Operation Stella Polaris

Operation Stella Polaris was the cover name for an operation in which Finnish signals intelligence records, equipment and personnel were transported to Sweden in late September 1944 after the end of combat on the Finnish-Soviet front in the Second World War.^[1] The purpose was to enable the signals intelligence activities against the advancing Russians to continue in Sweden and to prevent the equipment falling into the hands of the Soviet Union. A Soviet invasion was considered likely and plans were made to support guerrilla warfare in Finland after a possible occupation. The operation had its base in the small fishing village of Nämpnäs in Närpes, Ostrobothnia region, from where the archives were shipped to Swedish ports. The leaders of the operation were Colonel Aladár Paasonen, chief of Finnish military intelligence, and Colonel Reino Hallamaa, head of the Finnish signals intelligence section.^[2]