Preparation and Plan
In the preceding Operations Blue Fox 1 and Blue Fox 2 (Blaufuchs I and Blaufuchs II) the German units were transferred into the Arctic. The 169th Division was shipped directly from Stettin to Oulu and then on to Rovaniemi by train. The SS-Infantry Kampfgruppe Nord was created as a mixed unit of the 6th and 7th Motorized SS Infantry Regiments, two artillery battalions and one reconnaissance battalion. This unit was mostly untrained and more a police unit and therefore unsuited for harsh arctic warfare. The unit was later renamed to 6th SS Mountain Division Nord and led by General Demelhuber. While the unit was transferred, a transport ship caught fire killing some 110 troops. Attached to the German and Finnish force were 2 small Panzer units: The Panzer-Abteilung 211 which consisted of captured French tanks and Panzer-Abteilung 40 which consisted mainly of Panzer I's and Panzer II's.
The goal of the operation was to take Salla and then to proceed along the railway eastwards, to capture Kandalaksha and to cut the Murmansk line. For this the Finnish 6th Division had to capture Allakurtti and Kayrala from Kuusamo from the south of Salla. From the north the 169th Division had to attack frontal against the Soviet defenses at the Tennio River. The 6th SS Mountain Division had to advance along the Salla - Kandalaksha road. Further south, the Finnish III Corps with the Finnish 3rd Division supported the attack. The Finnish III Corp's units were placed under German High Command for the operation. The ultimate goal for the Finnish forces was to cut the Murmansk supply-lines at Loukhi and Kem. For this the Finnish 3rd Division was splitted into two forces, Group J and Group F. Group J was ordered to advance from Kuusamo and take Kestenga, while Group F was to attack from Suomussalmi and capture Ukhta.
Read more about this topic: Operation Arctic Fox
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