View source for Operation Rentier

{{distinguish|Operation Reindeer}}
{{refimprove|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Operation Reindeer
|partof=[[Operation Silver Fox]] of the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]
|image=
|caption=
|date=22 June 1941
|place=[[Territories ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union|Petsamo]], [[Finland]]
|coordinates = {{coord|64|N|26|E|display=inline}}
|result=German victory
|combatant1={{flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany}}
|combatant2={{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}
|commander1=
|commander2=
|units1=[[2nd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|2nd Mountain Division]]<br />[[3rd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|3rd Mountain Division]]
|units2=
|strength1=27,500{{sfn|Mann|Jörgensen|2002|p=81}}
|strength2=
|casualties1=
|casualties2=
}}
{{Campaignbox Continuation War}}
{{Campaignbox Arctic 1941-1944}}

'''Operation Rentier''' ('Reindeer') was a German operation during [[World War II]] intended to secure the [[nickel]] mines around [[Territories ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union|Petsamo]] in [[Finland]], against a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] attack in the event of a renewed war between Finland and the Soviet Union.

The planning for the operation started on 13 August 1940, after the [[Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany|German occupation of Norway]] was complete and was finalized in October that year. The plan called for the two divisions of the {{lang|de|[[Alpine Corps Norway (Germany)|Gebirgskorps Norwegen]]}} to occupy Petsamo and prevent Soviet capture of the mines.

The operation was carried out by the [[Wehrmacht]] as part of [[Operation Barbarossa]], the German attack on the Soviet Union and began on 22 June 1941. The [[2nd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|2nd Mountain Division]] occupied the area around [[Liinakhamari]] and the [[3rd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|3rd Mountain Division]] occupied [[Luostari (inhabited locality)|Luostari]]. The operation was followed up by [[Operation Platinum Fox]], which was an attack by the two divisions against [[Murmansk]] as a part of the larger [[Operation Silver Fox]].

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=Chris M. |last2=Jörgensen |first2=Christer |year=2002 |title=Hitler's Arctic War |location=Hersham |publisher=Ian Allan |isbn=0-7110-2899-0}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book  | editor-last1 = Boog | editor-first1 = Horst | editor-last2 = Förster | editor-first2 = Jürgen | editor-link2 = Jürgen Förster | editor-last3 = Hoffmann | editor-first3 = Joachim | editor-last4 = Klink | editor-first4 = Ernst | editor-last5 = Müller | editor-first5 = Rolf-Dieter | editor-last6 = Ueberschär | editor-first6= Gerd R.| last = Ueberschär | first= Gerd R. |publisher=Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt [[Military History Research Office (Germany)]]| translator-first1=Dean S. | translator-last1=McMurry| translator-first2=Ewald | translator-last2=Osers| translator-first3=Louise | translator-last3=Willmot|title=[[Germany and the Second World War]]: The Attack on the Soviet Union |volume=IV |chapter=Strategy and Policy in Northern Europe |pages=941–1020 |edition=trans. Clarendon Press |language=English |location=Oxford |year=1998 | isbn = 0-19-822886-4}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rentier}}
[[Category:Arctic military operations of World War II]]
[[Category:Operation Barbarossa]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Germany]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Battles involving Finland]]
[[Category:1941 in Finland]]
[[Category:1941 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1941 in Germany]]
[[Category:Military operations involving Finland]]
[[Category:June 1941 in Europe]]


{{mil-hist-stub}}