Battle of Rovaniemi
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The Battle of Rovaniemi was an event during the 1944
Lapland War During World War II, the Lapland War ( fi , Lapin sota; sv, Lapplandskriget; german: Lapplandkrieg) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. ...
. The actual fighting between the components of the
Finnish Armoured Division The Finnish Armoured Division ( fi, Panssaridivisioona, PsD or Ps. D) was a division of the Finnish Army during the Continuation War. Foundation The Finnish Supreme headquarters ordered the foundation of an armoured division on 28 June 1942 and th ...
and Finnish 3rd Division against the troops of the German Twentieth Mountain Army took place at the vicinity of the town of
Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per ...
. The notoriety of the encounter derives from the near-total destruction of the town.


Background

The town of Rovaniemi was the capital of Lapland, the northernmost
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
it was an important transport hub since it lay on the road to the Petsamo area and the only free port in the north, Liinahamari. When the
Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
between Finland and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
started in 1941, the
Finnish government sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , cou ...
allowed German troops from the German 20th Mountain Army in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
to be stationed in Lapland to help defend the long border. The objective of the Germans was to control the nickel mines in Petsamo and to conquer the Russian port of
Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') ...
, cutting the Soviet Union off from Allied supply convoys. Rovaniemi was the German HQ in Lapland and also the base of
Luftflotte 5 Luftflotte 5 (Air Fleet 5) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed 12 April 1940 in Hamburg for the invasion of Norway. It transferred to Oslo, Norway on 24 April 1940 and was the organization respo ...
of the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
. Relations between the German garrisons and the local populace in Lapland were generally cordial during the war. However, when the Finns signed
a separate peace ''A Separate Peace'' is a coming-of-age novel by John Knowles, published in 1958. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", published in the May 1956 issue of ''Cosmopolitan'', it was Knowles's first published novel and became his best-know ...
with the Soviet Union, relations soured. The Germans had some 200,000 troops in Finland and they were still at war with the Russians. The Soviet Union demanded that the Finns remove all German troops from their territory in two weeks, which was a logistical impossibility. Rovaniemi was a critical transportation nexus in Lapland through which the sole railroad and several of the main roads passed making controlling it very important to the German evacuation effort.


Prelude

Already on October 1, the Finns moved against the Germans in the Kemi-Tornio region to convince the Russians of their intention to live up to the treaty. Simultaneously, Finnish forces advanced along other roads in northern directions. The Finnish armoured division started its advance north in the direction of Rovaniemi from
Ranua Ranua is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Lapland, Finland, Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population dens ...
. Once the fighting in Tornio region had ended, the Finnish 3rd Division advanced towards Rovaniemi on the road running alongside the
Kemijoki Kemijoki ( sv, Kemi älv, se, Giemajohka), with its length, is the longest river in Finland. It runs through Kemijärvi and Rovaniemi before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Kemi. Facta 2001, part 8, ''finnish'' At Rovaniemi the Ounasjoki r ...
river. Ahto (1980) pp. 250–253 Finnish forces advancing along the Kemijoki river were unable to move swiftly enough to engage the Germans, but Finnish forces advancing from Ranua did. The Germans used a preset timetable for determining when ground should be given in order to maximize effectiveness of the evacuation and this called for the German force (218th Mountain Regiment) to delay the Finnish advance. Finnish and German forces clashed several times along the road, first at Ylimaa and later at Kivitaipale, without decisive results. Ahto (1980) pp. 232–250


Fighting near Rovaniemi

Retreating German forces utilized scorched earth tactics, and though initially German General Lothar Rendulic ordered only the public buildings in Rovaniemi to be destroyed, on 13 October 1944 the German army received orders to destroy all the buildings in Rovaniemi, only excluding hospitals and houses where inhabitants were present. While the German rear guard was going about the destruction, an ammunition train in Rovaniemi station exploded and set fire to the wooden houses of the town. The German troops suffered many casualties, mainly from glass splinters. A Finnish commando unit claimed to have blown up the ammunition train and may well have been the primary cause of the town's ruin. The cause was then unknown and generally assumed to be the deliberate intent of Rendulic. During these hostilities 90% of all the buildings in Rovaniemi were destroyed. On 14 October the first Finnish forces reached the vicinity of Rovaniemi. These consisted of the troops of Jaeger Brigade (part of the Finnish Armored Division) advancing from Ranua. Finnish forces found out that one of the bridges crossing the Kemijoki river was still intact and moved to capture it. The German had failed to blow up the bridge because the ammunition train exploded with enough force that, even though the bridge was 3 km away, it blew the German explosives into the river. Finnish forces reached the bridge while it was intact, but then the German rearguard managed to push Finns off the bridge long enough for them to demolish it. This stranded the Jaeger Brigade on the southern side of the river; there was no other way to the river. The next Finnish unit to arrive was the 11th Infantry Regiment, advancing along the road on the northern side of the Kemijoki river on 15 October 1944. Its commander decided to encircle the remaining Germans and moved to cut the road leading from Rovaniemi towards
Kittilä Kittilä ( se, Gihttel, smn, Kittâl, sms, Kihttel) is a municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort. It is located in northern Finland north of the Arctic Circle within the Lapland region. The municipality has a population of () and ...
. Fortunately for the single German battalion (II of 12th SS Mountain Jaeger Regiment), the Finns were low on munitions and unable to support the encircling units which allowed the German battalion to escape nearly unscathed.


Results

The fighting near Rovaniemi achieved very little on either side. The most notable part of the fighting was the devastation inflicted to the town just prior to the fight. With the German rear guard troops still in town, during the controlled destruction of governmental buildings fire quickly spread to the wooden houses despite German attempts to prevent it.See Lothar Rendulic, Gekämpft, gesiegt, geschlagen, Welsermühl, Wels-Heidelerg, 1952, p. 306; J.H. Palokangas, "Kohtalokkailla Retkillä", in the military journal "Kansa Taisteli", Helsinki, 1965.


See also

* Lapplandsender


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per ...
World War II operations and battles of Europe Conflicts in 1944 1944 in Finland Battles of World War II involving Germany October 1944 events History of Lapland (Finland)