Petsamo and Kirkenes 1944

A highly illustrated study of the Petsamo-Kirkenes campaign, which saw Soviet naval infantry deployed in abundance against the elite German Gebirgsj¿r in the harsh conditions of the far north of the Eastern Front.

This title examines the bitter conflict between two highly tactical armies as they battled across challenging terrain to gain control of strategically significant Northern Finland. On the one side were the invading Soviet troops, hoping to liberate an area full of rich resources and littered with bases that that would enable the arrival of Arctic convoys from Britain. They employed naval infantry in abundance, not only to make amphibious landings to capture strategically significant port facilities, but also on deep outflanking maneuvers inland. Their opponents were the elite Gebirgsj¿r from XIX Gebirgskorps; trained to be self-sufficient and resourceful and equipped with a range of bespoke weaponry, this mountain division was ideally sui