Operation Rentier (Operation Reindeer) was a German operation during
World War II
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 opposin ...
intended to secure the
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
mines around
Petsamo Petsamo may refer to:
* Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922
* Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland
* Pechengsky District, Russia, formerly known as Petsamo
* Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast, Russi ...
in
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 ...
, against a
Soviet
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, ...
attack in the event of a renewed war between Finland and the Soviet Union.
The planning for the operation started on 13 August 1940, after the
German occupation of Norway was complete and was finalized in October that year. The plan called for the two divisions of the to occupy Petsamo and prevent Soviet capture of the mines.
The operation was carried out by the
Wehrmacht as part of
Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union and began on 22 June 1941. The
2nd Mountain Division occupied the area around
Liinakhamari and the
3rd Mountain Division occupied
Luostari. The operation was followed up by
Operation Platinum Fox, which was an attack by the two divisions against
Murmansk as a part of the larger
Operation Silver Fox.
References
Sources
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Further reading
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Arctic military operations of World War II
Operation Barbarossa
Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War
Battles of World War II involving Germany
Battles involving the Soviet Union
Battles involving Finland
1941 in Finland
1941 in the Soviet Union
1941 in Germany
Military operations involving Finland
June 1941 events
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