The German attack against the Allied positions at Stien, about 3mi west of Mo i Rana, began on 17 May.
On 20 May, Gubbins and Auchinleck were dismayed to find that Trappes-Lomax had continued to retreat despite having broken contact with the Germans, and was proposing to fall back across the "snow belt" north of his new position at the village of Krokstrand.