Petsamo-Kirkenes operation - Encyclopedia. Stalin's tenth blow: Petsamo-Kirkenes operation Map of troop battles in the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation

On November 1, 1944, 74 years ago, the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation ended, liberating the Arctic from the Nazi invaders. The battle, which began on October 7, 1944, was called “Stalin’s Tenth Strike.”

War in the Arctic: 1941 - 1943

The German command planned to capture the Kola Peninsula, and there were several reasons for this. Firstly, it was important for the Germans to take the Northern Fleet base and the ice-free port of Murmansk, which was connected to the country by the Kirov Railway: Hitler wanted to urgently cut it off. Finland, which was then fighting on the side of Germany, had its own interest: the Kola Peninsula was to become Finnish territory.

In June 1941, the Army “Norway” was concentrated on the border of the USSR, consisting of 3 corps - two German mountain corps and one Finnish corps. It had 97 thousand people, more than a thousand guns and mortars and a hundred tanks. In addition, “Norway” was supported by parts of the German air fleet and naval forces.

Residents of the Murmansk region provided enormous assistance to the Soviet troops. More than 50 thousand people volunteered for the front.

Panorama of Murmansk. 1942

On the eve of the battle

Soviet troops are the forces of the Karelian Front under the command of General Meretskov and Lieutenant General Shcherbakov. It included 8 rifle divisions, 21 artillery and mortar regiments, 6 brigades: 2 engineering, 1 tank, 5 rifle. The size of the Soviet army is 97 thousand people. The army was supported from the air by 689 aircraft.

In September 1944, the Soviet command developed a plan for a military operation to liberate the Arctic from the Nazi invaders.

The main blow was delivered by the forces of the left wing of the 14th Army in the direction of Luostari and Petsamo (Pechenga). The Northern Fleet was supposed to land troops in the rear of German troops and disrupt the enemy’s sea communications, support the offensive of ground forces with fire from ships and aircraft, and block the ports of Petsamo and Kirkenes.

Marine landing.

October 7th. Offensive

The morning of October 7, 1944 began with a powerful roar. It was the Soviet artillery that began shelling the enemy defenses.

It was worse than hell,” one of the surviving German rangers later said, “land mines rained down from the sky continuously. As soon as you raised your head from the trench, the mortar shelling began. But your Katyushas completed the job; after their fire, our defenses crumbled and burst.

Powerful, carefully planned fire concentrated on enemy strongholds largely predetermined the success of the offensive. But this does not mean that the Germans surrendered without a fight.

Guard Corporal Mikhail Ivchenko also walked in the chain of attacking fighters of the 10th Guards Division. Suddenly, in one of the pillboxes suppressed by artillery fire, an enemy machine gun came to life, the bursts of which pinned the soldiers of the advancing company to the ground. It was completely impossible to advance along the open rocky slope.

Then Ivchenko crawled towards the pillbox. When no more than 12-15 meters remained to the target, he stood up and threw a grenade into the embrasure. The machine gun fell silent, but a minute later it came to life again. Then the guardsman, pinned to the ground, jumped up and rushed to the embrasure, covering it with his body. The machine gun fell silent.

Ivan Zimakov.

At a critical moment, when the rangers got close to the OP and it was no longer possible to fire their guns, Guard Major Zimakov raised his soldiers to attack. In hand-to-hand combat, the artillerymen drove back the Nazis. Some of them fled, 20 rangers, throwing down their weapons, surrendered. At the same time, the major himself was seriously wounded and died in the hospital a few days later. Like Mikhail Ivchenko, he became a Hero of the Soviet Union.

The enemy stubbornly resisted. From the “fox holes” dug on Mount Maly Karikvaivish, the Nazis were smoked out with smoke bombs. Granite structures were undermined with towel. At the top of the mountain, the attackers were met by heavy enemy artillery fire, and then the tanks of the 73rd Guards Tank Regiment moved to the aid of the infantry. Having burst into enemy positions, they destroyed his guns with fire and tracks.

The enemy was stunned by the appearance of Soviet tanks at the front. During interrogation, a captured Nazi said: “I heard a roar and looked: two Russian tanks were moving north of the height, where we had not even gone on foot. Then your infantry appeared, and we surrendered."

By 15:00, the divisions of the 131st Rifle Corps broke through the enemy’s defenses and rushed to the Titovka River. Escorting guns and shells were carried by hand due to the lack of roads. During the attack, soldiers of the 28th Guards Rifle Regiment were forced to lie down near the river bank due to heavy fire. And then Private Semyon Kozyrev was the first to rush into the icy river. Others followed. The regiment's warriors were chest-deep in water and overcame a water barrier.

October 8. Big Karikwaiwish

The situation in the 99th Rifle Corps zone was different. Here the enemy, using powerful fortifications on Mount Big Karikvaivish and on neighboring heights, was able to hold out on October 7.

Soldiers of the 65th Infantry Division under the command of Major General S.P. stormed the mountain with the German defense stronghold “Wenediger” located on it. Mikulsky.

The corps commander made a decision: since it was not possible to break the enemy during the day, this must be done at night. At exactly midnight from October 7 to 8, 1944, the soldiers rushed forward. For an hour, guns and mortars of all calibers “threshed” the enemy stronghold. The attack of Greater Karikwaiwish was carried out simultaneously from several directions.

Among the attackers was senior sergeant Nikolai Zakorkin, a squad commander of the 3rd rifle company of the 60th rifle regiment of the 65th division. He and his squad secretly reached the bunker at a height occupied by the enemy and, throwing a bunch of grenades into its embrasure, destroyed the crews of a heavy machine gun and an anti-tank gun.

The squad fighters, having risen to attack, were forced to lie down again: another revived enemy point spoke. Zakorkin also suppressed it with an anti-tank grenade. At the height taken, the brave commander hoisted a red flag. On the same day, Zakorkin died. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

At 6 o'clock in the morning on October 8, 1944, the main resistance center on Greater Karikwaiwish was taken. Units of the 99th Corps rushed to the Titovka River and crossed it on the same day.

The next day - October 9 - the offensive was launched by troops under the command of Lieutenant General Pigarevich.

October 10. Musta-Tunturi

On the evening of October 9, detachments of ships of the Northern Fleet with troops on board left their concentration areas. A demonstrative landing force (44 people) was landed in the area of ​​Cape Pikshuev, and a sabotage detachment (195 people) landed in the area of ​​Punainen-Lakht Bay with the task of reaching the German batteries on Cape Krestovy.

On the night of October 10, the main landing began (63rd Marine Brigade, 2376 people; commander Colonel A.M. Krylov). The landing detachment included 3 torpedo boats, 11 “big hunter” boats, 8 patrol boats, cover and artillery support were provided by two destroyers (“Gremyashchy” and “Gromky”).

At 3:30 a.m. on October 10, artillery preparation began, in which destroyers of the Northern Fleet participated, and at 5:00 a.m., the 12th Marine Brigade, despite a strong snowstorm, went on the offensive from the isthmus of the Sredny Peninsula. The enemy's defenses were broken through, and by mid-day the German group began a hasty retreat from positions it had occupied for more than three years. The fighting was extremely fierce and replete with hand-to-hand combat; many lines and important heights were taken by storm.

At the top of Musta Tunturi.

Senior Sergeant Leonid Ivanovich Musteikis, also wounded, crawled to the embrasure of another bunker, threw two grenades, and when the machine gun started working again, Musteikis covered the embrasure with his body. Matrosov’s feat was also repeated by Pyotr Ivanovich Bobretsov and Alexander Ivanovich Danilchenko.

On the night of October 11, the isthmus of the Sredny Peninsula was completely liberated by Soviet troops.

October 11. Feat of Anatoly Bredov and Nikolai Ashurkov

On the morning of October 11, soldiers of the 155th Infantry Regiment of the 14th Division began an assault on the Pridorozhnaya Heights. In front of the rifle company advancing in the main direction, a machine gun crew was pushed forward, where the commander was Sergeant Nikita Ashurkov and the gunner. The machine gunners especially annoyed the Nazis.

German rangers furiously attacked Bredov’s crew more than once. The machine gunners received orders to hold the Nazis at all costs. An unequal battle began. The superiority was on the enemy's side. Having discovered the location of the firing point, the Nazis decided to destroy the machine gunners.

The Nazis surrounded our fighters. Soon the last machine-gun belt ran out. Then
Bredov and Ashurkov began throwing grenades at the advancing fascists. When the soldiers had one grenade left, Ashurkov stood up to his full height and said, “The Russians do not surrender! Take it, you bastards! threw his grenade at the Nazis. After this, Bredov and Ashurkov, hugging each other, blew themselves up and the machine gun with a second grenade.

Inspired by their feat, Soviet soldiers stormed the heights. Bredov and Ashurkov became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Moreover, Nikita Ashurkov managed to survive. Five (!) days later, he – wounded – was picked up by our orderlies.

On the same day, October 11, the 12th Marine Brigade finally cleared the Musta-Tunturi ridge from the Germans. In the morning the attack on Luostari continued...

October 12. Battle on Cape Krestovy

The village of Luostari was an important enemy stronghold. During the night of October 12, the 114th Infantry Division crossed to the western bank of the Petsamo-joki River, three kilometers south of Luostari.

“The enemy turned Luostari into a strong stronghold,” recalled the commander of the 10th Guards Division, Major General Khariton Khudalov. - All basements and semi-basements were adapted for all-round defense. Having placed a machine gun point in the basement of the outermost building, the Nazis blocked the approaches to the city. Attempts to suppress the machine gun were unsuccessful. Then the sappers of the 28th regiment surrounded the building and blew it up along with the machine gun crew. On the evening of October 12, the 99th Rifle Corps occupied Luostari and cut the road going north.”

On the same day, a dramatic battle took place at Cape Krestovy near Liinakhamari. During the war years, the entire tip of the cape resembled a bristling hedgehog. There was a coastal long-range battery near the water. An anti-aircraft battery was located halfway from the shore to the top of the cape. In addition, small-caliber cannons and machine guns were installed here and there in stone niches.

The operation to capture the batteries at Cape Krestovy was carried out by a reconnaissance detachment under the command of Major I.P. Barchenko-Emelyanov and the 181st Special Purpose Detachment of the Northern Fleet, headed by Lieutenant V.N. Leonov - 195 people in total. The detachments were landed by three torpedo boats on October 9, 1944 in Punainen-laht Bay, several tens of kilometers from the target and, with careful camouflage, made a hidden pedestrian transition to the target.

Capture of an enemy battery at Cape Krestovy. Artist - V.K. Self-tapping screws.

“One of the scouts accidentally touched the barbed wire fence,” Leonov’s daughter Tatyana Viktorovna later recalled. - The shelling began. The first to die was Vladimir Fatkin, the most desperate and handsome scout of the detachment. He just jumped over the wire and was immediately cut off. The wire was attached to heavy rail crosspieces. And then Ivan Lysenko, a physically very strong man, crawled under the crosspiece and, standing up to his full height, lifted it on his shoulders. The scouts, one after another, crawled into this opening under the wire. Then, when the wounded Lysenko could no longer hold on, the detachment doctor Alexey Luppov stood next to him. Both died. Lysenko had 33 bullet wounds, but when the scouts, having completed the task, returned to that place, he was still alive! This is truly a feat."

For courageous and decisive actions, as well as personal heroism, Major Barchenko-Emelyanov, Lieutenant Leonov, as well as intelligence officers Pshenichny and Agafonov were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

October 13. Liinahamari

On the evening of October 12, an amphibious assault of 600 people was landed in Liinakhamari. It was headed by Major I.A. Timofeev. The Severomorsk soldiers acted quickly and decisively.

Boats and “small hunters” with landing troops went behind enemy lines through the “corridor of death” – Petsam Bay. The reason for the successful landing was the skillful and courageous actions of the commander of the group of torpedo boats, Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Commander. Knowing well the path to Liinakhamari, every bend of the bay, every noticeable rock on the shore, he was the first to lead his boat with 25 paratroopers into the harbor, paving the way for the rest of the boats and hunters.

Boat breakthrough to the port of Liinakhamari. Artist A.G. Gorbunov.

At the captured battery in Liinakhamari.

And ahead were the battles for Petsamo...

October 14 - 15. Battle of Petsamo

The German units defending Petsamo were strictly forbidden to retreat. That’s why the Nazis clung to every hill.

In this battle, the tank driven by Asriyan was partially disabled, and all crew members were seriously wounded, but despite this, the junior lieutenant did not leave the battle. And when reinforcements arrived, the brave tanker switched to a serviceable vehicle and rushed into battle again. He became a Hero of the Soviet Union.

By the beginning of the day the city was already blocked, and all that remained was to make a last effort.

An important task was the capture of the bridge on the outskirts of the city. The Nazis managed to prepare it for the explosion. Our soldiers rushed to save the bridge. Time was measured in seconds. The fuse was already burning. The fire was approaching the explosives placed under the spans. Another moment - and the bridge will fly into the air. But scouts Nikolai Shramko, Anatoly Belotserkovsky, Yegor Belyakin, Pyotr Buyanov and Dmitry Usov did not allow this. Snatching a cleaver from his belt, Nikolai Shramko hit the cord with it. The burning end of the cord was cut off. The explosion did not take place. The advancing troops moved across the river in the direction of Pechenga.

Landing in Petsamo.

“The sight of ancient Pechenga destroyed by the enemy evoked a feeling of bitterness,” recalled the commander of the 10th Guards Division, Khariton Khudalov. - The city was complete ruins. Smoke and ash... Everywhere you look, wherever you step, there are traces of fire and destruction. The hulls of the ships lie mangled and burnt, like skeletons. Public buildings, even a church, were burned and blown up. The power plant has been destroyed."

In liberated Pechenga.

October 16 - 17. On land and in the air

B.P. Syromyatnikov.

At the moment of the last, fourth, strike on the enemy convoy, the crew of the torpedo bomber accomplished their feat: Lieutenant Colonel Syromyatnikov, Major Sknarev, Senior Sergeant Aseev and Sergeant Danilov. During a torpedo attack, their winged vehicle received a direct hit from an anti-aircraft shell and caught fire, but the pilots did not deviate from the combat course and dropped the torpedo at close range, after which they made an emergency landing on the water 200 meters from the shore. They all died. Three of them: Boris Syromyatnikov, Alexander Sknarev and Grigory Aseev - became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

On the land front on October 17, soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division, Major General I.V. Panin approached the Norwegian border.

October 19-22. Fights for Nikel and Tarnet

Stubborn battles broke out for the nickel mining area. The 127th Light Rifle Corps made an off-road outflanking maneuver. On October 19, his advanced units reached the southern approaches of the village of Nikel.

The battles for the village dragged on for more than three days. And in the auxiliary direction, battles broke out on the approaches to the Norwegian Tarnet.

Vasily Ivanov, platoon commander of the 253rd Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division, distinguished himself in these battles. On October 21, 1944, units of the division captured an important and fortified height with a surprise attack. Ivanov's platoon was the first to rush into it. Soon the Nazis began to counterattack. The officer passed the order down the chain: take care of the cartridges, maintain the height at all costs. The fighters engaged in hand-to-hand combat, stabbed the enemy with bayonets, and destroyed him with grenades.

The situation became increasingly tense. After a strong artillery attack, the enemy, having received reinforcements, resumed the counterattack. At this critical moment, junior lieutenant Ivanov, jumping onto the parapet, shouting “For the Motherland!” Forward!" led the hand-to-hand combat of the platoon. The fight was furious. The commander destroyed eight Nazis with pistol fire and bayonet fire, and, despite three wounds, controlled the battle until its end. The Nazis could not withstand the blow of the Soviet fighters and retreated. Vasily Ivanov became a Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Nazis, anticipating imminent defeat, blew up the nickel plant. “The northern bypass group under the command of Major Gastenin, having made a difficult march through the swamps and crossed the Kolosyoki River, broke into the northern outskirts of Nikel at night,” Leonid Potemkin wrote in the book “At the Northern Border.” – A fierce battle ensued on the streets of the village. On the morning of October 22, Soviet units attacked the enemy from three sides and by 10 o’clock liberated the ruins of the nickel plant and the village.” Kirkenes is ahead.

October 23-25. Liberation of Kirkenes

On the night of October 23, the 61st Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division crossed the Jarfjord in amphibious vehicles and captured a bridgehead on the western bank. Having repelled a series of counterattacks, our fighters managed to gain a foothold and continue the attack on Kirkenes.

P.P. Primakov.

Despite the strong artillery, mortar and machine gun fire of the Nazis, Lieutenant Primakov’s group reached the shore and stormed the heights. The scouts repulsed several fascist counterattacks and held the bridgehead, ensuring the crossing of the entire regiment. Then Primakov’s group conducted a thorough reconnaissance of the approaches to Kirkenes and the outskirts of the city. The lieutenant became a Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the battles of Kirkenes, the battalion commander of the 95th Infantry Regiment of the 14th

K.M. Gontar.

To help the ground forces, the commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral Arseny Golovko, decided to land troops in the Holmengrofjord Bay with the task of diverting part of the enemy forces. On October 24, an advance detachment - an incomplete company of marines - was landed there on a patrol boat. He occupied important heights on the coast and blocked the exit from the harbor.

At midnight on October 24, the last two mountain ranger companies left Kirkenes. Only a sapper platoon remained in the city, which began to destroy buildings, warehouses and port facilities.

On October 25 at 9 am, Soviet troops entered the destroyed Kirkenes. Retreating, the Nazis blew up port facilities, administrative buildings and residential premises. Only on the outskirts of the city were there surviving houses.

On October 27, Soviet troops liberated Nautsi and Neiden. A further offensive was considered inappropriate. The harsh northern winter was approaching. And ahead lay a mountainous, impassable region, all cut up by fjords. Reconnaissance sent ahead reported that further movement was associated with enormous difficulties, and there was no enemy. The frustrated German troops no longer posed a threat and began to surrender en masse to the Norwegian Resistance fighters.

The Military Council of the Karelian Front decided to stop further offensive. The troops were ordered not to advance further into Norway, to cover the main directions at the reached lines and to create strong reserves.

Results

German troops lost about 30 thousand people. The Soviet fleet and aviation sank more than 150 enemy ships and vessels. Aviation destroyed 125 German aircraft. Soviet troops lost about 21 thousand people. For their distinction in battle, 51 formations and parts of the Karelian Front received the honorary names “Pechenga” and “Kirkenes”, 56 Soviet soldiers were awarded the titles of Heroes of the Soviet Union.

The “chronicler” of the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation can be considered the poet Pavel Shubin, an eyewitness and participant in those events. His poem “Strike on Petsamo” is one of the best in poetry about the Great Patriotic War.

For many years, huntsmen inhabited steep heights,
We built pillboxes, made passages in the granite,
Machine gun nests clung to the steep slopes like honeycombs,
The guns stared gloomily into the valley distance from above.

The Germans were going to live on our doorstep for a long time,
But according to our clock, the sun comes to our lands,
And at the appointed time the order is short lines
They cut off all the terms of their hateful existence.

And the gray day passed away as usual:
The rangers inflated the beds in their dugouts,
A glass snowball was falling, the sentry was trampling on the path,
An icy October breeze blew in from behind the clouds.

And on the Russian clock the hands moved by a hair,
The cords were stretched, the armor came out on the original ones,
And in a landslide the earth split into pieces,
Ragged air howled on the jagged tusks of fire.

Like rearing mammoths, a dark, wild herd,
Kneading the trenches, wiping the dugouts into dust,
Scattering Karikvaivish, they trampled, shells roared,
Hot bullets flashed through the smoke like swifts.

The voice of the guards' mortars reaches the stars,
And the tailed flocks of comets flashed by with a squeal,
And the hands on the clock moved a hair's breadth,
And the humpbacked ILs followed the orders of the missiles.

And there was no longer enough breath, and the air was running away
It swooped, and fell, and jammed, and rang on bayonets...
That's when Meretskov through the autumn, melted snow
The iron regiments moved to break through and pursue.

***
In Kirkeness there is a monument called the Russian Monument (Russemonumentet). It was created by the Norwegians in honor of the Red Army soldiers who died during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation.

The monument is well maintained, flowers grow around. Residents of the commune bring wreaths and fresh flowers here, and on memorable dates - May 9 and October 25 (the day of the liberation of Kirkenes) ceremonial events are held here.

The Petsamo-Kirkenes operation was carried out from October 7 to October 29, 1944. This was the so-called “tenth Stalinist strike” from a cascade of offensive operations carried out by our troops in 1944. On the territory of Northern Finland, in the Soviet Arctic, in Northern Norway, the Germans maintained a solid group of troops that threatened our most important port of Murmansk and the delivery of Lend-Lease cargo by allied northern convoys. In 1941-1944, our troops prevented the Germans and Finns from capturing our key northern borders. The defense of the Arctic is written like a golden page in the annals of the Great Patriotic War.

After Finland left the war on September 19, 1944, under the armistice agreement, it pledged to expel German troops from its territory. However, the Finns on their own could not expel the German troops, and meanwhile the Germans pursued a scorched earth policy, destroying Finnish towns and villages. Therefore, the commander of the Karelian Front K.A. Meretskov has long been developing an operation to liberate the Arctic.

When Meretskov presented his plan to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, some amendments were made. As a result, the grouping of our troops amounted to 105 thousand people, 105 tanks, 690 aircraft and 2,500 guns. The Germans had the 20th Mountain Army in this direction; In total, the enemy forces numbered 56 thousand people, 770 guns, 160 aircraft. The main Soviet attack was planned to be delivered in the direction of the Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa and Titovka rivers, as well as against the defense positions of the 2nd Mountain Rifle Division.

On October 7, 1944, the operation began. It can be divided into three stages: the breakthrough of German defenses; pursuit of the enemy and the capture of the city of Nikel (the capture of Nikel meant the capture of rich nickel mines used by the Germans to create their military equipment); and, ultimately, the fighting for the city of Kirkenes. The Red Army immediately broke through the enemy's defenses and rushed towards Nikel, cutting off a large enemy group. Troops were landed from the Rybachy Peninsula. The Germans did not hold the forward line of defense. Soviet troops reached Cape Krestovy. The Germans fled further to Petsamo (Pechenga). On October 15, Pechenga was liberated. Ten days later, the Red Army was already on the Norwegian border. The USSR had agreements with the Norwegian government that the Red Army would enter Norwegian territory as a liberation army.

The combat operations of our troops took place in the difficult situation of the Far North. In addition, the Germans built bunkers, pillboxes, and bunkers in the granite rocks. The landing on Cape Krestovy had difficulty liberating the surrounding territory. On October 25, Soviet troops approached Kirkenes and took it on the same day. The Norwegian population helped the Soviet troops. Offering their fishing boats, they transported our soldiers to the other side in those places where the Soviet troops lacked watercraft. Norwegian patriots reliably guarded the Soviet rear and committed sabotage in the German rear.

On October 29, 1944, General Meretskov reported to Moscow that there was no longer any enemy ahead. The Petsamo-Kirkenes operation made it possible to eliminate the threat to the Soviet Arctic and secure allied convoys. In addition, assistance was provided to Norway in liberating it from the fascist invaders.

Aces over the tundra [Air war in the Arctic, 1941–1944] Zhirokhov Mikhail Alexandrovich

Petsamo-Kirkenes operation

Petsamo-Kirkenes operation

By the fall of 1944, the Petsamo-Kirkenes direction was covered by the 19th Mountain Rifle Corps. The Germans, using difficult terrain - rocky hills, fiords, lakes - were able to create a deeply echeloned defense with long-term structures.

According to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the brunt of the fighting in this direction was to be borne by the Karelian Front under the command of Army General K. A. Meretskov and the Northern Fleet, commanded by Admiral A. G. Golovko. Based on the instructions of the Headquarters, a plan for the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation was developed, according to which the 14th Army was supposed to break through the enemy’s defenses south of Lake Chapr, capture the area of ​​​​Luostari and Petsamo (Pecheneg), in cooperation with units of the Northern Fleet, encircle and destroy the enemy group southwest the Titovka River and further, developing the offensive, liberate the areas of Nikel and Salmijärvi, reach the state border with Norway and completely clear the Petsam region of the enemy.

The advancing troops were to be supported from the air by the 7th Air Army. However, its formations were dispersed throughout the Karelian Front, since in June-August they supported the offensive of the 7th and 32nd armies, and in September - the 19th and 26th armies. The first task was to concentrate the division in the Murmansk direction. To strengthen the bomber component, the 113th Bomber Air Division was relocated here from the General Headquarters reserve. Together with the 122nd Air Defense Fighter Division, it was transferred to the operational subordination of the commander of the 7th Air Army, Lieutenant General I.M. Sokolov.

To accommodate these formations, it was necessary to build many new airfields. However, in the Arctic conditions, the possibilities for expanding the airfield network were extremely limited. Nevertheless, this problem was solved in a short time. Landing strips were built between mountains and in deserted tundra. In a number of places, it was necessary to make bulk airfields, for which hills were cut off and ravines were filled with excess soil. Wooden trestles were thrown across deep and wide ravines. Lattice wooden strip airfields were created in marshy swamps.

Thus, for the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, 747 aircraft were assembled in the 7th Air Army. In addition, 275 aircraft were provided by the Northern Fleet Air Force, commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union, Aviation Major General E. N. Preobrazhensky.

Needless to say, Soviet aviation was several times superior to the enemy’s aircraft fleet in the North.

The first to take part in the operation were scouts, whose crews were supposed to open the entire line of enemy defense. Among the scouts in the literature, the following crews are noted: Hero of the Soviet Union A.V. Kolesnikov, A.R. Slivka, A.S. Zapadinsky, A.V. Kozlov, as well as A.V. Anokhin, V., who soon became Heroes of the Soviet Union. I. Donchuk.

According to the air support plan for the operation, the air force had to:

Assist ground forces in breaking through enemy defenses and in the offensive;

Cover the strike force of the 14th Army;

Prevent the approach of enemy reserves and the withdrawal of his troops and equipment, destroy crossings;

By night operations, exhaust and suppress artillery in firing positions;

Destroy enemy aircraft at airfields and in the air;

Sink transport in the fiords and ports of Petsamo and Kirkenes;

Conduct continuous reconnaissance of the battlefield, military and army rear areas.

Based on these tasks, the headquarters of the 7th Air Army developed two options for the combat use of aviation in the operation: one for favorable meteorological conditions, allowing the operation of all types of aviation, the other in case of bad weather (so common in the Arctic), excluding bomber flights.

According to the first option, it was planned to conduct preliminary aviation training the day before the start of the offensive, direct aviation training on the day of the offensive an hour before the end of artillery preparation, and then air support for the attack and combat in depth was to follow. But bad weather did not allow any preliminary or immediate aviation training to be carried out.

The infantry and tank attack was planned to be supported by air assault operations. For closer interaction between aviation and ground forces, attack air divisions were assigned to rifle corps. The 261st Assault Air Division was supposed to support the actions of the 131st Rifle Corps, and the 260th Assault Air Division - the 99th Rifle Corps. After breaking through the enemy's main defense line, the main forces of the 7th Air Army were planned to be used to support the actions of the light rifle corps and the 7th Guards Tank Brigade.

For closer interaction, aviation officers with radio stations were sent to each division of the 131st and 99th Rifle Corps. Their task was to guide aircraft to the target.

On the morning of October 7, the assault on enemy defenses began. After artillery preparation, formations of the 131st and 99th Rifle Corps went on the offensive.

Due to snow and rain, a massive air strike, as planned, could not be carried out. Only the most trained attack aircraft and fighter crews took to the air, operating from low altitudes in small groups.

Thus, six Il-2 aircraft led by Captain P. A. Rubanov, which flew out to attack the enemy’s front line, had to march in tight formation, either descending under the edge of the clouds or breaking through them upward. But Rubanov led the group exactly to the target and attacked it on the move. As a result of the unexpected attack, two ammunition depots were blown up, several dugouts were destroyed and many Nazis were killed. An Ilov group under the command of Captain M. Bakaras delivered a precise blow to the enemy’s mortar battery.

During the first day of the offensive, the pilots flew 229 sorties, while the enemy recorded only 30 sorties.

The troops of the 131st Rifle Corps broke through the enemy's main defense line, crossed the Titovka River and captured a bridgehead on its western bank. Favorable opportunities were created for developing an offensive in the depths of enemy defenses.

On the second day of the offensive, the weather improved and aviation began to work at full capacity, flying over 500 sorties during the day. Stormtroopers were especially effective in providing direct support to advancing troops on the battlefield. At the request of the commanders of the rifle corps, the Ilov groups struck at enemy resistance centers, at concentrations of military equipment and manpower.

Ily under the command of Major N. Goncharov especially distinguished himself. Having received the task of destroying the resistance center on the western slopes of height 258.3, eight attack aircraft, under the cover of ten fighters, quickly found the target and, with precise blows, destroyed several dugouts and blew up an ammunition depot.

In the morning, aerial reconnaissance, and then from the observation post of the commander of the 99th Rifle Corps, discovered several military columns moving along the road from Luostari. On the instructions of the corps commander, Major General S.P. Mikulsky, the commander of the 260th attack air division, Colonel G.A. Kalugin, sent three groups of Il-2 aircraft, eight in each, to destroy the enemy and his strongholds in the corps’ offensive zone. The task was completed.

The enemy’s artillery and mortar batteries, located in a strong point at an unnamed height northeast of Lake Chapr, caused a lot of trouble to the 131st Rifle Corps. They conducted systematic flanking fire on our advancing troops. The pilots of the 7th Air Army carried out high-altitude bombing and assault strikes several times, but the surviving guns continued to fire. On October 9, corps commander Major General Z. N. Alekseev assigned the 261st Attack Air Division the task of suppressing enemy fire. At the direction of the division commander, General Udonin, six Il-2 aircraft took off on the mission. It was headed by captain Y. Andrievsky. Arriving at the target area, the attack aircraft formed a circle and with well-aimed blows, descending during attacks to low level flight, destroyed two anti-tank and one mortar batteries, and also blew up an ammunition depot. General Z.N. Alekseev highly appreciated the actions of the attack aircraft.

Formations of the strike group of the 14th Army, supported by aviation, broke into the second line of defense. The left-flank 126th Light Rifle Corps, having bypassed the enemy from the rear, on October 9 reached the area of ​​​​the fork in the roads west of Luostari.

Aviation provided good assistance to the corps. Thus, aerial reconnaissance aircraft detected the approach of the leading regiment of the enemy’s 163rd Infantry Division and immediately reported this to the command post. The first blow to the enemy, who was approaching a fork in the road, was delivered by attack aircraft, who created a traffic jam on the road and sowed panic. The commander of the 126th Light Rifle Corps, Colonel V.N. Solovyov, took advantage of this and, accelerating the units’ exit to the fork in the road, followed the air strike by attacking the enemy, who had not yet had time to accept the battle formation. According to the testimony of prisoners, on this day their regiment lost up to 40% of its personnel.

During the operation, the intensity of traffic on the roads behind enemy lines increased sharply, and camouflage weakened. Therefore, our air strikes on enemy columns were very effective. On October 10 alone, three groups of attack aircraft destroyed up to 50 vehicles and a lot of other military equipment and manpower on the roads west of the Titovka and Petsamo rivers.

However, you should not describe everything only in bright colors. German fighter units, despite their small numbers, offered fierce resistance in the air.

Particularly stubborn air battles flared up on October 9. During the day, pilots of the 7th Air Army conducted 32 air battles, in which they claimed 37 enemy aircraft shot down. It is characteristic that most of the air battles took place over enemy territory, which indicates the offensive tactics of our aviation.

High skill, courage and heroism were demonstrated by the pilots of the 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, which since May 1944 was commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union, Major P.S. Kutakhov.

The pilots of other regiments also fought bravely. Accompanying a group of Il-4 bombers, senior lieutenant I. S. Leonovich, deputy squadron commander of the 29th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, showed courage and endurance in an air battle. Reflecting an attack by enemy fighters on guarded bombers, he attacked a pair of Messerschmitt-109s at an altitude of 3 thousand meters and shot down the wingman from a short distance. The leader of the pair, apparently not noticing the death of his partner, continued to gain altitude. Leonovich took advantage of this and set fire to the leading Messerschmitt with the next burst. However, he himself was attacked by two German fighters, and another pair of Messerschmitts attacked his wingman. In the battle, Leonovich was wounded by a shell fragment, the plane was damaged. But the guardsman did not leave the battle: together with his comrades he continued to protect the bombers. Ily returned to the airfield without losses. In this battle, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Semenovich Leonovich brought his combat tally to 28 downed aircraft. On November 2, 1944, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The pilots of the 122nd Air Defense Fighter Division fought several stubborn air battles that day. In the morning, the troops in the area of ​​​​crossing the Valas-Joki River were covered by a link of the 767th Fighter Aviation Regiment of this division under the command of Lieutenant N. E. Matveev. Suddenly, above them, the pilots noticed six German Me-109 fighters that were trying to attack our group from the direction of the sun. Energetically turning around, Matveev’s unit launched a frontal attack on the enemy. Dodging an attack from the front hemisphere, the pilot of the leading Messerschmitt turned left, but fell under Matveev’s machine-gun fire and caught fire. The wingman "Messerschmitt" wanted to cut off Matveev, but junior lieutenant V.P. Znamensky prevented him. The Soviet pilot and his opponent tried to get behind each other in a deep turn. Znamensky gradually reduced the radius and steadily approached the Messerschmitt. The German pilot could not stand it and went into a tailspin. The pair of junior lieutenant T.D. Gusinsky acted harmoniously in battle. He and his wingman, junior lieutenant F.I. Tsatsoulin, having helped each other out more than once, recorded one victory for themselves.

The heavy losses of enemy aircraft on October 9 immediately affected its activity. The next day, only five air battles took place. But it was necessary to consolidate the success achieved and inflict a decisive defeat on enemy aircraft. And soon such an opportunity presented itself. Our air reconnaissance aircraft discovered up to 60 aircraft at the Salmijärvi airfield. The commander of the 7th Air Army, General I.M. Sokolov, ordered two massive raids on the airfield.

Using a photographic diagram, the pilots studied the approaches to the airfield, its air defense and the location of aircraft. The regimental commanders distributed responsibilities in detail between the strike group and the group for suppressing enemy anti-aircraft weapons, as well as in the covering fighter groups.

The first raid, which took place on October 11, involved 18 Il-2 attack aircraft and 36 fighters. Even on the approach to the enemy airfield, Soviet planes were met by fire from anti-aircraft artillery batteries. And when attacking the airfield they were met with small-caliber artillery fire. Moreover, when leaving the attack, the group was attacked by fighters on duty. During the heated battle, Senior Lieutenant I.K. Kuznetsov immediately shot down one Focke-Wulf-190. Soon his wingman, junior lieutenant M.A. Tikhansky, achieved the same success. Several more enemy planes were shot down in this battle by their comrades.

The second raid involved 55 fighters carrying suspended bombs. The fighters were the first to take to the air, whose task was to block the airfield, suppress anti-aircraft guns and displace enemy aircraft in case of opposition. They were followed by groups of Yakov and Lavochkin to attack the airfield.

The raid was a complete success. There was practically no opposition in the air - only when retreating from the target, the Soviet pilots were attacked by a pair of Messerschmitt-109s that had taken off from another airfield. Captain V.B. Mitrokhin blocked the enemy’s path and, in a short battle, shot down one of the planes.

According to Soviet data, as a result of a well-organized and skillfully carried out operation, 33 German aircraft were destroyed in two raids at the Salmijärvi airfield. In addition, Soviet pilots shot down five vehicles in air battles. Our losses were only one Il-2 plane, shot down by anti-aircraft artillery. Soviet post-war literature notes that during the five days of the Soviet offensive, the enemy lost 99 aircraft.

Despite the increasingly difficult weather conditions, Soviet aviation continued to provide assistance to the advancing units. In the conditions of the tundra, heavily rugged and sometimes swampy terrain, and off-road, with the rapid advance of the troops of the 14th Army, the corps’ artillery often lagged behind the rifle units, so its tasks had to be carried out by our bomber and attack aircraft. It became, one might say, air artillery, operating at the request of the ground command. And the aviators immediately responded to their requests.

On October 13, the 325th Infantry Regiment cut off the escape route for a group of enemy troops on one of the roads. In order to drive our unit out of this area, the enemy began to concentrate his forces there. The Soviet command called in aviation. Red star planes appeared in the sky. A powerful assault followed, and the enemy's counterattack was thwarted.

The pilots were required to perform impeccably precise work, since the situation on the ground was changing very quickly. On October 14, the advance of the 131st Rifle Corps was hampered by a strong point at height 181, located at the fork in the highways leading to Petsamo. The weather was bad, so the best crews, led by Captain G. Pyankov, set out on the mission. But when the group of attack aircraft was already in the air, parts of the corps occupied the eastern slope of this height. The aircraft controller redirected the pilots to the western slopes in time. The attack aircraft's strikes turned out to be very accurate and effective. Pyankov's four suppressed the fire of artillery guns and mortars, thereby clearing the way for the infantry. Thanks to this raid, our units occupied the entire height.

On the night of October 15, Soviet troops captured an important enemy defense center - Petsamo. The 14th Army, in cooperation with the Northern Fleet, with the support of the 7th Air Army, inflicted heavy damage on units of the Nazi 19th Mountain Rifle Corps and drove them west and northwest of Petsamo and Luostari. Favorable conditions were created for the development of an offensive towards the borders of Norway.

By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the 122nd Fighter Air Defense Division, Colonel F. A. Pogreshaev, as well as formations and units of the Northern Fleet Air Force: 6th Fighter Air Division, Major General of Aviation N. T. Petrukhin, 2nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel D. F. Marenko, the 46th assault air regiment of Major G.V. Pavlov was given the honorary name “Pechenga”.

The Northern Fleet Air Force was active throughout the entire operation. Naval pilots supported ground troops in the offensive, ensured amphibious landings, and carried out raids on enemy ports and ships at sea. Despite the enhanced cover of the convoys, they were subjected to massive attacks by torpedo bombers, bombers and attack aircraft. They, as a rule, used the following tactics: fighters tied up the air cover of the convoy in battle, and part of the forces participating in the attack acted on the escort ships, clearing the way for our torpedo bombers and bombers to the transports. If after the first strike the convoy was not destroyed, a second strike was struck.

Such a double strike on October 16 destroyed an enemy convoy discovered by aerial reconnaissance at the exit from Bek Fiord. In the first raid, attack aircraft sank four ships and one boat, and torpedo bombers sank a transport and a patrol ship. By evening the second blow was struck. As a result, our pilots sank two more transports, three patrol ships and a minesweeper. During air battles, four enemy aircraft were shot down.

There were also losses. Thus, when striking the convoy, the crew led by the commander of the 9th Guards Mine and Torpedo Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel B.P. Syromyatnikov, was killed. During the attack, his plane was hit by a naval artillery shell. With the burning car, the crew still torpedoed the enemy transport, but their plane also fell into the sea. Lieutenant Colonel Boris Pavlovich Syromyatnikov, navigator Major Alexander Ilyich Sknarev and air gunner Senior Sergeant Georgy Safronovich Aseev were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

With the liberation of Petsamo, preparations began for the second stage of the operation. The 7th Air Army covered the regrouping of the 14th Army's troops and at the same time pulled up air units closer to the front line. From October 18, all the efforts of the air army were again concentrated on supporting the formations of the 14th Army, which resumed the offensive.

Fierce battles broke out to overcome the enemy’s previously prepared defensive line, which was trying to delay the advance of the 99th Rifle Corps to Akhmalakhti and the 31st Rifle Corps to Nikel. Here the enemy created two strong artillery groups. The first, consisting of up to nine batteries, prevented the advance of units of the 99th Rifle Corps along the road to Akhmalakhti with continuous flanking fire raids, the second, consisting of up to six batteries, prevented the advance of the 31st Rifle Corps towards Nikel.

Attack aircraft came to the aid of the rifle corps. On October 20, an artillery group located at the junction of roads northeast of Akhmalakhti was attacked by groups of attack aircraft, each of which had 6–8 aircraft. The groups were led by experienced pilots captains N.V. Borovkov, P.A. Rubanov, A. Timoshenko, P.Ya. Usachev, senior lieutenants Novikov, D. Chepelenko. According to post-flight reports, the aviators destroyed two field artillery batteries, blew up four ammunition depots, destroyed 16 vehicles, suppressed seven enemy field batteries and three anti-aircraft artillery batteries.

Despite the assurances of the Soviet command about the destruction of German aviation in the North, there were nevertheless planes with swastikas in the sky, and air battles were not very uncommon.

Aviation provided great assistance to the ground forces during the capture of the settlement of Nikel. Supporting the offensive of the rifle corps, the crews of the 7th Air Army flew 487 sorties on October 21. The military council of the 14th Army highly appreciated the actions of aviation: “In the battles for Nikel, bombers and attack aircraft, accompanying the 31st Rifle Corps, thwarted the counterattack of the enemy who was trying to break out of the encirclement, accelerated the capture of Nikel and the destruction of the enemy group encircled in this area.”

Fighter aircraft reliably covered the grouping of troops and their actions, almost completely expelling enemy aircraft from the battlefield. The fighters provided especially great assistance to units of the 126th and 127th Light Rifle Corps operating behind enemy lines. Despite repeated attempts by enemy aircraft to disrupt the advance of units of these corps, fighters provided their cover, and the raid of the 126th and 127th Light Rifle Corps took place without losses.

Subsequently, aviation assisted ground forces in capturing the port and city of Kirkenes. In the battles for him, the navigator of the 191st Fighter Aviation Regiment, Major Trofim Afanasyevich Litvinenko, won his 21st victory in the air.

From 23 to 25 October 1944, the 7th Air Force flew 683 sorties. On October 25, Kirkenes was captured.

By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the 80th Bomber Air Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel G. P. Starikov, the 114th Guards Long-Range Bomber Air Regiment, Major A. N. Volodin, 7th Air Army, 5th Mine-Torpedo Air Division, Major General of Aviation N. M. Kidalinsky, The 9th Guards Mine-Torpedo Air Regiment under Major A. I. Fokin, the 20th Fighter Air Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel D. A. Petrov and the 118th Reconnaissance Air Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel S. K. Litvinov of the Northern Fleet Air Force were given the honorary name “Kirkenes”.

The Petsamo-Kirkenes operation ended in complete victory for the Soviet troops. The aviation of the Karelian Front and the Northern Fleet played an important role in its achievement. During the operation, the crews of the 7th Air Army flew 6,732 sorties, destroyed more than 700 vehicles, about 250 wagons, 21 gas tanks and gas tankers, blew up 24 ammunition depots, destroyed about 30 dugouts and dugouts, suppressed or partially destroyed about 100 artillery and mortar batteries, scattered and destroyed many enemy soldiers and officers. 129 enemy aircraft were destroyed in air battles and at airfields.

Northern Fleet aviation losses during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation