As the 6th SS "Nord" Mountain Division withdrew from Finland, the wake of destruction the left behind them awoke the justly feared fury of the Finnish soldier. A wooded ridge outside Muonio cut across the road leading toward German-occupied Norway. Just a few kilometers from the Finnish forest warfare school, it was a piece of ground well-known to every Finnish regular army officer. Two battalions of the Finnish 50th Infantry Regiment hurried along forest paths to cut off the road-bound XVIII Mountain Corps rear guard.

The battalion commander in charge of the rear guard appears to have been too drunk to function, and his adjutant took charge of the attack. Despite Finnish advantages in position and morale, the Germans and their collaborators managed to pierce the Finnish lines in a brutal firefight and make their way through to Muonio. The Finns, shocked to have lost the trapped foe, did not pursue. Though too intoxicated to lead his men, the battalion commander did manage to finagle an Iron Cross for the battle near Muonio, shortly before he was cashiered.