About the book: 2017 / The Norwegian campaign of the Wehrmacht became the first combined operation of the army, air force and navy in the history of military art, and Norway itself became the “unsinkable aircraft carrier” of the Third Reich. The Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine attacked the polar convoys, which delivered about half of all strategic cargo under Lend-Lease to the USSR, including the legendary PQ-17, from bases on the Norwegian coast. This book, based on declassified archival documents, answers the most controversial and complex questions about the Germans’ use of the SCANDINAVIAN BRIDGEHEAD. What helped to capture Norway with lightning speed and why did German losses exceed the losses of the Allies by a third? What is the true role of the Scandinavian bridgehead in Hitler's plans and why in 1941 his submarines failed to prevent transportation to the Soviet Union? What were the strategy and tactics of action against polar convoys? Why, despite the worsening situation on the fronts, did the German command increase the group of u-bots in the Arctic? Why did the mine war not bring tangible results to the Kriegsmarine, and why did the operations of surface ships (including the famous Tirpitz) against polar convoys invariably end in failure? Finally, why, having the opportunity to control the movement of convoys almost along the entire route, the Germans were never able to disrupt or at least seriously reduce supplies to the USSR?