be given in order to maximize effectiveness of the evacuation and this called for the German force (218th Mountain Regiment) to delay the Finnish advance. Finnish and German forces clashed several times along the road, first at Ylimaa and later at Kivitaipale, without decisive results. Fighting near Rovaniemi Retreating German forces utilized scorched earth tactics, and though initially German General Lothar Rendulic ordered only the public buildings in Rovaniemi to be destroyed, on 13 October 1944 the German army received orders to destroy all the buildings in Rovaniemi, only excluding hospitals and houses where inhabitants were present. While the German rear guard was going about the destruction, an ammunition train in Rovaniemi station exploded and set fire to the wooden houses of the town. The German troops suffered many casualties, mainly from glass splinters. A Finnish commando unit claimed to have blown up the ammunition train and may well have been the primary cause of the town's ruin. The cause was then unknown and generally assumed to be the deliberate intent of Rendulic. During these hostilities 90% of all the buildings in Rovaniemi were destroyed. On 14 October the first Finnish forces reached the vicinity of Rovaniemi. These consisted of the troops of Jaeger Brigade (part of the Finnish Armored Division) advancing from Ranua. Finnish forces found out that one of the bridges crossing the Kemijoki river was still intact and moved to capture it. The German had failed to blow up the bridge because the ammunition train exploded with enough force that, even though the bridge was 3 km away, it blew the German explosives into the river. Finnish forces reached the bridge while it was intact, but then the German rearguard managed to push Finns off the bridge long enough for them to demolish it. This stranded the Jaeger Brigade on the southern side of the river; there was no other way to the river. The next Finnish unit to arrive was the 11th Infantry Regiment, advancing along the road on the northern side of the Kemijoki river on 15 October 1944. Its commander decided to encircle the remaining Germans and moved to cut the road leading from Rovaniemi towards Kittilä. Fortunately for the single German battalion (II of 12th SS Mountain Jaeger Regiment), the Finns were low on munitions and unable to support the encircling units which allowed the German battalion to escape nearly unscathed. Results The