Kirkenes, Abandoned and Burning

Kirkenes had served as Germany’s main supply port and staging area for operations in the Murmansk sector. In October 1944, the Red Army’s Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive drove German forces west from Petsamo and across the border into northern Norway. The advance began on 7 October. Its original aim was to surround and destroy German forces on Soviet territory; crossing into Norway had not been part of the plan. It became unavoidable when that aim failed and the German 20th Mountain Army withdrew across the frontier.

The operation was led by the Karelian Front commander, Kirill A. Meretskov, and the 14th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Vladimir I. Shcherbakov. Soviet troops entered Norway on 18 October. As they pursued the retreating Germans toward Kirkenes, the 14th Rifle Division fought off counterattacks between Tarnet and the town. On the night of 23 October, the 45th Rifle Division crossed the Jarfjord, leaving its tanks and rocket launchers with the 14th Rifle Division. Farther south, the 10th Guards Division crossed a pontoon bridge at Holmfoss with KV tanks and self-propelled artillery.

On 24 October, the 45th Rifle Division reached the edge of Bøkfjord, opposite Kirkenes. German troops destroyed a bridge at Elvenes to block the 14th Rifle Division’s crossing. The next day, German forces abandoned Kirkenes. Soviet troops entered the town on 25 October and found it scorched and largely destroyed by the retreating Germans. The date became the town’s local Liberation Day, and Kirkenes was the first Norwegian town freed from German occupation.

The capture did not end the campaign. German forces continued their withdrawal into Norway, while the Red Army pursued them south. Supply difficulties and German delaying actions limited the Soviet advance; the 20th Mountain Army escaped with the bulk of its forces intact. Meretskov halted offensive operations on 29 October, except for reconnaissance. For Kirkenes, however, the immediate result was plain: after years of German occupation and repeated bombing, Soviet troops had entered an abandoned town, and local people welcomed them as liberators.