Made during WWII (1941) for the home market, and sold in camera shops, this silent version of the Degeto Weltspiegel newsreel shows Operation Silver Fox. This was a joint German–Finnish military operation plan during WWII, primarily operated and engaged by Germans. Its main goal was the capture of the key Soviet port at Murmansk through attacks from Finnish and Norwegian territory.
The operation had three stages. Operation Reindeer (Rentier) was the initial attack by German forces from Norway to secure the area around Petsamo. The follow-up operations, Operation Platinum Fox (Platinfuchs) from the north by Army Norway (AOK Norwegen) and Operation Arctic Fox (Polarfuchs) by XXXVI Mountain Corps together with units from the Finnish III Corps, aimed to capture the vital port of Murmansk afterwards. The operation was unsuccessful and Murmansk continued to operate throughout the war.
At the start (:23) the film shows a battle map of Finland and the USSR, with arrows indicating the line of advance. At (:25) the border crossing between the two nations is shown, with a German vehicle convoy crossing a river bridge into Soviet territory. At (:40) a sign for the arctic circle. At (:50) German troops in what appear to be summer uniforms wade through high snow and then encounter a muddy road. Logs are cut and laid on the road to allow vehicle traffic to proceed. At (1:07) a Panzer makes a crossing, followed by German officers consulting a map and handing out orders. A horse drawn supply wagon moves through the mud. German forces cross a river in a small boat (1:38) while artillery rounds fall in close proximity. At (2:04) the German equivalent of a Red Cross nurse hands out coffee or snacks to soldiers. The German line of advance is shown on a map, reaching Salla (Kuolajärvi until 1936), a town in Lapland. A heavy machine gun in action (2:21). At (2:28) supplies are dropped by air to the Wehrmacht. At (2:48) telephone or telegraph communication lines are installed by engineers. At (3:04) supplies are unloaded by ship. At (3:25) supplies are moved by horse drawn wagon. At (3;35) a sign warns that the front is 2km ahead, and indicates that it’s prohibited to march in columns or drive vehicles close together in this area. At (3:51) rations are about to be handed out and food served from large metal backpack canteen boxes. At (4:00) commanders review maps and at (4:16) troops march across a wooden railroad bridge. At (4:22) a wounded soldier is evacuated on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance. At (4:32) a more severe case is evacuated by a Finnish seaplane (note the reversed swastika, which was the Finnish logo in this time period). This is a Junkers K 43fa of the 3/LLv 15 (the 3rd Flight of the 15th Squadron) Finnish Air Force. At (4:50) the offensive continues toward Vyborg, western Russia with towed artillery put into play against the Red Army. At (5:13) a machine gun is moved into position by its crew. At (5:16) a building marked Vyborg is shown, this town is close to the Finnish border.
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