Jan - March 1942: SWEDEN SUPPLIES HOUSING
Much-needed arctic tents and barracks are delivered from Sweden to the freezing German troops attacking the Kola Peninsula. They are delivered by 150 privately-owned Swedish lorries based in Haparanda and 41 German-owned lorries based in Luleå. Although not part of the agreement with the Swedish transport firm ASG the Germans also use the lorries for transporting ammunition. The lorries are driven by more than 300 civilian Swedish drivers.
28 April 1942: RED ARMY UNSUCCESSFUL
The Red Army attempts to kick back the Germans from the Litsa area through a large-scale offensive, but the plans are divulged by a Soviet prisoner-of-war and the Germans are thus well-prepared when the offensive starts. Around 7 000 Soviet soldiers perish until the offensive is halted the 10th of May. From now on neither side tries anything large-scale on land in the northernmost sector of the Eastern front until 1944.
27 August 1942: GERMANS ATTACK SIBERIA
The Kriegsmarine attacks an Arctic Russian town and port: Dikson (named after the Swedish Baron Oscar Dickson). The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, accompanied by two U-boats, destroys Dikson and a large icebreaker by shelling. The attack is part of Operation "Wunderland", aiming to stop Soviet convoys sent from Asian ports to support the Soviet Northern Fleet. Dikson was a strategic link on this route. No Soviet attempts to retaliate are known but as a result of "Wunderland" the Soviet High Command orders an initiative to reinforce the Arctic coast. Therefore the NKVD, in charge of traffic and exploitation in Siberia, starts to plan a railway along the coast to make army operations possible in the area.
9 June 1944: RED STORM AGAINST VIBORG
Two Soviet armies strike against the southern Finnish border town of Viborg and threaten Helsinki.
20 June 1944: SECOND RED STORM
Two more Soviet armies launch an attack from the Onega area against the Finnish heartland.
4 Sept 1944: SOVIET-FINNISH ARMISTICE
Finland and the Soviet Union sign an armistice that means not only great territorial losses for Finland: Petsamo, Salla and Karelia, but also states that the Finnish army will drive out all remaining German forces from Finland.
6 September 1944: GERMANS SAVED BY BORDER
The Red Army launches an offensive against the Germans on south Kola who narrowly escape capture thanks to the new borderline that the Soviet troops have strict orders to respect. Among the units that narrowly escape is the 163d Infantry Division, famous for having crossed Sweden on the eve of Barbarossa.
23 September 1944: MASS EVACUATION TO SWEDEN
By this date 23 400 Finnish citizens had been evacuated from Finnish Lapland to north Sweden, a massive refugee operation made possible by the Swedish Army and the Swedish Red Cross.
3 October 1944: HITLER APPROVES RETREAT
Adolf Hitler approves Operation Nordlicht, the retreat from Kola and Finnish Lapland to the Lyngen position in Norway just north of the peak of Sweden. Preparations for the retreat begin.
7 October 1944: PETSAMO-KIRKENES OFFENSIVE
The Soviet 14th Army launches an offensive of unprecedented scale towards Petsamo/Pechenga and Kirkenes. On the Soviet side alone 133 500 men take part, 700 aircraft and 100 AFVs including heavy KV-85s, ISU-152s and US-made M3 Lee lend-lease tanks. The main thrust westwards is made by the 99th and 131 st Rifle Corps against the German 2nd Mountain division.
14 October 1944: PETSAMO BECOMES PECHENGA
The Soviets capture the Finnish town of Petsamo and thus also take Finland´s only Arctic port. The town and adjacent area is incorporated into Russia, which it once was a part of during tsarist times.
25 October 1944: KIRKENES LIBERATED BY REDS
The Soviets liberate Kirkenes and immediately begin to support the Norwegian population, who mostly have remained in hiding in violation of German orders. No rapes or other atrocities are committed by the Red Army in Norway and the atmosphere between the liberators and the liberated remains friendly.
29 October 1944: LANCASTERS ATTACK TIRPITZ
In the early morning hours 36 British Lancaster bombers take off from Scotland. Their target is the 42,000-ton German battleship Tirpitz, the biggest warship in the Western Hemisphere. The Tirpitz still threatens the lend-lease convoys to Murmansk and Archangelsk by its mere presence in the fjord of Tromsö. The bombers fly north mostly over Sweden. The attack is not successful and the planes are hit by anti-aircraft guns. One of them, christened "Easy Elsie", is damaged and the pilot decides to try to land in Sweden. At 1140 "Elsie" crash-lands in the marshes just northwest of the Swedish village of Porjus. Only the chief pilot David William Carey is hurt. The crew tries to set fire to their aircraft but is soon arrested by the local home guard who proudly pronounce "we are Swedish commandos!". After a brief period of pleasant internment they are allowed to be flown home to Scotland.
12 November 1944: 1200 SAILORS DIE WITH TIRPITZ
A new Lancaster-raid sinks the Tirpitz by Tromsö and 1200 German sailors die with the ship.
30 December 1944: US AIRLIFT FROM SWEDEN
Ten USAAF C-47 Dakotas under the command of Colonel Bernt Balchen take part in the aftermath of the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation by transporting 1 442 Norwegian ski troops (trained in "neutral" Sweden as "police troops") to North Norway via the F 21 Swedish Air Force base at Luleå. They also transport 1 100 tons of military, medical and civilian supplies to Kirkenes and other points. In addition this unorthodox unit perform tasks for the precursor of the CIA, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Milorg, the Norwegian resistance. This mission lasted between 29 December 1944 and 1 August 1945 and was called "Operation Where and When". The ski-troops brought to Kirkenes by the USAAF supported the Red Army units in Arctic Norway in driving the Germans west- and southwards while at the same time making clear to the Soviets that Finnmark (the easternmost Norwegian county) was a part of Norway.
4 March 1945: FINLAND DECLARES WAR
Although Finnish troops have been fighting against German troops since September 1944 it is only now that Finland officially declares war upon Germany.
25 March 1945: US AIRBORNE IN SWEDEN
Due to a navigational error five US parachutists land in the northern Swedish village of Lien. They belong to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Norwegian Special Operations (NORSO) Group and are armed to the teeth with weapons and explosives. Their mission is to cut off or halt the transfer of the 20th German Mountain Army from Arctic Norway to central Europe.
27 April 1945: LAST FINNISH-GERMAN BATTLE
The German 20th Mountain Army and the Finnish army exchange fire in a final, small battle by Kilpisjärvi, in the northwestern corner of Finnish Lapland.
7 May 1945: VICTORY IN EUROPE AT F 21
The long-awaited VE-Day (Victory in Europe Day) is celebrated with an American-Norwegian-Swedish party at the F 21 wing in Luleå. The party is held in the officers´mess closest to the main entrance.
7 June 1945: SOVIET POWs SAVED BY USAAF
WWII in Europe may be over, but for the many thousand Soviet and Yugoslav ex-prisoners in the Narvik and Bodø areas the situation is desparate. They have been forced to build Hitler´s arctic railway and now many of them are in the same shape as the concentration camp inmates in central Europe. On the 7th of June 1945 a Swedish Red Cross hospital with staff is flown to Bodø by Colonel Balchens C-47s. A total of 112 medical personnel and 240 tonnes of supplies are flown to the stranded Russians by the USAAF aircraft.
14 June 1945: THE RED ARMY IN SWEDEN
At 0600 hours the first train with Soviet former prisoners arrives in Luleå. The Soviets are lodged by the former German supply base in Karlshäll and fed by the Swedish Army, which also supplies the tents in which the Soviet soldiers sleep. Many local people visit the former prisoners - exchanging goods and ideas through the barbed wire. Until 11 July 25 000 Soviets pass through the area on their way back to the USSR. The Norrbotten Infantry Regiment (I 19) and the Norrland Anti-Aircraft Corps (Lv 7) form a special detachment with transport, quartermaster and medical sections to take care of the former prisoners. The Swedish Womens´ "Lotta" Corps (SLK) also takes part in this work.
25 September 1945: SOVIETS LEAVE NORWAY
The Soviets unexpectedly leave Kirkenes after a brief ceremony with the local Norwegians.
BACK TO TIMELINE 1939-1941Updated 03-03-2001