Operation Birke

Operation Birke (Operation Birch) refers to the German operation late in World War II in Finnish Lapland.

Background
Finnish attempts to find an acceptable exit from the Continuation War in spring 1944 alarmed the Germans, who had sizable stores in Northern Finland. In April 1944, the Germans started a 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. Its primary task was to provide protection to the then vital nickel mining operations at Petsamo (now Pechenga, 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
The 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 Hitler's approval for moving from Operation Birke to Operation Nordlicht (Operation Northern Light) and abandon Northern Finland and fortify to Lyngen, Norway.