Operation Platinum Fox

Operation Platinum Fox (German: Platinfuchs) was aGerman and Finnish military oensive launched duringWorldWar II. Platinfuchs took place on the Eastern Frontand had the objective of capturing the Barents Sea portof Murmansk. It was part of a larger operation, calledOperation Silver Fox (Silberfuchs).

1 BackgroundAt the launch of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941,German units of Alpine Corps Norwegen were sent eastfrom Norway to occupy Petsamo, in Operation Reindeer(Renntier). There they joined Finnish forces poised onthe border of Soviet territory. These divisions of Nor-wegen were, for the most part, elite mountain troops spe-cially trained to operate above the Arctic Circle. As partof Barbarossa, the Finnish-German forces were to launchOperation Silver Fox (Silberfuchs), aimed at attackingMurmansk from two directions. The rst assault fromFinnish Petsamo was codenamed Platinfuchs. The sec-ond attack aimed rst to attack Kandalaksha from Sallaand then threaten Murmansk from the south. This opera-tion was codenamed Operation Arctic Fox (Polarfuchs).

2 Platinum FoxOn 29 June 1941 the Platinfuchs phase of Silberfuchs waslaunched. The Norwegen Corps under the command ofGeneralleutnant Eduard Dietl, consisting of the German2nd Mountain Division and German 3rd Mountain Divi-sion and the Finnish IvaloBorder Guard Battalion crossedthe border and proceeded on Murmansk. The initial ad-vance was slow. The German oensive met with lots ofproblems from the rst day of the oensive on, as therough terrain with bad roads made any advance dicult.The German units also lacked proper maps and had toadvance mostly through unknown terrain.[2]

The two divisions advanced in two directions. In thesouth the 2nd Mountain Division was able to penetratethe Soviet lines at the Titovka Valley in one day aftererce ghting and secured a bridge over the river. In thenorth the 3rdMountain Division also made good progressin the rst hours to secure the neck of the Rybachy Penin-sula.[6]

Nevertheless the oensive soon met with heavy Sovietresistance, especially from units of the Soviet Northern

Fleet. After a heavy Soviet counterattack, the Germansresumed their oensive to the east to the Litsa River.With the element of surprise lost, the Germans were onlyable to establish a small bridgehead over the river. Aftera heavy Soviet counterattack on 7 July, Dietl requestedmore reinforcements, but he received only a motorizedmachine-gun battalion from Norway.[6]

On 10 July a new plan had to be made, after a copy ofthe oensive plan fell into Soviet hands. The 2nd Moun-tain Division had to expand the bridgehead, while the 3rdMountain Division had to advance on the south and es-tablish another bridgehead. The renewed attack was againinitially successful, but after the Soviets landed with twobattalions on the other side of the Litsa Bay, Dietl hadto stop the oensive. Things now became worse for theGermans, as the thinly stretched forces had to hold a 57km long frontline along the Litsa River to the RybachyPeninsula. With the absence of roads, the supply situ-ation also deteriorated and the oensive stalled. Dietlasked for more reinforcements and Hitler, after initiallybeing reluctant, agreed to transfer the 6th Mountain Divi-sion to Dietls command. After more arguing, in Augustthe 388th and 9th SS Regiments were also assigned to theoperation.[1]

German coastal artillery German shipping was under constantattack by Soviet-British forces

Dietl now made plans to renew the oensive, with thefresh SS regiments leading the assault, in September be-fore the onset of the winter would make it dicult toght. But a combination of British and Soviet surfaceships and aircraft, which constantly attacked Germanshipping to the northern ports, hampered the arrival ofreinforcements and supply and would delay the arrivalof the 6th Mountain Division to October.[7] Neverthelesson 8 September Dietl started with the renewed oensive

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2 6 REFERENCES

without the 6th Mountain Division. The initial assaultfailed badly and the SS regiments, untrained for arcticwarfare, took heavy casualties. The Germans made someprogress, but a Soviet counterattack stopped the oensiveimmediately.[8] Constant attacks by Soviet submarinesand British surface ships (consisting of a force of two air-craft carriers, two cruisers and six destroyers) also sunknumerous German ships and worsened the supply situa-tion even more. For this reason von Falkenhorst prohib-ited German shipping from sailing east of the North Capeon 13 September.[9] Hitler again pressured to continue theoensive, but Dietl made it clear, that with the dire sup-ply situation and without further reinforcements no fur-ther advance was possible. More Soviet reinforcementsarrived in the area and on 21 September the German of-fensive was broken o. On mid-October the 2nd Moun-tain Division withdrew to Petsamo and the 6th MountainDivision replaced the 3rd Mountain Division along theLitsa line.[9]

3 ConclusionOperation Platinum Fox was a German failure. AlthoughDietl was able to make some ground, his insucientforces were soon stopped by the Soviets. The presenceof British-Soviet naval forces at the Barents Sea ham-pered German eorts to adequately supply his forcesand the general unwillingness of the German High Com-mand to reinforce something which they considered asa secondary theater paved the way for the only success-ful Soviet resistance in the early stages of Operation Bar-barossa.[4] The failure of Platinfuchs had a major impacton the course of the war in the east. Over the course ofthe war, the Soviet Union received approximately a quar-ter of its Lend-Lease supplies through the port of Mur-mansk, and the port of Arkhangelsk,[10] contributing toits continued resistance.In recognition of its role in the successful defense ofMur-mansk, the Soviet 52nd Rie Division was re-named 10thGuards Rie Division on Dec. 26, 1941.[11]

4 Order of battle

4.1 German German 2nd Mountain Division German 3rd Mountain Division

Under the direct command of AOK Lappland

Finnish Separate Detachment (Petsamo) (ErillinenOsasto (Petsamo))

14th Finnish Infantry Regiment (Jalkavkirykmentti14 (JR 14))

-III Battalion (-III Pataljoona)[12]

4.2 Soviet 14th Rie Division 52nd Rie Division Polyamy Division[3]

Several non assigned units[4]

5 Notes[1] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), pp. 8384

[2] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), p. 81

[3] a mixed unit consisting of drafted and volunteered sailorsand marine units

[4] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), pp. 8187

[5] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), p. 87

[6] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), p. 82

[7] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), p. 85

[8] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), pp. 8586

[9] Mann & Jrgensen (2002), pp. 8687

[10] http://www.feldgrau.com/econo.html Of all the lend-lease aid, approximately 50% was delivered via the Pa-cic, 25% via Persia and 25% via the northern route toArchangel and Murmansk.

[11] Charles C. Sharp, Red Guards: Soviet Guards Rie andAirborne Units 1941 to 1945, Soviet Order of BattleWorldWar II Vol. IV, Nafziger, 1995, p 46

[12] JR 14 war diary. http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3411488

6 References Boog, Horst; Frster, Jrgen; Homann, Joachim;Klink, Ernst; Mller, Rolf-Dieter; Ueberschr,Gerd R. (1998). Attack on the Soviet Union.Germany and the Second World War IV. Trans-lated by Dean S. McMurry, Ewald Osers, LouiseWillmot. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822886-4.* Mann, Chris M. & Jrgensen, Christer(2002),Hitlers Arctic War , Hersham, UK: Ian AllanPublishing Ltd, ISBN 0-7110-2899-0

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