Arctic Front
The Advance of Mountain Corps Norway on Murmansk, 1941
Published on 15. November 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-63624-529-4 (ISBN)
Description
"This is a serious, thoughtful book about war "on the right wing of the Western Front and the left wing of the Eastern Front" in conditions hardly conducive to survival, let alone combat. Definitely recommended." - Stone & Stone_x000D_
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In 1941, military operations were conducted by large formations along the northern coast of Scandinavia - for the first time in history of warfare. A modern army suddenly swept into that isolated and inhospitable region that was yet to possess the level of importance it would later assume in Cold War polar strategy. The Arctic Front was the northernmost theater in the war waged by Germany against Russia. For a period of four years, German troops from all branches of the Wehrmacht fought side by side with Finnish border guard units.
The high point of the war on the Arctic Front was the assembly and advance of Germany's Mountain Corps Norway in the summer and autumn of 1941. Commanded by general of the mountain troops, Eduard Dietl, and composed of the 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions, the Mountain Corps advanced out of occupied North Norway, assembled in the Petsamo Corridor in North Finland, and struck into Russian territory in an attempt to seize Murmansk. It did not reach its objective. This account of the operation was written by Wilhelm Hess, quartermaster of the Mountain Corps Norway. He draws upon his personal experience of the conditions and actions on the Arctic Front in order to describe and analyze the environment, the sequence of events, and the reasons behind certain decisions. In addition to describing how operations conducted by the Mountain Corps unfolded, Hess provides insight as to how the terrain, the flow of supplies, and the war at sea impacted those operations.
_x000D_
In 1941, military operations were conducted by large formations along the northern coast of Scandinavia - for the first time in history of warfare. A modern army suddenly swept into that isolated and inhospitable region that was yet to possess the level of importance it would later assume in Cold War polar strategy. The Arctic Front was the northernmost theater in the war waged by Germany against Russia. For a period of four years, German troops from all branches of the Wehrmacht fought side by side with Finnish border guard units.
The high point of the war on the Arctic Front was the assembly and advance of Germany's Mountain Corps Norway in the summer and autumn of 1941. Commanded by general of the mountain troops, Eduard Dietl, and composed of the 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions, the Mountain Corps advanced out of occupied North Norway, assembled in the Petsamo Corridor in North Finland, and struck into Russian territory in an attempt to seize Murmansk. It did not reach its objective. This account of the operation was written by Wilhelm Hess, quartermaster of the Mountain Corps Norway. He draws upon his personal experience of the conditions and actions on the Arctic Front in order to describe and analyze the environment, the sequence of events, and the reasons behind certain decisions. In addition to describing how operations conducted by the Mountain Corps unfolded, Hess provides insight as to how the terrain, the flow of supplies, and the war at sea impacted those operations.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
20 maps
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
363 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-63624-529-4 (9781636245294)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Wilhelm Hess was the quartermaster of Germany's Mountain Corps Norway in 1941 and the senior quartermaster of the Twentieth Mountain Army from 1942 until 1944. He wrote this book on the Mountain Corps Norway in German in 1956 and then served in the West German Army from 1956 until 1968. LINDEN LYONS holds a master's degree in history from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He studied German at the University of Freiburg and librarianship at the University of Canberra. He is the translator of several titles in the Die Wehrmacht im Kampf series, most recently Counter-Strike Operations, Normandy, and Rome to the Po River.
Content
Foreword
1. The Mountain Corps Norway
2. Fennoscandia and Kola
3. The threat from the west
4. Assembly of forces in the east
5. Operational plans
6. Petsamo
7. Cutting off Rybachy Peninsula
8. Overcoming the border fortifications
9. Meeting engagements
10. The first attack over the Litsa River
11. The second attack over the Litsa River
12. The operations of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla
13. Mopping up the Duchy
14. The last days of summer
15. The third attack over the Litsa River
16. The reasons for failure
17. Upheaval and relief
18. Positional warfare and the line of security
19. On the Luttojoki River
20. The supply of the mountain corps
1. The Mountain Corps Norway
2. Fennoscandia and Kola
3. The threat from the west
4. Assembly of forces in the east
5. Operational plans
6. Petsamo
7. Cutting off Rybachy Peninsula
8. Overcoming the border fortifications
9. Meeting engagements
10. The first attack over the Litsa River
11. The second attack over the Litsa River
12. The operations of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla
13. Mopping up the Duchy
14. The last days of summer
15. The third attack over the Litsa River
16. The reasons for failure
17. Upheaval and relief
18. Positional warfare and the line of security
19. On the Luttojoki River
20. The supply of the mountain corps