In the history of the Second World War, the defense of the Arctic in 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 up only a very small territory to the enemies. Our troops were actively defending here, 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. The fighting in those places flared up at the very beginning of the war and lasted until the autumn of 1944. The main blows of the enemy were taken by the formations of the Northern and Karelian fronts. In addition, the naval forces of the Northern Fleet stationed in the frontline areas had to fight here.
The war came to the Arctic in the June days of 1941. The fascist German leadership instructed the army of the Wehrmacht "Norway" to seize the Soviet regions of the North. These forces needed to organize the defeatSoviet troops and the capture of Murmansk with the subsequent mastery of the entire Kola Peninsula.
The offensive operation of the German army was supported from the air by an armada 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.
Forces of the Red Army
These forces were opposed by the 14th Army of the Red Army. 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 set by the participants in the defense of the Arctic was to cover the northern borders and disrupt the enemy's breakthrough on a front 550 km wide.
The border lines of the Red Army were created in the Murmansk direction, where the main line of defense ran along the Zapadnaya 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 formation of the combat formations of the Soviet troops in this area was its great importance, combined with the lack of advantageous places for defense, the openness of the flanks of the defenders and the danger of their being captured 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 a significant superiority. They had 2 times more manpower and artillery, four times more aviation.
First strike
The German troops struck in the Murmansk direction in just seven days after the start of the war. Having carried out artillery preparation and an air raid, enemy divisions attacked units of the Soviet army on a front approximately 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 attack attempt
After the regrouping of forces, the Norway Corps continued its offensive on July 7th. Its units crossed the Western Litsa River and penetrated deeply into the defensive formations of the 52nd Infantry Division. Due to the lack of reserves, the Soviet army had a critical situation. Trying to divert enemy forces from the front, the commander landed a small amphibious assault, which struck at the enemy's flank. The effect was not long in coming. Lacking information about the true strength of the marines, the enemy threw as many as 3 battalions to suppress it, while weakening the strike force. Units of the 52nd Infantry Division managed to wear down the enemy in the most difficult defensive battles, and then, during a counterattack supported by the destroyers Uritsky and Kuibyshev, push the enemy back to their previous positions.
On July 11, the enemy resumed attacking operations. He was able to break into the defensive formations of the 52nd division, but the stubborn opposition of our troops for two days helped to stop the enemy's offensive. Within a week, thanks to decisive counterattacks, he was forced to withdraw to his original positions.
Breaking Julythe offensive was aided by an amphibious assault, which was landed in mid-July and delivered a flank blow to the advancing enemy forces. He managed to divert large enemy forces.
Autumn fights
The enemy suffered heavy casu alties 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, 6,500 SS units arrived here. The Soviet armed forces in the Arctic also underwent a reorganization. On the basis of the Northern Front, Karelian and Leningrad Fronts were created at the end of August.
September 7, the fascist forces again launched an offensive against our rifle units. They managed to bypass the 14th division and block the road between Murmansk and Zapadnaya Litsa, which interrupted the supply of food and put an end to the evacuation.
Introduction of reserves
The situation forced the command, without waiting for the completion of the formation of the 186th Infantry Division, to move it into battle. On September 15, she got involved in battles right from the march, stopping the advance of the enemy.
On September 23, the 186th division, reinforced by a number of rifle regiments, was able, inflicting a counterattack on the enemy forces that had broken through and throwing it back, to eliminate the breakthrough and restore the front line. The defense of the Soviet Arctic, the photo of which is in the article, was going through the most decisive stage in its history.
In the direction of Kandalaksha, the enemy offensive began on July 1. A few daysthe units of our troops managed to successfully repel the persistent attacks of the 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 Polar Territory was involved - the SS group "Nord". Almost immediately, the German formations faced enormous difficulties in overcoming the Soviet defenses. In the Salla region, Soviet troops, having gained experience in the Finnish war, first repelled a number of enemy attacks, and then launched a counteroffensive. They pushed the Germans back a long distance. In the first battle, the SS troops lost 100 people killed and 250 people wounded. 150 SS men are missing.
The tactics of the German troops were basically like this. During the concentration of enemy forces, after reconnaissance, small groups advanced to different directions, which immediately prepared defensive lines. Then shelling and reconnaissance began to find flaws in the defensive formations of our troops.
To prepare for offensive operations, artillery preparation was carried out to a depth of 15 km, which alternated with bomber attacks at the forefront. This was followed by an infantry attack, which was supported by artillery and groups of 2-3 tanks, trying to bypass the defense of the Soviet forces or find the most vulnerable points in it.
Lastenemy attack in 1941
The next offensive of the Nazis was launched on November 1st. Our fighters fiercely resisted the enemy. For 12 days the enemy tried to attack, but advanced only to a depth of 3 km. In the end, the offensive impulse of the enemy dried up. On November 23, the reinforcements that arrived, together with the main forces, proceeded to offensive operations, pushing the enemy back to their original positions.
The enemy units were exhausted and could not attack. The German command tried to justify the lack of success in this sector of the front with difficult natural conditions. In reality, the plans of the Nazis helped to thwart the dedication of the Red Army units 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 carried out.
As a result, during the defensive actions that lasted three months, the ground forces of the Soviet army, supported by the fleet and aviation, repelled all enemy attacks, frustrating his plans to take Murmansk. Due to heavy losses, the enemy was unable to develop attacking actions and went on the defensive.
Stabilizing the front line
In the positions reached earlier, the front line was stabilized and, although attempts to change the situation were made on both sides, it remained until mid-autumn 1944.
In the defense, the soldiers of the 14th Army, showing great perseverance, were able to hold their positions for a long time. Breakthroughs and attempts to encircle parts of our troops were suppressedcourageous defense and counterattacking actions of the reserve forces. The participation of amphibious assault forces in them, which worked in the rear of the advancing enemy, seriously affected the results of hostilities. At this stage, the defense of the Arctic ended, and the Red Army was already faced with other, more ambitious tasks.
Campaign results
The command of the defending forces of our troops was firm and uninterrupted. All efforts were consistently aimed at solving combat missions. The command of the army and control of units was carried out from a command post located not far from Murmansk and having reliable protection from enemy air strikes. Communication between departments was reliable. To establish it, wired means and local communication lines were used.
In this most difficult time, the White and Barents Seas were an important theater of operations in the Arctic. The protagonists of those events were the North Sea sailors, who in those years of defending the Soviet Arctic managed to successfully escort about 1,400 ships in 78 convoys to the northern ports of the Soviet Union.
During 1942-1943, this section of the front became the arena of positional battles, where no one of the warring parties could achieve an advantage. The operation for the final liberation of the Soviet Arctic began in 1944, on October 7th. Soviet troops hit Luostari and Petsamo. For two weeks of fighting, units of the Red Army managed to push the enemy beyond the borders of the USSR.
Establishment of the award
Two months after the final defeat of the German-Finnish invaders in the Soviet North, in December 1944,A decree was issued establishing the medal "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic". The initiator of the decree on the new medal and awarding it to the participants in the events was the top leadership of the country. Lieutenant Colonel Alov and artist Kuznetsov took part in its development.
The idea of establishing the medal was submitted by scouts of the Karelian Front. Several sketches were submitted for consideration by the competition commission, the best of which was recognized as the sketch made by Lieutenant Colonel Alov. The front-line military council supported the idea. The sketch was sent to Moscow. The author's initial sketch 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 list of awardees amounted to 353,240 people.
Awarding rules
The defense of the Arctic lasted from the beginning of the war until the end of October 1944. All active participants in significant events - soldiers, sailors, civilians - were presented for the award. 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 units, the leadership of medical institutions, employees of the executive branch.
The right to the award was given to the military and civilians of all branches of the armed forces, who actively participated in the defense for at least six months, took part in special operations that were carried out in the fall of 1944 (in this case, the period of participation no longer mattered), as well as civilian persons who defendedThe Arctic for at least six months using the methods available to them. People awarded the medal for the defense of the Arctic could be both military and civilian. So, this medal was received by Valentin Pluchek, a well-known director who during the war years led the drama theater in this territory. For the defense of the Arctic, Yuri German was also awarded for the story "Far in the North", written on the Karelian front.
The right to present the medal
Medal for the Defense of the Arctic, the list of recipients of which contains the names of brave and courageous people, is a high assessment of the contribution of the soldiers and inhabitants of this territory to the victory over the enemy. According to the regulation on the establishment of the award, which was approved by the country's leadership, it could be presented by unit commanders to Red Army soldiers, sailors serving in security agencies. For those who had already stopped their service in the army or navy for a variety of reasons, including reaching retirement age, the medal could be awarded by the military commissariat body at the place of residence. Civilians were authorized to present this state award to councils of deputies of the city of Murmansk and the Murmansk region. Persons awarded the medal "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic" could be both military people (for example, the famous savior of the Chelyuskin pilot Lyapidevsky), and civilians.
Exterior 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 adorned with the image of a soldier showing his right shoulder pushed forward and his head slightly turned to the right. The soldier is equipped in winter: a hat with earflaps with redstar, short fur coat. In his hands he has his usual weapons - a PPSh assault rifle. In the left field of the medal, a fragment of a naval vessel is visible; at the top, flying aircraft are located on both sides. Below, in the foreground, tanks are visible. In addition, the obverse has the name of the award, going around the circumference from left to right. Between the first and last word of the inscription there is a ribbon with a five-pointed star and the coat of arms of the USSR in the center above it.
On the reverse side of the medal, the motto is written in three lines: "For our Soviet Motherland." The Soviet coat of arms is visible above these words.
The silk ribbon has a width of 2.4 cm, its color is blue. In the middle - a green strip 6 mm wide dividing the field into equal parts.
