Petsamo and Kirkenes 1944: The Soviet offensive in the Northern Arctic (Campaign)

Good book, but on a relatively insignificant part of WW II. The book offers very detailed accounts of the Soviet army and naval amphibious attacks and the German defensive responses. It describes the attacks and defensive efforts down to the regiment, battalion, and company levels. There are also good discussions of the organizations and equipment of both the Soviet and German troops. The text is accompanied by several very useful maps and some black and white photos.One of the reasons I gave the book 3 Stars is because the entire campaign simply wasn't important to the overall war. The ports of Petsamo and Kirkenes were of no strategic value to either the Germans or the Soviets. By late 1944, the nickel nines south of Petsamo were no longer of any strategic economic value to Germany. If ever there was a place where no one should attempt to fight a war and in which decisive strategic combat results are probably impossible, a partially mountainous, barren, snowy area north of the Arctic Circle is it.Another reason I gave the book a 3-Star rating is because it does not discuss the strategic reasons why the campaign was conducted in the first place. Apparently, the Soviet reasoning was something like “There are Germans here; therefore we will fight them here.” There is also no explanation of what had been accomplished by the capture of Petsamo and Kirkenes. The book focuses almost entirely on the operational and tactical levels.Based solely on scholarship, I would give the book a 5-Star rating. In looking at the bibliography, all the sources are primary German and Russian publications or unpublished documents.I believe that there is an error in the map on page 73. The area labeled as “USSR” is in fact Finland.The area to the west labeled as “Finland” is in fact Norway.Another reasonably good book on this subject is “Gebirgsjäger versus Soviet Sailor” by Greentree (2018). It duplicates much of the story of the Soviet attacks in 1944 but also covers the German attack on Murmansk in late 1941 and the Soviet counterattack in the spring and summer of 1942.

Understandably, the now huge universe of Osprey military books has some titles that are great, and some that are weaker. Overall, this volume is not one of the stronger entries.Readers of prior Osprey books will know what to expect in the way of presentation, which is brief and competent as ever. The book covers events around the Soviet offensive late in WWII in the high Arctic at the juncture of Russia, Finland, and Norway. As one would expect, this was a campaign fought in desolate terrain under arduous conditions. Over 150,000 Soviet and Germans troops were engaged and there were strategic considerations around access to raw materials and potential interdiction of the Allied supply convoys accessing Murmansk.The strongest points for this book are simply that it covers this sector of WWII which is largely unreported elsewhere in English language histories of the wider war. The photographs provided are numerous, and I for one have seen almost none of them published elsewhere.The weaknesses are, first, and as others have noted, the book has an oddly tactical slant for a volume in Osprey's "Campaign" series. The focus (even of the original art work included) seems to be on smaller unit actions, while the strategic view is shortchanged. The "Origins of the Campaign" section feels rushed. The fact that Finland was a co-belligerent with Germany, but had been forced into a separate peace with the USSR in September 1944 is not mentioned (surely, this would seem to be the key strategic background development to the campaign described here, which opened one month later). At the battle-front level, the reader is told that the German defensive line was on the river Litsa, but then when the fighting begins later in the text the German start positions are already farther west. (This is because no mention is made of the German's Operation Nordlicht, when they pulled their forces back westward.) It is also never noted that the key town of Petsamo had originally been Russian territory and only had become Finnish in 1920.Secondly, there are a number of strange or incorrect editorial choices. In the "Opposing Commanders" section, key Soviet commanders are pictured, but there are no pictures of the main German generals anywhere in the book. Thumbnail biographies of German generals Ferdinand Jodl and Hans Degen are provided, but, bizarrely, it is stated that Degen was the nephew of senior German general Alfred Jodl. In fact, as one would expect, it was actually Ferdinand Jodl who was related to the other Jodl, who was his brother, not his uncle. (And, to be picky, that Alfred Jodl was not the "Chief of the General Staff" of the German armed forces high command as described here; he was the chief of the Operations Department.) In addition, another reviewer has already noted one of the included maps as mislabeled.Overall, and given the relatively modest price, this is probably worth having for someone with a real interest in the Arctic theater of WWII, or a completist for the overall Eastern Front. Just not tip-top, though.

In late 1944, the Soviet Union planned a major offensive to clear German troops from northern Finland and remain any residual threat to its Murmansk naval bases. An overwhelming force was assembled and assigned multiple avenues of approach into German-held territory, including by sea. The offensive did not however go as planned...This Osprey Campaign Series book sheds light on a largely forgotten aspect of World War II. The Germans had already determined to withdraw their overextended forces in the Arctic. Although likely surprised by the size of the Soviet offensive, they sought to conduct a fighting withdrawal in good order.The course of the campaign was driven by the difficult terrain, challenging weather conditions, and the outcome of very tactical fights. Readers will have to keep a finger on the relevant map to follow a complicated battle narrative. The text includes an interesting selection of period photographs and modern illustrations. The author's concluding analysis is very worthwhile. Recommended to students of the Second World War for its brief but interesting coverage of a forgotten theater of combat.

This is a very detailed book about a little known battle in northern Finland at the end of WW2. The most difficult part of reading it is wading through all of the odd (to me) Finnish town and area names. I do wish there were more maps, but it had enough to be able to make sense of things.

Very strange picture with T-34-85 tank which described as “Model 1945 with two observation domes” Nonsense! These domes are armored covers for two fans (ventilators). Also PPS SMG mistakenly named as PPSh-43

This covers an area that no one covers. It does bog down in detail.

thank you

Having been to this desolate arctic area twice recently, and having had an uncle who was a colonel serving in Nato in 60/61 in Norway who had told a fascinated 11 year old - me - about the discarded equipment littering the area at that time, I was interested to hear what happened. The answer, seems to be less than I had thought, in short a sort of planned withdrawal from an untenable position that the Germans ought to have pulled back from earlier when it was realised that stopping the Murmansk convoys was not going to happen. N mention of the terrible loss of life amongst the slave labourers who built the arctic supply road, either.

A fascinating read about the war in the Arctic that is little known in Britain, where everything focuses on Western Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. The book is competently written and extremely well researched though one of the disappointing aspects to the Osprey series of books is the cramming of text into a small space where many of the pages are designated for lavish illustrations. The personal accounts by participants themselves would make for a full and superb publication and then there is the Order of Battle of the belligerents, the narrative of the events and the political fallout, all of which would be a book in themselves!

This book attracted me because I know well the Norwegian side of the area of conflict and I was always intrigued by the ground disturbance I could see on the Russian side and have wondered what had caused it. The book answered my queries and provides the background to the retaking of the country previously occupied by the Germans.

Got the feeling this book was only put out there to make money. Don't think this campaign would interest anyone .