When the Soviet offensive came, they targeted the Norwegians. Despite the advance notice offered by the March attack, the division command had done nothing to reorganize its front-line positions. The troops had occupied the same lines for two years and become comfortable in them; no one wanted to dig new shelters and give up the cozy dugouts they'd constructed - many had imported doors, windows and civilian bedding from Finnish shops. The Soviets planned to introduce some discomfort into their lives.

The Soviet attack overran the Norwegian positions, flushing them out with flamethrowers and employing massed light mortars in place of artillery that could not easily be dragged through the thick north woods. The remnants of the Norwegian ski battalion straggled back into Nord's lines, rescued by intervention from the divisional reserve plus and Austrian ski battalion from the 7th Mountain Division sent from corps reserve.