Operation Birke refers to German operation late in the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in Finnish Lapland

Lapland

Sápmi is the name of the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sami people. Sápmi is located in Northern Europe and includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia. The region stretches over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Sápmi is the name in North Sámi, while the Julev...

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Background

Finnish attempts to find and acceptable exit from the war

Continuation War

The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...

 in spring 1944 alarmed Germans who had sizable stores in Northern Finland. In April 1944 Germans started feverish effort to recon and construct defensive positions against possible advances from the south.

Plan

Name Birke was assigned for the operation on 9 April 1944. It's primary task was to provide protection to the then vital nickel mining operations at Petsamo (now Pechanga, Russia). Orders for the operation were prepared meticulously in extreme detail. It consisted of several phases, first of which triggered by code phrase "Birke anschlagen" (Cut the birch) would consist of evacuation of military stores and preparation for later phases. Second phase, keyed to code phrase "Birke fällen" (Fall the birch), would consist of actual military withdrawal to first fortified position with using scorched earth policy. Final planned phase, keyed to code phrase "Birke zerkleinern" (Crush the birch) would sent German units towards strong positions around Rovaniemi while fighting delaying action.

Operation

First phase of the operation was started on 3 September 1944 after Finns had informed the Germans of their intentions. Though the plan had called for two weeks time for evacuations before the second phase Germans pressed ahead and started the second phase of the operation already on 4 September. 20th Mountain Army managed to evacuate sizable amount of the war material and get the withdrawal towards Norway well underway under the Operation Birke.

Results

Since existing German stocks of nickel were deemed sufficient and new deposits had been located from Austria the importance of holding Petsamo region or Finnish Lapland decreased considerably. At the same time the logistical and military difficulties of defending Northern Finland were realized. These factors made it possible for the Germans already on 4 October 1944 to gain Hitlers approval for moving from Operation Birke to Operation Nordlicht (Operation Northern Light) and abandon Northern Finland and fortify to Lyngen

Lyngen

Lyngen is a municipality and a fjord in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lyngseidet.- General information :...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

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See also

• Lapland War
  Lapland War
  The Lapland War were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the...
  
  
• Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
  Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
  The Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive was a major military offensive during World War II, mounted by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht in 1944 in northern Finland and Norway. The offensive defeated the Wehrmachts forces in the Arctic, driving them back into Norway, and was called the "Tenth Shock" by...
  
  
• Operation Nordlicht (Northern Light)