RAF , RN , Fleet Air Arm
2-728: Svalbard (1941–1945) Lapland War Associated articles Operation Nordlicht (German, 'Northern Light') was a German operation during the end of World War II . After Finland had made peace with the USSR , the Germans planned to fall back to defense lines built and equipped in advance across Finnish Lapland ( Operation Birke ). During the operation, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gave an order to move from Operation Birke to Operation Nordlicht on 4 October 1944. That meant that instead of evacuating everything and then fortifying on
4-1041: The strong defensive positions, the German 20th Mountain Army was to retreat according to a set timetable to a new defense line in Lyngen Municipality in Troms county, Norway . The Germans retreated using scorched-earth tactics and destroyed almost all buildings and all boats in Finnmark , thus denying the enemy any facilities in the area. The same tactics had already been used in Finnish Lapland. The retreat ended on 20 January 1945. A detailed account of 'the Nazis' scorched earth campaign in Norway' by Vincent Hunt includes statements by eyewitnesses, photographs taken at
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