Formed in eastern Germany from Nazi political activists, the SS Division "Nord" had little military capability. Small arms training for the infantry consisted of firing their weapons out the windows of railway carriages while on the way to the front. The artillery battalions had fired their weapons once, and the officers had only a short course of lectures and no practical experience. Nevertheless, the division attacked the Soviet fortified line at Salla in central Finland as ordered.

The SS attack utterly failed, with no Soviet positions falling. Many stragglers fled the battlefield, showing up far in the rear area. Corps HQ issued a sarcastic order of the day congratulating SS Nord's commander, Karl-Maria Demelhuber, for his troops' behavior while regular army troops took over the offensive.