Bismarck Sea, Battle of the (March 2–4, 1943) but needed to appease Moscow and leave the war Joseph Stalin and the Stavka again insisted that Finland actively expel German troops The High Command in Helsinki reluctantly positioned troops to carry out this mission, but could not prevent continuing fraternization with the Germans by Finnish combat units The OKH sent the command “Birke anschlagen,” or “cut the birch,” on September 3, followed the next day by an even more urgent “birch” order to evacuate most of Finland A formal armistice was signed by Helsinki and Moscow on September 19, as the Germans pulled out The only serious military clash between the Germans and Finns occurred on September 29, over control of a bridge across the Olhavanjoki River See also NORDLICHT BIRKENAU A German concentration camp set up in Poland in 1941 It was used by the Schutzstaffel (SS) as a death center for eliminating Soviet officers and commissars, then evolved into a main killing area for the death camp centered on Auschwitz BISCARI MASSACRES (1943) There were two major incidents in Sicily wherein unarmed Axis troops were slaughtered by U.S soldiers The first massacre saw 34 Italian prisoners and two Germans shot near the airfield at Biscari, most by a single sergeant who went on a personal murderous rampage In the second incident an American captain shot 40 Italian prisoners Both men later cited General George Patton’s preinvasion speech not to show the enemy mercy, thereby invoking a defense of superior orders Patton initially tried to cover up the Biscari massacres, but General Omar Bradley refused to hide the atrocities Both incidents were investigated, but punishment of the murderers was light: the captain was acquitted (he later died in action); the sergeant served one year, then returned to active duty as a private See also Malmédy massacre; prisoners of war BISMARCK, DKM See Atlantic, Battle of; battlecruiser; Swordfish BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO Some 200 small islands and atolls in the South Pacific, off the coast of New Guinea They were occupied by the Japanese in early 1942 ANZAC and American forces retook some islands in 1943–1944, but bypassed others in the latter island-hopping campaigns, most notably Rabaul The reconquest of the Admiralty Islands was followed by taking Emirau to the east, completing major actions in the Bismarck Archipelago See also Bismarck Sea, Battle of the; New Britain campaign; New Ireland BISMARCK SEA, BATTLE OF THE (MARCH 2–4, 1943) A devastating American air assault on eight Japanese troop transports and eight destroyers The troop convoy was traversing the Bismarck Sea, the open waters separating New Guinea from the Bismarck Archipelago The U.S Navy knew from ULTRA intercepts 161