[6] After the occupation of Norway, the Norwegian government-in-exile established a military mission in Moscow under the leadership of Colonel Arne Dagfin Dahl.

[7] After the Moscow Armistice between the Soviet Union and Finland on 4 September 1944, the Petsamo region, still largely occupied by the Germans, was ceded to the Soviet Union, and the Finnish government agreed to remove the remaining German forces from their own territory by 15 September (leading to the Lapland War).

The operation was to be undertaken jointly by the Karelian Front under the command of General Kirill Meretskov and the Northern Fleet under Admiral Arseniy Golovko.

The main operations were to be conducted by the 14th Army, led by Lieutenant General Vladimir Shcherbakov, which had been in the Arctic since the beginning of the war.

General Lothar Rendulic, who served as both head of the 20th Mountain Army and overall theater commander, was aware of the threat posed by the upcoming offensive.

Prior to the start of the Soviet attack, the defending Germans had been ordered to abandon Petsamo on 15 October, and Kirkenes by the beginning of November.

To stall the Soviets, the Germans enacted a scorched earth policy and began to sabotage local infrastructure and destroy villages in the vicinity.

In reality, between 20,000 and 25,000 civilians avoided relocation, including 10,000 residents of Kirkenes and the Varanger Peninsula who could not be moved due to logistical constraints and 8,500 Saami nomads who were exempt from the removal policy.

Further south, the 10th Guards Division crossed over a pontoon bridge at Holmfoss, accompanied by KV tanks and self-propelled artillery.

[11] The 10th Guards Division had advanced within 10 kilometers south of Kirkenes, securing the iron ore mines where many civilians were sheltering.

The 28th Rifle Regiment was detached from the Guards division to cut off a potential German escape around the Langfjord, as the forces originally assigned with this task were low on supplies.

Supported by tanks and artillery, the 10th, 65th, and 14th Rifle Divisions cleared out the last of the German rearguard from Kirkenes by midday 25 October.

Fighting ensued, and the Soviets summarily blocked off the road, forcing the Germans to evacuate to the north where they were extracted by sea.

Faced with rugged terrain and increasingly cold temperatures, the 14th Army forces in the area were ordered to halt their advance and assume a defensive posture.

On 25 October 1944, upon hearing that the Soviets were now entering Northern Norway, the British ordered the immediate deployment of Norwegian forces to the area to assist.

Marked Force 138 by the British, the Norwegians embarked on HMS Berwick as part of Operation Crofter, arriving in Murmansk on 6 November.

Too small to cover the front themselves, the Norwegians enlisted local volunteers, putting them into hastily formed "guard companies" armed with Soviet weaponry, pending the arrival of reinforcements from the United Kingdom.

Reports from Porsanger Municipality showed that the Germans were in the process of withdrawing, but were busy laying mines and torching buildings.

[16] The Norwegian troops sent rescue parties under Colonel Gunnar Johnson to assist civilians left stranded in scorched western Finnmark.

On 15 February, in the only direct military action undertaken by the Western Allies (other than Norway) during the campaign, one Canadian and three British destroyers rescued 502 men, women, and children from the island.

The Germans, in pursuance of their scorched earth strategy, destroyed thousands of houses, barns, sheds, and businesses, along with much of Finnmark's infrastructure.

Almost all of Kirkenes, Hammerfest, Hasvik,[18] Vardø, Skarsvåg, Tufjord, Karmoyvaer, Gjesvær, Nordvågen,[12] and Neiden were burnt to the ground.

As the reconstruction efforts in the region were mostly the responsibility of Norwegian-speaking officials, the prevalence of Sami languages in the coastal communities dramatically decreased in the postwar era.