Finland: Winter War 1939 and Continuation War 1941-1944. Finland fought 3 wars: the Winter War alone against the Soviet Union, the Continuation War with Germany against the Soviet Union, and the Lapland War alone against Nazi Germany. Managing against all odds to defend its independence only with minor territorial losses.
Latest hand-picked WWII news.
Commando leader Heikki Nykanen, winner of the Mannerheim Cross medal, saw action against both USSR and Nazi Germany
Major Kaarlo Heikki Nykänen, a Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, has passed away at 91. He fought in the Continuation War (1941-1944) between Finland and the Soviet Union as the leader of a special commando unit, conducting reconnaissance and assaults behind the enemy lines. By 1943, the number of his commando excursions was already around 100. In August 1943, Nykänen was decorated with the Mannerheim Cross, the most distinguished military award in Finland. After the Continuation War, Nykänen also fought in the Lapland War, a conflict between Finland and Nazi Germany 1944-1945.
(hs.fi)
Finnish women were not racially good enough to be allowed to marry German soldiers
"Rassisches Treibholz" – racial driftwood – is the term used by Eduard Dietl, commander of Germany's 20th mountain army corps, AOK Lappland, in reference to the Finnish and Norwegian women whom his subordinates wanted to marry. In 1941-1945 the number of German soldiers in Finland exceeded 200,000. Relationships were established, but only a few of the couples were able to get married.
"With very few exceptions, the applications ... unfortunately involve representatives of neighbouring peoples of significantly lower value. The pictures shown almost exclusively depict racial driftwood, starting with girls showing strongly eastern features..." Dietl wrote in his guidelines on marriages.
(hs.fi)
Jews in Finland fought with the Nazis against the Soviets - and still have to explain the controversy
There has been 1 civil war and 3 other wars in the 92-year-old history of Finland. The Winter War (1939-1940) between Finland and the Soviet Union broke out after the Finns turned down Stalin's area claims. The next war between Finland and the Soviet Union, in 1941-1944, is called the "Continuation War" - seen as the direct continuation to the Winter War - and in it Finland was allied with Nazi Germany. The last war was fought against the Nazi Germany in the northern Finland in the Lapland War. Aron Livson, the chairman of the Finnish-Jewish War Veterans' Association, says he didn't experience any anti-Semitism during the wars.
(haaretz.com)
White Death: The Finnish sniper who killed 700 Red Army soldiers in 100 days
Ensconced in the snow, his white camouflage uniform made him invisible to the invading Soviet soldiers he stalked, Simo Häyhä braced himself to fire. During the 1939–1940 Winter War, in temperatures as low as –40 °C, the Finnish sniper single-handedly killed at least 700 men in less than 100 days. Over 500 of these he shot using a standard bolt-action rifle (an M/28 or M28/30 Soviet Mosin-Nagant) with non-telescopic sights. The sharpshooter - nicknamed The White Death - was later be credited with the highest number of confirmed kills in any war in history came from humble rural beginnings.
(environmentalgraffiti.com)
Finland marks 70th anniversary of Winter War against Stalin's Soviet Union
Finns marked the 70th anniversary of the Winter War, a conflict that saw this tiny country hold back Red Army for 105 days. Finland's resistance against the huge Soviet war machine stunned Moscow - which had planned to occupy Finland within a few weeks. Temperatures dropped to minus 49 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 C), causing frostbite and hallucinations. "The Russians came straight at us in open areas... I saw how the Russians motivated their fighters... withdrawing soldiers were coldly shot," recalls Viljo Kontio. The Winter War began with the "Mainila shots" - fired by the Red Army as Russian historians admitted after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
(cleveland.com)
120 photographs of WWII submarine Vesikko - The prototype of German Type II U-boat
Vesikko was a submarine of the Finnish Navy in World War Two. Built in 1933 in Turku, it served as a prototype (CV-707) for German Type II U-boats. 1933-1934 the German Navy carried out trials with the sub in the Turku Archipelago. In 1936, the Finnish Navy bought it. Vesikko saw service during WWII, patrolling the Gulf of Finland during the Winter War against the Soviet Baltic Fleet. During the Continuation War, Vesikko continued her patrolling career but there were few targets due to huge minefields laid by Finnish and Germans forces on the Gulf of Finland, which blocked the Soviet ships in their ports. In 3 July 1941, Vesikko torpedoed Soviet merchant ship Vyborg.
(flickr.com)
Soviet sub wreck - a Soviet S-2 class submarine - discovered near Åland islands
The wreck of a WWII-era Soviet submarine have been discovered by a team of Swedish divers near the Åland islands (between Sweden and Finland in the Baltic Sea). The vessel, a Soviet S-2 class submarine, was sunk by mines in 1940, killing all 50 crew members. Documents from the Swedish military archives say that the S-2 sub was sunk by Swedish mines in Swedish waters, while Finnish records say the vessel sank in Finnish waters. Among the divers was Ingvald Eckerman, grandson of J.A. Eckerman, who stood watch at the Märket lighthouse on Jan 2nd, 1940 and saw the sinking. [Watch video]
(thelocal.se/)
Finnish war children do not want to fade into oblivion
The military history of Finland during World War II includes 3 wars: the Winter War (Nov. 1939-March 1940) and the Continuation War (June 1941-Sept. 1944) against the Soviet Union, and the Lapland War (Sept. 1944 to April 1945) against Nazi Germany. The Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland ended on March 13th, 1940, leaving Finns deeply scarred. 70,000-80,000 kids were sent from Finland to Sweden and Denmark to avoid the fighting and the Soviet bombing, and 40,000-70,000 children lost one or both parents. Recently 7 war children gathered together to discuss their WW2 experiences.
(hs.fi)
Finland and Nazi Germany: Brothers in arms - and partners in crime?
It was an astonishing discovery. Oula Silvennoinen, who was researching wartime killings, knew it instantly as he was browsing through files at the Finnish National Archives in Helsinki. The documents were those of the State Police (VALPO, Finland's secret police during WWII). "Almost the first document that I saw was a small, innocent receipt... a Finnish interpreter had returned some property of the Defence Forces after finishing his service with a unit called Einsatzkommando der Sicherheitspolizei." The words have a very ominous ring, calling to mind the darkest side of Third Reich. No such Einsatzkommandos were supposed to exist in Finland.
(hs.fi)
Bell P-39 Airacobra on display in Finnish Anti-Aircraft Museum in Tuusula (pics)
The Anti-Aircraft Museum in Tuusula has acquired a legendary single-seat fighter aircraft, a Bell P-39 Airacobra. The aircraft is a great rarity, as it is one of only 4 remaining genuine Airacobras. The American-made Airacobra became part of Finnish aviation history during the Continuation War between Finland and Soviet Union in 1941-1944. The Airacobra was the main tool of many of the Soviet Air Force pilots as the US supplied the Soviets with 4,700 of these planes, and they proved successful in action against Luftwaffe bombers on the Eastern Front, although with a low operational ceiling the plane was ill-equipped for high-altitude dogfight.
(hs.fi)
Airacobra was downfall of Finnish fighter-ace Hasse Wind
Hasse Wind, pilot with the 2nd-largest number of air combat wins (half of them in Brewster B-239), took off in his Messerchmidt Bf 109 on June 28th 1944 on a flight to the Karelian Isthmus, with wingman Nils Katajainen. Over Vyborg the pair faced a huge squadron of Jak-9 and P-39 Airacobra aircraft of the Red Air Force. Those watching the dogfight counted as many as 120 Soviet aircraft. Wind shot down several planes, before his Bf 109 took a hit from a 37mm cannon fired by an Airacobra. Despite severe damage, the badly wounded Wind brought his Bf 109 back. From his hospital bed he heard that he had been granted the highest Finnish medal for valour, the Mannerheim Cross.
(hs.fi)
They wanted to believe in Communism, but after experiencing it they were disillusioned
Lawrence and Sylvia Hokkanen left United States in 1934 for the promise of a better life in the Soviet Union, believing in the "worker's paradise." Life in the Soviet Union was both demanding and rewarding: The food was poor and there was no indoor plumbing but they were united with their fellows in the dream of being part of "the worker's paradise" in Petrozavodsk. As Stalin's purges spread they wondered "How can they all be guilty?" By 1938 they were desperate to get out. After long delays they reached U.S. soil in 1941 "thoroughly disillusioned" with communism. "Karelia, A Finnish-American Couple in Stalin's Russia, 1934-1941" tells their story.
(zwire.com)
U.S. Navy to aid Estonia solve WW2 mystery of Finnish airliner, missing American courier
U.S. naval experts will begin searching for the wreckage of a Finnish airliner that crashed into the Baltic Sea in June 1940, just days before the Soviet Union annexed Estonia. 9 people were on board the aircraft, including U.S. diplomatic courier Henry Antheil - one of the first American casualties of World War II. Most experts think the small plane (called Kaleva, a German-made Junkers Ju-52) was shot down by two Soviet fighter bombers on June 14, 1940. Antheil, based in Moscow 1933-1939, had been hurried to Tallinn once it had become clear that the Soviet Union was about to seize Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
(iht)
Restoration of a WW2 Hurricane fighter - Warbird scene is a popular hobby
A World War II Hawker Hurricane is looking forward to taking wing once more in the colours of the Finnish Air Force. All it takes is the work of 6 mechanics over 2 years and 1.5 million. There are no airworthy Hurricanes left in Finland, and you have to ask: why would an Englishman want to spent such a large amount of money on behalf of Finnish aviation history? It's a labour of love. "As a kid I used to put together scale model aeroplanes. I started flying 15 years ago," says Philip Lawton. In England the restoration of old military aircraft is a popular hobby, during the summer there can be 3 flying shows per weekend.
(hs)
Finland: A charity is selling swastika rings to raise funds for WWII vets
A Finnish charity is selling silver rings inscribed with a swastika to raise money for 80,000 Finnish World War II veterans. The silver bands feature a swastika flanked by stylized wings. 16,000 have been sold so far. The rings are replicas of the 1940 "Air Defence" ring, which was part of a wartime effort to raise money for the Finnish air force. The campaign encouraged Finns to donate their gold wedding bands to back up the war effort. In exchange they received a ring made of iron. The swastika is a traditional symbol in Finland, and a blue swastika was used as the symbol of the Finnish Air Force 1918-1945.
(telegraph.co.uk)
Finns executed more own soldiers than had previously disclosed?
Historian Heikki Ylikangas published the book Romahtaako rintama? ("Is the Front Collapsing?") whose thesis is that the Finns executed more of their own soldiers for desertion during the final phases of the continuation War than had been disclosed. In the view of Ylikangas, it is important to know how many Finns were killed in the Continuation War by their own side. Killing people on the same side is part of the nature of war. "When final defeat looms in plain sight, all means are taken into use. The primary thought is not, if this is the appropriate thing to do under the rule of law."
(hs)
Jews fight alongside Nazi soldiers in the Finnish frontline (Article no longer available from the original source)
During the 1940 war between Finland and Russia (Winter War) Finnish Jews fought alongside their countrymen. But most surprising they fought in World War II alongside Nazi Germany on the Russian front, as Finland allied itself with the Nazis. The Finnish govt afforded them full civil rights throughout the war despite pressure from the Nazis. Today's community has a memory of a "field synagogue" built by Finnish soldiers in which they could conduct services alongside Waffen-SS units. And a Jewish soldier who defied death to rescue a battalion of SS soldiers pinned down by enemy fire. Offered an Iron Cross he refused, in flawless German.
(jpost)
White death: Russia's war on Finland 1939-1940 [book review]
In Nov. 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Hard-liners in France and Britain thought of attacking Russia, while many believed that invasion would provoke Adolf Hitler to attack Russia. But the Nazi-Soviet pact held. In "White Death: Russia's War On Finland, 1939-1940" Robert Edwards analyses the Russo-Finnish War. He concludes that it was a blessing in disguise for the Soviet Union. One million soldiers were mobilized but the under-equipped Finnish forces held the Russian troops and inflicted heavy casualties on the Red Army. The poor performance made Hitler decide that Russia would stand no chance against the Wehrmacht.
(telegraphindia)
Finnish Defence Forces releases 300 sensitive wartime photos
Finland's military said it would keep about 300 declassified sensitive wartime photographs at the Defence Forces photograph centre, part of the Santahamina barracks. The photographs, some of which show women and children killed by Soviet partisans and document cannibalism practised by Red Army soldiers, remain difficult for the public to access them. "We are not going to organise any kind of exhibition. The media bear the responsibility for making the photographs public."
(hs.fi)
Expedition to recreate heroic Arctic trek of Norwegian commando
A former Welch Guard will lead a team in a bid to recreate the epic journey of one of the WW2's bravest resistance heroes. Baalsrud was a Norwegian commando who survived against all the odds when his boat was blown up near the Norwegian port of Tromso in 1943. He escaped alone into the icy wilderness north of the Arctic Circle after German troops had killed all his compatriots. His struggle to survive led to an trek across northern Norway, Finland and Sweden during which he killed a German officer with a single shot, survived an avalanche, lived in a snow-hole for almost a fortnight and was forced to cut off his own toes to avoid gangrene after he contracted frostbite.
(icwales)
Mother of Mine delivers vivid child's view of WWII
Finland's evacuation of more than 70,000 children to Sweden, Denmark and Norway during World War II, the world's largest such undertaking, receives affecting treatment in "Mother of Mine," the official Finnish submission to the Academy Awards.
(variety)