DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Bresky, Gunilla G/Giraff Film/Filmpool Nord/SVT (2000): Blood Road.The Soviet prisoners of war in Arctic Norway, escapes to Sweden and the tragic post-war fate of the Soviet former POWs. (available in English and Swedish)
Bresky, Gunilla G/SVT (2001): Under a Rusty Star. "The war isn´t over until the last soldier has been found and buried": a quote from this film about Russian "seekers" on the Arctic battlefields between Murmansk and Norway. Also contains some Soviet and German newsreels from this area. (available in English and Swedish)
Gustafsson, Kjell/SVT (1995): Rädda Norge - svensk neutralitet med norska färger. The birth and training of the Norwegian "police-troops" in Sweden and some minutes about their mission to Arctic Norway. (available in Swedish only)
Kosmo, Knut/TVP (1990´s): Krigsveteranerne forteller - Del I-IV. Interviews with Norwegian veterans of the battle for Narvik, resistance work 1940-1945 and the liberation of 1945. (available in Norwegian only)
NRK (2000): Murmanskkonvoiene - Del I-II. Interviews with British, German, Norwegian, Soviet, Swedish (yes, one!) and US veterans of the war in the Arctic waters. But also much about the land battles in the Arctic. Contains Soviet and German newsreels from the Arctic. (available in Norwegian only)
Polarfilm (2000): Der Krieg am Polarkreis. From the battle of Narvik in 1940 to the failed offensive against Murmansk and the retreat to Lyngenfjord in 1944. Even some wartime colour footage from the area. (available in German only)
Bergström, Christer and Andrey Mikhailov (2000): Black Cross/Red Star. The Air War Over the Eastern Front.
Pacifica: Pacifica Military History. Includes a section giving a detailed look at both sides of the northern air war. BOOKS ON ANGLO-AMERICAN
OPERATIONS Atherton,
Louise (1994): S.O.E. Operations in Scandinavia. A Guide to the Newly
Released Records in the Public Record Office. London: PRO Publications. A matter-of-fact list of documents on the SOE in Scandinavia. Baden-Powell,
Dorothy (1982): Operation Jupiter - SOE`s Secret War in Norway. London: Hale Limited. Sabotage raids of the SOE/Linge Company in Norway incl. the training that preceded such raids. BOOKS ON THE
ARCTIC CONVOYS Suprun, Mikhail.
(1994): Severnye konvoi: issledovanija, vospominanija, dokumenty. Moskva:
Nauka. A compilation of memories, documents and various findings re. lend-lease and Arkhangelsk. (available in Russian only) BOOKS ON FINNISH AND GERMAN
UNITS IN THE FAR NORTH Appel, Erik etc (2001):Finland i krig 1944-1945. Esbo: Schildts förlags AB. The third and concluding volume of this impressive and up-to-date study of Finland during WWII. (available in Swedish only) BOOKS ABOUT NORTH FINLAND DURING WWII Martikainen, Tyyne (2002): Partisaanisodan uhrit.
Kemi: Varisuora.The victims of the Soviet partisan raids into northern Finland. (available in Finnish and Swedish. In the latter language as "Skräck och förtvivlan i finska Lappland") BOOKS ABOUT NORTH
NORWAY DURING WWII Christophersen,
Bjørn (1976): Forsvarets plass i norsk historie. Oslo: Forsvarets
krigshistoriske avdeling. Very brief but useful overview of all Norwegian operations 1940-1945. (available in Norwegian only) BOOKS ABOUT NORTH
SWEDEN DURING WWII Andersson,
Hilding m.fl.
(1971): Beredskapsminnen från övre Norrland 1939--1944. Luleå: Tornedalica. Various Swedish wartime memories. (available in Swedish only) BOOKS ABOUT SOVIET
UNITS IN THE FAR NORTH Barysjnikov,
N.I. (1988): Istorija ordena Lenina Leningradskogo vojennogo okruga.
Moskva: Vojenizdat.The Soviet overview of all the operations in NW Russia and adjacent Nordic areas. Not an easy read but can be useful for the student of the Red army. (available in Russian only)
Updated
13-07-2004 ©
Lars and Ann-Sofie Gyllenhaal
LITTERATURE OF GENERAL
INTEREST
Gebhardt,
James F. (1990): The Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation: Soviet Breakthrough
and Pursuit in the Arctic, October 1944. Leavenworth Papers No 17, Fort Leavenworth: Combat Studies
Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. The most detailed English-language analysis of this Soviet offensive.
Gebhardt, James F. (1998): After the Battle No. 99: Soviet Victory
in the Arctic. London: Battle of Britain Prints International Ltd. An abridged version of the previous book with new photographs from Russian, Norwegian and Swedish archives.
Gregory, Barry (1989): Mountain and Arctic Warfare. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens
Limited. Gives an older overview of WWII in the Arctic.
Gyllenhaal, Lars and James F. Gebhardt (1999 and 2001): Slaget om Nordkalotten.
Lund: Historiska Media. The first Swedish-language overview of WWII in the Arctic, focusing on how Sweden secretly supported Finno-German northern operations 1941-1943 and then switched to supporting Norway and the Allies after the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive. (available in Swedish only)
Tsouras, Peter G. (1995): Fighting in Hell. New York: Ivy Books.
With sections on the fighting in Karelia and on the Kola Peninsula, giving an idea of the extreme conditions on this section of the Eastern Front. The section "Warfare in the Far North" by General der Infanterie Dr. Waldemar Erfurth (Wehrmacht representative to Finnish Headquarters) is especially valuable.
IN NORTHERN SCANDINAVIA
Glines, Carroll V. (1999): Bernt Balchen: Polar Aviator. Washington
and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.The modern biography of the CO of the only unit of the USAAF that operated in the far north of the Nordic countries in 1944-1945.
Heimark, Bruce H. (1994): The OSS Norwegian Special Operations Group
in World War II. Westport: Praeger. The official history of this little-known special forces unit, consisting mainly of Nordic-Americans.
Jacobsen, Alf R. (2003): Banesår. Oslo: Aschehoug. The story of the British X-craft attack on the Tirpitz. (available in Norwegian only)
Lorentz, Gunnar & Hommerberg, Sigge (1945): Bernt Balchen. Den flygande
vikingen. Malmö: A.-B. Allhems Förlag. The first biography of the CO of the USAAF unit that operated in the far north of the Nordic countries in 1944-1945. (available in Swedish only)
Solhjell, Kåre Olav & Traphagen, Friedrich (2001): Fra krig til fred. Fokus på Snåsa og Nord-Trøndelag. Aal: Boksmia forlag.A detailed Norwegian-German study of WWII in the Norwegian county of Nord-Trøndelag stressing Anglo-American sabotage operations and the German response. (available in Norwegian only)
Tennant, Peter (1992): Touchlines of war.
Hull: Hull Univ. press.The wartime memories of a British diplomat in Sweden. (also available in Swedish as Vid sidan av kriget, Diplomat i Sverige 1939--1945.)
Waernberg, Jan (1995): Flygoperation Balchen. Amerikanska flygningar
i Sverige 1944-1945. Svensk Flyghistorisk Tidskrift (specialnummer). Stockholm/Luleå:
Svensk Flyghistorisk Förening/Norrbottens Flygflottilj. The story of the USAAF/OSS missions in the Nordic countries in 1944-1945. (available in Swedish only)
Ruegg, Bob and Arnold Hague (1992): Convoys to Russia 1941-1945.
Kendal: the World Ship Society.The complete (?) lists of all vessels that took part in the lend-lease convoys.
Ruge, Friedrich (1979): The Soviets as Naval Opponents 1941-1945.
Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. The German view of the Soviet navy. Includes details of the fighting in the Barents and Kara seas.
Suprun, Mikhail (1997): Lend-liz i severnye konvoi, 1941-1945 gg.
Moskva: Andrejevskij flag. The complete and up-to-date story incl. full statistics re. lend-lease and the Soviet Union. (available in Russian only)
Holzermayer,
Felix (1996):
1938--1945 Vom ersten bis zum letzten Tag. Ein Soldat aus Österreich erzählt.
Berg am Starnbergersee: Druffel Verlag. An Austrian mountain trooper´s memoirs from Norway, Finland, NW Russia and Italy. (available in German only)
Jacobsen, Alf R. (2004): Til siste slutt. Oslo: Aschehoug. The final, strange, actions of the Kriegsmarine in Norway. (available in Norwegian only)
Kaltenegger, Roland (1999): Krieg am Eismeer: Gebirgsjaeger im Kampf um Narvik, Murmansk und die Murmanbahn. Graz: Leopold Stocker Verlag. A modern overview of WWII in the Arctic, based on all previous relevant books. (available in German only)
Knabe, Konrad (1979): Die schweigende Front. Dietls Kampf im hohen Norden 1940--1944. Leoni am Starnberger See: Druffel Verlag. An older, mainly photographic, overview of WWII in the Arctic. (available in German only)
Kraeutler, Mathias & Springenschmied, Karl (1962): Es war ein Edelweiss Graz: Leopold Stocker Verlag. The definitive history of the 2nd German Mountain Divison. (available in German only)
Kuusela, Kari (2000): Panzers in Finland/Wehrmachtin panssarit Suomessa. Saksalaiset panssariyksiköt Suomessa 1941--1944. Panzer Units in Finland 1941--1944 Helsinki: Wiking-Divisioona Oy. A detailed description of all German panzer units in Finland, their operations and vehicles with a large amount of previously not published photographs. (available in English/Finnish)
Levsen, Dirk (2000): Krieg im Norden. Die Kaempfe in Norwegen 1940. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. The German invasion of Norway incl. many photos and six colour maps. (available in German only)
Petersen, Joachim (1992): Hitlers Polareisenbahnplaene 1940 bis 1945 in Nordnorwegen. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag GmbH.The German project to build an Arctic Railway from central Norway to Kirkenes. (available in German only)
Ruef, Karl (1984): Winterschlacht im Mai.Die Zerreissprobe des Gebirgskorps Norwegen (XIX. Geb.A.K.) vor Murmansk. Graz & Stuttgart: Leopold Stocker Verlag. The German/Austrian view of the failed Soviet offensive in the direction of Petsamo in 1942 (available in German only)
Rüf, Hans (1957): Gebirgsjäger vor Murmansk. Der Kampf des Gebirgskorps
"Norwegen" an der Eismeerfront 1941/42. Innsbruck: Universitätsverlag
Wagner. A fine early compilation of memories re. the first two years of the fighting on the Eismeerfront. Very good photographs. (available in German only)
Schreiber, Franz (1996): Kampf unter dem Nordlicht. Deutsch-finnische
Waffenbruederschaft am Polarkreis. Coburg: Nation Europa Verlag GmbH. The last CO of the 6th SS Mountain Division describes the fighting in Karelia and on the Kola Peninsula in great detail. (available in German only)
Steurich, Alfred (1976): Gebirgsjäger im Bild. 6. SS Gebirgsdivision
Nord 1940--1945. Osnabrück: Munin-Verlag GmbH. The photographic history of the 6th SS Mountain Division. (available in German only)
Thorban,
F.W. (1989): Der Abwehrkampf um Petsamo und Kirkenes 1944. Operationen
"Birke" und "Nordlicht". Friedberg: POZDUN-PALLAS-Verlag GmbH. A detailed but very German-focused account of the 19th Mountain Army Corps in 1944. (available in Finnish and German)
Van Dyke, Carl (1997): The Soviet Invasion of Finland 1939-40 London: Frank Cass Publishers. A modern and detailed study of the Soviet invasion incl. the Soviet high command´s post-war evaluation of the lessons learned in Finland.
Williamson, Gordon (1996): German Mountain & Ski Troops 1939--45.
London: Osprey. A very brief but good overview of all German army and SS Mountain Divisions and their uniforms.
Seppälä, Helge (1971): Neuvostopartisaanit toisessa maailmansodassa. Porvoo: WSOY.The Soviet Partisans in the Second World War.(available in Finnish only)
Tikkanen, Ville (1997): Partisaanien uhrit.
Kajaani. Also about the victims of the Soviet partisan raids into northern Finland. (available in Finnish only)
Gamst, Thorbein (1984): Finnmark under hakekorset. Arendal:
Agdin Forlag. Detailed study of all operations in Finnmark 1940-1945. Many maps and photographs and some modern photographs. (available in Norwegian only)
Haug, Tore & Karlsen, Astrid (2001):
Jan Baalsrud og de som reddet ham Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The perhaps most incredible WWII escape story from the Arctic in retrospect (in Norwegian and also in a slightly different English version as Defiant Courage)
Hauglid, Anders Ole & Jensen, Knut Erik & Westrheim, Harry (1985):
Til befolkningen! Brannhösten 1944 - gjenreisingen etterpå. Tromsø-Oslo-Bergen-Stavanger:
Universitetsforlaget AS. The last phase of the operations in Norway 1944-1945 and their aftermath. (available in Norwegian only)
Heyerdahl, Thor (1998): I Adams fotspår. En erindringsreise.
Oslo: J. M. Stenersens Forlag. The autobiography of explorer this explorer incl his time in Luleå and Finnmark during WWII. (available in Norwegian and Swedish)
Levsen, Dirk (2000): Krieg im Norden. Die Kämpfe in Norwegen 1940. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. The German invasion 1940. (available in German only)
Lund, Thoralv (1990): Kalde krigsår. Svalbard 1940-1945.Nordanger forlag. The fighting on and around Svalbard. (available in Norwegian only)
Lyngstad, Torleif (1999): Raus!! Schnell!! Evakueringen av Indre Kåfjord 1944-45.The German evacuation of Northern Troms. (available in Norwegian and Sami)
Roth Niemi, Berit (1989): Varanger årbok 1989. Vadsø: Vadsø
Historielag og Sør-Varanger Historielag. A compilation re. various aspects of operations on the Varanger Peninsula 1940-1945. (available in Norwegian only)
Semb-Johansson, Arne (1995): Fem år för fred och frihet. Med Milorg
1940-1945. Oslo: Cappelen. Norwegian guerilla operations 1940-1945. (available in Norwegian only)
Björklund, Eric (1984): Tysktrafiken. Danderyd: Åkeriförlaget. Swedish lorries and drivers that served in the German army in Finland. (available in Swedish only)
Boëthius, Maria-Pia (1991): Heder och samvete. Sverige och
andra världskriget. Stockholm: Bokförlaget Pan/Norstedts.A critical assesment of Sweden´s wartime history. (available in Swedish only)
Forslund, Björn (1985). Beredskapsdagbok 1939-45. Som vi upplevde
det då och minns det nu. Täby: Bokförlaget Robert Larson AB.Various Swedish soldiers´ wartime memories. (available in Swedish only)
Frick, Lennart W. & Rosander, Lars (1998): Det vakande ögat. Svensk
underrättelsetjänst under 400 år. Lund: Historiska Media. The history of Swedish military intelligence, unfortunately with very little on WWII. (available in Swedish only)
Munch-Petersen, Thomas (1981): The Strategy of Phoney War. Britain,
Sweden and the Iron Ore Question 1939-1940. Stockholm: Militärhistoriska
Förlaget. An excellent study on planned and implemented German and British operations against Scandinavia 1939-1940.
Persson, E. Bertil (1982): Gammelstad-Karlsvikshyttans järnväg.
Stockholm: Svenska järnvägsklubben. Railway history in the north including the German supply base in Lulea. (available in Swedish only)
Söderman, Harry (1945): Skandinaviskt mellanspel. Norska och danska
trupper i Sverige. Stockholm: Forum.The exciting wartime memories of the founder of the Norwegian police troops in Sweden. (available in Swedish only)
Wechselmann, Maj (1995): De bruna förbindelserna. Stockholm:
Ordfronts förlag. A very critical assessment of Sweden´s wartime historty. (available in Swedish only)
Widfeldt, Bo & Wegmann, Rolph (1988): Nödlandning. Främmande flyg
i Sverige under andra världskriget. Nässjö: Air Historic Research. Crash landings and other WWII landings of foreign aircraft in Sweden. (available in Swedish only)
Åberg, Bertil (1998): Landshövdingechaufför Bertil Åberg. Luleå:
Arctic Circle Press. The memories of an inhabitant of Lulea, including a good description of passing German troops. (available in Swedish only)
Burgess III, William H. (1990): Inside Spetsnaz. Soviet Special
Operations A Critical Analysis. Novato: Presidio Press. Many myths about spetsnaz troops are dissected here. Operations by Soviet and Norwegian special forces in Norway and Finland during WWII are ably described.
Eriksen, Hans Kr. (1969): Partisaner i Finnmark. Oslo: Tiden
Norsk Forlag. Operations by Soviet and Norwegian special forces in Finnmark are described here. (available in Norwegian only)
Gurylev, Gennadij A. (1995): Otnyne Nesekretno. Murmansk: MIPP
Sever. The wartime history of the NKVD in the county of Murmansk. (available in Russian only)
Leonov, Viktor N. (1993): Blood on the Shores. Soviet Naval Commandos
in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. The autobiography of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Nikolayevich Leonov, translated by James F. Gebhardt. Here are many fine details of daring missions to Norway and Finland. (available also in Russian as Litsom k litsu, as it was originally published as such)
Shcherbakov, Vladimir I. (1994): Zapoljarje - sudba moja. Murmansk:
Murmanskoje knizjnoje izdatelstvo.The wartime memoirs of the CO of the Soviet 14th Army. (available in Russian only)
Smirnov, Aleksandr S. (1977): Partizany zapoljarja. Murmansk:
Murmanskoje knizjnoje izdatelstvo.The war memoirs of the CO of the Soviet partisan unit "Bolshevik Zapolyarya". (available in Russian only)