Il y a 65 ans l'Armée Rouge libérait l'arctique .

Le 7 octobre 1944 l'Armée Rouge lançait l'offensive " Petsamo- Kirkenes " depuis ses bases à à peine 70 km de Moumansk contre l'envahisseur Nazi .
Le 18 octobre 1944 , les forces armées Soviétiques du Front de Carélie ( 14 eme armée ) franchissaient la frontière Norvégienne et libéraient la ville de Kikernes appuyées par des opérations amphibies de la Flotte du Nord le 25 octobre 1944 . Le 1er novembre 1944 le district de Petsamo et ses précieuses mines de Nickel est déclaré " libre de toute forces Allemandes " .
L'offensive Petsamo-Kirkenes a depuis été longtemps été étudiée [ 1 ]  car elle constitue , au delà des offensives Germano-Finlandaises de 1941 , un exemple réussi d'opération militaire combinée de grande ampleur en milieu  arctique .

"The area of operations of the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive lies between 69 and 70 degrees north latitude, between Murmansk, U.S.S.R., and Kirkenes, Norway, about 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle (see map 2). Strong moist winds blow inland from the cold but unfrozen Barents Sea. In October, temperatures normally range from -5° to +5° Centigrade (23° to 41° Fahrenheit). Precipitation in the form of snow or a mixture of rain and snow falls often, and heavy fog frequently forms when gulf stream air meets colder arctic air. Daylight decreases from 13.5 hours on 1 October to 10 hours on 30 October. At this time of the year, the sun traverses a low are across the southern sky.

Along the coast, the terrain is primarily tundra interspersed with hills of barren rock covered by moss and lichen.Farther inland, steep rockstrewn hills rise to elevations of up to 1,900 feet above sea level. Hundreds of streams flow into scores of swamps and lakes that are drained by northeastward-flowing rivers. Vegetation consists of scrub trees and heavy low bushes, permitting clear fields of view from surrounding elevations. Numerous ravines and gullies cut between elevations, allowing unobserved dismounted movement only during periods of limited visibility. The ground is not frozen in October and is water-logged and broken. Therefore, only the roads can support any kind of vehicular traffic. "

" This Leavenworth Paper emphasizes another maxim of arctic operations: the necessity for effective joint operations and proper synchronization of the various battlefield operating systems. Soviet use of artillery was hindered in its range by limited ground mobility. While our light artillery today is less road bound, it still may find itself unable to support maneuver forces effectively because of terrain obstacles or the unavailability of helicopter lifts during adverse weather. Since heavy artillery will probably continue to be road bound, close air support and joint air attack team operations are increasingly significant as distances are extended. Air defense artillery systems may be the only protection against hostile air if local weather conditions close friendly airfields "

Durant cette offensive l'armée Soviétique a bénéficié du concours des populations Sames , principalement pour assurer la logistique sur des terrains difficiles d'accés aux véhicules.

"Где прошел олень – там пройдет и русский солдат, а где не пройдет олень – там все равно пройдет русский солдат" .
" Ou est passé le renne - là passera  le soldat Russe , mais là ou le renne n' arrive pas à passer - de toute façon le soldat Russe y passera "
A Mourmansk ,le " memorial d'Alyosha " rend hommage aux defenseurs de la ville .

Liens :
[ 1 ]The Petsamo-Kirkenes operation : Soviet breaktrhrought and pursuit in the arctic , october 1944 - Laevenworth papers N°17 .
[ 2 ] Освобождение Северной Норвегии в октябре 1944 - La liberation de la Norvège septentrionale  en octobre 1944.
[ 3 ] Петсамо-Киркенесская наступательная операция (07.10–29.10.1944)

Bibliographie conseillée :
La doctrine militaire soviétique - Raymond Garthoff - Plon - Paris - 1957
Guerre d'hiver et sous le cercle arctique p°349 à 352

Nota : La quatrième photo est un photomontage réalisé en 1941 .