owner20071963

Here is some Info that may help you on Murmansk,
During World War II the Kola Peninsula was the most northern combat area.
On June 29, 1941 two German and one Finnish corps undertook an offensive on Murmansk
(a secondary attack was launched in the direction of Kandalaksha).
On September 23,1941 the front was stabilized in the area of the Zapadnaya Litsa River after the counterattacks of the Soviet troops.
The Northern Defensive Area was established in the Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas which were cut off from the main troops;
it was defended by the seamen of the Northern Fleet.
The port of Murmansk operated trouble-free, servicing the Allied convoys.

The summer of 1942 was the time of the fiercest battles.
There were German air attacks every day, often several times a day.
The most embittered fights were, as a rule, near Murmansk.
German pilots said: 'It is better to fly three times to London, than once to Murmansk'.
Murmansk was one of the four strongest air defense areas during World War II – two «Ls» (London, Leningrad) and two «Ms» (Murmansk, Malta).
It was near Murmansk that German aviation suffered heavy casualties – up to 30% of all planes were shot down in polar regions.
The city was greatly damaged by air-raids.
More than 70% of buildings were destroyed by bombardments.

In three years the enemy created a strong defensive area more than 100 km deep, full of permanent defense facilities.

On October 7, 1944 the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation began.
The Karelian Front launched the offensive near the Zapadnaya Litsa River,
the forces of the Northern Fleet supported it from the Sredniy and Rybachiy peninsulas,
a landing operation was carried out in Liinakhamari.
Petsamo (Pechenga) and Nikel' settlements were liberated on October 15 and 22, respectively,
and the units of the 14th Army reached the Norwegian border.
Having lost the Kola Peninsula and Eastern Finnmark the German command lost their bases,
which were close to the routes of the northern convoys.Happy Hunting