moved south along west bank fjord The 126th Light Rifle Corps moved to westward, and on October 27 went to Neiden. The 99th and 131st Rifle Corps rushed to Kirkenes and occupied it on October 25. After this, 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.

By expelling German troops from Kirkenes and reaching the Neiden-Nausti line, the Soviet 14th Army and 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 its movement and go on the defensive. During the 19-day battles, army troops advanced westward up to 150 km, liberating the Petsamo-Pechenga region and Northern Norway. The loss of these territories greatly limited the actions of the German Navy on Soviet northern communications and deprived the Third Reich of the opportunity to obtain nickel ore (a strategic resource).

German troops suffered significant losses in manpower, weapons and military equipment. Thus, Jodl’s 19th Mountain Rifle Corps lost only about 30 thousand people killed. The Northern Fleet destroyed 156 enemy ships and vessels, and Soviet aviation forces eliminated 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 demonstrated. Operational and tactical interaction between the ground forces and the forces of the Northern Fleet was organized at a high level. The Soviet corps carried out the offensive in difficult terrain, often without direct communication with neighboring units. The forces of the 14th Army maneuvered skillfully and flexibly, using specially trained and prepared light rifle corps in battle. High level showed engineering units of the Soviet army, naval units, and marines.

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

Norway was finally 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 numbered about 351 thousand soldiers and officers) received an order to surrender and laid down their arms.