In the history of the Second World War, the defense of the Arctic during the initial period of the war is very different from the confrontation with the enemy of our troops in other places of the front. In the North, unlike other border areas, the Red Army troops gave the enemies only a very small territory. Our troops here actively defended, sometimes even counterattacking.
Start of war
Fascist Germany, planning to attack the Soviet Union, led the development of various directions. These areas included the north of the country, including the
Kola Peninsula. Fights in those places flared up at the very beginning of the war and lasted until the fall of 1944. The main blows of the enemy were taken by the units of the Northern and
Karelian fronts. In addition, the naval forces of the Northern Fleet deployed in the frontline areas had to fight here.
The war came to the Arctic in the June days of 1941. The German-fascist leadership entrusted the Wehrmacht army “Norway” with the capture of the Soviet regions of the North. These forces needed to organize the rout of the Soviet troops and the capture of Murmansk with the subsequent capture of the entire Kola Peninsula.
The offensive operation of the German army was supported by an air armada in the amount of 400 aircraft. In the north of Norway, 5 destroyers and 6 submarines were based in port cities. In addition, it was planned to use 15 captured Norwegian ships.
Red Army Forces
The 14th Army of the Red Army opposed these forces. It consisted of a rifle corps, two separate rifle divisions and an air division. From the sea support was provided by the Northern Fleet. The task posed by the participants in the defense of the Arctic was to cover the northern borders and disrupt the breakthrough of the enemy on a front 550 km wide.
The frontier lines of the Red Army were created in the Murmansk direction, where the main line of defense passed along the Western Litsa River. Its defense was held by units of the 14th and 52nd rifle divisions.
As many as three defensive lines were erected in the Kandalaksha direction. The reason for such a deep construction of the battle formations of the Soviet troops in this area was its great importance in combination with the lack of advantageous places for conducting defense, the openness of the flanks of the defenders and the danger of their seizure by the enemy. Here the defense was built up to a width of 30 km. The density of forces here was low - about 9 guns and 22 tanks per 1 km. The Germans had significant superiority. They had 2 times more manpower and artillery, and four aviation.
First strike
German forces delivered a blow to the Murmansk direction within seven days after the start of the war. After conducting artillery training and an air raid, enemy divisions attacked units of the Soviet army on a front about 35 km wide. In one day of offensive operations, the enemy managed to advance 8-12 km, where he was stopped. Thus began the defense of the Arctic.
Second Attempt
After the regrouping of forces, the corps "Norway" on July 7 continued the offensive. Its units crossed the Western Litsa River and penetrated deeply into the defensive order of the 52nd Infantry Division. Due to the lack of reserves, the Soviet army created a critical situation. Trying to distract enemy forces from the front, the commander landed a small amphibious assault, which struck the enemy’s flank. The effect was not slow to affect. Having no information about the true strength of the marines, the enemy threw as many as 3 battalions to suppress it, while weakening the strike force. In the most difficult defensive battles, units of the 52nd Infantry Division were able to exhaust the enemy, and then in the course of a counterattack supported by the destroyers Uritsky and Kuibyshev, they threw the enemy back to their previous positions.
On July 11, the enemy resumed attacking actions. He was able to wedge himself into the defensive order of the 52nd Division, but the stubborn opposition of our troops for two days helped the enemy to stop. Within a week, thanks to decisive counterattack, he was forced to retreat to his original position.
To break off the July offensive helped naval landing, which was landed in mid-July and dealt a flank strike to the advancing enemy forces. He managed to divert the large forces of the enemy.
Autumn fights
The enemy suffered heavy casualties in the July battles and lost a lot of military equipment. This forced the enemy to urgently strengthen the grouping concentrated in the Arctic. In August, parts of the SS arrived here, including 6,500 people. The reorganization underwent and the Soviet armed forces in the Arctic. On the basis of the Northern Front, in late August, Karelian and Leningrad were created.
On September 7, fascist forces again launched an offensive against our rifle units. They managed to bypass the 14th division and block the road between Murmansk and Western Lyceum, which interrupted the supply of food and put an end to the evacuation.
Reserve Entry
The situation forced the command, without waiting for the end of the formation of the 186th Infantry Division, to move it into battle. September 15, she directly from the march got into fights, stopping the advance of the enemy.
On September 23, the 186th division, reinforced by a number of rifle regiments, was able, after inflicting a counterattack on the enemy forces that had broken through and throwing it back, to liquidate the breakthrough and restore the front line. The defense of the Soviet Arctic, photos of which are in the article, went through the most decisive stage of its history.
In the direction of Kandalaksha, the enemy offensive began on July 1. For several days, our troops were able to successfully repel persistent attacks by enemy forces. When there was a threat of encirclement due to a flank breakthrough, the army commander gave the order to retreat to the second line of defense. At these lines, our forces successfully repelled enemy attacks for forty days.
Victory over SS units
In early July, the only SS unit in the Arctic region was involved - the SS group Nord. Almost immediately, German formations encountered enormous difficulties in overcoming Soviet defense. In the Salla area, Soviet troops, who gained experience in the Finnish war, first repelled a number of enemy attacks, and then went on a counterattack. They drove the Germans to a great distance. In the very first battle, SS troops lost 100 killed and 250 wounded. 150 SS men went missing.
The tactics of the German troops were basically like this. During the concentration of enemy forces after reconnaissance, small groups advanced in different directions, which immediately prepared defensive lines. Next, shelling and reconnaissance began in battle to find flaws in the defenses of our troops.
To prepare for offensive operations, artillery bombardment was carried out to a depth of 15 km, which alternated with attacks by bombers at the forefront. This was followed by an infantry attack, which was supported by artillery and groups of 2-3 tanks, trying to circumvent the defense of the Soviet forces or find the most vulnerable points in it.
The last enemy offensive in 1941
Another fascist offensive was launched on November 1. Our fighters fiercely resisted the enemy. For 12 days, the enemy tried to attack, but only advanced to a depth of 3 km. In the end, the enemy’s offensive impulse ran out. Approaching reinforcements on November 23, along with the main forces, switched to offensive operations, dropping the enemy back to their original positions.
The enemy units were exhausted and could not lead the offensive. The German command tried to justify the lack of success in this sector of the front by harsh environmental conditions. In reality, the plans of the Nazis helped to disrupt the dedication of the Red Army and local residents.
Faced with organized resistance, the German leadership was forced to postpone plans to capture Murmansk until better times. However, these intentions were not realized.
As a result, during the course of the defensive operations, which lasted three months, the ground forces of the Soviet army, supported by the fleet and aircraft, repelled all enemy attacks, foiling his plans to occupy Murmansk. Due to heavy losses, the enemy was not able to develop attacking actions and went on the defensive.
Front line stabilization
At the previously achieved positions, the front line was stabilized and, although attempts to change the situation were made on both sides, remained until the middle of autumn 1944.
In defense, the soldiers of the 14th Army, showing great tenacity, were able to hold the occupied lines for a long time. Breakthroughs and attempts to encircle parts of our troops were suppressed by courageous defense and counterattack by reserve forces. The results of military operations had a serious impact on the participation of naval assault forces, which operated behind enemy lines. At this stage, the defense of the Arctic ended, and the Red Army had other, more ambitious tasks.
Campaign Results
The command of the defending forces of our troops was firm and continuous. All efforts were consistently aimed at solving combat missions. Army command and control units were carried out from a command post located near Murmansk and had reliable protection from enemy air strikes. Communication between units was reliable. To establish it, wire means and local communication lines were used.
During this difficult time, the White and Barents Seas were an important theater of operations in the Arctic. The main heroes of those events were the North Sea sailors who managed to successfully carry out about 1,400 vessels in 78 convoys to the northern ports of the Soviet Union in those years of protection of the Soviet Arctic.
In the course of 1942-1943, this section of the front became the arena of positional battles, where not one of the warring parties managed to achieve advantages. The operation for the final liberation of the Soviet Arctic began in 1944, on October 7. Soviet troops hit Luostari and Petsamo. For two weeks of fighting, units of the Red Army were able to push the enemy beyond the borders of the USSR.
Award institution
Two months after the final defeat of the German-Finnish invaders in the Soviet North, in December 1944, a decree issued establishing the medal “For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic”. The initiator of the decree on a new medal and the rewarding of participants in events by it was the country's top leadership. In the development of it was attended by Lt. Col. Alov and artist Kuznetsov.
The idea of establishing a medal was submitted by Karelian front scouts. Several sketches were submitted to the competition committee, the best of which was recognized as a sketch made by Lt. Col. Alov. The front-line military council supported the idea. The sketch was sent to Moscow. The initial draft of the author was finalized by the artist Kuznetsov, and the award acquired its final form.
Both military and civilians who contributed to the struggle for the Soviet Arctic received a medal for the defense of the Arctic. The award list was 353,240 people.
Award Rules
The defense of the Arctic lasted from the beginning of the war until the end of October 1944. The award was presented to all active participants in significant events - soldiers, sailors, civilians. In order for a person to be awarded this medal, documents were needed that could confirm his participation in the defense of the region. The necessary certificates were to be issued by the commanders of the units, the management of medical institutions, and employees of the executive branch.
The right to the award was given to military and civilian employees of all military branches who actively participated in the defense for at least six months, took part in special operations that were carried out in the autumn of 1944 (in this case, the term of participation no longer mattered), as well as to civilians who defended the Arctic less than six months in the ways available to them. People awarded a medal for the defense of the Arctic could be both military and civilian. So, this medal was received by Valentin Pluchek, a famous director, who led the drama theater in this territory during the war years. Yuri German was also awarded for the defense of the Arctic for the novel "Far in the North" written on the Karelian Front.
Right to present a medal
The medal for the defense of the Arctic, the award list of which contains the names of brave and courageous people, is a high assessment of the contribution of soldiers and residents of this territory to the victory over the enemy. According to the regulations on the establishment of the award, which was approved by the leadership of the country, it could be awarded by unit commanders to the Red Army, sailors serving in the security agencies. For those who have already stopped their service in the army or navy for various reasons, including reaching retirement age, the medal could be awarded by the military commissariat at the place of residence. Civilians were authorized to present this state award to the councils of deputies of the city of Murmansk and the Murmansk region. Persons who were awarded the medal "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic" could be both military people (for example, the famous rescuer of the Chelyuskins, pilot Lyapidevsky), and civilians.
External design
The medal for the defense of the Arctic was made of brass. Its diameter is 3.2 centimeters. The obverse of the medal is decorated with the image of a soldier, showing his right shoulder forward and his head slightly turned to the right. The soldier is equipped in winter: a cap with ear flaps with a red star, a short fur coat. In his hands is his usual weapon - the PPSh machine gun. A fragment of a naval vessel is visible in the left field of the medal; flying planes are located at the top on both sides. Below, in the foreground, tanks are visible. In addition, the obverse has the name of the award, going around the circle from left to right. In the gap between the first and last words of the inscription is a ribbon over which a five-pointed star and the emblem of the USSR in the center are depicted.
On the reverse side of the coin, the motto is written in three lines: "For our Soviet Motherland." Above these words the Soviet coat of arms is visible.
The silk ribbon has a width of 2.4 cm, its color is blue. In the middle is a green strip 6 mm wide, dividing the field into equal parts.