View Full Version : Winter War, day by day.
26 November 1939
"Leningrad military district HQ announced that on November 26 at 15:45 all
of a sudden artillery fire was opened from Finnish territory aimed at Soviet
troops stationed 1km Northwest of the town of Mainila. The Finns fired seven shells."
-Soviet information agency, TASS
"Due to the provocative and deliberate shelling aimed at Soviet troops from
Finnish territory, the Soviet government has been forced to declare that
the Finnish troops concentrated near Leningrad are not only a threat to
the city, but a hostile act towards Soviet Union, which has already caused Soviet casualties.
[..]
As a result, the Soviet government suggests that the Finnish government
immediately moves it's forces in Karelian Isthmus farther from the border,
20-26km away to prevent further provocations."
-Diplomatic note to Finnish ambassador Yrjö-Koskinen from Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov
http://i.imgur.com/i1RodoS.jpg
Foreign Press in Mainila
http://i.imgur.com/lkDWIBo.png
Sailor Steve
11-27-14, 11:47 AM
Good job! Some of us had talked about doing a '75 Years' WW2 thread, but keeping up with WW1 was more than enough. I look forward to reading this. :sunny:
27 November 1939
Finnish investigation concludes that the shells were fired from the Soviet side
of the border and answers Molotov's note:
From the Finnish side, it was possible to see the town of Mainila, which is just
800 meters away across an open field.
Based on the sounds of the shelling heard on the Finnish side, it can be said
the shots originated 1,5-2km Southeast of the impact area.
Good job! Some of us had talked about doing a '75 Years' WW2 thread, but keeping up with WW1 was more than enough. I look forward to reading this. :sunny:I'll try to keep it as updated as possible, though when the war starts on the
30th, it might get a bit hectic. :O:
28 November 1939
The fact that the Finnish government denies it's part in the shelling which caused
casualties, can not be explained, other than to mislead public opinion and mock the victims.
Only the lack of responsibility and contemptuous attitude towards the general public have been
able to dictate this attempt to explain this heinous case as nothing more than Soviet artillery training accident right at the border.
-Part of a second Diplomatic note from Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov
Soviet Union terminates the 1934 Non-Aggresion Pact with Finland.
Soviet officials in Finland are called back to Soviet Union.
29 November 1939
Three Finnish border guards go missing from Puumanki border guard post.
Doors and window frames show damage consistent with rifle butt strikes.
Investigation concludes that they were kidnapped by Soviet soldiers.
Moscow Radio announces that Finnish soldiers had attacked across the border
in the same area and that the defenders had pushed the attackers back over the border.
http://i.imgur.com/TbIxSzs.jpg
Soviet Union severes diplomatic ties with Finland.
30 November 1939 - DAY 1 of Winter War
Soviet Union opens artillery fire in Karelian Isthmus at 0650hrs and in other areas at 0700hrs.
Soviet forces cross the border in the Isthmus at 0700hrs.
By 0730hrs, they have crossed the border on all major fronts.
Finnish security units begin delaying actions on all fronts.
16 cities and towns are bombed during the first day of the war.
Soviet SB-2 bombers over Helsinki, 30 Nov. 1939
http://i.imgur.com/5u08yEe.jpg
Soviet soldiers crossing Rajajoki river.
http://i.imgur.com/egJW7mx.png
Daily losses: 87
Nippelspanner
12-01-14, 05:41 PM
Time to call in Häyhä!
Thanks for writing this, I shamefully admit that I've never known anything about that war...
1 December 1939 - DAY 2 of Winter War
Soviet cruiser Kirov and two destroyers exchange fire with Finnish coastal fortress near Hanko,
and retreat south shortly after. Kirov and a destroyer are damaged during the fighting.
Abbreviations:
JP - Jääkäripataljoona - Jaeger Battalion
Er.P - Erillinen Pataljoona - Separate Battalion
JR - Jalkaväkirykmentti - Infantry Regiment
Kev.Os. - Kevyt Osasto - Light Detachment
RajaK. - Rajakomppania - Border Company
Esk. - Eskadroona - Squadron (cavalry)
Karelian Isthmus
II Corps
In Group Uusikirkko's area, Soviet forces break through the northern flank of JP1, located in Puhtula.
The battalion retreats to delaying positions in Vemmeljoki, where Er.P 3 is currently holding.
In Group Muolaa's area, Er.P 4 is forced to retreat from Siiranmäki. The battalion retreats
to delaying positions in Ahijärvi.
Soviet 43.Div concentrates its main push towards Kivennapa, instead of taking advantage
of the now open route to Finnish flanks in Vuottaa-Punnusjärvi area.
JP3 abandons positions in Lintula after trying to counter the enemy's advance without artillery support. They take delaying positions between Ahijärvi and Kotselänjärvi.
Group Lipola counters several enemy attacks with the help of artillery support.
At noon, JP2 disengages from Lipola and is pulled back to reserve to Pasurinkangas.
Er.P 5 retreats to Nikkola.
I/JR32 and Kev.Os.11, first planned to take part in a counter-attack towards Ahijärvi,
are ordered to take positions in Kyllästilä to plug the Vuottaa-Punnusjärvi gap between
Group Muolaa and Group Lipola.
III Corps
Heaviest attacks in Group Rautu's area concentrate on the positions of JP4 in Liippua,
forcing 6.RajaK to abandon its positions in the afternoon.
At the same time, the enemy breaks the lines of Er.P 6 in Palkeala.
Because of this, Group Rautu retreats to secondary delaying positions in Porku-Orjansaari line.
http://i.imgur.com/1gHJeFK.jpg
East Karelia
IV Corps
Soviet 168.Div continues its advance and comes in contact with Er.P 8 in Miinalanjoki during the afternoon.
168.Div crosses the Miinalanjoki river in Pebru at 1300hrs, which forces Er.P 8 to retreat to Tulemajoki.
Er.P 9 located in Käsnäselkä is in danger of being encircled and retreats to Uuksujoki with I/JR39.
Detachment Majewski consisting of Esk./Kev.Os.12 and 5./JR34 halts Soviet advance in Artahuuhta.
In Verkkolampi, 6./JR34 holds back the Soviet 56.Div for the entire day.
III/JR34 halts enemy battalion's advance towards Iso Pyhäjärvi and Suvilahti.
II/JR34 counters all enemy attacks in Verkkolampi and across lake Iso Pyhäjärvi.
I/JR36 takes defensive positions on the western shore of lake Iso Pyhäjärvi, in Kokonniemi.
Soviet 139.Div reaches Er.P 10's lines in Varpakylä during the morning.
Er.P 10 holds off the enemy until they are attacked from the south, after which they retreat to Karastinlampi.
http://i.imgur.com/YaljSiO.jpg
North Karelia
Group North Karelia
Er.P 13 and 12 are ordered to attack at 0600hrs towards Kivivaara, located at the border.
Er.P 13 however is delayed until 1400hrs.
The company on point meets the enemy (Soviet JR529) advancing from Kivivaara at 1500hrs.
Soviet forces counter the attack and the Finns are ordered to fall back.
Near Inari, Detachment Seitamo is also ordered to attack towards Kivivaara at 0600hrs.
The detachment fights its way to Kuotiinlampi, where the attack stops as the night falls.
During the night, Detachment Seitamo retreats to Palkinjärvi.
Daily losses: 80
http://i.imgur.com/GhMyuVim.jpg (https://imgur.com/GhMyuVi)
Captured Soviet tank at Summa.
Time to update this a bit. I've decided to start using the Supreme HQs war diary as a source from now on. Doesnt go in as much detail, but gives a good overview.
I also start including Google Earth maps with as many places marked as I can find that are mentioned on the pages of the war diary. Note that the marked locations are approximate.
The translation and finding the different places takes time, so dont expect this to be updated very frequently.
2 December 1939 - DAY 3 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus
II Army Corps
Delaying battles continue. During the day enemy managed a minor breakthrough on Vammelsuunjoki - Sahajoki - Kajavalammet line defended by Group U. This attack was driven back. In the evening Group U was given permission to retreat to new positions on Rieskjärvi - Vammeljärvi - Vammeljoki - Suulejärvi line.
Group M countered enemy's attack to their positions in Ahijärvi. However, the group was later pulled back to Pamppala - Jaarila - Tarpila line, from where the Army's line continued through Nirkkola and Rampala to Aholampi. The enemy suffered great losses on the Ahijärvi - Vuotjoki line and in the area of Lautsilta and Vammelsuunjoki
Ten enemy tanks were destroyed in Ahijärvi, eight in Vammelsuu.
III Army Corps
Group R's defensive line was Orjasaari - Rautu - Raaju. The enemy attacked heavily against this line, especially from the direction of Pirkkolanmäki where it had at least 30 tanks. These attacks were stopped.
South of Taipalejoki, attempt was made to recapture lost positions in Umpilampi. This was not achieved.
White = II Army Corps, Yellow = III Army Corps
http://i.imgur.com/4pKcp7A.jpg
IV Army Corps
Information received yesterday and today shows that two strong enemy formations are moving towards Suojärvi area. One from Hyrsylä towards Suvilahti, the other through Naistenjärvi to the north of Suojärvi. From the beginning IV Army Corps' actions have been seen as careful and passive despite being instructed to defend more rigorously. In HQ's eyes, the IV Army Corps have given too easily to enemy's pressure and thus retreated from Tulemajoki, Suvilahti and the north side of Suojärvi. Further information received during the day indicates that enemy has advanced to Aittojoki, north of Suojärvi. Supreme Commander has ordered IV Army Corps to attack and push the enemy back behind the border.
http://i.imgur.com/UQAS1oS.jpg
North Finland Group
Commander of the group informed HQ that his forces could push back the enemy, if reinforcements were received. HQ responded by instructing to begin planning the counter-attack and promised all available help.
***
http://i.imgur.com/Xajv6Cjm.jpg (https://imgur.com/Xajv6Cj)
Suvilahti burns. December 2 1939
Daily losses: 84
Right, I feel like I need to explain little bit of how the war was fought during the first days of the war, heck even I feel confused when I look at my magnificient maps! :haha:
On Karelian Isthmus, majority of the fighting during the first week were delaying battles. I have now added (roughly) the Mannerheim-line to the map, everything Southeast of that are battles fought by the delaying forces.
East Karelia is even more confusing as the reports seem to be quite bare bones and there is no main defensive line such as the Mannerheim-line.
It all should get easier to follow past the first week of the war.
***
3 December 1939 - DAY 4 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus
II AK
Delaying battles continue. Forces now on Gulf of Finland - Rieskjärvi - Suulajärvi - Jaarila - Valkiamatka - west end of Valkjärvi - stream running from the east end of Valkjärvi to east line.
Apart from a small attack to Sahajoki, the day was calm. Enemy is most likely regrouping. Small enemy recon unit was observed moving towards Merijoki from Ino, using the coastal roads. Order was given to beat it back.
The troops were given a chance to rest. High number of enemy tanks towards Kivennapa - Liikola region.
III AK
Group R repositioned to the north side of Vuoksi and two of it's battalions repositioned to the Pitkäjärvi - Nurmijärvi - Vuoksi line.
10.Div beat back attack in Neusaari with artillery.
http://i.imgur.com/0klLdUL.jpg
IV AK
Our troops attacked in Suojärvi area with two battalions and artillery support. Some progress was made, but eventually the attack stalled and the troops retreated to Piitsoinjoki. During the retreat in the dark, about 25 enemy tanks managed to drive past one of the battalions. Russian attack beaten back in Ägläjärvi.
http://i.imgur.com/8HuC92l.jpg
***
http://i.imgur.com/Dx2P8aa.jpg
Men from 5/JR.34 in Suvilahti. Lieutenant Viljam Toiviainen facing the camera.
Daily losses: 90
4 December 1939 - DAY 5 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus
II AK & III AK
Fighting began in the morning on II AK's area. Already during the night attacked a strong armor unit towards Liikola. This attack was pushed back, but another attack started at 0930hrs.
Enemy's main push was in Nurmijärvi - Pasuri and Kivennapa - Liikola areas, with some weaker advance attempts elsewhere. They also tried to capture the Kiviniemi bridge and push over the Taipaleenjoki. These attempts were beaten back.
Strong attack supported by at least 100 tanks continued towards Liikola and from there to the west and northwest, trying to breakthrough the lines in Uusikirkko area. In this they succeeded. In Pamppala direction about 50 tanks were observed, the attack towards Pasuri from east was also supported by strong armor force.
By evening our troops held the line: Sortavala - Ylisjärvi - South end of Kaukjärvi - Särkijärvi - North end of Suulajärvi - Vuotjärvi - South end of Kirkkojärvi - Punnusjärvi - Raakolanjärvi - Pasuri. Our troops hold bridgeheads at Oravaniemi and Kiviniemi. Rest of the line to the east follows the main line (Mannerheim-line).
NOTE: Onega on the map should read Ladoga.
http://i.imgur.com/RleQw5y.jpg
IV AK
Enemy continues to advance. Own troops are regrouping.
Dowly: See what I mean about bare-bones reports? Worth mentioning, Major General Heiskanen was relieved from command of IV AK due to the poor performance of the AK in delaying the enemy advance. Major General W. Hägglund replaced him.
North Finland Group (sorry, no map for this area atm, but unlike the Karelian locations that switched names after the war, you can find most of these locations through google maps)
Enemy advancing from Uhtua is closing on Kuusamo road. Russian advance from Kantalahti towards Kuolajärvi is a cause of concern as well.
Supreme Commander has accepted NFG commander's proposal to attack towards Repola.
***
No photo of the day as there was nothing really to show. But here's a propaganda song written in 1942 about the Winter War, this particular take on it was performed in 1989. Translation by me below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vglCHcZuCQ
Finlandia, Finlandia,
again Ivan was going there.
Molotov promised everything's fine,
tomorrow we'll eat icecream in Helsinki.
(2x)
No Molotov, No Molotov,
you told more lies than Bobrikov himself.
Finlandia, Finlandia,
Mannerheim-line proved stronger than it seemed.
Resistance in Karelia,
shut many Ivans' mouth.
(2x)
No Molotov, No Molotov,
you told more lies than Bobrikov himself.
Finlandia, Finlandia,
feared by the unstoppable Red Army.
And Molotov said, look at that,
the tsuhna* are grabbing us by the collar.
(2x)
No Molotov, No Molotov,
you told more lies than Bobrikov himself.
Beyond the Ural, Beyond the Ural,
that's where Molotov's homestead lies.
There's room there for Stalin and the others too,
politruks, comissars and others likeminded.
(4x)
No Molotov, No Molotov,
you told more lies than Bobrikov himself.
*Tsuhna is a derogatory term used for Finns and Estonians.
Daily losses: 110
(Better late than never, right? :O:)
***
5 December 1939 - DAY 6 of Winter War
Parliament assembles for the first time in Kauhajoki.
Karelian Isthmus: the covering force on the Isthmus launches its final counterattack at Perkjärvi, ending in a Finnish withdrawal behind the main defensive position.In places the withdrawal shows signs of panic.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops disengage from Ägläjärvi.
Official sources say 80 enemy tanks have so far been destroyed or put out of action.
General Headquarters sets up a central office of censorship and a number of local offices to supervise war censorship.
The Finnish Broadcasting Company urges its listeners to be on their guard against Russian propaganda, and indicates it will use as many familiar announcers as possible in its own broadcasts.
Abroad: Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay have today protested over the Soviet Union's attack on Finland.
Daily losses: 46
***
6 December 1939 - DAY 7 of Winter War
Helsinki: Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner hosts an Independence Day reception for the diplomatic corps in the banqueting hall of the Kämp Hotel.
Kiviniemi: the last part of the covering force in front of the main defensive position on the Isthmus pulls back to the north of Vuoksi.The work of the covering force comes to an end.
Eastern Isthmus: fighting begins at Taipale. A Soviet division launches an attack across the River Taipaleenjoki.
By nightfall a Russian battalion has crossed River Taipaleenjoki at Koukkuniemi.
Ladoga Karelia: General Headquarters forms Group Talvela to cover the Tolvajärvi-Ägläjärvi sector.
Sweden: 80 leading public figures call on the country to help Finland.
Sounds of Soviet artillery pounding Finnish lines at Taipale:
https://youtu.be/KYtVwRd8SC0?t=170
Daily losses: 97
***
7 December 1939 - DAY 8 of Winter War
Taipale: by evening Finnish troops have beaten back the first Russian offensive.
Ladoga Karelia: during the night Soviet troops achieve combat contact with the Finnish positions on the River Kollaanjoki.
Ilomantsi: Finnish troops in the Ilomantsi sector fall back to Möhkö and overnight to Kallioniemi ferry. They begin a defensive action.
Northern Finland: Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim reinforces the troops around Suomussalmi with sections of the 9th Division commanded by Colonel Siilasvuo.
Soviet troops take the parish village at Suomussalmi.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops at Kollaa beat back the first Soviet offensive.
Lieutenant-Colonel Pajari takes command of the Finnish forces in the Tolvajärvi area.Finnish troops launch active countermeasures.
Northern Finland: the Russian 122nd Division launches its main offensive against Finnish positions on the Kairala parallel.The defending Finnish battalion cannot hold. The detachment pulls back to the parish village at Salla.
The three largest American radio networks have sent their own correspondents to Helsinki.One is the journalist Warren Irving, who is sending a radio commentary from Helsinki to the USA.
http://i.imgur.com/AixjKrDm.jpg (https://imgur.com/AixjKrD)
Captured Red Army soldier in Alasalmi. (December 7)
Daily losses: 172
***
8 December 1939 - DAY 9 of Winter War
Southern Isthmus: the advance guard of the Finnish 4th Division, which has been fighting in the southern Isthmus, pulls back during the night behind the main defensive position.The Russians regroup to break through the Finnish lines.
Northern Finland: the Finns are caught completely off guard by the Red Army's offensive through the wilderness between Lake Ladoga and the Arctic Ocean with as many divisions as it deployed on the Karelian Isthmus.Finnish troops successfully repulse an attempted Russian breakthrough launched at 7.20 at Haukiperä in Suomussalmi.The Finns then take the initiative.
Eastern Isthmus: the Soviet artillery at Taipale launches a week-long barrage in an attempt to destroy the Finnish positions.
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet troops overcome the Finns at Tolvajärvi and almost capture Tolvajärvi village and the vital crossroads.During the night, Lieutenant-Colonel Pajari turns the tables with a decisive flanking attack on an encamped Russian battalion.
The Soviet force attacking Finland is placed under the direct command of the General Staff of the Red Army.
Commander of the Army, 2nd Class K.A. Meretskov is placed in command of the Soviet 7th Army on the Isthmus.
Northern Finland: the Russians enter the parish village at Salla.
Sweden: the Finnish Consulate in Gothenburg announces that 493 Swedish families have so far offered to take in Finnish refugees.
Finland is reintroducing the Cross of Liberty previously used during the War of Independence in 1918.
http://i.imgur.com/HoyD4je.jpg
2nd Lieutenant Renkonen (pilot in center) giving a debrief to Colonel Kuussaari (left). (December 8)
Daily losses: 136
9 December 1939 - DAY 10 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: troops from the covering force reorganized to form the 1st Division under the command of Major-General Laatikainen are to assume responsibility for the eastern section of the front in the 5th Division's defence sector on the Karelian Isthmus.
Ladoga Karelia: the 13th Division takes up defensive positions between Lake Ladoga and Varpajärvi.
Northern Finland: Colonel Siilasvuo's first transport arrives at Hyrynsalmi a day late. Further north, Soviet troops finally take the parish village at Salla.
All Soviet troops on the Finnish front are placed under the direct command of the General Staff of the Red Army.
New York: the first detachment of Finnish American volunteers - around one hundred officers, pilots and mechanics - board ship bound for Finland.
Daily losses: 111
***
10 December 1939 - DAY 11 of Winter War
Prime Minister Ryti visits General Headquarters in Mikkeli.Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim says the late morning situation on the front is critical. General Headquarters issues the order to establish the first guerrilla battalions.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops overcome a Russian battalion which had outflanked the defensive position at Tolvajärvi.
Soviet troops launch a series of offensives on the River Kollaanjoki.
The Finnish artillery carries out counter-preparation fire against enemy artillery and infantry positions at Koukkuniemi.
A half-hour artillery bombardment scatters the enemy's offensive formations.
http://i.imgur.com/DrenjtOm.jpg (https://imgur.com/DrenjtO)
Photo from Kollaanjoki. Soviet tanks are seen on the road. (December 10)
Daily losses: 94
***
11 December 1939 - DAY 12 of Winter War
Northern Finland: Finnish troops launch a counteroffensive at Suomussalmi at 10.00 to recapture the parish village.
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet troops launch a series of determined offensives at Kollaa.The frontal assault is accompanied by attempted flanking actions.
In the Tolvajärvi battle area, Colonel Talvela issues the order for the decisive attack.
Northern Finland: in the Salla sector, a Russian regiment shatters the Finnish defense at Märkäjärvi.The Finns retreat about 10 km west to Salmijärvi.
Swedish border: the author Frans Emil Sillanpää arrives in Haaparanta en route to receive his Nobel Prize for Literature.
Daily losses: 133
12 December 1939 - DAY 13 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: Soviet troops launch reconnaissance probes at Summa in the central section of the Isthmus.
Ladoga Karelia: Group Talvela's Detachment Pajari begins its successful offensive at Tolvajärvi.
Ladoga Karelia: troops of IV Army Corps launch an offensive on the Lemetti road.
Ilomantsi: Detachment A's advance from Oinaansalmi to take Möhkö 4 km to the east grinds to a halt due to command problems.
Suursaari: the Finnish motor torpedo boats Raju and Isku lay the first offensive mine fields in front of Suursaari harbour.
The League of Nations calls on the warring parties to cease hostilities and open peace negotiations.
Finland wins authorization to buy 43 Brewster fighter aircraft from the USA.
Daily losses: 310
***
13 December 1939 - DAY 14 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: Soviet troops continue their attacks with the support of artillery and tanks in the Summa-Muolaanjärvi sector. The last Finnish forward combat posts in the Perkjärvi sector are pulled back. The attacks are repulsed in all sectors of the front.
Ilomantsi: Detachment A's attack fails.
Northern Finland: Major-General K.M. Wallenius takes command of the Lapland Group.
Helsinki: Hietaniemi cemetery receives it first five fallen heroes.
Helsinki: a private umbrella organization, the Finnish Centre for Nordic Aid, is set up to organize the evacuation of Finnish children to Sweden. The first shipment of children arrives by sea in Stockholm.
Abroad: the Soviet Ambassador in Rome returns to Moscow, apparently in protest over a demonstration in support of Finland.
Washington: the US Government refuses to grant Finland a credit to purchase military materials and equipment.
Daily losses: 157
http://i.imgur.com/OvEI1wLm.jpg (https://imgur.com/OvEI1wL)
Men of 1/Er.P.8 at Ruokojärvi.
14 December 1939 - DAY 15 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: at Summa, the Soviet artillery continues its bombardment of the main Finnish positions with increasing ferocity. Enemy tank and infantry attacks are successfully repulsed.
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet troops launch an offensive on the northern flank of the River Kollaanjoki line.
In the Tolvajärvi sector, Detachment Pajari reaches Ristisalmi.
Turku Archipelago: Utö Fortress sinks a Soviet destroyer.
Northern Finland: the Soviet 273rd Infantry Regiment crosses the River Kemijoki at Savukoski. The Finns fall back past Savukoski to the crossroads at Lunkkaus without engaging the enemy.
The League of Nations expels the Soviet Union and urges its members to give Finland all possible humanitarian and material assistance.
Swedish border: the first foreign volunteers cross the border at Haaparanta and arrive at the reception centre in Tornio.
Stockholm: Frans Emil Sillanpää receives the Nobel Prize for Literature.
New York: the film star Greta Garbo gives 5,000 dollars to the Finnish aid fund.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/J4VnATj.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/euWg7za.jpg)
Messenger dogs. Summa, December 14.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/KOh8A0M.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/gN3MsLw.jpg)
Patrol returning from "No Man's Land". Summa, December 14.
Daily losses: 207
15 December 1939 - DAY 16 of Winter War
Eastern Isthmus: at Taipale, a Russian division launches a tank-supported offensive at 8.30. The advance is halted at Kirvesmäki.
The fighting at Terenttilä continues into the second day.
Central Isthmus: two Finnish companies launch a counterattack at Summa, but fail to get further than a few kilometres.
Ladoga Karelia: troops of the 13th Division under the command of Colonel Hannuksela launch an offensive towards Ruhtinaanmäki.
At Uomaa, a Finnish patrol rescues two wounded men who had survived in a tent for 12 days in territory overrun by the enemy.
Listeners are reminded that today is the last recommended day for sending Christmas packages to the troops at the front.
Despite the war, Finland is honouring the repayment schedule for its First World War debt to the USA.
http://i.imgur.com/s9wPoSX.jpg
Captured Soviet rifle. Suomussalmi, December 15.
Daily losses: 226
16 December - DAY 17 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: the Finnish defence at Kitelä on the shores of Lake Ladoga is partly broken by the 168th Soviet Division.
The Tolvajärvi offensive comes to a halt at Ristisalmi.
Eastern Isthmus: Finnish troops successfully repulse several enemy assaults on the River Taipaleenjoki.
General Headquarters confirms as official policy that the fallen are to be sent home for burial.
Salla: the position of the Finnish troops at Pelkosenniemi is getting harder by the minute.
Central Isthmus: enemy shelling is pounding the entire length of the 5th Division and 1st Division's defensive sector between Summa and Muolaanjärvi.
Employers are forbidden on pain of damages from firing a reservist on account of his being called up to the reserve.
In accordance with the decision of General Headquarters, every effort will be made to send those fallen in battle home for burial.
Paris: students demonstrate throughout the day in support of Finland.
http://i.imgur.com/3zjRqsN.jpg
Tank obstacles. Tali, December 16.
Daily losses: 210
em2nought
12-16-15, 11:21 AM
Seeing this thread is giving me the desire to pick up a Finnish mosin nagant. :D
Seeing this thread is giving me the desire to pick up a Finnish mosin nagant. :D
I'd love to get my hands on a Suomi KP/-31. :yep:
**********
17 December - DAY 18 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: this morning Soviet infantry and tanks launched their first major offensive at Summa. The tanks penetrate the Finnish positions, but the infantry are held at the front line.
Eastern Isthmus: at 8.15 Soviet troops continue the offensive at Taipale. The attempted breakthrough is thwarted mainly by Finnish artillery fire.
Petsamo: the vanguard of the Russian regiment overcomes the Finnish holding detachment near Porojärvi.
Northern Finland: fighting to retake the parish village at Suomussalmi continues.
Petsamo: Detachment Pennanen retreats to the River Kornettijoki, 120 km south of Petsamo. The fighting disperses into skirmishes between patrols.
Ladoga Karelia: Finland is forced to send 17-19-year-old schoolboys into battle at Salmi.
Mursula: the Finnish force fighting at Mursula on the shores of Lake Ladoga lose 26% of its strength and has to retreat. 32 Finnish soldiers are dead or missing. The enemy loses 300 men.
Helsinki: Isoviha ('The Great Wrath'), directed by Kalle Kaarna, receives its premiere screening in Helsinki. Starring Hilkka Helinä, Kalevi Mykkänen and Santeri Karilo, Isoviha was banned during the negotiations on the eve of the war, and the version screened now is still partly censored.
(Click for larger photos)
http://i.imgur.com/euGssQn.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/evVgXVL.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/rLK6C34.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/ceYhWGE.jpg)
Soviet tanks advancing. The one on the right in the first photo has been disabled, the left one however keeps advancing. River Kollaanjoki, December 17.
Map of Karelia:
http://i.imgur.com/Y7abkjv.jpg
Daily losses: 193
18 December - DAY 19 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: enemy tanks once again penetrate the Finnish positions at Summa, but the infantry assaults are repulsed in all sectors.
Soviet troops take the village of Oinala to the southeast of Muolaanjärvi.
Ladoga Karelia: in the early hours of the morning Detachment Pennanen continues its advance towards Ägläjärvi in the Tolvajärvi sector. The offensive fails due to a combination of exhaustion and bad weather. The troops return to their original positions.
The enemy offensive gets bogged down at Kollaa. The difficult terrain makes it impossible for them to make effective use of their tanks and artillery.
Northern Finland: Finnish troops under Major Perksalo defeat a Russian regiment at the parish village of Pelkosenniemi to the west of Salla. The Russians disengage and head for Savukoski.
Other Finnish troops simultaneously halt the offensive by the main force of the 122nd Division at Joutsijärvi.
Abroad: Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard give 1,000 guilders to the Dutch Red Cross to be passed on to the Finnish Red Cross.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/uHW6BQZ.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/KUBBowH.jpg)
Field service at Särkisalo, December 18.
Daily losses: 271
19 December - DAY 20 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the main thrust of the continuing Soviet offensive on the Isthmus is at Summa in the central Isthmus. The enemy can manage only temporary breakthroughs. By evening the Soviet infantry has been repulsed and around 20 of the 100 tanks used in the offensive have been destroyed. However, the Finnish troops are unable to retake the village of Oinala.
Koivisto: Saarenpää Fortress and a Russian naval detachment led by the battleship Marat begin an artillery exchange at 12.15. Combat is broken off at 13.04.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops in the Tolvajärvi sector launch a new offensive to retake Ägläjärvi.
Northern Finland: troops from Detachment Roininen attack the flank of the Soviet 122nd Division from the south at Joutsijärvi and inflict considerable losses in men and materials. Our own losses are 22 dead and 29 wounded.
Turku: the enemy bombs the city for the first time. Soviet aircraft also hit Hanko, Helsinki, Viipuri, Jänisjärvi and other targets.
Abroad: the renowned Finnish composer Jean Sibelius' appeal to the American people is published in a number of daily newspapers in the USA. Sibelius emphasizes that the fate of the Finnish people lies primarily in their own hands, although it will also depend to some extent on the actions of other freedom-loving peoples.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/20n1gOl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/Fpdj5ln.jpg)
"Flying Lottas" (General Wallenius' daughter on the right). Lappeenranta, December 19.
Daily losses: 373
December 20 - DAY 21 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: Soviet troops continue their assault at Summa. The first Soviet offensive on the Isthmus runs out of steam. By evening the main defensive positions are entirely under Finnish control.
The Finnish II Army Corps commanded by Lieutenant-General Öhquist are ordered to launch a counteroffensive.
Northern Finland: at Joutsijärvi in the Salla sector a Russian battalion manages to infiltrate behind the Finnish positions at Mäntyvaara. The Russian battalion is finally destroyed in hand-to-hand fighting.
A battalion of the Soviet 122nd Division surprises two companies of Detached Battalion 17 which had been moved into reserve. After four hours of fighting, the enemy withdraws with the loss of 300 dead. Finnish losses are 17 dead, including the two company commanders.
The Finns take the initiative at Salla.
Colonel Paavo Talvela is promoted to Major-General, and Lieutenant-Colonel A.O. Pajari to Colonel.
Ladoga Karelia: the enemy bombs and machine-guns a train carrying evacuees at Jänisjärvi Station in the parish of Harlu. 16 civilians are killed.
Northern Finland: the enemy bombs Kontiomäki. One person is killed.
Ladoga Karelia: the enemy bombs Sortavala. Two people are killed and three injured.
Soviet aircraft also bomb Matkaselkä. Five people are killed and three seriously injured.
Abroad: donated ambulances leave Sweden and Denmark en route to Finland.
http://i.imgur.com/6rmnn99.jpg
"Company of Death" Summa, December 20.
Daily losses: 293
Aktungbby
12-20-15, 04:11 PM
What amazed me about the Finnish war effort was the brilliant use of that obsolete firing platform; the Brewster F2A (B-239) 'Buffalo' https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Brewster_239_formation.png B-239s (a de-navalized F2A-1) operated by the Finnish Air Force (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Air_Force) proved capable of engaging and destroying most types of Soviet fighter aircraft operating against Finland at that time and achieving in the first phase of that conflict 32 Soviet aircraft shot down for every B-239 lost, and producing 36 Buffalo "aces (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ace)". The Finnish Air Force produced 36 Buffalo aces. The top scorer was Capt. Hans Wind with 39 Buffalo air victories (out of 75);https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Hans_Henrik_Wind_in_Suulaj%C3%A4rvi_1943.png/220px-Hans_Henrik_Wind_in_Suulaj%C3%A4rvi_1943.png (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Henrik_Wind_in_Suulaj%C3%A4rvi_1943.png) second was WO (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_Officer)Eino Ilmari Juutilainen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilmari_Juutilainen), with 34 (out of 94)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Eino_Ilmari_Juutilainen.jpg/150px-Eino_Ilmari_Juutilainen.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eino_Ilmari_Juutilainen.jpg) and third highest score was Capt. Jorma Karhunen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorma_Karhunen) (25.5 out of 31.5).https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Jorma_Karhunen_in_Suulaj%C3%A4rvi_1943.jpg/220px-Jorma_Karhunen_in_Suulaj%C3%A4rvi_1943.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jorma_Karhunen_in_Suulaj%C3%A4rvi_1943.jpg) First Lt Lauri V. Nissinen also had victories on the type (22.5 out of 32.5).https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Lauri_Vilhelm_Nissinen.jpg (https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiedosto:Lauri_Vilhelm_Nissinen.jpg)That's 121 Brewster kills for four pilots! [wiki]
21 December - DAY 22 of Winter War
Terijoki: in honour of Stalin's birthday, Otto Wille Kuusinen's 'Finnish People's Government' holds a meeting and a parade of the 'Finnish People's Army'. The meeting sends a telegram congratulating Stalin on his birthday. At the same time, enemy aircraft bomb two passenger trains in southern Finland.
Southern Finland: enemy fighters strafe a stationary train on the edge of the forest between Helsinki and Turku for 15 minutes, killing three civilians.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops in the Tolvajärvi sector launch an assault in the evening to retake the village of Ägläjärvi. The determined assaults by the Finnish strike force of five battalions overcome the main force of the Russian division.
Civil defence officials point out that lighting restrictions also apply to Christmas lights. This means, for example, that candles must not be placed beside graves this year, and outdoor Christmas trees must not be illuminated. People should also remember to stay off the streets during air-raid warnings.
Daily losses: 158
Schroeder
12-21-15, 06:36 PM
21 December - DAY 22 of Winter War
Terijoki: in honour of Stalin's birthday, Otto Wille Kuusinen's 'Finnish People's Government' holds a meeting and a parade of the 'Finnish People's Army'. The meeting sends a telegram congratulating Stalin on his birthday.
I'm surprised he wasn't arrested for treason immediately....
*Edit*
I just read that that was in the area that was occupied by Soviet troops. That would explain that.
I'm surprised he wasn't arrested for treason immediately....
*Edit*
I just read that that was in the area that was occupied by Soviet troops. That would explain that.
Yup, what is commonly known as the Terijoki Government or Kuusinen's Government in Finland, was just a puppet-government that failed rather spectacularly. Same goes for it's army, which was to be 80,000 strong and consist of Finnish deserters. It reached a strength of about 23,000, with over half being non-Finns.
22 December - DAY 23 of Winter War
General Headquarters approve Lieutenant-General Öhquist's proposal for a counteroffensive in the western Isthmus.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops advance at Ägläjärvi. By 15.30 the village is under Finnish control.
"After days of fighting, Ägläjärvi has finally been captured today. The area had to be fought bunker by bunker, and the town itself ruin by ruin. Own losses significant, enemy's much higher. Estimated 2,000 enemy KIA, 600 prisoners taken.
Captured equipment includes 6 artillery guns, 8 tanks, 8 AT guns, 4 machineguns, 1 mortar and 240 rifles."
-Excerpt from General HQ's wardiary, page 152. (SPK 2777)
Two Finnish battalions pursue the Soviet troops retreating towards River Aittojoki.
The enemy loses over 2,000 men in the fighting at Tolvajärvi-Ägläjärvi.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs wires the Finnish envoys in London and Paris to tell them that Finland desperately needs military assistance.
The first 150-bed field ambulance from the Swedish Red Cross arrives in Finland. The staff of the ambulance comprise 5 surgeons, 2 consultants and 10 nurses under the leadership of Professor G. Nyström.
Abroad: the Norwegian National Theatre in Oslo presents a Finnish programme including Heimo Haitto, the 14-year-old violin prodigy.
Argentina is the first country to respond positively to the League of Nations' appeal for aid to be sent to Finland.
The Hungarian Pen Club awards its medal for 1939 to the Finnish poet Otto Manninen.
Daily losses: 180
23 December - DAY 24 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the Finnish II Army Corps launches a fragmented counteroffensive at 6.30. The commander of II Army Corps suspends the offensive at 14.30. Overall losses in the unsuccessful offensive total 1,328 men: 361 dead, 777 wounded and 190 lost in action.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops counterattack at Kollaanjoki, but the attack is broken off during the course of the evening.
In the Tolvajärvi sector, battalions from Detachment Pennanen win control of the Aittojoki parallel. The fighting at Tolvajärvi-Ägläjärvi comes to an end.
Northern Finland: the vanguard of the Soviet 44th Division comes into contact with the Finnish troops on the Raate road.
Karelian Isthmus: the Soviet long-range 'ghost gun' in the Perkjärvi sector wreaks havoc and confusion in Viipuri, damaging numerous buildings in the city.
Turku archipelago: the armoured coastal vessels Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen move out of the archipelago into the open sea at Kihti to protect vital shipping routes threatened by Soviet aircraft operating out of Estonia.
Unemployment statistics show that Finnish unemployment has fallen well below the level of one thousand.
Abroad: Argentina's positive response to the League of Nations' appeal for aid to be sent to Finland has been joined by a similar response from Ecuador, Haiti, Peru, the Union of South American States, Bolivia, Venezuela and Mexico.
United States: Gunnar Bärlund, the Finnish heavyweight boxer resident in the USA, beats Italo Golonello, with the referee stopping the bout in the seventh round. Bärlund donates part of his proceeds from the fight to the Finnish Relief Fund.
Daily losses: 659
Christmas Eve 1939 - DAY 25 of Winter War
Gulf of Finland: the Russian battleship Marat shells Koivisto Fortress.
Ladoga Karelia: at Tolvajärvi the enemy is pushed back across the River Aittojoki, where the front becomes stabilized for the remainder of the war.
The enemy launches another offensive at Kollaa.
Northern Karelia: in the Inari-Lieksa sector the enemy is pushed back across the border.
The war at sea: Finland mines the Soviet naval bases in the Baltic States.
Northern Finland: Group Ilomäki advances from Jyrkänkoski to strike at the Rasti crossroads in Kuhmo, but has to withdraw to its original positions after 16 are killed and 37 wounded.
In Suomussalmi the enemy launches fierce counterattacks in the parish village, at Hulkonniemi and also along the Raate road.
President Kyösti Kallio tours the military hospitals to greet soldiers wounded at the front.
Swedish border: the first group of Finnish American volunteers arrives in Tornio.
Abroad: in a speech at the Vatican, Pope Pius XII condemns the Soviet attack on Finland.
(Click for a larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/ZdHrjId.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/8UfigVX.jpg)
Lieutenant Aarne Juutilainen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarne_Juutilainen) (left) and his men stopping for a Christmas mass. Kollaa, December 24.
Daily losses: 120
Christmas Day 1939 - DAY 26 of Winter War
Eastern Isthmus: in the morning, a fresh Soviet division launches the third wave of the offensive at Taipale, crossing Lake Suvanto in three places: at Sakkola, Kelja and Volosula. The enemy assaults are repulsed everywhere apart from Kelja.
Soviet aircraft bomb 11 localities across Finland, including Hanko, Turku, Tampere, Porvoo, Viipuri and Ilomantsi. Three civilians are killed.
Northern Isthmus: Käkisalmi comes under fire from as many as 50 enemy aircraft.
The author Hella Wuolijoki offers to help the Finnish Government make contact with the Soviet Union with a view to opening negotiations.
Daily losses: 180
26 December - DAY 27 of Winter War
Eastern Isthmus: at Taipale, the Russian troops which have overrun Kelja successfully repulse Finnish attempts at counterattack.
Northern Karelia: the North Karelian Group completes its offensive in the Pielisjärvi sector after two days, having forced the opposing Russian regiment back across the border.
South coast: the enemy bombs Kotka - four people are killed.
Ladoga Karelia: the railway junction at Elisenvaara in the municipality of Kurkijoki is subjected to intensive bombing. One of the bombs kills 29 civilians who had taken refuge in a sewage ditch.
Abroad: Uruguay announces it is to send material aid to Finland.
Mexico also promises to send Finland whatever assistance it can afford.
Daily losses: 135
http://i.imgur.com/U40Qnlhm.jpg (https://imgur.com/U40Qnlh)
Wounded Soviet POW. (Location unknown)
Here's an aerial photo of part of Taipale sector taken in March 1, 1940. Finnish positions didn't much change throughout the war, so this applies to December as well.
http://i.imgur.com/FC7OjCE.jpg
The village of Taipale is to the right of Linnakangas 2, out of picture.
27 December - DAY 28 of Winter War
Eastern Isthmus: the Finnish counteroffensive at Taipale pushes the Russians back from Kelja around midday.
The Russians lose 2,000 men in the fighting at Lake Suvanto while 516 Finnish soldiers are killed.
Northern Finland: at Hulkonniemi in Suomussalmi, troops of the Finnish 9th Division launch their decisive assault to destroy the enemy's 163rd Division. The Russians are forced to withdraw from Suomussalmi.
Colonel Siilasvuo receives word that the entire Russian 44th Division is concentrated along the Raate road.
Ladoga Karelia: combat detachments of IV Army Corps commanded by Major-General Hägglund launch a broad counteroffensive which lays the basis for January's 'motti' battles. In Lieksa, the Finnish troops attacking in the region of Kivivaara reach the Russian border and take up defensive positions.
Finland's civil defence chief urges the public to make greater use of camouflage and other forms of protection: cars should be painted white and people should also carry with them white camouflage clothing.
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin expresses his appreciation to Otto Wille Kuusinen and his 'Finnish People's Government' for their 60th birthday greetings, and wishes them victory in their struggle.
In a radio lecture, Professor V.A. Koskenniemi likens Finland's fight to the struggle of the ancient Greeks against the great powers of the ancient world.
Daily losses: 205
http://i.imgur.com/iOoZS93m.jpg (https://imgur.com/iOoZS93)
AT-gun at Kiantajärvi.
Schroeder
12-27-15, 01:04 PM
I've always found it funny that the Soviet army was in such a crappy state after the Winter War. I would have thought that an army that had just been used in a costly war in which it proved sub par would have made some effort to replenish stocks of ammo, weapons and invest into better training and equipment in general. Yet our forces could more or less march right through them until close to Moscow with those horror stories of Soviet units only having three rifles for 100 soldiers and only every second guy being issued ammo and so on...:hmm2:
I think the purges really didn't help, I mean the Soviets had some damn good equipment, but there was just no real leadership because all the leadership was either in a gulag or in a shallow grave. So organisation was completely up the creek, supplies and all. :dead:
Raptor1
12-27-15, 01:56 PM
The Red Army was actually in the process of trying to resolve its organizational failures, by far the most important factors in its poor performance in 1940 and 1941, after the Winter War. The problem was that it was still undergoing this reorganization when Barbarossa was launched.
Just spent today reading your wonderful thread Dowly very good mate. :up:
Just spent today reading your wonderful thread Dowly very good mate. :up:
:salute:
***
28 December - DAY 29 of Winter War
Northern Finland: Finnish troops take the parish village of Suomussalmi. In the early hours of the morning, the Russian divisions which had overrun the village begin to withdraw across Lake Kianta towards the border at Juntusranta.
In Kuhmo, after three days of fighting, Detachment Kekkonen forces a Soviet detachment of around company strength back across the border at Kiekinkoski.
Central Isthmus: enemy tanks penetrate Finnish positions at the northern end of Lake Hatjalahti. The tanks have no infantry support and two are destroyed and two captured.
Sweden: Fritjof Lager, editor of the Stockholm-published Communist paper Ny Dag, is sentenced to two months in prison for abuse of press freedom. The article concerned bore the headline 'A free, independent People's Republic of Finland'.
London: the London dailies, The Times and the Daily Telegraph praise the stalwart Finnish resistance against overwhelming odds
Daily losses: 123
29 December - DAY 30 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: Russian reconnaissance probes are successfully repulsed both at Summa and at Kelja in the Taipale sector. In the Suomussalmi sector in northern Finland, the fighting at Hulkonniemi ends in the destruction of the Soviet 163rd Division.
Still in the north, there is an increasing enemy presence in the Raate sector.
Ladoga Karelia: troops from Detachment Pajari take Viitavaara on the River Aittojoki and enemy troops launch a counterattack.
Soviet aircraft bomb Käkisalmi, Jyväskylä and Vaasa killing six people.
Abroad: in Sweden, a nationwide collection in aid of Finland has attracted major donations totalling 800,000 krona. Altogether, almost 6 million krona was collected.
Stockholm's footplate men donate a day's pay from December as a New Year present for Finland.
The Danish paper Berlingske Tidende publishes an article in praise of Finnish women.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/heVtkFq.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/Epwce0H.jpg)
Loot from north side of Lake Kianta.
Soviet 163rd Division's attack and subsequent retreat
http://i.imgur.com/Iwolsli.jpg
163rd Division attacks Suomussalmi from east and north, capturing the town on the 8th of December.
http://i.imgur.com/eZbhfYq.jpg
Group Siilasvuo starts its attack on Suomussalmi on the 11th of December. This attack fails, but the Raate road is cut.
http://i.imgur.com/hM5JPMo.jpg
Finnish 9th Division is formed under Colonel Siilasvuo. Group Kari began its attack towards Hulkonniemi on the 27th, causing the Soviet 163rd Division to start retreating from Suomussalmi across Lake Kianta on the 29th of December.
Daily losses: 174
30 December - DAY 31 of Winter War
Northern Finland: Colonel Siilasvuo is ordered to destroy the Russian 44th Division grouped along the Raate road. Finnish troops continue to pursue the retreating enemy across the frozen Lake Kianta.
The enemy's 163rd Division loses around 6,500 men, approximately 35% of its strength.
The Finnish force at Hulkonniemi captures large amounts of enemy material, including 25 artillery pieces, 11 tanks, 150 lorries and 250 horses.
Finnish losses are 350 dead and 600 wounded.
Lake Ladoga: Finnish troops repel an exploratory offensive by the enemy across the newly-frozen Lake Ladoga.
Daily losses: 85
31 December - DAY 32 of Winter War
Northern Finland: the enemy is pushed back across the border in the Kuhmo sector.
Fighting continues at Suomussalmi.
Finnish forces halt the Russian offensives in all sectors along the front.
Jyväskylä and Vaasa are subjected to fierce enemy bombing killing 21 civilians in Jyväskylä and four in Vaasa. Both towns suffer serious damage.
President Kyösti Kallio hosts a reception to celebrate the New Year. Those present include the Speaker of Parliament, Väinö Hakkila, Prime Minister Risto Ryti and Members of Parliament.
Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner gives an interview to the Swedish newspapers' telegraph office, TT, in which he welcomes Swedish volunteers to Finland.
The Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) publishes its New Year message to Finnish workers. The SAK emphasizes the trade union movement's determination to defend Finnish independence and democracy.
Abroad: in Amsterdam, persons unknown raise the Finnish flag on the mast of the Soviet steamship Joseph Stalin. (:haha:)
Daily losses: 114
1 January 1940 - DAY 33 of Winter War
Northern Finland: Colonel Siilasvuo determines to smash the Russian 44th Division which has been advancing along the Raate road.
Ladoga Karelia: two battalions of the Finnish 13th Division launch an assault to the north of Ruhtinaanmäki.
Soviet troops capture Viitavaara on the River Aittojoki for the first time.
The numbering of some of the Finnish divisions is changed in order to confuse Soviet intelligence.
The enemy bombs the cities of Oulu in the north and Turku in the southwest. In Oulu, four people are killed and 16 buildings destroyed. Altogether 30 enemy aircraft are used in the attack on Turku.
Abroad: the Swedish sports reporter Torsten Tegnér proposes a bandy match to raise funds for Finland.
10 well-known Russian émigré writers, including Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin, issue a communiqué in Paris condemning the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/DwhRGN9.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/0AwBPWb.jpg)
Soviet tanks at Loimola.
Daily losses: 176
***
2 January 1940 - DAY 34 of Winter War
Northern Finland: the Finnish 9th Division begins its offensive, winning a major victory at Suomussalmi.
Eastern Isthmus: a five-and-a-half-hour artillery barrage ends with the launch of a strong assault by enemy infantry at Kirvesmäki. The Finnish troops hold their ground.
Lake Ladoga: the 28-year-old speed skating world champion, reserve Second Lieutenant Birger Wasenius, is killed along with nine other Finnish soldiers in fighting on the islands of Lake Ladoga.
The 44th course of the Reserve Officer School begins under exceptional circumstances and with an exceptionally large intake.
Abroad: more than 10,000 Swedish homes have volunteered to receive Finnish mothers and children. To date, 50 mothers and 400 children have been evacuated to Sweden.
Daily losses: 137
***
3 January 1940 - DAY 35 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: the Finnish 13th Division breaks off its assault at Ruhtinaanmäki.
Northern Finland: Soviet troops supported by tanks and artillery launch an offensive in the Kuhmo sector.
Finnish forces surround the enemy base entrenched at Sanginlampi.
Salla sector: in temperatures approaching -40° Celsius, four Finnish battalions begin a counterattack at Joutsijärvi designed to break the defences of the enemy division.
Åland Sea: the Soviet submarine S2 is sunk by a Finnish mine in the Märket narrows.
The labour office of the Ministry of Supply announces that the most important work to be carried out in the countryside is the gathering of firewood.
Abroad: according to German radio, the Soviet Union is concentrating its call-up on reservists with a technical background.
In Norway, a special rucksack collection in aid of Finland has already gathered 25,000 rucksacks packed with food and clothing.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/z8nd5ua.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/gGAQ30E.jpg)
Forward positions at Joutsijärvi.
Daily losses: 81
4 January 1940 - DAY 36 of Winter War
Northern Finland: Colonel Siilasvuo gives his troops the final order to attack.
Salla: Detachment Roininen breaks off its attack at Joutsijärvi.
Eastern Isthmus: Finnish troops repulse the enemy offensive at Kirvesmäki in the Taipale sector.
The Ministry of Education urges parish priests and officials to reserve areas for establishing heroes' cemeteries as a matter of urgency
The voluntary defence organization Maan Turva organizes a tour of the front by well-known entertainers which becomes popularly known as the 'anti-boredom battery'. The main attractions are the popular character actor Aku Korhonen and the conductor George de Godzinsky. Others taking part in the tour include Siiri Rantanen, Uuno Laakso, the accordionist Onni Laihanen, and the actress Tuire Orri.
The period for completing tax return forms and paying both income and property tax is extended to April 1st.
Members of the public are forbidden to take photographs of the damage caused by enemy bombers or of equipment used for military or civil defence.
Abroad: Sweden rejects the Allied offer of assistance in respect of both armaments and troops.
An anonymous Danish businessman announces he is to donate 50 lorries to Finland.
Daily losses: 139
http://i.imgur.com/6aSSrD6m.jpg (https://imgur.com/6aSSrD6)
Musical instruments left behind by Soviet forces. (Pelkosenniemi)
5 January 1940 - DAY 37 of Winter War
Northern Finland: troops of the 9th Division set out to destroy the enemy's 44th 'Blue' Division on the Raate road. H-hour is set for 8.30. The enemy is hard pressed but cannot be broken.
Mikkeli: the headquarters town of Mikkeli suffers heavy bombing. Due to severe cold the phone lines are down and the anti-aircraft guns are frozen. 40 enemy aircraft take part in the raid which kills 29 people and injures 36.
Gulf of Bothnia: at 13.00 hours the Soviet submarine Sts 311 sinks the Swedish steamer Fenris off the Swedish coast near Umeå.
Central Isthmus: the troop replenishment at the main defensive position at Summa is successfully completed.
Enemy infantry assaults are successfully repulsed at Summa, Suokanta, Työppölänjoki and Lake Hatjalahti.
Northern Finland: it's a bitterly cold night on the Raate road, with a temperature of -40° Celsius. The Finnish force has only one or two tents and the troops have to spend the night in the open air.
President Kyösti Kallio is donating 100,000 markkaa as basic capital for a fund to assist impoverished relatives of the dead and wounded.
Sweden: the Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, Alexandra Kollontai, protests to the Swedish Government over voluntary recruitment activities and other aid work on behalf of Finland, and also over articles in the Swedish press critical of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union also sends a similar note to the Norwegian Government.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/Q7lUgPc.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/JeWo4wG.jpg)
Sauna being made ready. Suistamo, January 5.
Daily losses: 126
6 January - DAY 38 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: the counteroffensive by the Finnish IV Army Corps north of Lake Ladoga begins in temperatures of -29° Celsius.
Southern Finland: Lieutenant Jorma Sarvanto in his Fokker fighter shoots down six Soviet aircraft from a formation of nine on their way home from a bombing raid over Kuopio. The action in the skies between Utti and Kotka lasts around five minutes.
Viipuri: enemy aircraft cause serious damage in the city.
Northern Finland: the Russian commander of the Soviet 44th Division on the Raate road orders his troops to break out to the east, taking all their equipment with them. Just before midnight they make their final unsuccessful attempt to break out and Finnish troops record a crushing victory.
Daily losses: 140
http://i.imgur.com/BaFMUjPm.jpg (https://imgur.com/BaFMUjP)
Staged photo of surrendering Soviet soldiers. (Karvia POW camp)
***
7 January - DAY 39 of Winter War
Northern Finland: the fighting on the Raate road peters out during the course of the morning. The great battle is over.
The booty taken on the Raate road includes 43 tanks, 71 field and anti-aircraft guns, 29 anti-tank guns, a number of armoured cars and tractors, 260 lorries, 1,170 horses, and an assortment of infantry weaponry, ammunition, and medical and communications material.
Almost 17,500 men of the enemy 44th Division perish at Raate, a loss of approximately 70% of the Division's strength. 1,200 enemy soldiers are taken prisoner.
Finnish losses are also severe: 900 dead and 1,200 wounded, which is approximately 15% of the 9th Division's combat strength.
Immediately after the battle Finland takes foreign journalists to view the combat zone.
Commander of the Army, 1st Class Semyon Timoshenko, is appointed overall commander of the Soviet northwest front on the Karelian Isthmus.
The Supreme Military Soviet decides to focus the main strike on the Viipuri sector.
Daily losses: 89
http://i.imgur.com/M7AO4hZm.jpg (https://imgur.com/M7AO4hZ)
Shot down Russian Polikarpov R-5 at Suistamo.
***
8 January - DAY 40 of Winter War
At 7 o'clock in the morning Moscow radio transmits a propaganda broadcast in Finnish in which it claims that "unspeakable terror" has broken out in Finland. According to Moscow "people are being shot in droves and supporters of the Kuusinen Government are being hunted all over the country".
Ladoga Karelia: Detachment Pajari defeats a Soviet battalion at Viitavaara.
Foreign Minister Tanner entrusts Hella Wuolijoki with the task of sounding out the possibility of peace with the Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, Madam Alexandra Kollontai.
Northern Finland: Finnish troops carry out guerrilla strikes in northern Finland.
Ostrobothnia: Detachment Sisu is formed in Lapua, composed of foreign volunteers.
Prime Minister Ryti reviews Finland's economic situation for the foreign press.
Foreign Minister Tanner reminds US envoy Arthur Schoenfeld that Finland has captured more materiel as booty from the enemy than she has received in the form of aid from any friendly power.
http://i.imgur.com/Ntg6tFk.jpg
Map of the Suomussalmi and Raate Road battles.
Daily losses: 74
http://i.imgur.com/8TPKuOfm.jpg (https://imgur.com/8TPKuOf)
Captured Soviet T-26 at Raate Road.
9 January - DAY 41 of Winter War
Helsinki: President Kyösti Kallio holds a press conference for foreign journalists in the Presidential Palace. Among other matters raised, the President says that during the first month of the war the enemy has dropped approximately 4,000 bombs on about one hundred localities across Finland. These air raids have claimed the lives of 239 civilians.
Northern Finland: another crushing Finnish victory is recorded in the north, this time at Suomussalmi. A second enemy division is destroyed as Finnish troops push onwards to the border.
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet forces mount an unsuccessful assault to the north of Ruhtinaanmäki.
Abroad: expressions of sympathy and support for Finland's struggle are pouring in from all over the world.
In Paris, the French National Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union responds to the appeal by the Finnish Parliament and expresses its support for Finland.
The Canadian Red Cross sends 50,000 dollars in aid to Finland.
Herbert Hoover, the former US President, sends his fifth 100,000 dollar check to Finland.
In response to the appeal by the League of Nations, Argentina sends 50,000 tonnes of grain to Finland with no fixed date for payment.
The Nicaraguan Government launches a national appeal for aid for Finland.
Moscow objects to Swedish protests over the sinking of the steamer Fenris.
January 9: Moving to the front. Morale is good and everyone's eager to go help the Finns in their struggle against the oppressors. We've got some great soldiers: Mospan, Melnik, Kravtsuk.
Daily losses: 85
***
10 January - DAY 42 of Winter War
Northern Finland: the Russian 122nd division at Salla begins to retreat towards Märkäjärvi.
Ladoga Karelia: the vanguard of the Finnish IV Army Corps cuts the road connections of the Russian 56th Army in the area of Pitkäranta.
Soviet troops are trapped at Kitelä: the bulk of the enemy's 56th Army are trapped inside the Kitelä-Syskyjärvi-Koirinoja triangle, giving rise to the great Kitelä 'motti'.
The author Hella Wuolijoki travels to Stockholm for unofficial negotiations with Alexandra Kollontai, the Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm.
The German war correspondent Otto von Zwehl enlists as a volunteer in the Finnish Army. Hitler hears of this and strips him of his German citizenship and military rank.
Mabel Bonney, correspondent and photographer for the American Life magazine, arrives in Finland.
January 10: Our journey towards Leningrad continues. I published my first magazine, which I thought was quite good. In the evening, I put forward topic for discussion: The animalistic nature of the White Finns.
Daily losses: 101
http://i.imgur.com/Qz73KWAm.jpg (https://imgur.com/Qz73KWA)
Reinforcements on their way to the front. (Leppäsyrjä)
11 January - DAY 42 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: the Finnish IV Army Corps launches the second phase of its counteroffensive.
Northern Finland: Group Susi launches its offensive towards Juntusranta.
Abroad: Germany forbids the passage of volunteers to Finland through German territory.
At the Brenner Pass, Germany has also halted a shipment of war materiel en route from Italy to Finland. The Italian Ambassador has lodged a protest with the German Foreign Ministry. It would seem that Germany must now choose its friend: either Stalin or Mussolini.
Home news: the public are urged to donate all articles which could possibly be useful to the military to a collection being organized by the Civil Guard on behalf of the Defence Forces.
Helsinki: the first refugee train organized by the Finnish Centre for Nordic Aid leaves Helsinki for the Swedish border town of Haparanda carrying almost 400 refugees, 300 of them children.
Foreign Minister Tanner's congratulatory telegram on the 20th anniversary of the League of Nations attracts positive attention around the world. Tanner also expresses his gratitude for the aid sent to Finland.
William Tuck, a representative of the Finnish Relief Fund established by former United States President Herbert Hoover, arrives in Finland.
Prince Ferdinand of Liechtenstein arrives in Finland and declares his wish to serve as a volunteer on the front.
January 11: The train has stopped in Hatsina. Everyone would want to be at the front already. Started a discussion about our heroic pilots. We wonder why our comissar has not left his carriage. In our carriage, spirits are high. We dance and play the accordion. Petrov doesn't believe that in America, unemployed people are driven to the streets. Took me two hours to convince him. At 2200hrs, the train starts moving, to where, no one knows.
Daily losses: 107
http://i.imgur.com/ZfTOQPTm.jpg (https://imgur.com/ZfTOQPT)
Destroyed Soviet tanks at Lavajärvi.
29 November 1939
Three Finnish border guards go missing from Puumanki border guard post.
Doors and window frames show damage consistent with rifle butt strikes.
Investigation concludes that they were kidnapped by Soviet soldiers.
Anything heard about these men since then?
Anything heard about these men since then?Corporal Salkio and privates Simonen and Korhonen were sent to a POW camp in Murmansk. They were released after the war.
Corporal Salkio and privates Simonen and Korhonen were sent to a POW camp in Murmansk. They were released after the war.
Kiitän ja kuittaan.
...In english: Thanks a lot.:salute:
Kiitän ja kuittaan.
...In english: Thanks a lot.:salute:
Salkio has also written a book titled "Pummanki - Jäämeren suomalainen kalastajakylä ja sen tuho". Haven't read it myself, though.
Salkio has also written a book titled "Pummanki - Jäämeren suomalainen kalastajakylä ja sen tuho". Haven't read it myself, though.
Interesting, there's not too many writings about the "lost arm" of Finland.
Interesting, there's not too many writings about the "lost arm" of Finland.You might be able to find something on the Kansa Taisteli magazines: http://kansataisteli.sshs.fi/index.php?year=1950
***
12 January - DAY 44 of Winter War
Northern Finland: after intense combat with a force of Soviet troops who had made a surprise advance in the Juntusranta sector, Group Susi takes up defensive positions on the Tormua parallel.
Over 400 enemy aircraft bomb several localities across Finland; the main focus of the bombing is in the southwest.
Ladoga Karelia: the commander of the Soviet 56th Army requests an aircraft to lift him out of the Kitelä-Syskyjärvi-Koirinoja triangle. Finnish troops manage to damage the aircraft, which has to make an emergency landing on the frozen Lake Ladoga.
Northern Finland: the F19 airforce regiment of Swedish volunteers goes into combat for the first time at Märkäjärvi.
The Ministry of Supply urges evacuees to adapt to their new circumstances and attempt to support themselves, if possible, and to work for their hosts who are providing them with shelter.
London: the Daily Express reports a Dutch source as saying that Hitler is keen to act as broker in the conflict between Finland and the Soviet Union.
Sweden: an art shop is opened to raise funds for Finland.
The International Federation of Trade Unions issues a resolution calling on governments around the world to fulfil their obligation of solidarity with Finland.
January 12: Arrived to Volhovstroi during the morning. It's a beautiful station with a large power plant near it. Danced again. In the evening we resumed our journey.
Daily losses: 89
***
13 January - DAY 45 of Winter War
Åland Sea: the Soviet submarine Sts 324 attacks Finnish convoys in the Märket narrows.
The Finnish escort vessel Aura II sinks after one of its own depth charges explodes on deck.
Central Isthmus: enemy attempts at mini-offensives at Lähde and Summa are successfully repulsed.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops establish the great Kitelä 'motti'.
Soviet bombers carry out air-raids on a number of localities.
The air-raid on Hämeenlinna kills 12 people and injures 21 more.
In Helsinki, the air-raid kills 6 and injures another 21; it also sets the Hietalahti shipyard on fire.
In Lahti, the radio transmitter is damaged in the bombing.
The Finnish Broadcasting Company warns its listeners to be on their guard against enemy radio propaganda and indicates that due to enemy interference it will use only well-known announcers in its own broadcasts.
Abroad: Heimo Haitto, the 14-year-old violin prodigy, is the main attraction at a gala concert in Stockholm organized by the Fund for Finnish Relief.
At a fight held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Finnish heavyweight boxer Gunnar Bärlund scores a points victory over his American opponent, Jim Thompson. Some of the proceeds from the fight go to help Finland.
Coffee growers in Rio de Janeiro donate 60,000 sacks of coffee to Finland.
January 13: Arrived to Lotinapelto and continued on foot to a city called Uus-Syväri.
Daily losses: 119
***
14 January - DAY 46 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet Division is ordered to take Uomaa village and push the Finnish detachments out of the terrain between Uomaa and Lavajärvi.
Northern Finland: the Soviet 122nd Division disengages from Vuosamonselkä and withdraws to Märkäjärvi.
Detachment Roininen and the 40th Infantry Regiment are ordered to prepare themselves to pursue the enemy.
At the same time word comes through that the Soviet 88th Division is concentrating troops at Salla.
The submarine Iku-Turso returns from patrol without having sighted the enemy.
Viipuri: Soviet aircraft begin to bomb the city.
Vaasa: 10 people die in air-raids, among them women and children.
Enemy bombers hit Rauma, Pori, Uusikaupunki, Sottunga in the Åland archipelago, Hanko, Karjaa, Salo, Tammisaari, Helsinki and Kauniainen.
In the Gulf of Bothnia, Soviet aircraft also bomb the Swedish coastline.
At Haparanda the air-raid warning lasts 1½ hours.
Helsinki: an ambulance donated by the French Red Cross arrives from Stockholm with four nurses.
January 14: It's -38 celsius. We are preparing for our sacred duty to the motherland.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/7Q4fCCk.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/sLqUw0W.jpg)
MG and ATG at Ruhtinaanmäki.
Daily losses: 95
15 January - DAY 47 of Winter War
Undeterred by his jammed machine gun, Staff Sergeant Siltavuori, a squadron test pilot, downs an enemy DB bomber by cutting its rudder with the propeller on his Fokker.
Northern Finland: Finnish troops begin to pursue the retreating enemy in Salla by advancing from Joutsijärvi in the direction of Märkäjärvi.
Ladoga Karelia: Viitavaara on the River Aittojoki is finally lost to the Russians.
Eastern Isthmus: in Taipale, Finnish troops repulse an assault by a fairly small enemy detachment.
Finnish patrols on the eastern border are still vigorous and effective.
Viipuri: the city is subjected to surprise attacks from the air. The sirens start up at 23 minutes past noon as the first bombs explode. The late warning means there are still many people on the streets and in shops and offices. Three people are killed and several injured. The attack devastates the area around Punaisenlähteentori square.
Abroad: the Swedish Government responds to the Soviet note accusing Sweden of abandoning its neutrality and the Swedish press of publishing anti-Soviet material. The Swedes reject the accusation and affirm their commitment to freedom of the press.
The German Foreign Ministry denies rumours of German attempts to play a mediating role in the Finno-Soviet conflict and claims that the visits of the German Ambassador in Moscow to Foreign Minister Molotov have merely concerned economic relations between the two countries.
The Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf donates her gold medal from the Swedish Academy and her Nobel Gold Medal to the collection in aid of Finland.
January 15: Still in Uus-Syväri. Temperature has fallen to -40C. We got some newspapers. Semenov was unhappy. I have not received any letters.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/Vdp8wNN.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/yyZk9W3.jpg)
"Our supply route Katitsanlampi-Repomäki after a fight with a Russian patrol."
Daily losses: 67
***
16 January - DAY 48 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: heavy enemy shelling pounds the defences on the Mannerheim Line in Summa.
Ladoga Karelia: in temperatures of -41° Celsius, a small Finnish detachment attacks and halts the enemy advance at the edge of Mursula village in Kitilä.
The Finnish aid agency Suomen Huolto grants 800,000 marks in aid to victims of the bombing in the towns of western Finland.
Abroad: a special Finnish day is to be held at the Holmenkollen skiing games in Oslo to raise money for Finland.
A Danish association of factory-owners is sending a railway wagonload of food aid to Finland.
United States President, Franklin D. Roosevelt says the USA can extend a non-military loan to Finland as this would in his opinion not compromise US neutrality.
The Swiss Medical Association announces it is to send a group of volunteers to Finland.
January 16: Still in Uus-Syväri. It's -52C outside. My nose nearly froze, but I rubbed some snow on it. We can't buy anything from the stores. I'm angry at the weather. Have not received letters. Wondering if Nadja is cheating on me.
Daily losses: 65
***
17 January - DAY 49 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: the Finnish 12th Division launches its offensive in the Uomaa sector.
IV Army Corps halts its offensive in the Pitkäranta area. The Finnish force does not have sufficient strength in the area to push on to the border. Fokker fighters from 24 Squadron shoot down 8 enemy SB bombers over the Isthmus.
Central Isthmus: in the Lähde road sector, heavy enemy shelling inflicts serious damage on 'Fort Poppius'. This concrete fortress named after Second Lieutenant Poppius can house up to 26 men.
Enemy bombers hit Turku, Hanko, Lappeenranta and Koivisto.
Viipuri: bombers concentrate on the south harbour.
Finland's civil defence chief reminds members of the public to keep their identity papers with them at all times.
The Ministry of the Interior is to set up a supply centre for evacuees.
In Summa, temperatures have fallen to -42° Celsius.
Abroad: Norwegian fruiterers have today donated six trainloads (50,000 kilos) of apples to Finland.
The United States has decided to send two military attachés to Finland.
In Uppsala, the author Frans Emil Sillanpää addresses a Swedish audience on the situation in Finland.
January 17: We haven't moved. It's -42C outside. I lost my watch today. No letters. During the day we talked about Lenin and in the evening about the poor situation of workers in Norway and Sweden.
Daily losses: 75
18 January - DAY 50 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops take the barracks area in Pitkäranta, forming a 'motti' with one flank open onto the frozen Lake Ladoga.
Fresh concentrations of enemy divisions are observed at Pitkäranta and at Käsnäselkä in the Uomaa sector.
Northern Finland: four Finnish battalions mount an assault on Märkäjärvi, but the enemy's 122nd Division holds firm.
Gulf of Finland: Finnish troops begin to attack a Soviet naval detachment trapped in the ice near the island of Someri.
Enemy bombers hit the icebreaker Tarmo while it is undergoing repairs in Kotka harbour. Thirty-nine crew members are killed and 11 wounded.
Sweden: the Swedish Parliament debates the question of aid for Finland. Public opinion in Sweden sees the country's future as closely bound up with the outcome of Finland's struggle.
"Finlands sak är vår" (Finland's cause is our own) is adopted as the slogan of the popular movement campaigning on behalf of aid for Finland.
Home news: Doctor of Law Urho Kekkonen is appointed to head the supply centre for evacuees.
Abroad: Hungarian professor Albert Szent-Györgyi, winner of the 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine, gifts his Nobel Medal to Finland.
January 18: -49C. Started discussion on workers' status in Finland.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/buxQo7U.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/oFdziHD.jpg)
Russian dugouts, 1km south of Mitro.
Daily losses: 130
19 January - DAY 51 of Winter War
Northern Finland: Finnish troops take up defensive positions at Märkäjärvi.
The Finnish 9th Division fighting in the Suomussalmi-Raate sector is ordered to move south to Kuhmo.
Russian submarines withdraw from the Gulf of Bothnia. The naval blockade of the Gulf comes to an end.
Karelian Isthmus: two Finnish fighters engage three enemy bombers over the Isthmus. One of the bombers is shot down.
Three more enemy aircraft are shot down over other parts of the Isthmus.
Helsinki: the use of blowlamps to thaw out frozen water pipes causes several fires in the city.
A special newspaper called Den Frivillege (The Volunteer) is introduced for Swedish volunteers in Finland. The author Olof Lagercrantz is appointed editor-in-chief.
Abroad: Sweden gifts Finland two FK 52 reconnaissance aircraft.
The well-known author and explorer Sven Hedin suggests the funds intended for paying the 1939 and 1940 Nobel Peace Prizes be given instead to the Finnish Red Cross.
Swedish business has so far collected 62 million krona in aid for Finland.
January 19: Weather same. Still no letters.
Daily losses: 82
20 January - DAY 52 of Winter War
Eastern Isthmus: fierce battles are being fought in Taipale.
Enemy troops attack the Finnish strongholds at Terenttilä and Kirvesmäki.
Central Isthmus: heavy enemy shelling pounds the Finnish defences in Summa village.
Southwest Finland: the armoured coastal vessels Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen are redeployed to Turku to reinforce the city's air defences.
The war in the air: Flight Luukkanen shoots down four enemy aircraft to the north of Lake Ladoga.
37 enemy aircraft bomb Lahti and put the radio transmitter off the air. Five die and 19 are injured in the raid. The enemy is now broadcasting its own propaganda on the Lahti transmitter's frequency.
Turku, Tampere and Kouvola are also bombed.
A Finnish Centre for Nordic Aid aircraft begins transport flights from Vaasa to Sundsvall.
Turku: a group of foreign correspondents visit the city to inspect the damage caused by the bombing.
Oulu: 58 American Finnish volunteers arrive in the city.
Abroad: Winston Churchill, Great Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty, addresses the British nation in a broadcast speech: "All Scandinavia dwells brooding under Nazi and Bolshevik threats. Only Finland superb, nay, sublime in the jaws of peril shows what free men can do. ... They have exposed, for all the world to see, the military incapacity of the Red Army and of the Red Air Force."
The Red Army paper Krasnaya Zvezda acknowledges the slow progress of the Soviet troops and demands that the Red Army be taught how to ski.
January 20: Had a party meeting in the morning. By evening we started moving towards Uotjärvi.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/zYPpk7N.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/1l6wgAp.jpg)
Replacements at Kollaa.
Daily losses: 73
Schroeder
01-20-16, 07:04 AM
Minus a gazillion degrees and some of these guys don't even wear their caps.:o
Minus a gazillion degrees and some of these guys don't even wear their caps.:o
Through my amazing research (google): On the 20th of January it was -19C in Kollaa.
I'm assuming the three on the left are "veterans" who have come to greet the newcomers from their dugout (entrance of which can be seen on the left). Finnish dugouts or korsu's were relatively comfortable and warm.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/zYPpk7N.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/1l6wgAp.jpg)
Replacements at Kollaa.
Not enough military uniforms for everyone.
21 January - DAY 53 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet troops attempt a breakthrough at Kollaa and on the River Aittojoki. A similar attempt is made in Ilomantsi.
Enemy artillery begins heavy shelling on the River Kollaanjoki at 8.50.
The enemy attack is supported by approximately 20 tanks.
The Finnish troops are outnumbered more than three to one.
The enemy loses six tanks and 450 men.
The Russian 8th Army launches a general offensive in Ladoga Karelia.
In the morning the Russian 1st Army Corps launches a broad offensive on Group Talvela's defensive positions on the River Aittojoki. The 155th Division launches a related assault at Kallioniemi and Oinaansalmi in Ilomantsi.
Northern Finland: Siilasvuo's 9th Division is redeployed from Suomussalmi to Kuhmo.
Eastern Isthmus: Finnish troops on the River Taipaleenjoki shoot down a captive balloon being used to direct the Soviet artillery fire.
In Ladoga Karelia, Finnish Blenheim bombers and dive-bombers cripple the air base built by the enemy at Karkunlampi in Salmi.
Stockholm: Hella Wuolijoki holds talks in the Swedish capital with Soviet emissaries Boris Yartsev and Grauer.
Foreign Minister Tanner prepares an unofficial memorandum for Wuolijoki with an eye to possible peace talks.
Abroad: participants at a major international skating event in Norway remember the Finnish world champion Birger Wasenius, who was killed at the front at the beginning of January.
January 21: Exhausting trip, 27km. We're already in Karelia.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/gHnpn1z.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/UJ0w7F1.jpg)
Sergeant Kalpio emerging from his dugout. (Aittojoki)
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/fp6mr0M.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/v7ic9uX.jpg)
Same dugout 2 minutes after a Russian bomb fell directly on it. Sergeant Kalpio and 13 of his comrades died.
List of men from E/III/KTR 6 who died:
Sergeant Eino Kalpio
Sergeant Huugo Koski
Junior Sergeant Veikko Keto
Junior Sergeant Svante Tamminen
Junior Sergeant Eino Väre
Corporal Aallos Kaarto
Private Veikko Grönlund
Private Erkki Koskela
Private Yrjö Lindgren
Private Ilkka Pinomäki
Private Armas Rosenqvist
Private Valter Sievänen
Private Kaarlo Vainio
Private Kalle Viljanen
Daily losses: 102
22 January - DAY 54 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet troops continue their offensive at Kollaa, on the River Aittojoki and in Ilomantsi.
Mikkeli: General Headquarters turns down the proposal by the Lapland Group to continue their advance to Märkäjärvi. The available forces are to be concentrated to consolidate the ground already taken.
Sortavala in Ladoga Karelia and Ivalo in Lapland are the focus of enemy bombing.
Three Soviet spies dressed in Finnish-style military uniforms have been captured off Ylläppäänniemi on Lake Ladoga.
Finland welcomes foreign volunteers willing to serve in the Finnish armed forces.
Abroad: in Leningrad, staff officers are executed for failing to provide proper protection for field kitchens.
The Norwegian rucksack collection for Finland reaches its goal of 50,000 filled rucksacks, which are duly surrendered to the collection committee.
The monarchist government led by the pretender to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Vladimir, recognizes Finnish independence and urges Russian émigrés to join in the work of freeing their country.
The great Finnish runners Paavo Nurmi and Taisto Mäki set out for the United States to publicize the situation at home and take part in exhibition races on behalf of Finland.
The French Academy invites Jean Sibelius to become an associate member of its composers section.
A correspondent on the English paper News of the World describes the Finns as the equal of the American Indians in forest warfare.
January 22: We left for Vitele. Tiring trip. We skied for 28km and another 13km in trucks. I caught cold. My side and leg hurts. I want to sleep, but its so cold. No letters. I've stopped writing home, too tired. Soon, we'll be at the front and together we shall beat back the White Bandits with all our might.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/e6Kcuwx.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/h1CBjpM.jpg)
Destroyed convoy 4km North of Lemetti.
http://i.imgur.com/cBI9wgS.jpg
Daily losses: 178
23 January - DAY 55 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: three battalions of Group Talvela launch a counteroffensive on the River Aittojoki.
Central Isthmus: heavier than normal enemy shelling in the Summa and Lähde sectors.
An enemy detachment of company strength attacks the islands of Suursaari and Rumakoira in Lake Muolaanjärvi. The Finnish defenders repulse the assault.
Northern Finland: Colonel Siilasvuo arrives in Kuhmo with the staff of the 9th Division and settles into the Jämäs barracks.
Group Ilomäki is placed under command of the 9th Division.
North Karelia: 11 enemy aircraft bomb Nurmes, killing 21 people and injuring 39.
Southeast Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops repulse the enemy offensives in Taipale and on the northeast side of Lake Ladoga.
Northern Finland: a Finnish Gladiator fighter is hit by an explosive shell, bursts into flames and crashes behind enemy lines 3 kilometres west of Märkäjärvi. The pilot, Swedish volunteer Second Lieutenant Johan Sjökvist, is killed.
Finland's employers recognize the trade union movement. The Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) now has 80,000 members.
The author Frans Emil Sillanpää donates his Nobel Gold Medal to the defence of Finland.
January 23: Today we marched to Rajakontu, the last village on the Soviet side of the border and crossed the border. It's too dangerous to walk about without your weapon, the White Finns send their planes to bomb us. Was visited by one yesterday, threw five bombs at us. In 2-3 days, we'll be at the front.
Daily losses: 147
24 January - DAY 56 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet forces continue their offensive on the River Aittojoki to the north of Lake Ladoga, with the main focus of the assault coming to the west of Lake Vegarusjärvi. The defending Finns manage to hold their positions.
On the River Kollaanjoki, the enemy captures one of the bases of the 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment in the northern sector.
Mikkeli: General Headquarters orders the setting up of evacuation centres for the bodies of soldiers fallen in combat.
There has been a rise in the number of couples getting married. 75% of civil marriages are 'war weddings', which can be performed without the need for advance proclamation of the banns. Church war weddings require formal proclamation of the banns on the preceding Sunday.
Turku: a four-strong delegation from the British Labour Party arrives in the city. In an interview, Sir Walter Citrine says 99.9% of people in Britain support Finland in her struggle.
Finnish convicts ask to be sent to the front. However, the authorities are less than enthusiastic in their response.
Abroad: the leaders of the International Amateur Athletic Federation call on the world's athletes to help Finland.
Sweden's Red Star organization's horse ambulance leaves Stockholm en route to Finland.
Finland's Minister of Social Affairs K.-A. Fagerholm arrives in Stockholm to discuss details of the evacuation of Finnish children.
Daily losses: 78
https://i.imgur.com/zZVUcqTm.jpg
Soviet soldier killed by hand grenade. (GRAPHIC)
Schroeder
01-24-16, 09:12 AM
It looks more and more to me that Finland started WWII because they were not giving the Soviets what they wanted which lead to a totally legal invasion by them. The Finns even dared to hinder that invasion with deadly force which shows that they were after war from day one.
Shame on you Finns! The world will not forget that!:nope:
:O::D
It looks more and more to me that Finland started WWII because they were not giving the Soviets what they wanted which lead to a totally legal invasion by them. The Finns even dared to hinder that invasion with deadly force which shows that they were after war from day one.
Shame on you Finns! The world will not forget that!:nope:
:O::D
:rotfl2::rotfl2:
***
25 January - DAY 57 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: an enemy detachment of company strength attempts another attack on the island of Suursaari in Lake Muolaanjärvi.
Ladoga Karelia: enemy pressure on the Finnish positions to the northeast of Lake Ladoga continues for the fifth day.
Eastern Isthmus: in the Taipale sector, Finnish troops repulse an attempted enemy assault in the early morning.
The Finnish 7th Division defending Taipale announces its overall losses since the beginning of the war: 37 officers and 779 men killed, and 40 officers and 1,980 men wounded.
Ladoga Karelia: the difficult situation causes the Commander-in-Chief to change Group Talvela's mission in the Tolvajärvi sector to allow it to adopt delaying tactics if necessary.
Enemy offensives on different fronts are successfully repulsed.
Elias Simojoki, a former Member of Parliament for the People's Patriotic Movement, is killed by an enemy bullet on the ice of Lake Ladoga as he is destroying an injured horse.
The voluntary defence organization Maan Turva is collecting musical instruments, games and books to entertain the patients in the military hospitals.
Abroad: the British aid fund for Finland has already collected over 100,000 pounds (about 25 million markkaa).
The Norwegian author Sigrid Undset is donating her 1928 Nobel Medal to Finland.
The French Academy expresses its warm sympathy for the Finnish people.
Daily losses: 127
Jimbuna
01-25-16, 11:50 AM
It looks more and more to me that Finland started WWII because they were not giving the Soviets what they wanted which lead to a totally legal invasion by them. The Finns even dared to hinder that invasion with deadly force which shows that they were after war from day one.
Shame on you Finns! The world will not forget that!:nope:
:O::D
Are you sure you're posting in the correct thread :hmm2:
:03:
Schroeder
01-25-16, 12:29 PM
Elias Simojoki, a former Member of Parliament for the People's Patriotic Movement, is killed by an enemy bullet on the ice of Lake Ladoga as he is destroying an injured horse.
I hope you meant dispatching an injured horse....though with Finns one can never be sure....:dead:
Are you sure you're posting in the correct thread :hmm2:
:03:
There is no other thread at the moment I would voluntarily post something like that in. ;)
I hope you meant dispatching an injured horse....though with Finns one can never be sure....:dead:The word for destroy in Finnish is used a lot in military talk. Anything from dugouts to infantry can be destroyed. No idea why it is/was used, as in normal talk you would indeed say kill/dispatch/eliminate. :hmm2:
26 January - DAY 58 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: in the Lähde road sector, heavy enemy shelling renders 'Fort Poppius' almost unusable for active combat purposes.
Ladoga Karelia: a Finnish Fokker reconnaissance plane disappears on a flight over the northeast shore of Lake Ladoga. The pilot, Toivo Heilä, and the navigator, Lieutenant Reino Vaittinen, are both killed.
Northern Finland: the last batch of 9th Division troops transferred from Suomussalmi arrive in Kuhmo.
Mikkeli: Prime Minister Risto Ryti visits General Headquarters to discuss the prospects for peace with Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim. Mannerheim urges the Prime Minister to make concessions to achieve a settlement.
Northern Finland: enemy aircraft bomb Ivalo, Kuusamo, Savukoski and Sotkamo.
Abroad: at a press conference in Washington, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt emphasizes that any American who enlists in and swears allegiance to the army of a foreign country at war will thereby lose his American citizenship. However, since there had been no official declaration of war, the United States did not consider Finland to be a country at war, and American volunteers in Finland would therefore retain their citizenship.
The British Labour Party and Cooperative Movement declare Britain will do all it can to help Finland.
On the east side of lake Nietjärvi (see map in post #62), Soviet 5th and 6th separate ski battalions are beaten back. Large amount of automatic weapons are captured. Diary kept by a politruk is found on his body.
Daily losses: 89
27 January - DAY 59 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the enemy artillery continues its increasingly fierce pounding of the main Finnish defensive position on the Isthmus.
The 'Million Fort' in the Lähde sector to the east of Lake Summajärvi is badly damaged by the enemy's heavy artillery.
Ladoga Karelia: near Pitkäranta, Soviet troops take the offshore island of Putkisaari.
IV Army Corps' combat detachment and battalion commanders hold talks at the 13th Division's command post.
Major-General Hägglund gives the command to take the 'mottis' at Kelivaara and West Lemetti.
Abroad: Count Eric von Rosen, the Swedish Finnophile who donated the first aircraft in the Finnish Air Force, believes Finland can withstand the Soviet pressure and does not believe the air raids will undermine Finnish resistance.
An editorial in the Red Army paper Krasnaya Zvezda claims the "Red Army is fulfilling an honourable international obligation in Finland."
The American daily The Chicago News suggests the 1940 Nobel Peace Prize be awarded to Finland.
Sweden's Foreign Minister warns the Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, Madame Alexandra Kollontai, that continuation of the war against Finland could lead to the involvement of the Western powers.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/xOwDMFq.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/Og4f4iS.jpg)
Kelivaara.
Daily losses: 122
***
28 January - DAY 60 of Winter War
K.J. Ståhlberg, independent Finland's first President, turns 75.
Karelian Isthmus: a reconnaissance patrol from the Finnish 1st Division has returned from a successful two-day mission along the railway line to Raivola and back along the frozen Gulf of Finland.
Ladoga Karelia: Detachment Pajari repulses the Soviet offensive on the River Aittojoki.
During the afternoon, the Soviet troops in Vieksinki voluntarily withdraw from the village, leaving behind over 200 fallen comrades.
The Finns take the Kelivaara 'motti'.
The assault on West Lemetti 'motti' is unsuccessful.
In the Ilomantsi sector the enemy makes several attempts to take Petkelniemi.
Karelian Isthmus: enemy bombers hit a field hospital marked with a red cross in a vicarage in Johannes. The bomb kills 20 patients, two members of the women's auxiliary defence forces and two nurses. Several others are wounded in the attack.
The enemy also bombs the coastal towns of Kotka, Loviisa, Hanko and Rauma.
29 fallen servicemen are buried in a joint service in Uurainen church.
The crew of a Blenheim bomber on a transfer flight from Tampere to Luonetjärvi are killed when the plane crashes in Siikakangas
'Père Clément', the renowned French general Clément Grandcourt arrives in Helsinki to enlist as a volunteer in the Finnish Army.
Daily losses: 110
***
29 January - DAY 61 of Winter War
Molotov announces through the Swedish Foreign Minister that the Soviet Union is in principle willing to discuss peace.
Northern Finland: at 5 o'clock in the morning Colonel Siilasvuo's 9th Division launches a counteroffensive to destroy the Russian 54th Division in Kuhmo.
Central Isthmus: in Summa, the enemy carries out a probing assault preceded by heavy preparatory artillery fire in the Hanhiojansuu sector. The Finnish defences repulse the assault.
Eastern Isthmus: in Taipale, the enemy breaks through in the Terenttilä area. Intense fighting is still going on.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops continue their attacks on the West Lemetti 'motti'. Six Blenheim bombers from 10 Squadron bomb enemy transports at the mouth of the River Taipaleenjoki. When one of the aircraft has to make a forced landing, the others land on the ice and rescue the crew.
Karelian Isthmus: Finnish fighters shoot down two enemy fire control planes.
Häme: an enemy bomber makes a forced landing on Lake Iso Roinevesi in the municipality of Hauho. The Finnish air Force inherits a completely undamaged Russian DB-3 bomber.
Ladoga Karelia: Soviet aircraft bomb Mantsi Fort.
Turku: a late air-raid warning allows enemy bombers to catch the city by surprise and 36 people are killed on their way to the air-raid shelters; most of the victims are hit in front of the main post office.
Finland's Minister of Social Affairs K.-A. Fagerholm travels to Oslo to appeal to Norway to send troops and fighter aircraft to Finland.
Abroad: tickets for the bandy match between Finland and Sweden to raise funds for Finland are sold out. King Gustav V of Sweden is among those who have bought a ticket.
Daily losses: 126
http://i.imgur.com/Bi34Zx8m.jpg (https://imgur.com/Bi34Zx8)
Soviet POWs at Matkaselkä.
30 January - DAY 62 of Winter War
Stockholm: Finnish Chargé d'Affaires Eljas Erkko passes on the main points of the Soviet Union's peace terms. The central question is the Soviet demand for bases on the Gulf of Finland. The Finnish answer is no.
Ladoga Karelia: the Soviet offensive on the River Aittojoki ends in failure as Group Talvela holds its ground.
Northern Finland: in the Salla sector the Russian 88th Division launches an offensive on the northern front at Saija, south of the River Tenniöjoki:
Finland intercepts a telegram from the Soviet 9th Army's new commander, V.I. Chuikov, in which he asks the commander of the 54th Division fighting in Kuhmo whether he thinks his division is surrounded or not.
The famous Spanish fighter pilot Nicolas Beries is on his way to Finland as a volunteer.
Oslo: Finland's Minister of Social Affairs K.-A. Fagerholm explains the situation in Finland and appeals for Norway to send civilian labour to Finland. A group of iron and metal workers have already volunteered.
Viktor Smeds, Chairman of the Finnish Amateur Boxing Association and President of the International Amateur Boxing Association proposes an international boxing tournament between Finland and Sweden to be held in Stockholm in February.
Abroad: in Britain, the little princesses Elizabeth and Margaret have stopped knitting socks for British servicemen in favour of clothes for Finnish children.
Daily losses: 85
***
31 January - DAY 63 of Winter War
Northern Finland: the Finnish defences repulse a massive Soviet offensive at Saija in the Kuhmo sector.
Lake Ladoga: the enemy carries out a number of assaults on islands in the lake.
Northern Finland: Finnish troops defeat a Russian ski battalion at Silmälampi and Löytövaara. The enemy loses 160 men and a large amount of automatic weapons.
The township of Rovaniemi suffers five dead in heavy bombing. The enemy is increasingly selecting civilian targets.
Prime Minister Ryti sends Finland's response to continuing contacts with the Soviet Union to Chargé d'Affaires Erkko in Stockholm.
A ship carrying children to Sweden is attacked by Soviet submarines.
Another staffed field ambulance leaves Stockholm for Finland.
Southern Ostrobothnia: the closing ceremonies for the 1939 session of Parliament begin in Kauhajoki with a church service at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The ceremonies end with the evacuee Parliament giving three cheers for Finland's freedom.
Official figures suggest the enemy has conducted 643 air raids over Finland since the outbreak of the war, dropping over 20,000 bombs on a total of 207 different localities.
Abroad: the Finnish pavilion at the New York World's Fair is also to be kept open for the 1940 exhibition.
South African wine growers gift Finland 14,000 litres of wine and 7,000 litres of brandy.
Daily losses: 82
***
1 February - DAY 64 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: fighting intensifies on the Isthmus. At 10.50 in the morning the Russian artillery begins shelling the main defensive position of the Finnish 3rd Division in Summa, and later on also shells positions further back.
Preparations for the pending enemy offensive involve an unprecedented number of bombers.
Shortly after noon the enemy begins a massive offensive supported by tanks and aircraft. The enemy infantry follow the tanks, either by running or by creeping along behind armoured shields drawn by the tanks.
12 Squadron locates about 100 enemy artillery batteries in the Kuolemanjärvi-Kaukjärvi-Muolaanjärvi-Summa area of the Isthmus.
Enemy aircraft strafe the area around Pyhäjärvi railway station.
The Taipale sector is bombed by at first 50, and then 80 aircraft. At the same time another 30 aircraft bomb Haparainen village.
The enemy also bombs the southern coastal towns of Hamina, Loviisa, Porvoo, Hanko, Karjaa and Tammisaari.
Southern Ostrobothnia: the 1940 session of Parliament opens in Kauhajoki.
Abroad: the Board of the Swedish Red Cross urges the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate attacks on Finnish civilians by the Soviet Air Force and to consider possible countermeasures.
The Soviet news agency Tass claims Sweden has emptied its prisons to allow convicts to go off to Finland as volunteers.
In London, prayers are said on behalf of Finland in St Paul's Cathedral. Those present include the Archbishop of Canterbury and all the Nordic ambassadors.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/AnLfzX1.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/AHoj9Le.jpg)
On break after a battle. Kollaa.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/HBdPjf4.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/c9gkewh.jpg)
Regimental 'motti', some 400 Russians.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/Nyt6Ayd.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/hry75jK.jpg)
Simo "Simuna" Häyhä in Loimola. Häyhä served in Aarne Juutilainen's company i.e. 6/II/IR34 which was pulled from Kollaa to Loimola for rest.
Daily losses: 145
Dang! Forgot this from January 1.
If you've ever wondered what it sounds to be on the receiving end of a strafing run:
https://youtu.be/GkE9tmuBrIA?t=442
Translation up until the strafing run:
"I can see them now, two of them."
"They're coming closer from over-.. cars on the road are hurrying to take shelter."
"Two planes with dark fuselages, flying much lower than one would think, but coming straight at us."
"Two dark fighter planes."
"Now-"
*Machine gun fire*
"..firing their machine guns!"
Jimbuna
02-01-16, 05:19 PM
Most frightening I should imagine.
Schroeder
02-01-16, 05:46 PM
Was that a public radio broadcast?
Recorded live, but broadcasted some days later. (AFAIK)
Schroeder
02-02-16, 08:14 AM
I always wondered how they recorded sound back then. I believe tape wasn't invented yet.:hmm2:
*Edit*
Scratch that, it was already invented...
2 February - DAY 65 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: Soviet forces continue their assault on the 3rd Division's main defensive position.
The Soviet Air Force continues its bombing raids as part of the general offensive on the Isthmus.
Eastern Isthmus: a patrol of seven enemy paratroopers lands on the frozen Lake Pyhäjärvi and is wiped out.
Northern Finland: the Soviet 54th Division, surrounded in Kuhmo, is attempting to break out by attacking in a number of areas.
Another enemy division is brought in to support the attacks.
Ladoga Karelia: 92 enemy aircraft attack Sortavala in five waves, killing 15 people and injuring 44 others; the Lutheran church is among the buildings destroyed in the attack.
Pori: enemy bombers hit a bomb splinter shelter, killing 11 women and 3 men. Altogether 21 people are killed in the raid.
Lake Saimaa: Lieutenant Fritz Rasmussen, a Danish volunteer pilot, is killed when enemy aircraft shoot down his Fokker FR-81 while he is on a defensive flight near Rauha on the shores of Lake Saimaa.
Abroad: the Holmenkollen skiing stadium in Oslo puts on a benefit event in aid of Finland. The main attractions are the oft-crowned Olympic speed-skating champion and World Champion Clas Thunberg and the ski-jumpers Lauri Valonen and Niilo Toppila.
Brazilian President Getulio Vargas announces that Brazil is to send Finland a gift of 10,000 sacks of coffee.
The Finnish Government presents its opening position for peace talks in response to the terms of negotiation presented by the Soviet Union. The response is communicated to the Soviet Union via the Swedish Foreign Ministry.
The Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, Madame Alexandra Kollontai, indicates that the Soviet Union cannot give up its demand for bases in Finland.
The British War Cabinet rejects a plan for a naval blockade of the Soviet Union.
Daily losses: 165
http://i.imgur.com/3RJUyHzm.jpg (https://imgur.com/3RJUyHz)
Destroyed enemy tanks in the western-Lemetti motti.
Schroeder
02-02-16, 02:49 PM
Eastern Isthmus: a patrol of seven enemy paratroopers lands on the frozen Lake Pyhäjärvi and is wiped out.
That sounds completely stupid. Why would anyone drop onto a frozen lake that offers zero cover and within weapons range of the enemy.:dead:
Jimbuna
02-02-16, 08:00 PM
That sounds completely stupid. Why would anyone drop onto a frozen lake that offers zero cover and within weapons range of the enemy.:dead:
Only Stalin can answer that :doh:
That sounds completely stupid. Why would anyone drop onto a frozen lake that offers zero cover and within weapons range of the enemy.:dead:
Lake Pyhäjärvi is in the rear, behind the Mannerheim line. If you look at the first map on post #8, Lake Pyhäjärvi is where 10.D mark is, that kinda "U" shaped lake. I assume the drop was seen and a patrol was sent to take them out.
***
3 February - DAY 66 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: Finnish defenders successfully repulse enemy attacks on the Mannerheim Line in Summa, Suokanta and Oinaala.
The Russian 7th Army and 13th Army are ordered to begin the work of breaking down the Finnish defences on the Isthmus.
Ladoga Karelia: detachments of enemy troops which had advanced from the south on skis are surrounded in a 'motti' at Lavajärvi.
Battalion Mankonen completes destruction of the enemy ski battalion at Löytöjärvi. In three days the enemy death toll reaches around 400.
Soviet aircraft bomb a number of localities across the country: in Kuopio the air raid leaves 34 dead and 38 injured.
Viipuri: enemy bombers hit hard in and around Torkkelinkatu, Punaisenlähteentori square, the market square, the old town and the district of Havi. The Lutheran cathedral is partly destroyed in the raid.
Kotka: the woodyard at the Enso Gutzeit sawmill is set ablaze and almost totally destroyed.
Eastern Isthmus: a Russian fire control aircraft is in the air all day over Taipale directing the enemy artillery fire.
A captured enemy map contains accurate details of the position of the Finnish command post in the Taipale sector.
Abroad: the International Labour Office announces that the Soviet Union has been expelled from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Marshall Mannerheim's sister, Countess Eva Sparre arrives in New York to begin a series of lectures in the USA on Finland.
The great Finnish runners Paavo Nurmi and Taisto Mäki receive a hero's welcome on arrival in New York. Thousands of people and dozens of reporters come to the harbour to welcome them.
Daily losses: 129
4 February - DAY 67 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops wipe up the western 'motti' at Lemetti in the early hours of the morning, capturing a considerable amount of enemy material, including 32 assault tanks, 40 lorries, six field kitchens and the instruments of a military band. Only around one hundred enemy troops manage to break out of the 'motti' before its final destruction.
Northern Finland: the Russian Dolin ski brigade launches a counterattack in Kuhmo.
Central Isthmus: enemy artillery, aircraft and assault tanks shell the Finnish positions in Summa and Lähde.
Only in Summa village does the Soviet infantry attempt an advance, using its overwhelming superiority in numbers in an attempt to exhaust the Finnish troops, who are forced to fight and sleep in the open in temperatures of almost 30 degrees below zero.
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, Moscow's propaganda radio announces that Finland is continuing to hound its workers, with "officer devils" spurring their troops on to burn and loot working-class homes.
The Finnish Army is unable to find any more reserves or transfer those it has in time to cover areas where the Russians are threatening to break through.
Eastern Isthmus: Taipale enjoys its quietest night of the year. Less than 50 mortars are fired in 7th Division's sector.
Helsinki: children, the elderly, and the disabled are to be compulsorily evacuated from the city. Those who do not leave voluntarily will be forcibly removed.
Abroad: Paavo Nurmi and Taisto Mäki, the famous Finnish runners currently on a tour of the USA, attend a flag-raising ceremony in the Finnish pavilion at the New York World's Fair.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/QP8KHQv.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/0ZmTVlg.jpg)
Smouldering Russian dugouts. West Lemetti.
Daily losses: 153
5 February - DAY 68 of Winter War
Stockholm: Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner confers with his Swedish counterpart, Christian Günther, before proceeding to Hella Wuolijoki's room in the Grand Hotel to hold a meeting at 11 a.m. with the Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, Madame Alexandra Kollontai.
Tanner is told the Soviet Union cannot accept Finland's terms for opening talks, and Tanner then suggests one of the islands in the Gulf of Finland as an alternative site for a Soviet base instead of Hanko. Ambassador Kollontai promises to pass the proposal on to her government for consideration.
Karelian Isthmus: following a preliminary artillery bombardment, the enemy launches heavy assaults in the morning in the areas of Summa, Marjapellonmäki and Lake Hatjalahti (http://i.imgur.com/lyLytuu.jpg) with the support of over one hundred assault tanks. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority the attack becomes bogged down and ends in the destruction of 22 assault tanks.
Ladoga Karelia: the Finnish counterattack in the Pitkäranta (http://i.imgur.com/75YMrmu.jpg) area is unsuccessful.
Northern Finland: the enemy drops a number of parachutists, but the Finnish defences are able to locate where they land.
In the early hours of the morning Finnish aircraft bomb the enemy troops bivouaced around their campfire.
Ladoga Karelia: the Russians begin to take Karelians from the border villages in the municipality of Suojärvi (http://i.imgur.com/3mKKC2S.jpg) over the border into Soviet Karelia.
Over 1,500 are transferred to two transit camps. Those moved are mainly from Suojärvi but a few are from border villages in the municipality of Salmi. Old people, women and children are transported in lorries to forest labour centres almost 200 kilometres away in Interposolka and Kaimaoja. A number of children die on the cold journey. Over 50 children and old people die in the camps due to a lack of proper food.
Northern Finland: a battalion of the enemy's Dolin ski brigade tries to get behind the Finnish troops at Haukkajärvi, but is pushed back across the border by Detachment Kekkonen.
Abroad: Supreme Allied Command in Paris decides to help Finland. An allied unit of at least two brigades in strength is to be sent to Finland in the middle of March.
The Finnish Red Cross receives a donation from the Belgian Red Cross.
The great Finnish runners Paavo Nurmi and Taisto Mäki travel to Washington, where they are received by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Daily losses: 166
http://i.imgur.com/xw9CH7gm.jpg (https://imgur.com/xw9CH7g)
Shot down DB3 at Kerisyrjä.
6 February - DAY 69 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the Mannerheim Line holds firm. Finnish troops repulse the attempted Soviet breakthrough in Summa village and Marjapellonmäki (http://i.imgur.com/lyLytuu.jpg).
The first enemy tanks are destroyed in the early morning twilight, with the accompanying infantry also suffering heavy losses.
By 7.30 in the evening the Finnish front line is entirely under Finnish control. The retreating enemy suffers heavy losses from the Finnish artillery and machine-gun fire.
Northern Finland: in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif), the Finnish 9th Division surrounds the Russian 54th Division in a series of 'mottis'.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops capture an enemy base to the northeast of Lake Ladoga. The enemy loses over 500 men and a considerable amount of war material.
Stockholm: Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner has another meeting with the Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, Madame Alexandra Kollontai. Madame Kollontai passes on her government's view that Tanner's suggestion of the previous day does not provide a sufficient basis for opening peace talks. Tanner leaves for home.
Norway: the northern Norwegian province of Ruija announces that there are currently 1,179 Finnish refugees in the province: 381 men, 359 women and 429 children.
London: a question is asked in the House of Commons on the urgent dispatch of aircraft to Finland. Due to the sensitivity of the issue no detailed information can be provided.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/vrk8d4Z.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/j4IQJGS.jpg)
Ski patrol in Märkäjärvi.
Daily losses: 94
7 February - DAY 70 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the pressure on the Isthmus continues to grow. The non-stop Soviet artillery bombardment, bombing and tank and infantry assaults are now into their seventh day in the area defended by the Finnish 3rd Division.
A dugout belonging to the Finnish 9th Infantry Regiment takes a direct hit from a heavy enemy mortar; 18 soldiers are killed and 11 wounded.
Central Isthmus: Red Army tanks and infantry mount two separate assaults in Summa village (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg), both of which are successfully repulsed.
Ladoga Karelia: in the Aittojoki sector, Detachment Pajari is attempting to strike the enemy troops to the west of the River Kuukkausjoki (http://i.imgur.com/rn2r7jo.jpg).
The Finnish attack grinds to a halt in the evening in the face of heavy enemy fire.
Northern Finland: in the Suomussalmi sector an enemy detachment which had entered Finnish territory to the south of Raate is pushed back across the border.
Thirty-three enemy aircraft carry out a surprise bombing raid on Kajaani, where the headquarters of the North Finland Group are situated. Four people are killed in the raid, including one doctor, and two civilians are injured. Several buildings are destroyed, the worst hit being the town hospital.
The enemy takes advantage of the resulting confusion to send in reconnaissance parachutists. Those picked up are wearing Finnish military uniforms.
Helsinki: the city court sentences 12 people to pay fines for infringing the blackout regulations.
Abroad: in Copenhagen a new civilian labour agency has attracted 1,250 volunteers for Finland in its first two days of operation.
An article in Leningradskaya Pravda tells of the first executions in Leningrad for hoarding food and profiteering. The official grounds for the convictions are counter-revolutionary activities and serving as a Finnish agent.
The United States' House of Representatives rejects by 108 votes to 105 a motion to withdraw the US Ambassador from Moscow in protest over the war in Finland.
The American trade union movement is today holding a special day to express its support for Finland.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/dBkJS6e.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/1XcpGh1.jpg)
Captain Teira of 8/kT-Pr.* in Märkäjärvi.
*=8th battalion, field replacement brigade
Daily losses: 195
8 February - DAY 71 of Winter War
The Soviet Union asks Finland which island it would be willing to surrender to house a Soviet base.
Central Isthmus: Soviet infantry supported by tanks and protected by ski-borne armoured sheets manage to reach the front of the Finnish positions in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg). By midnight the enemy has been forced to withdraw, leaving almost 150 armoured sheets in Finnish hands.
Eastern Isthmus: two Soviet divisions launch a massive assault in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg) at 10.15 in the morning.
The enemy directs heavy shelling onto the eastern part of Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg) and the western strongholds in Terenttilä (http://i.imgur.com/zPK6cgP.jpg).
The Finnish positions being shelled are also bombed by nine enemy aircraft at the same time as fighter aircraft strafe the front lines.
Two of the Terenttilä (http://i.imgur.com/zPK6cgP.jpg) strongholds are lost to the enemy. Finnish losses total 219 men, of whom 32 are killed.
The enemy assault on Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg) fails with the loss of two assault tanks.
In the north, 1,500 Russians are killed in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif).
Ladoga Karelia: the enemy wipes out a Finnish ski battalion to the northeast of Lake Ladoga.
An enemy detachment of around 250 men is surrounded to the east of Lake Nietjärvi.
Government ministers Ryti, Walden and Tanner discuss the offer of help from the Allies and decide it should be used to exert pressure on both the Soviet Union and Sweden.
Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Bekassy, a Hungarian volunteer, disappears while flying his Fiat G50 fighter, bought from Italy and assembled in Sweden, from the Swedish city of Västerås to Säkylä in southwest Finland.
The Swedish national collection in aid of Finland has so far generated around 15 million krona.
The British Labour Party delegation visiting Finland leaves for home today.
Abroad: the Paris Opera is putting on a special gala evening to raise funds for Finland.
Daily losses: 187
http://i.imgur.com/mAYzq5rm.jpg (https://imgur.com/mAYzq5r)
Ski patrol at Märkäjärvi.
9 February - DAY 72 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops surround a Red Army regiment in Vorojenkivi, to the east of the great Kitelä 'motti', establishing what was later to become known as the 'regimental motti' to the north of Lake Ladoga. The name came naturally from the fact that an entire Russian regiment (JR 203) was trapped there.
The Finnish attempt to immediately take the 'motti' grinds to a halt in face of the Soviet tanks trapped inside. A bloody struggle ensues.
Karelian Isthmus: the commanders of the Soviet northwest front on the Isthmus order a general offensive. Around midday, the Soviet infantry launches a tank-supported assault in the Finnish 4th Division's positions in Marjapellonmäki (http://i.imgur.com/bwipgY8.jpg).
The assault is repulsed, but Soviet troops manage to take the Karhu stronghold to the north of Marjapellonmäki (http://i.imgur.com/bwipgY8.jpg) on the Summa front.
Finnish attempts to retake the stronghold prove unsuccessful.
In Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg), a fresh battalion is sent in during the course of the evening to relieve the battalion fighting in the Lähde sector.
Helsinki: graduation as a qualified nurse is to be made easier and more courses provided for trainee nurses in the Helsinki area.
The armed forces payment system is to be overhauled by presidential decree. Every soldier is to receive a monthly salary, ranging from 500 markkaa for a private soldier up to 2,500 markkaa for a general. This basic salary will be further supplemented by 150 markkaa for the first child in the family and an additional 100 markkaa for each subsequent child.
The Government is also to decide on the payment of maintenance benefits to the wife, child or disabled and dependent parents or siblings of a man called up to serve in the armed forces.
Sweden: more than two out of every hundred Swedish doctors are now in Finland, and the Swedish Medical Association's collection for Finland has already brought in over 100,000 krona.
A collection organized by a Lutheran priest in Gothenburg has raised 240,000 krona to buy a fighter aircraft for Finland.
Denmark: 10,000 Danes have volunteered to go and work in Finland.
London: a credit agreement has been signed to facilitate Finland's purchase of war material from the United Kingdom.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/pa5IhMN.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/wslbJDD.jpg)
View of the frontline terrain. Oinola.
Daily losses: 182
Schroeder
02-09-16, 04:39 AM
Central Isthmus: Soviet infantry supported by tanks and protected by ski-borne armoured sheets manage to reach the front of the Finnish positions in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg). By midnight the enemy has been forced to withdraw, leaving almost 150 armoured sheets in Finnish hands.
What is an ski borne armored sheet?:doh:
Some sort of protective shield that is used by infantry?
What is an ski borne armored sheet?:doh:
Some sort of protective shield that is used by infantry?
Yes, exactly that.
http://i.imgur.com/gyjREzZ.jpg
They would be pulled by the tanks.
Schroeder
02-09-16, 06:27 AM
Yes, exactly that.
http://i.imgur.com/gyjREzZ.jpg
They would be pulled by the tanks.
Interesting design. First time I see something like that.:salute:
10 February - DAY 73 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: the commander of the Finnish 3rd Division says the main defensive position in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg) is under attack from three Soviet divisions and a tank brigade.
The Soviet infantry has broken through in the Merkki sector (http://i.imgur.com/BUdFd5l.jpg).
Finnish troops successfully repulse the enemy assaults in Marjapellonmäki, but are unable to retake the Karhu stronghold.
Eastern Isthmus: the fighting in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg) continues with increasing ferocity. The enemy artillery opens fire at 10.30 in the morning.
At 12 minutes past noon the enemy infantry launches its assault with the support of six assault tanks.
At 2.30 p.m. Major Saarelainen announces that the enemy assault has been successfully repulsed and four of their assault tanks destroyed.
Mikkeli: Prime Minister Ryti, Foreign Minister Tanner and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, Marshall Mannerheim discuss possible terms for peace. Mannerheim urges the Government to seek peace.
Ladoga Karelia: in the Aittojoki sector, troops belonging to Detachment Pajari carry out a new assault on the River Kuukkausjoki (http://i.imgur.com/rn2r7jo.jpg).
After fierce close combat the Finnish troops manage to clear the enemy from the west bank of the river by the evening.
Viipuri: enemy bombing destroys the Dominican monastery built in 1481 and currently serving as the church for the rural congregation around Viipuri.
Abroad: a train from the Finnish Centre for Nordic Aid arrives in Stockholm with 300 Finnish children.
A Danish officer, Colonel Tretow-Loof is travelling to Finland to lead the Danish volunteer battalion.
An association called 'Wings for Finland' is founded in New York to procure aircraft for Finland.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/IaCaH7l.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/ZR8Ohjw.jpg)
Abandoned Russian tank (BT?) at Lemetti crossroads.
Daily losses: 147
11 February - DAY 74 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the day begins foggy, but brightens up during the course of the morning. The temperature remains at around 20 below zero throughout the day.
Central Isthmus: at 8.40 in the morning, the Soviet artillery begins drumfire across the entire breadth of the 3rd Division's defensive position in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg), continuing the bombardment for four hours.
A little before midday the enemy infantry begins its assault with massive air and tank support.
The Russians throw 50,000 troops into the attack in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg).
The defending Finnish forces take out 72 enemy assault tanks.
The 'Fort Poppius' fortress is lost to the enemy at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Some of its defenders begin to panic, and by evening a Russian division has penetrated to the support line in the Lähde sector (http://i.imgur.com/Vfrsz48.jpg).
The Finnish counterattack runs out of steam before midnight. In all other parts of Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg) the enemy assault is successfully repulsed.
By midnight Finnish reserves have restored the lines.
The three Finnish divisions in the main defensive position successfully repulse attempted breakthroughs by at least six Soviet divisions.
Eastern Isthmus: during the course of the day between 40,000 and 50,000 mortars of varying types rain down on the front line and reserve positions in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg).
In Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg) every single soldier in stronghold no.1 is either killed or wounded.
Northern Finland: at Löytövaara in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif), Battalion Arponen launches an assault with shock troops at 7 o'clock in the morning.
A volunteer detachment of shock troops crawls through deep snow to take the enemy dugouts by surprise. The ploy is a success, and the shock troops begin to systematically take out the Russian defences with piled-up charges, petrol bombs and machine pistols. By evening the area is in Finnish hands, with only a few of the enemy managing to escape across Lake Löytöjärvi to Riihivaara.
Karelian Isthmus: Reserve Lieutenant Gunnar Höckert is killed on the Isthmus. Höckert won the gold medal in the men's 5,000 metres at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and ran three world record times during the course of his athletic career.
Abroad: teams representing Sweden and Finland play an international bandy match in biting temperatures of 15 below zero in the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. The proceeds are to be donated to the Finnish war effort. Listeners to Swedish radio can also contribute to the collection.
Before the match begins the actress Ella Eronen recites the words of the Finnish national anthem in Finnish and Swedish.
The game ends in a Swedish victory by 2 goals to 1.
The official proceeds from the match are 475,000 krona.
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has sent 1,200 dollars to the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, and Sibelius has decided the money should be used to help the needy families of fallen reservists.
Daily losses: 565
http://i.imgur.com/4AAkqttm.jpg (https://imgur.com/4AAkqtt)
Finnish sentry at Kemijärvi.
12 February 1940 - DAY 75 of Winter War
Northern Finland: Colonel Dolin, commander of the enemy ski brigade bearing his name, is killed in a skirmish with a Finnish patrol in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif).
Karelian Isthmus: the Red Army enlarges its breakthrough in the Lähde sector (http://i.imgur.com/Vfrsz48.jpg).
The enemy fails to break through in other sectors of the front.
The enemy continues to attack on the Muolaanjärvi-Punnusjärvi isthmuses (http://i.imgur.com/vvuVnKo.jpg).
The Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg) stronghold in Taipale is lost and attempts to retake it prove unsuccessful.
Heavy fighting continues in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg).
Referring to the aid Finland is expecting from the international community, Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner issues a statement in his own name via the Finnish News Agency in which he denies claims of attempts to broker a peace.
Prime Minister Ryti and Minister without Portfolio J.K. Paasikivi describe Tanner's statement as ill-considered.
While in Turku en route for a secret trip to Stockholm, Tanner receives details from Chargé d'Affaires Erkko of the Soviet Union's terms for peace.
The Soviet terms are passed on to the Finnish Government.
The Ministry of Supply announces new maximum prices for coffee: the maximum permitted retail price for roasted ersatz containing at least 25% coffee is 20 marks per kilo, with Rio blend at 34 marks, the Central American Santos blend 32 marks and Quality blend at 50 marks per kilo.
Abroad: Karl J. Ewerts, the director of volunteer recruitment in Sweden, returns from a trip to the Karelian Isthmus and issues a statement to the press calling for weapons, men and vehicles to be sent to Finland.
The first 10 Finnish flying cadets arrive in Stockholm for training provided by the Royal Swedish Aero Club.
In the United States, the 'one dollar collection' organized by the Finnish committee has already raised over a million dollars.
Daily losses: 503
Daily (Finnish) losses (KIA) added to each entry.
Schroeder
02-12-16, 05:59 AM
Are those just the Finnish losses or those of the soviets as well?
Are those just the Finnish losses or those of the soviets as well?
Finnish losses only, taken from the Suomen sodissa menehtyneet 1939-1945 database.
Schroeder
02-12-16, 06:31 AM
Finnish losses only, taken from the Suomen sodissa menehtyneet 1939-1945 database.
Definitely unsustainable for such a small population.:dead:
Definitely unsustainable for such a small population.:dead:The larger problem turned out to be the lack of ammunition for both artillery and anti-tank guns.
13 February 1940 - DAY 76 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: at 6.30 a.m. the 5th Division's 14th Infantry Regiment launches a counterattack to retake the lost main defensive line in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg).
By noon the Finnish troops have managed to advance a few kilometres, but then come up against enemy tanks and are forced to withdraw. The counterattack is ultimately unsuccessful.
Just after noon Soviet troops break through the support line in the Lähde sector (http://i.imgur.com/Vfrsz48.jpg).
Despite a fierce Finnish counterattack, the enemy continues to advance and approaches the Lähde crossroads (http://i.imgur.com/Vfrsz48.jpg).
In Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg), Finnish troops succeed in retaking the Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg) stronghold overrun by Soviet troops in yesterday's fighting.
General Headquarters orders the 23rd Division to move onto the Isthmus.
Squadron 26 shoots down 9 Soviet aircraft over the Isthmus.
Viipuri is suffering an endless barrage of enemy bombs.
On the home front, Lahti, Heinola and Porvoo are also bombed.
Foreign Minister Tanner holds talks in Sweden with representatives of the Swedish Government, expressing the hope for Swedish troops to be sent to Finland.
The Swedish Government responds in the negative: Sweden will not give Finland direct military assistance.
The Finnish Parliament introduces draft legislation to leave the taxes of fallen servicemen uncollected.
Abroad: a benefit bandy international between Norway and Finland at the Bislet ice rink in Oslo ends in a 2-1 victory for Finland. The event was organized by sports journalists in the Norwegian capital, and the proceeds of 300,000 marks will be donated to help the families of Finnish sportsmen killed at the front.
Georg Gripenberg, Finland's diplomatic representative in London, and Lieutenant-General Enckell, who is currently on a visit to the British capital, appeal to Lord Halifax, the British Foreign Secretary, to send military aid to Finland. Halifax promises to raise the matter in the War Cabinet.
A fully equipped force of Hungarian volunteers has travelled to Scandinavia via France to help in the defence of Finland.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/RuTtNrc.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/m76JVRQ.jpg)
Russian T-26 destroyed by 3/Er.P.5. with a piled-up charge. Somewhere in Muolaa sector.
Daily Finnish Losses: 547
14 February 1940 - DAY 77 of Winter War
Eastern Isthmus: fierce fighting in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg) results in the enemy retaking the Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg) stronghold which had been recaptured by Finnish troops during the night.
After a massive artillery barrage lasting two hours the Russians launch an assault in both Terenttilä (http://i.imgur.com/zPK6cgP.jpg) and Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg).
The attack is supported by both aircraft and tanks.
Lack of sufficient available strength makes it impossible for the Finnish troops to respond effectively.
The ferocity of the battle is illustrated by the fact that the commander of the company with responsibility for the front has to be replaced three times within the space of just a few hours due to the death or injury of his predecessor.
There is a lull in the fighting at 5.35 p.m.
In compliance with their orders the Finnish troops in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg) pull out of their positions in the Lähde sector (http://i.imgur.com/Vfrsz48.jpg).
Fortunately there is no enemy attack during the withdrawal, reorganization and regrouping of the Finnish defences. The Finns also succeed in reinforcing their troops in the Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg) sector.
In the north, the Finnish 9th Division suspends attacks on the Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif) 'mottis'.
The Russians lose 30,000-40,000 men in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg).
The enemy awards an assault tank brigade trapped in a 'motti' 300 roubles to distribute among the troops in honour of the 22nd anniversary of the Red Army.
Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim, the commanding officer of the Army of the Isthmus, and the commanding officer of II Army Corps meet in Saarela manor house to discuss the situation on the Isthmus.
Viipuri: enemy bombers damage the castle bridge and Viipuri Castle itself.
On the home front, Soviet bombers hit Hamina.
The Finnish Government publishes a note aimed at foreign powers on the Soviet Union's infringements of the customs of war.
Abroad: British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain informs Finland's diplomatic representative in London, Georg Gripenberg that the United Kingdom is prepared to supply Finland with thirty 84 mm field cannons and 30,000 shells. This is around a third of what Finland had asked for.
Daily Finnish Losses: 456
15 February 1940 - DAY 78 of Winter War
Central Isthmus: by evening the Russian 123rd Division has opened up a 2-3 kilometre wide and 6 kilometre deep gap in the Lähde sector (http://i.imgur.com/Vfrsz48.jpg) in Summa (http://i.imgur.com/2EDQeT8.jpg).
Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim decides to abandon the Mannerheim Line and pull the Finnish troops back to the intermediary defensive positions (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg) on the Isthmus.
At 8 p.m., II Army Corps receives the order to withdraw.
The troops begin to pull back to the Samolanlahti-Näykkijärvi-Muolaanjärvi-Äyräpäänjärvi line.
Lappeenranta is hit by heavy enemy bombing: 17 die and 53 are injured in the raid.
Northern Finland: the fighting in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif) is concentrated on Kesseli, although part of the enemy's crack Dolin ski brigade has already dispersed over a wide area to the rear of the 9th Division. The Dolin brigade has been reduced to around 800 men, and is completely surrounded.
Lake Ladoga: a battalion of Russian reconnaissance parachutists attacks the island of Petäjäsaari (http://i.imgur.com/w56Iib9.jpg) and manages to hold on there for almost 24 hours.
Ladoga Karelia: fierce fighting is currently going on for control of Pukitsanmäki (http://i.imgur.com/R48dZ2x.jpg).
The Lavajärvi (http://i.imgur.com/Twq3Pv6.jpg) 'motti' breaks down. The enemy has so far been successful in supplying the troops inside the 'motti' from the air.
In taking Lavajärvi (http://i.imgur.com/Twq3Pv6.jpg) village the Finnish troops capture several pieces of artillery, three armoured cars, eight lorries, four field kitchens and a large number of guns and ammunition.
The Finnish Social Democratic Party has resolved its differences with the Civil Guard, ending over 20 years of conflict between the two organizations. SDP members are now free to join the Civil Guard.
The Isänmaa ('fatherland') postage stamp goes on sale today.
The Ministry of Supply has confirmed the price controls on firewood. The maximum permissible price per cubic metre for good-quality, fresh birch logs is 103 marks in Tampere and 93 marks in Viipuri.
Olympic champion Lauri Lehtinen is to donate his gold medal from the 5,000 metres at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 to be awarded to an as-yet-unnamed soldier who has served with distinction on the Karelian Isthmus. Lehtinen's gesture is also to be seen as a mark of respect for fellow athlete Gunnar Höckert, who was killed in action four days ago on the Isthmus. Höckert took the gold medal over the same distance in the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
Daily Finnish Losses: 442
http://i.imgur.com/mkBQq7jm.jpg (https://imgur.com/mkBQq7j)
Replacements leaving to the front. (Lohja)
16 February 1940 - DAY 79 of Winter War
The rapidly deteriorating situation forces General Headquarters to concentrate more troops on the Isthmus.
At 3.45 in the afternoon the Finnish troops receive the order to withdraw to the intermediary defensive positions (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg) on the Isthmus.
By evening the troops have regrouped in their new positions with the enemy in close pursuit.
The Finnish troops manage a controlled withdrawal everywhere apart from the Lähde road sector (http://i.imgur.com/Vfrsz48.jpg). Here the enemy breaks through the Finnish lines a little before midday and progresses as far as Kämärä (http://i.imgur.com/blTektp.jpg) station.
In this sector, an inexperienced battalion of the 62nd Infantry Regiment facing the Russians is unable to withstand the preliminary artillery bombardment and the subsequent tank assault; it finally breaks up in panic, abandoning its position.
Northern Finland: the remnants of the Dolin ski brigade are wiped out in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif) by the evening. 1,700 of the 1,800 men in this crack Soviet brigade are killed. The Finnish troops capture a considerable haul of automatic weapons.
A regular meeting of the Finnish Government and the President of the Republic discusses a legislative proposal for the State to provide compensation for bodily injuries caused by the war.
Sweden: the evening paper Folkets Dagblad Politiken reveals Foreign Minister Tanner's secret trip to Stockholm and Sweden's decision not to support Finland. Swedish Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson confirms the report and insists there has been no change in Sweden's position.
All 16 women members of the Finnish Parliament publish an appeal to the women of the world. The appeal ends by calling on the world's women to allow their husbands and sons to come to help the Finns win their struggle on behalf of freedom, humanity and justice.
Abroad: Swedish construction workers donate 960,000 krona towards fighter aircraft for Finland.
In Toronto, the Provincial Parliament of Ontario has asked the Canadian Government for permission to send to Finland the Canadian volunteer division which has already been assembled.
Daily Finnish Losses: 415
http://i.imgur.com/qZgkgOhm.jpg (https://imgur.com/qZgkgOh)
Lemetti crossroads area.
17 February 1940 - DAY 80 of Winter War
Heavy fighting continues on the Karelian Isthmus.
The enemy manages to break the defensive line in Postilampi (http://i.imgur.com/V6e94B0.jpg) near Kämärä station.
The outnumbered Finnish troops are fighting enemy tanks on the open snow without anti-tank guns.
The Finns are forced to retreat.
The Soviet attack grinds to a halt at the intermediary defensive positions (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg).
The Russians make strenuous efforts to take Suursaari island (http://i.imgur.com/xnUo8kE.jpg) in Lake Muolaanjärvi.
The attempt fails.
Ladoga Karelia: in recognition of his prowess in the fighting on the River Kollaanjoki (http://i.imgur.com/KugVxoi.jpg), Corporal Simo Häyhä is awarded a Sako target rifle donated by a Swedish sympathiser, Eugen Johansson.
Häyhä has shot dead 219 enemy soldiers with his open-sight 'pystykorva' rifle, and approximately the same number again with a submachine gun and a rapid-fire rifle. His most successful tally for a single day has been 25 dead.
Häyhä has previously been awarded the Medal of Liberty, a pocket watch and woollen gloves.
Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim addresses an appeal to his officers: "The whole future of our people hangs in the balance. Only our loyalty and endurance can save the day. I am sure every officer will do his duty."
Northern Finland: Soviet troops in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif) launch a new assault on the Kuusijoki line in an effort to free the trapped 54th Division.
Gulf of Bothnia: a road is opened across the frozen sea between Vaasa and Umeå in Sweden.
Iisalmi suffers heavy enemy bombing. 41 people are killed in a direct hit on a bomb shelter.
130 enemy aircraft bomb Viipuri.
158 American Finnish volunteers arrive in Oulu.
An exhibition of captured war materiel opens in Helsinki Exhibition Hall. Proceeds from the exhibition are to be used to help the needy relatives of soldiers fallen in the war.
Visitors to the exhibition can keep abreast of the latest figures from the front. There are, for example, two boards presenting the numbers of enemy aircraft shot down and tanks destroyed since the start of the war.
Today's figures are 387 aircraft and 1,050 tanks.
Abroad: the Swedish press strongly criticizes Prime Minister Hansson and the Swedish Government's decision not to help Finland.
The Swedish Prime Minister's negative reply to Finland is received with satisfaction in Moscow. The Soviet leadership believes Finland's fate has now been finally sealed.
The British and French press believe Sweden will come to regret the decision.
In Geneva, Miss Sophie Mannerheim delivers a hugely popular lecture on her father and the war.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/KhFdyxX.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/Ucj7rY8.jpg)
Simo Häyhä receiving a SAKO rifle from Colonel Svensson.
Daily Finnish Losses: 257
Schroeder
02-17-16, 05:42 AM
I wonder how reliable those numbers of Sniper Häyhä are. Over 400 people killed sounds a bit much for me. How was Finnish propaganda back then?:hmm2:
I wonder how reliable those numbers of Sniper Häyhä are. Over 400 people killed sounds a bit much for me. How was Finnish propaganda back then?:hmm2:Your guess is as good as mine.
His kills were recorded in the 6./II/JR34 war diary, which has not been digitized for some reason (or perhaps it has been lost, no idea).
400 kills amounts to 5/day, which I don't find entirely impossible considering how active the Kollaa front was during the entire war and of course the reckless way the Russians liked to attack.
Though, the 542 rifle kills is a myth, given birth by the internet. Finnish sources specifically say that the number is a total between rifle and Suomi SMG kills.
Jimbuna
02-17-16, 10:37 AM
Keep this up Teemu, I read it every day....crackin stuff :sunny:
Keep this up Teemu, I read it every day....crackin stuff :sunny::salute:
***
18 February 1940 - DAY 81 of Winter War
Viipuri suffers unprecedentedly ferocious enemy bombing.
The first aircraft appear over the city at 8.45 in the morning.
The air raid continues without a break until evening.
During the course of the day over 200 enemy aircraft are in action over the city.
The old town suffers the worst damage, including the 500-year-old garrison church and the old cathedral containing the grave of the Finnish Lutheran reformer Mikael Agricola.
Numerous medieval buildings are damaged in the bombing.
The electricity and water mains are cut, the newspapers fail to appear, and the last civilians finally leave Karelia's devastated capital.
There is growing pressure from Soviet troops around Viipurinlahti bay, and the defending Finnish troops are forced to evacuate the mainland for the islands on the eastern side of the bay.
The departing Finnish troops set fire to the houses in the municipality of Johannes.
Eastern Isthmus: the enemy launches a massive assault on the Finnish defences in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg).
In Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg) the infantry assault is preceded by a brief preliminary bombardment from the enemy artillery.
The Finnish front line has just been replenished with troops from the 21st Division in their clean snow suits and freshly painted white vehicles. The new arrivals are quickly dubbed the 'porcelain division'.
The artillery bombardment kills the commanding officers of the strongholds, and enemy bombers cripple most of the Finnish machine guns. Soon the whole front line is in enemy hands.
Ladoga Karelia: Finnish troops take the 'regimental motti' (http://i.imgur.com/NTs2DTp.jpg) formed to the north of Lake Ladoga on February 9. After several unsuccessful attempts, the breakthrough finally came this morning with an assault preceded by a relatively mild preliminary artillery bombardment.
The Finns take charge of a considerable quantity of enemy war material: around 20 assault tanks, 35 pieces of artillery, 25 lorries, 17 tractors, 200 other vehicles and 32 field kitchens.
Also captured is the enemy division's flag embroidered in gold and silver.
Enemy dead number between 1,000 and 1,200 men, in addition to which around 250 are taken prisoner, including two officers and two political instructors.
166 Finnish troops die in the battle, equivalent to 30% of the unit's combat strength.
Karelian Isthmus: Soviet tanks break through the intermediary positions (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg) in two places.
Northern Finland: in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif), around 1,000 enemy troops attack the Kuusijoki line with the support of artillery and assault tanks.
300 Danish volunteer metal workers have arrived in Finland.
France: the leader of the Garibaldi League, General Marabini is assembling a force of Garibaldi legionnaires for Finland.
Daily Finnish Losses: 362
19 February 1940 - DAY 82 of Winter War
Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim promotes Jaeger Major-General Erik Heinrichs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Heinrichs) to Lieutenant-General and names him as the new commander of the Army of the Isthmus.
A new I Army Corps is established on the Isthmus under the command of Jaeger Major-General Taavetti Laatikainen.
The commander of Group Talvela, Major-General Paavo Talvela (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paavo_Talvela), is appointed commander of III Army Corps. Talvela, too, is a jaeger.
Karelian Isthmus: in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg), Finnish troops repulse the strongest enemy assault so far: this particular assault was concentrated on the Terenttilä (http://i.imgur.com/zPK6cgP.jpg) strongholds. The bodies of 300 Russian soldiers are left lying in the trenches.
The Finns have also suffered heavy losses: between 260 and 290 died yesterday in Kirvesmäki (http://i.imgur.com/mjJ2g4Z.jpg).
The Larkko battalion which had been held in reserve, has lost 41 dead, 57 wounded and 45 missing in action.
A new Soviet division attacks across Lake Suvanto. The defending Finnish troops repel the assault with concentrated artillery fire.
The Soviet division suffers heavy losses on the Suvanto ice, which is black with the bodies of fallen Soviet troops. Between 700 and 1,000 dead enemy soldiers are strewn along the shores and the ice of the lake.
The Finns are forced to withdraw from Revonsaari island (http://i.imgur.com/s4pAfcV.jpg).
Further south the troops on the mainland pull back to Koivisto (http://i.imgur.com/wnwgjqA.jpg).
The volunteer Danish pilot Count Erhard Frijs is killed over Heinjoki when his Fokker fighter bursts into flames during aerial combat.
100 enemy bombers pound Uuras and Antrea.
King Gustav V of Sweden calls a meeting of the Swedish Government in response to the controversy caused by the visit of Finland's foreign minister, Väinö Tanner.
King Gustav issues a statement confirming Sweden's decision not to help Finland in its struggle against the overwhelmingly superior numerical force of the Soviet invader.
Despite the King's statement, schoolchildren in Linköping decide to publish an appeal for Sweden to help Finland and organize a collection to buy a fighter aircraft for Finland as a gift from the schoolchildren of Sweden.
Hungary: leading performers give a concert in Budapest to raise money for the Finnish Red Cross.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/C6UBlgo.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/hZqTwyE.jpg)
Finnish heavy artillery firing. Possibly Kenttätykistörykmentti 13 (=field artillery regiment 13).
Daily Finnish Losses: 381
Schroeder
02-19-16, 06:34 AM
That artillery piece looks ancient.:doh:
That artillery piece looks ancient.:doh:
If I am not mistaken that is a 152 K/04-200p (6-inch siege gun m1904) built in 1904 in Russia.
20 February 1940 - DAY 83 of Winter War
The day begins on the Isthmus with heavy enemy bombing.
Representatives of the Western Allies are negotiating with Mannerheim over possible military aid for Finland.
The Russians maintain the heavy pressure in the Taipale sector (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg).
In Terenttilä (http://i.imgur.com/zPK6cgP.jpg) they break through the Finnish defences to a depth of 1.5 kilometres.
Intense enemy bombing hampers Finnish countermeasures.
By evening, part of the front line has been retaken in a counterattack.
The situation of the Finnish troops in the intermediary positions (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg) on the Isthmus has decisively deteriorated.
In the Mustalampi (http://i.imgur.com/UF6Lb5q.jpg) area, Soviet tanks dragging sled personnel carriers break through the intermediary defences during the night.
By the afternoon the breakthrough extends to a depth of one kilometre.
The defending Finns manage to deal with the enemy infantry, but are unable to destroy the tanks.
About twenty tanks push through the Finnish positions.
One of the reasons for the Finnish failure is a lack of artillery shells. Finnish losses are 74 dead and wounded.
Defence of Viipurinlahti bay is transferred from the navy to the Army of the Isthmus.
Finnish gunners shoot down nine enemy aircraft today.
A detachment of Swedish volunteers, Svenska Frivilligkåren, is attached to the Finnish field army. The volunteers prepare to assume responsibility for the front in the far north, taking over from the Lapland Group.
An ambulance sent by the Swedish Red Cross is working close to the front lines in northern Finland.
In Sweden, the national collection and the women's fighter aircraft fund are both growing rapidly.
Back in Finland, the Martha Organization is opening a service centre for veterans of the front in Helsinki.
Daily Finnish Losses: 364
http://i.imgur.com/5mMrwgvm.jpg (https://imgur.com/5mMrwgv)
Patrol in Petsamo.
***
21 February 1940 - DAY 84 of Winter War
Northern Sweden: shortly after noon, at 12.46 p.m., seven Soviet aircraft begin to bomb the Swedish village of Pajala in the Tornedal valley nine kilometres from the Finnish border.
Altogether 34 explosion and 100 incendiary bombs fall in the centre of the densely populated village. A quarter of the village is set ablaze.
Despite the considerable destruction, by some miracle there is no loss of human life. The all-clear is sounded at 12.55.
The Swedish Government presents a stiffly worded protest to the Soviet Union over the incident.
The Soviet forces on the Karelian Isthmus penetrate ever deeper towards Viipuri (http://i.imgur.com/nWfFM4p.jpg).
Jaeger Colonel A.E. Martola is placed in command of the Finnish 1st Division.
His predecessor, Jaeger Major-General Taavetti Laatikainen is transferred to command I Army Corps.
Viipuri (http://i.imgur.com/nWfFM4p.jpg) marshalling yard is the target of incessant enemy bombing. Over 1,000 wagons and a dozen engines are trapped in the yard by the damaged track.
The Russian fire control planes and captive balloons are becoming more and more accurate in directing the enemy artillery.
An artillery casemate in Patoniemi on the western edge of the Taipale sector (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg) is destroyed by two direct hits. Over 700 artillery shells explode and two guns are badly damaged. One man is killed and six wounded by flying shrapnel.
Ladoga Karelia: during the course of the morning Finnish troops take the final remnants of the 'regimental motti' (http://i.imgur.com/NTs2DTp.jpg) to the north of Lake Ladoga.
Northern Finland: the Soviet offensive in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif) runs out of steam.
Karelian Isthmus: the Russian breakthrough in the intermediary position (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg) at Mustalampi (http://i.imgur.com/UF6Lb5q.jpg) is halted in a renewed counterattack by a reinforced Finnish brigade.
The Finns lose control of one of the strongholds in the Terenttilä (http://i.imgur.com/zPK6cgP.jpg) area in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg) and are unable to retake it.
Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner gives an account of the exploratory peace talks to the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament. The majority view is to grasp the chance of peace even at the cost of heavy sacrifices.
Western Finland: Vaasa Town Court convicts five young men of looting.
Helsinki Town Court hands down fines for infringements of the blackout regulations.
Abroad: the wife of Georg Gripenberg, Finland's diplomatic representative in London, introduces the British Women's Council to the work of Finnish women in defending their country.
Despite the war, US exports to the Soviet Union continue unabated. During the five months to the end of January, 90% of Soviet imports from the USA have been munitions to the value of 35 million dollars.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/Se9y036.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/2Qr0B9i.jpg)
Machine-gun position in Saija.
Daily Finnish Losses: 378
***
22 February 1940 - DAY 85 of Winter War
The extremely cold winter has made the Gulf of Finland excellent terrain for mounting an assault on the Finnish coast, the severe frost making the ice thick enough to drive a lorry over.
In the morning, the Russian 43rd Division launches an assault on the Koivisto (http://i.imgur.com/wnwgjqA.jpg) islands from the mainland.
The islands are lost to the enemy. Before abandoning them, the Finnish garrison destroys the guns and fortifications and then withdraws under cover of a snowstorm across Viipurinlahti bay to Säkkijärvi.
On the Isthmus the enemy assaults on the intermediary defensive positions (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg) are successfully repulsed.
Soviet troops take Lasisaari island in Viipurinlahti bay.
The staff of II Army Corps reports it has run out of 37 mm anti-tank shells.
Fresh supplies arrive during the night.
Northern Finland: in Kuhmo (http://i.imgur.com/Cmu9ju0.gif), Finnish dugouts are destroyed by direct laying fire from heavy field guns.
Ladoga Karelia: the enemy's 204th Reconnaissance Parachute Brigade is sighted on the front on the coast of Lake Ladoga.
Sweden is afraid that giving military aid to Finland would end up dragging it into a major war.
The Swedish Government's policy on Finland is approved by the first chamber of the Swedish Parliament. The chamber nevertheless urges the Swedish people to give whatever voluntary aid they can to Finland.
The constant enemy bombing on the home front is hampering work in factories and other workplaces.
The Finnish Government decides that the working day may be extended by up to two hours to take account of the time lost due to air raids. It also issues pay guidelines for such a contingency.
Members of the public are urged to buy 1939 government bonds.
There has been an increase in the number of volunteers from the United Kingdom since the British Government announced that men aged 27 or over are free to serve in Finland.
Daily Finnish Losses: 461
23 February 1940 - DAY 86 of Winter War
The commander of the Army of the Isthmus orders his group commanders to prepare for withdrawal to the backline defensive positions (http://i.imgur.com/rP8GJuh.jpg).
A Finnish force in Viipurinlahti bay retakes Lasisaari island, but the general situation forces it to withdraw from the island in the evening and during the night.
The enemy mounts a forceful attack on Petäjäsaari island in Lake Ladoga and takes control of the southern tip of the island for 24 hours.
In the far north, army intelligence reports that the enemy has 23 fighter aircraft and 49 bombers in Petsamo.
In Ladoga Karelia the enemy attacks in Pitkäranta (http://i.imgur.com/hhTBrRE.jpg) across the entire breadth of the front, but without success.
During the afternoon Foreign Minister Tanner receives a communication from Stockholm containing a precise statement of the Soviet Union's terms for peace.
The terms are a shock, and the shock is further compounded by Sweden's refusal to allow Allied troops to pass through Sweden en route to Finland.
The Soviet Union responds to Sweden's protest over the bombing of Pajala in northern Sweden.
The TASS news agency describes the reports of the bombings by Soviet aircraft as "mendacious and malicious allegations".
In Moscow, the Red Army celebrates its 22nd anniversary with exceptionally little pomp and without the traditional parade through Red Square.
Izvestija, the chief organ of the Soviet Government, praises the achievements of the Soviet forces in the Finnish war by saying that despite the "treachery" of the Finns the Red Army will in the end prevail.
Daily Finnish Losses: 412
24 February 1940 - DAY 87 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the Finnish 23rd Division takes advantage of a momentary lull in enemy pressure to attempt a counterattack to improve their defensive positions to the east of Lake Näykkijärvi.
The counterattack is launched at 2.30 a.m., but almost immediately breaks down. At daybreak the Finnish troops withdraw to their defensive positions.
Enemy attacks on the intermediary defensive positions are unsuccessful.
In the north, the Finnish guerrillas operating in Salla are suffering from stiffer countermeasures by the Soviet troops in the area.
The independent Company Kojonen pulls off a successful surprise attack on a Red Army logistics centre at Kuusivaara in Salla, causing considerable losses among the Soviet troops.
In Petsamo, a 180-strong enemy ski company attacks Heteoja, bringing to an end a phase of guerrilla activity which had lasted almost two months. They are surrounded by Finnish troops, but half their strength manage to break out.
In Kuhmo, Finnish troops take the Reuhkavaara 'motti'.
Enemy dead total 174. Finnish casualties are three dead and five wounded.
The Finns capture a considerable amount of material, including two tanks, four lorries and over 200 small arms.
Finland's Foreign Minister meets the new British diplomatic representative in Finland, Mr. Vereker, and the military envoy, General Ling, who has just visited General Headquarters in Mikkeli.
According to Vereker, the Allies are ready to send 20,000 soldiers to Finland on March 15.
The exhibition of captured war material in Helsinki Exhibition Hall is a great success. 13,000 people have visited the exhibition during the first week alone.
The foreign ministers of Norway, Denmark and Sweden meet in Copenhagen.
The Nordic countries make a joint decision not to give military assistance to Finland nor to allow foreign troops to pass through their territory. Finland therefore stands alone.
Daily Finnish Losses: 326
25 February 1940 - DAY 88 of Winter War
Karelian Isthmus: the enemy offensive on the intermediary positions (http://i.imgur.com/IRbtVom.jpg) in the Taipale sector (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg) and the Central Isthmus is halted by Finnish counterattacks.
A Finnish infantry division is deployed in Vuosalmi (http://i.imgur.com/ml1yjZl.jpg).
III Army Corps' focus of operations is shifted to Vuosalmi (http://i.imgur.com/ml1yjZl.jpg).
In the north, an enemy company pursuing the Finnish troops which carried out yesterday's surprise attack at Kuusivaara in Salla is destroyed in an ambush.
In Kuhmo, Reuhkavaara 'motti' is finally cleared out by midday.
Scandinavian foreign ministers declare their countries' neutrality and emphasize their commitment to peace.
Daily Finnish Losses: 355
26 February 1940 - DAY 89 of Winter War
Marshall Timoshenko orders his troops to take Viipuri (http://i.imgur.com/nWfFM4p.jpg).
The Soviet force is ordered to surround and totally destroy the city's Finnish defenders.
The plan of attack includes an assault by two army corps across Viipurinlahti bay to encircle the city from the southwest.
Further east the enemy also attacks to the north along the banks of the Vuoksi with another two army corps.
Colonel Oinonen, the new commander of the Finnish 23rd Division, decides to launch a counterattack on the enemy troops which have overrun the Honkaniemi area. The counterattacking force includes a strengthened battalion with its own tanks. H-hour is set for 5.00 a.m.
H-hour has to be put back when the attacking force is unable to establish contact with its own artillery. When contact is finally established about an hour later, part of the preliminary artillery bombardment comes down among the Finnish troops, killing or wounding 30 men.
When the troops on the Isthmus at Lake Näykkijärvi move into battle between 6.15 and 10.00 a.m., a fierce tank battle ensues in the area around Honkaniemi station.
The Finns lose five of the six old Vickers tanks used in the attack.
The attacking troops are finally forced to withdraw to their starting positions.
The Russians bring more men into the area to support the breakthrough.
Two strongholds are initially lost in the Terenttilä (http://i.imgur.com/zPK6cgP.jpg) area in Taipale (http://i.imgur.com/SrasA8Y.jpg), but are retaken in a counterattack.
Eight Finnish aircraft bomb the Lotinanpelto airfield near the mouth of the River Syväri and the Murmansk railway line.
Foreign Minister Tanner arrives in the evening in Stockholm and meets Professor T.M. Kivimäki, who has just returned from a fact-finding mission to Germany and urges acceptance of even harsh peace terms. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs communicates the peace terms to Finland's diplomatic representatives in Paris and London.
80 enemy bombers pound the marshalling yard and the surrounding district in Kouvola, causing a temporary break in traffic to the east and south.
Eastern Finland: British pilots bring 12 Bristol Blenheim bombers directly to Jukajärvi airstrip in Juva.
Abroad: in Stockholm, holders of steel von Döbeln rings bearing the election slogan "Honour - Duty - Will" exchange them for gold rings, the proceeds from the sale to go to help the Finnish cause.
Finland's good will envoys in the United States, the great runners Taisto Mäki and Paavo Nurmi, are today guests of honour at the US indoor championships in New York's Madison Square Garden. Finland's blue and white flags are raised on the flag poles side by side with the Stars and Stripes.
Daily Finnish Losses: 472
http://i.imgur.com/PKKKzv0m.jpg (https://imgur.com/PKKKzv0)
Soviet casualties in the "Regimental-motti".
***
27 February 1940 - DAY 90 of Winter War
The Finnish troops have held the intermediary defensive positions (http://i.imgur.com/rP8GJuh.jpg) on the Isthmus for 12 days. Lieutenant-General Erik Heinrichs, commander of the Army of the Isthmus, orders withdrawal from these positions to begin at 7 o'clock in the evening.
The Finns begin delaying action to cover withdrawal to the backline defences (http://i.imgur.com/rP8GJuh.jpg).
Despite the critical situation in the intermediary positions (http://i.imgur.com/rP8GJuh.jpg) as a result of the enemy breakthrough, the Finnish troops manage to pace their withdrawal successfully. The Soviet force follows behind relatively slowly.
Following the realignment of the front on the western part of the Isthmus, the Finnish 2nd Division is ordered to withdraw to the eastern side of the Vuoksi and defend the Sintolanniemi-Vuosalmi line.
The 2nd Division fighting in Vuosalmi (http://i.imgur.com/ml1yjZl.jpg) ends its assessment of its present situation: "Today we're okay, tomorrow we'll be really struggling, and the day after tomorrow the 2nd Division will no longer exist unless we get full assistance from III Army Corps."
The 2nd Division is placed under III Army Corps and begins a delaying action in the Vuosalmi (http://i.imgur.com/ml1yjZl.jpg) sector.
In the far north, enemy air raids on the Finnish positions at Heteoja in Petsamo continue throughout the day.
In the face of an assault by a much larger enemy force, the outnumbered Finns are forced in the evening to withdraw to the west bank of the River Nautsijoki.
Abroad: Finland's Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner is in Stockholm for talks with Swedish Prime Minister P.A. Hansson.
The Swedish Government sticks to its previous position: it will not intervene to help Finland.
Tanner proposes a defensive alliance to halt the Soviet advance. He also meets the Soviet Union's ambassador in Stockholm, Madame Alexandra Kollontai.
The Soviet Union refuses to relax its peace terms.
300 child evacuees arrive in Stockholm from Finland. 3,000 more are expected to arrive soon.
Pope Pius XII donates a signed and sealed prayer on behalf of Finland to the Pro Finlandia auction of books organized by the Bukowski auction house in Stockholm.
Helsinki's Swedish Theatre visits Oslo and receives public acclaim for its performance of J.J. Wecksell's play Daniel Hjort.
After the performance the company are presented with flowers and Director Nyman presents his Finnish colleague with a laurel wreath.
The Norwegian Royal Family and many members of the Government attend the performance, which ends with the singing of the Finnish and Norwegian national anthems.
Daily Finnish Losses: 408
http://i.imgur.com/AfriFN1m.jpg (https://imgur.com/AfriFN1)
Danish volunteer doctor. (Helsinki)
28 February 1940 - DAY 91 of Winter War
The Soviet Union launches a massive general offensive.
The Finnish troops on the Karelian Isthmus withdraw from Pulliniemi and Lihaniemi.
During the course of the day Finnish troops beat back three enemy attacks on the Taipale strongholds.
In the north, the Swedish volunteer corps, Svenska Frivilligkåren, takes over responsibility for the front at Märkäjärvi in Salla in the early hours of the morning.
The Defence Union of Finland, Lotta Svärd (the women's voluntary defence organization) and the Central Organisation of Social Democratic Women decide to organize a joint collection of gold rings and other valuables to buy fighter aircraft for the Finnish Air Force.
Foreign Minister Tanner returns from Stockholm. He says Finland has no choice but to accept the Soviet Union's peace terms.
A majority of the Finnish Government are inclined to agree, but nevertheless want first to hear the views of the Commander-in-Chief.
The Western Allies promise to send Finland 10,000 troops in April.
France's diplomatic representative in Helsinki, Monsieur Magny urges Finland to make a formal appeal for assistance.
In Washington, the US House of Representatives approves legislation for a 20 million dollar loan to Finland.
Oy Karl Fazer Ab buys Frans Emil Sillanpää's Nobel Gold Medal, donated by the author to raise money for Finland's defence. The Finnish confectioners pay 100,000 marks for the medal, which they then return to the author.
Daily Finnish losses: 271
29 February 1940 - DAY 92 of Winter War
Reserve Corporal Korsola, a fighter pilot in the Finnish Air Force, is killed during the course of the morning.
The massive Soviet offensive continues across Viipurinlahti bay to Häränpäänniemi and Vilajoki.
Withdrawal from the intermediary and delaying positions in the Suur-Pero sector disintegrates into panic when enemy tanks get in among the Finnish troops.
The defending force manages to defeat the enemy detachments which have come ashore, but later in the evening Tuppura and Teikari islands are lost to the enemy.
The Finnish Government decides by 17 votes to 3 in favour of opening formal peace talks with the Soviet Union.
In Ladoga Karelia, the eastern Lemetti 'motti', also known as the 'general motti', is captured by 4 o'clock in the morning, giving IV Army Corps its greatest ever haul of captured enemy materiel: 71 tanks, 268 lorries and several lorryloads of guns and shells.
Brigade Commander Kondratiev, the general after whom the 'motti' was named, is killed along with his staff officers in a desperate attempt to break out. The enemy loses around 3,000 men altogether.
Reserve Second Lieutenant Nyrki Tapiovaara is killed leading a reconnaissance patrol on the Kollaa front. The 28-year-old Tapiovaara, a film director in civilian life, leaves behind an uncompleted film based on F.E. Sillanpää's novel Miehen tie (A Man's Way).
In northern Finland, a fierce artillery bombardment heralds the launch of the third attempt by Soviet troops to come to the aid of the surrounded 54th Division at Kilpelänkangas in Kuhmo.
In just the couple of hours before noon the enemy pounds the Finnish positions with around 3,000 shells.
The Finnish 7th Division, fighting in Taipale, has lost around 100 men a day. More than half these losses have come in February.
15 Finnish and 36 Russian fighters engage in a dogfight in the skies above Ruokolahti on the southeast edge of Lake Saimaa.
The battle lasts a little under half an hour. Several of the Finnish aircraft are damaged, and seven shot down. Lieutenants Huhanantti, Halme and Kristensen, the latter a Danish volunteer, are killed, and three other pilots are wounded.
There is heavy enemy bombing on the home front, in Turku, Haapamäki, Savonlinna and Kouvola. 132 bombers are counted in the skies above Kouvola.
Finland sends a note to the League of Nations over the Soviet Union's military action against Finland's civilian population.
Daily Finnish losses: 322
1 March 1940 - DAY 93 of Winter War
The Soviet force on the Isthmus follows closely behind the Finnish troops withdrawing to the backline positions and carries out a number of assaults on the delaying positions.
Soviet tanks dragging sled personnel carriers overtake the Finnish troops withdrawing to the delaying positions to the west of Perojoki.
The vanguard of the Russian tanks breaks through to Ukonmäki near the main road from Viipuri to Tali.
The enemy is also attacking along the Heinjoki-Lyykylä road and to the south of Viipuri.
In Vuosalmi, a Soviet detachment of approximately battalion strength attacking the church hill at Äyräpää is beaten back by the defending Finnish troops.
In Taipale, the command dugout in the Terenttilä sector receives a direct hit; 2 officers and 11 men are killed and a further 6 soldiers are seriously wounded.
In northern Finland, Lieutenant-Colonel Magnus Dyrssen is killed by enemy shelling. Dyrssen was commander of the Swedish volunteer battalion, Stridsgruppen SFK, which had just taken over responsibility for the front in Salla.
The fighting in Viipurinlahti bay leads to the establishment of a Coastal Group commanded by Jaeger Major-General K.M. Wallenius from the Lapland Group.
The Western Allies announce they are ready to send 50,000 troops and aircraft to Finland if they receive an official request for help before the 5th of March.
Finland delays its response to the peace terms put forward by the Soviet Union.
Foreign Minister Tanner gives an interview to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
In his interview, Tanner underlines the urgent need for foreign aid, while also stressing Finland's willingness to seek peace through dialogue.
Finland's civil defence chief, Lieutenant-General Sihvo urges the general public to avoid going into the towns if at all possible.
In Sweden, a collection of gold rings has raised 1,500 rings.
Daily Finnish losses: 269
http://i.imgur.com/mF6hSSlm.jpg (https://imgur.com/mF6hSSl)
Mother and child taking cover in a forest during an air raid. (Heinola)
2 March 1940 - DAY 94 of Winter War
Three Soviet divisions launch a massive general offensive.
The fiercest fighting is on the Karelian Isthmus, at Käremäenlahti to the south of Viipuri and in the Lyykylä sector east of the city. The Finns are forced to withdraw from the frontline strongholds.
Enemy strikes towards the islands of Tuppuransaari and Teikarsaari are supported by a massive artillery bombardment. A Finnish counterattack around midday is unsuccessful and Tuppuransaari runs out of ammunition. Both islands are lost to the enemy.
The enemy also manages to reach land on the western shore of Viipurinlahti bay.
In Ladoga Karelia, the Soviet artillery in Kollaa begins an intensive bombardment at 6.30 in the morning, followed by an assault with two divisions across the entire breadth of the Finnish positions.
Finnish reconnaissance planes have in the past couple of days observed firing stations for approximately 50 enemy artillery batteries in the centre of the Kollaa front. During the course of the day the enemy artillery in Kollaa fires about 30,000 rounds, against less than 1,000 on the Finnish side.
Despite the enemy's massive numerical superiority, the fighting becomes bogged down in trench warfare with very heavy casualties on both sides.
The enemy artillery at times reaches a rate of 200 rounds a minute.
Despite the extremely difficult conditions and the pounding it has taken from the air due to the Soviet Union's aerial superiority, the Finnish defence nevertheless holds firm.
The Russians also launch assaults with artillery and tank support on the River Aittojoki.
The Russian assaults are repulsed.
In the north, the Finns defending the Kuusijoki line in Kuhmo are unable to withstand the Russian assault.
The assault was preceded by an artillery bombardment of around 3,000 rounds.
In Salla, nine members of a company of Swedish volunteers are killed when the company is surrounded by the Russians. The enemy loses 200 of its own men.
In Ladoga Karelia, an enemy ski battalion is wiped out between Mustalampi and Lavajärvi.
Tampere is bombed by over a hundred enemy aircraft, including some fighters.
Over 70 buildings are destroyed by Soviet bombers in Lahti.
Foreign Minister Tanner explains to the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee why the Government has postponed acceptance of the Soviet Union's peace terms.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Christian Günther delays passing on Finland's answer to Moscow.
The Allies ask the Norwegian and Swedish Governments to allow their troops to pass through Norway and Sweden en route to Finland.
Norway and Sweden refuse permission.
A battalion of Hungarian volunteers arrives in Finland.
The office of the Canadian Prime Minister announces there are no legal obstacles to Canadian volunteers participating in the war in Finland. The first batch of volunteers board ship in Ottawa en route for Finland.
Daily Finnish losses: 523
http://i.imgur.com/47fMoGFm.jpg (https://imgur.com/47fMoGF)
Firefighter at work in Lappeenranta after an air raid.
3 March 1940 - DAY 95 of Winter War
General Headquarters and the staff of the Army of the Isthmus are following the fighting in Viipurinlahti bay with growing concern.
The situation on the Finnish side is steadily deteriorating.
The Commander-in-Chief removes Major-General K.M. Wallenius from command of the Coastal Group, replacing him with Jaeger Lieutenant-General Lennart Oesch.
In Kuhmo, the Finns have taken part of the great 'motti' at Luelahti.
General Headquarters in Mikkeli orders the staff of the Army of the Isthmus to plan withdrawal to the Virolahti-Kivijärvi-Saimaa-Hiitola line.
Soviet troops take the island of Uuras in Viipurinlahti bay.
The Soviet troops on the Vuoksi throw almost three divisions into an offensive across a broad front in the Vuosalmi and Kaskiselkä sectors. The defending Finnish troops successfully halt the offensive with the support of artillery fire.
Detachment Alfthan is on the way to Lavajärvi, having been ordered today to destroy the Soviet troops which have advanced into the area.
The home front is once again pounded by enemy bombers: today it's the turn of Lappeenranta and Lahti; in Lahti an enemy vehicle depot is destroyed.
Foreign Minister Tanner telephones his Swedish colleague, Christian Günther. Finland is ready to open peace talks if the Soviet Union will drop its demand for cession of Viipuri and Sortavala.
Tanner attempts once again to propose a defensive alliance with Sweden.
However, Foreign Minister Günther does not consider this a realistic option.
Daily Finnish losse: 598
4 March 1940 - DAY 96 of Winter War
Ladoga Karelia: The 69th Infantry Regiment is holding its ground in the face of the massive Red Army offensive in Kollaa.
Artillery shelling and patrol activities nevertheless continue.
On the Isthmus, a Soviet assault launched at 6 o'clock in the morning leads by nightfall to the capture of a bridgehead near Äyräpää church.
Around noon Russian troops supported by tanks once again come ashore at Vilajoki and Häränpäänniemi on Viipurinlahti bay.
What little air power Finland has is concentrated to resist the enemy offensive across Viipurinlahti bay.
Detachment Alfthan unsuccessfully attempts to take Lavajärvi village.
The enemy threatens Kotka and Virolahti.
A new combat detachment, Detachment Aarnio, is being formed to fight along the section of the front between Mustalampi and Lavajärvi with the task of cutting the enemy's supply lines.
President Kyösti Kallio congratulates Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim on the destruction of a Russian tank brigade.
Soviet military command in Leningrad denies bombing Finnish towns and villages and accuses the Finns of provocation.
A crash between a goods train carrying children and an express train at Iittala, near Hämeenlinna, claims 31 lives; 11 of the dead are children.
Abroad: today is Finnish day at the Holmenkollen games in Oslo.
In a speech at Holmenkollen, the Finnish speedskater Clas Thunberg says: "My people hope that here in Norway you will realise that Finland's cause is also your cause. The Finns dying at the front are giving their lives to protect all of us in the Nordic countries."
Thunberg's speech is followed by a rendering of the Finnish national anthem.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/LZ9uE02l.jpg (http://imgur.com/LZ9uE02)
Finnish artillery in Linnasaari, Viipuri.
Daily Finnish losses: 399
Found this today while reading:
"Einar Schadewitz fought in Munasuo during the Battle of Summa, where he climbed on top of an enemy tank and knocked on the hatch yelling in Finnish: Open up, Ivan, Death's knocking! For some reason, the crew opened the hatch and Schadewitz immediately dropped a hand grenade through the hatch, killing everyone inside."
-Mannerheim-Ristin Ritarit pg. 229
He was awarded with the Mannerheim Cross during the Continuation War (Knight of the Mannerheim Cross #110)
http://i.imgur.com/CTl7ufy.jpg
Einar Schadewitz
Jimbuna
03-04-16, 08:57 AM
Open up, Ivan, Death's knocking! :rock: :sunny:
Schroeder
03-04-16, 09:16 AM
Found this today while reading:
"Einar Schadewitz fought in Munasuo during the Battle of Summa, where he climbed on top of an enemy tank and knocked on the hatch yelling in Finnish: Open up, Ivan, Death's knocking!
I doubt that. Have you ever knocked on a tank? It hardly makes a sound and is like knocking on a solid rock. I'm sure the crew couldn't hear it with their headphones (if they had any in Soviet tanks back then that is) and the engine running.....
My money would be on that they noticed him climbing the tank and wanted to get rid of him before he could set it ablaze with a Molotov cocktail or some such thing.
I doubt that.You doubt everything. :O:
Have you ever knocked on a tank? It hardly makes a sound and is like knocking on a solid rock. Nope, I haven't. Have you knocked on a T-26 or BT-7, one of which the tank most likely was? It also does not specify with what he knocked, could have been rifle butt or the handle of the grenade.
My money would be on that they noticed him climbing the tank and wanted to get rid of him before he could set it ablaze with a Molotov cocktail or some such thing.Why would he climb the tank? He could throw the Molotov cocktail from the side/rear and hit the engine exhaust and/or intake that was on the rear deck. :hmmm:
PS. I have no idea how true this account is, but I know that these invidual feats against enemy tanks were quite common during the Winter and Continuation Wars.
5 March 1940 - DAY 97 of Winter War
There is fierce fighting on the islands of Ravansaari, Turkinsaari and Neulasaari in Viipurinlahti bay.
On the western shore of the bay the enemy is advancing in Vilaniemi and Häränpäänniemi.
The counterattack to retake the church hill at Äyräpää is delayed by the late arrival of the Finnish detachment at the starting position.
The launch of the operation is put back until daylight.
The Finnish attack founders with heavy losses in the face of intense enemy fire.
During the half-hour attack up the church hill, the attacking Finnish soldiers from the Ostrobothnia municipality of Nurmo lose 40 dead and 30 wounded, some fatally. The hill remains in enemy hands.
During the course of the morning the Russians occupy Vasikkasaari.
General Headquarters sets up an office to coordinate recruitment of foreign volunteers.
The town of Mikkeli, the home of General Headquarters, is heavily bombed and 33 civilians killed.
The Red Army has already reached Viipurinlahti bay, and the deadline for Finland to formally appeal for help from the Western Allies runs out today.
After a heated debate, the Finnish Government decides to accept the Soviet Union's preconditions for opening peace talks.
Moscow announces its intention to stick to its demands: Finland will have to cede Viipuri and Sortavala.
The first train of Finnish child evacuees arrives in Copenhagen with 93 children on board.
A French ambulance arrives in Finland.
The Soviet Government formally apologises to Sweden over the bombing of Pajala.
Daily Finnish losses: 575
6 March 1940 - DAY 98 of Winter War
In Ladoga Karelia, the Soviet 11th Division launches a tank-supported offensive against the Finnish-controlled islands in the Pitkäranta sector at 9 o'clock in the morning.
The offensive is preceded by a fierce three-hour artillery bombardment during which approximately 10,000 enemy shells rain down on the Finnish positions.
In this way the Russians manage to break through the Pitkäranta section of the blockade encircling the great Kitelä 'motti'. The Finnish counterattack in Vilaniemi is unsuccessful. Russians also come ashore in Karjaniemi and Niskapohja. In the Sintolanniemi sector on the Isthmus the Russians cross the Vuoksi on a 2 km front. Paimio, Petäjä, Maksima and other islands on the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga are under heavy enemy shelling. 50 men from the municipality of Rantasalmi are killed.
Foreign Minister Tanner asks the Allies for an extension of the deadline for requesting military assistance. Finland is given until the 12th of March to make a formal request.
The Soviet Union announces its readiness to open talks with Finland in Moscow, but will not agree a ceasefire until the talks are actually underway.
The Finnish Government meets twice to consider the composition of the Finnish delegation for the Moscow peace talks.
In the evening, the Finnish delegation under the leadership of Prime Minister Risto Ryti leaves for Stockholm en route to Moscow. The other members of the delegation were J.K. Paasikivi, Rudolf Walden and Väinö Voionmaa.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/CjVe2wyl.jpg (http://imgur.com/CjVe2wy)
Bristol Blenheim from LeLv.46 in Tikkakoski.
Daily Finnish losses: 816
7 March 1940 - DAY 99 of Winter War
Following preliminary artillery drumfire, the Soviet force on the Isthmus launches an assault and breaks through the Finnish backline positions in Tali, advancing thereafter in the direction of Tali village.
The Soviet troops make several local breakthroughs, which are successfully contained.
A new group, the Hamina Group, is formed to give added strength to the defence of Viipurinlahti bay. The command of the new group is entrusted to Major-General E. Hanell, who is to be directly responsible to Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim.
In Taipale, an enemy battalion attacks the Terenttilä stronghold.
Finnish losses on this comparatively quiet day in Taipale are 10 dead and 35 wounded.
The attacking Russian force in the Sintolanniemi sector is completely destroyed.
In Ladoga Karelia, Detachment Alfthan cuts the supply lines of the Soviet troops in Lavajärvi village.
The enemy launches yet another attack in the Kollaa sector. The 69th Infantry Regiment nevertheless manages to hold its ground.
In the far north, a Red Army regiment overruns the Finnish defensive positions at Nautsi in Petsamo. Nautsi's one and only house is raised in the Soviet Union's war bulletin to the status of "the town of Nautsi".
Detachment Pennanen's losses in Petsamo total 33 dead, 87 wounded and 67 missing in action.
Abroad: Finland's delegation to the Moscow peace talks arrives in the Russian capital in the early evening.
British volunteers swear their oath to Colonel Kermit Roosevelt in the Finnish Aid office in London.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/8A1HlBTl.jpg (http://imgur.com/8A1HlBT)
Castle of Viipuri and its guard.
Daily Finnish losses: 538
8 March 1940 - DAY 100 of Winter War
Mannerheim suggests Finland consider one more time the offer of assistance by the Western Allies.
To block the enemy advance, the Finnish defenders attempt to dam the waterways to the northeast of Viipuri and manage finally to flood the area.
Foreign Minister Tanner believes asking for assistance from the Allies could wreck the talks in Moscow.
Soviet troops on the Isthmus reach the Finnish support line in Tali.
The Finnish troops in Viipurinlahti bay are forced to evacuate Suonionsaari and Ravansaari islands.
On the mainland, the enemy consolidates its bridgeheads in Niskapohja, Vilaniemi and Häränpääniemi.
In Vuosalmi the enemy is digging in on the northern bank of the Vuoksi.
The Finnish 2nd and 21st divisions are estimated to be facing six Russian divisions. They are thus outnumbered three to one.
In Taipale, the Finns pull back their positions in the Terenttilä sector.
In the north, the Finns take the eastern Luelahti 'motti' in Kuhmo.
General Headquarters orders the evacuation of the Mantsi islands at the eastern end of Lake Ladoga.
The Finnish negotiators in Moscow meet the Soviet negotiating team at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
The Soviet team comprises Molotov, Zdanov and General Vasilevski. The Finns are disappointed in their hope of getting Stalin to participate in the talks.
Two Soviet divisions attack across the Vuoksi from Vasikkasaari to Vuosalmi.
The first session of talks begins in Moscow at 7 o'clock in the evening.
The Soviet Union is today celebrating International Women's Day. The special "sisters of struggle" women's groups attached to the Red Army arrange numerous dance performances and other programmes in the various units of the army. Selected women soldiers are decorated for valour.
In Finland, the Central Organization of Social Democratic Women urges its members to join the Lotta Svärd women's defence organization.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/gvtJ5m4l.jpg (http://imgur.com/gvtJ5m4)
Finnish satchel charge and Molotov's Cocktail.
Daily Finnish losses: 617
Schroeder
03-08-16, 10:18 AM
Makes you wonder what would have happened if the Allied had joined Finland in the fight against the Soviet Union. Would Barbarossa have taken place and if so with Allied support? How would that have affected the state of war between Germany and France / UK?:hmm2:
Makes you wonder what would have happened if the Allied had joined Finland in the fight against the Soviet Union. Would Barbarossa have taken place and if so with Allied support? How would that have affected the state of war between Germany and France / UK?:hmm2:My guess is that the USSR would have offered a 'white peace', if the Allies had started sending troops and much needed artillery and ATG hardware to Finland. :hmmm:
If the war would have continued, Sweden might have as well be dragged into it as the shipments of iron ore to Germany could have been hindered by the Allies had they been more involved in Scandinavia.
Interesting what-if scenario, no doubt. :yep:
***
9 March 1940 - DAY 101 of Winter War
The Soviet Union is continuing its massive offensive against the Finnish backline positions.
An attack in the morning by two Soviet divisions shatters the Finnish backline defences in Tali.
The defending Finnish battalion loses 44 per cent of its strength in the savage engagement.
Despite their heavy losses, the Finns still attempt a counterattack towards Tali at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, but without success. Tali village falls to the enemy.
In the evening the Finnish troops regroup in defensive formations on a line cutting through the southern head of Lake Leitimojärvi and the eastern head of Lake Kärstilänjärvi.
Some of the men are in a state of panic. Divisional staff is forced to ask for additional military policemen to pick up deserters from the front line.
In Taipale, the Finnish troops manage to evacuate the Terenttilä stronghold without the Russians realising what is going on.
The Finnish force in Viipurinlahti bay withdraws from Lihaniemi promontory and Hapenensaari and Piispansaari islands.
On the western side of the bay the Soviet troops sever the new trunk road from Viipuri to Säkkijärvi.
In the Kollaa sector in Ladoga Karelia the enemy offensive continues unabated, with strongholds changing hands several times during the course of the day.
One of Finland's leading gymnasts, Reserve Lieutenant Martti 'Make' Uosikkinen is killed in Kollaa.
By midnight the entire main defensive line is once again in Finnish hands.
Approximately 70 Finnish aircraft strafe enemy troops and columns in Viipurinlahti bay. In the resulting dogfight, the Finns shoot down three enemy fighters. One Finnish plane is lost and three damaged.
Finnish pilots spot over 400 enemy lorries carrying infantry and over 50 assault tanks on the roads to the south of Lake Suvanto on the eastern Isthmus.
The Finnish Government convenes at 5 o'clock in the afternoon to consider the telegrams sent by the delegation at the Moscow peace talks. The assembled ministers are shocked by the proposed loss of access to Lake Ladoga and the cession of the district of Salla in Lapland.
The session is interrupted by an important telephone call from Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim, and reconvenes at 10 p.m.
The Government is able to draw on an assessment of the military situation prepared by General Heinrichs, commander of the Army of the Isthmus.
Heinrichs' pessimistic assessment forces the Commander-in-Chief to conclude that there is no alternative but to accept the Soviet Union's peace terms.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/WWkWqUtl.jpg (http://imgur.com/WWkWqUt)
Telefunken SE 499 A
Daily Finnish losses: 654
10 March 1940 - DAY 102 of Winter War
The situation in Viipurinlahti bay remains critical: the Red Army is constantly funnelling new troops and equipment into the area.
The Russians are working to extend their bridgehead on the western side of the bay.
The aim of the Soviet troops is to use the bridgehead as a staging post to get round to the west of Viipuri and cut the Finnish troops defending the city off from their vital supply lines to the interior.
The enemy is attempting to take the city of Viipuri itself by a straight frontal assault, while the troops to the northeast of the city are making a drive towards Antrea.
During the course of the afternoon the enemy breaks through the Finnish defences in the western part of Nisalahti village and carries on three kilometres to the north.
The unfolding events in Viipurinlahti bay mean the Finnish troops have lost use of the main defensive positions on the Isthmus and will have to fight from now on in totally unprepared positions.
Some of the Finnish troops are suffering from battle fatigue, while others are raw, inexperienced troops; the chain of command and the responsibilities of the officers are also having to be constantly reworked.
Aerial reconnaissance reports 200 enemy assault tanks in Pullinniemi.
On the Karelian Isthmus, the enemy overruns the countryside around Leitimo manor on the Tali Isthmus.
The Soviet troops launch their assault in the morning and break through the Finnish defences to a depth of 4 kilometres.
Fresh troops are concentrated around Viipurinlahti bay, including a cavalry brigade from Ladoga Karelia.
Finland's former president, P.E. Svinhufvud is in Berlin to seek help for Finland, but is unable to gain access to members of the German leadership.
The Finnish and Soviet negotiators meet for a second round of talks in the Kremlin at 2 p.m. today. The meeting lasts two hours.
Finland is in an awkward negotiating position. Contact with the Government at home has to be conducted via Stockholm and telegrams can take up to 12 hours to reach their destination.
The deadline of March 12 set by the Allies is also getting ominously close.
The Finnish negotiators attempt to haggle over the Soviet terms, but without success.
In Vuosalmi the enemy is concentrating its efforts on the Liete meadows to the northeast of Vasikkasaari.
The Soviet force in Ladoga Karelia is able to establish a good grip on the southern tips of the Lapoinniemi and Kuivaniemi promontories on the shores of Lake Ladoga.
As night falls, the defending Finnish troops withdraw.
Daily Finnish losses: 558
11 March 1940 - DAY 103 of Winter War
The Soviet troops in the centre of the Karelian Isthmus launch an offensive across the Vuoksi with supporting artillery and other fire.
The Finnish press publishes a bulletin from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs telling the public for the first time of the peace talks being conducted in Moscow.
The Finnish Government is ready to accept the Soviet Union's peace terms.
Thirteen members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament vote in favour of accepting the peace terms, while four vote against acceptance. Those who voted against were Kaarlo Kares of the Patriotic People's Movement, Urho Kekkonen and Kalle Kämäräinen of the Agrarian Party and Ville Komu of the Social Democratic Party.
News of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee's readiness to accept the Soviet Union's terms leaks into the Swedish evening papers.
The fighting continues with the Soviet troops fiercely attacking the Finnish defences in Viipuri.
The enemy breaks through into the suburbs of Viipuri.
By early evening the vanguard of five enemy tanks has reached Tammisuo station to the northeast of the city. Three of the tanks are subsequently destroyed.
At 2.45 p.m. the enemy achieve a 500 metre breakthrough to the northwest of Vasikkasaari, but the defending Finnish troops manage to contain it.
During the night, the Finnish troops in Vuosalmi withdraw from Vitsaari after heavy fighting.
Troops from the Coastal Group withdraw to new positions at Vilajoki.
In the vicinity of Tali-Portinhoikka, Red Army tanks support a breakthrough into the area around the Portinhoikka crossroads.
The defending Finnish regiment has suffered enormous losses and is utterly exhausted.
In Kollaa, the 69th Infantry Regiment just doesn't have the strength left to retake the advance strongholds.
Staff Sergeant Diego Manzochi, an Italian volunteer in the Finnish Air Force attached to Squadron 26, is killed in a forced landing in Iitti, to the west of Kouvola, caused probably by his plane running out of fuel. Manzochi had flown his own Fiat fighter to Finland back in December.
The Finnish delegation to the Moscow peace talks meets for the third time in the Kremlin at 6 p.m. today.
The news leaked to the Swedish press has already reached Moscow; the Soviet Union sees no reason to soften its stance.
(Click for larger photo)
http://i.imgur.com/ao3x44Ol.jpg (http://imgur.com/ao3x44O)
Finnish Coastal Defence Ship Ilmarinen.
Daily Finnish losses: 684
12 March 1940 - DAY 104 of Winter War
At 9 o'clock in the morning President Kyösti Kallio puts his signature to a paper giving full powers of negotiation to the Finnish delegation at the Moscow peace talks.
Kallio says on signing: "This is the most awful document I have ever had to sign. May the hand wither which is forced to sign such a paper."
There is fierce fighting on the Isthmus to the northeast and south of Viipuri.
The Red Army breaks through at Kollaa to a depth of approximately one kilometre. Combat Detachment Haini's daily losses total around 100 men.
On the days of fiercest fighting, the enemy is losing over 2,000 men a day.
The Finns decide to abandon the defensive line along the River Kollaanjoki.
Around 50 Soviet tanks drive across the Vuoksi to the mainland, suffering losses under the Finnish artillery fire.
Colonel Hersalo's 21st Division launches a counterattack in Vuosalmi.
The commander of III Army Corps, Major-General Talvela decides to pull back his troops in Vuosalmi on account of the ceasefire negotiations. However, in the evening his troops occupy the support line in the rear.
There is a serious rail accident south of Hämeenlinna between Turenki and Harviala when a military train carrying a transport company is involved in a collision with an express train. All the company's 4 officers and around 30 men are killed, and another 40 are injured in the collision.
Sweden announces its readiness to begin talks with Finland on a possible defensive alliance between the two countries.
Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner wanted the expression "urgently consider" to be included in the news report of the talks, but Sweden demanded removal of the word "urgently".
The delegations to the Moscow peace talks meet twice in the Kremlin, but there are no changes in the Soviet Union's terms.
The meeting, which begins at 10 p.m., continues on beyond midnight.
The troops defending Viipuri withdraw by midnight to new positions in Patterinmäki.
Daily Finnish losses: 683
13 March 1940 - DAY 105 of Winter War
The Treaty of Moscow ending the Winter War is signed in the Kremlin at 1 o'clock in the morning Finnish time.
In Lapland, Soviet aircraft bomb Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi an hour or two before noon.
The last trainload of children being evacuated to Sweden leaves Helsinki just a couple of hours before news of the peace treaty reaches the city.
The peace treaty takes effect on all fronts at 11 o'clock in the morning.
In the Taipale and Vuosalmi sectors of the front the Finnish artillery, which has played a major role in the successful defence of these sectors, finally falls silent as the fierce fighting is broken off at 11 o'clock.
The coming of peace interrupts the Finnish 12th Division's counteroffensive in Kollaa.
In the north, the fighting in Juntusranta in the Suomussalmi sector, which had become bogged down in trench warfare, ends at 11 o'clock with a ferocious enemy artillery bombardment of the Finnish positions on the River Kellojoki.
In Ladoga Karelia fighting continues throughout the day in the wilds on Group Talvela's southern flank.
Neither side manages to get word of the peace treaty to their troops in time to stop the fighting.
In the Salla sector in the far north, an enemy battalion in Saija attempts to get round behind Detachment Roininen. In the event, the Finnish troops manage to surround the entire Soviet battalion.
Foreign Minister Tanner speaks over the radio at 12 noon to explain the terms of the peace treaty and the factors leading to its agreement. He praises the stamina and endurance of the army and the home front in carrying through a struggle in which Finland was left to stand or fall alone.
The Foreign Minister also criticizes Finland's Scandinavian neighbours, who have hidden behind their declared neutrality in turning down all requests for help and even preventing Finland taking up the help proffered by the Western Allies.
Without assistance Finland could no longer continue the unequal struggle, and the Government was left with no alternative but to attempt a negotiated peace.
Despite the severity of the terms and the painful matter of having to cede territory, Finland has in Foreign Minister Tanner's opinion succeeded in its central aim: "Our right to self-determination has been preserved intact."
Even after the onset of the ceasefire, the exchange of fire in Saija continues until 2 p.m.
At 3.40 p.m. the Finnish flag is lowered from the flagpole on Viipuri Castle. The Winter War is over.
Despite the fact that the Red Army attacked Finland without so much as a formal declaration of war, the harsh terms of the peace treaty mean Finland is forced to cede to the Soviet Union the Karelian Isthmus and areas to the north of Lake Ladoga.
The towns of Viipuri, Sortavala and Käkisalmi are incorporated into the Soviet Union.
Most of Salla in Lapland is also lost, while the south coast port of Hanko is to be leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base for 30 years.
The total surface area of the ceded territories amounts to some 35,000 square kilometres.
This represents one tenth of Finland's total surface area.
Almost 430,000 Karelians, or 12 per cent of the country's population, lose their homes.
According to the New York Herald Tribune the Treaty of Moscow demonstrates the inability of democratic countries to help a small freedom-loving people. The paper reserves its main ire for the United States' Congress, whose inertia and hesitation hampered the sending of aid to Finland.
Finland's total losses in the war are 25,904 dead or missing and 43,557 wounded.
During the course of the war a total of 84,000 women took part in the work of the defence organization Lotta Svärd. Most worked in the catering corps, while some served at the front. 64 members of the Lotta Svärd gave their lives in carrying out their duties.
Enemy losses total around 127,000 dead or missing and 188,000 wounded.
Text of the Moscow Peace Treaty can be read here:
http://www.winterwar.com/War'sEnd/moscow_peace_treaty.htm
http://i.imgur.com/a23mUXIl.png (http://imgur.com/a23mUXI)
Lost territory.
http://i.imgur.com/6cZLuqyl.jpg (http://imgur.com/6cZLuqy)
Helsinki "celebrates" peace.
http://i.imgur.com/jl68E9Rl.jpg (http://imgur.com/jl68E9R)
Situation on the Karelian Isthmus at the end of the war. ("lightning" lines are Finnish units pulling back to the new border)
http://i.imgur.com/oorFlVyl.jpg (http://imgur.com/oorFlVy)
Situation in Ladoga Karelia.
Daily Finnish losses: 467
Jimbuna
03-13-16, 07:43 AM
At the very least, a moral victory for Finland.
~SALUTE~
An excellent and informative thread :sunny:
Schroeder
03-13-16, 07:50 AM
:salute:
u crank
03-13-16, 08:31 AM
Excellent work Dowly. I read it every day. Although I was vaguely aware of this conflict I didn't know any details. Thanks for posting. :salute:
Well done Dowly, thanks for all that hard work you put in it. :salute:
Thread of the year. :yeah:
Thanks and glad you liked it! :salute:
I have added two maps to the March 13th entry that show the situation on the Karelian Isthmus and in Ladoga Karelia at the end of the war.
Schroeder
03-13-16, 02:00 PM
Next target: Continuation war.:D
fireftr18
03-13-16, 06:45 PM
Thanks for the hard work Dowly. Good information on a part of the war we don't hear about much.
14 March 1940
Mannerheim issues Order of the Day Nr. 34
Soldiers of the glorious Finnish army!
Peace has been concluded between our country and the Soviet Union, an exacting peace which has ceded to Soviet Russia nearly every battlefield on which you have shed your blood on behalf of everything we hold dear and sacred.
You did not want war; you loved peace, work and progress; but you were forced into a struggle in which you have done great deeds, deeds that will shine for centuries in the pages of history. More than fifteen thousand of you who took the field will never again see your homes, and how many those are who have lost for ever their ability to work. But you have also dealt hard blows, and if two hundred thousand of our enemies now lie on the snowdrifts, gazing with broken eyes at our starry sky, the fault is not yours. You did not hate them or wish them evil; you merely followed the stern law of war: kill or be killed.
Soldiers: I have fought on many battlefields, but never have I seen your like as warriors. I am as proud of you as though you were my own children; l am as proud of the man from the Northern fells as of the son of Ostrobothnia's plains, of the Karelian forests, the hills of Savo, the fertile fields of Häme and Satakunta, the leafy copses of Uusimaa and Varsinais-Suomi. I am as proud of the sacrifice tendered by the child of a lowly cottage as of those of the wealthy.
I thank all of you, officers, non-commissioned officers and men, but I wish specially to stress the self-sacrificing valour of our officers of the reserve, their sense of duty and the cleverness with which they have fulfilled a task that was not originally theirs. Thus theirs has been the greatest sacrifice in this war in proportion to their numbers, but it was made joyfully and with an unflinching devotion to duty.
I thank the Staff Officers for their skill and untiring labours, and finally I thank my own closest assistants, my Chief Commanders, the Army Corps Commanders and the Divisional Commanders who have often transformed the impossible into the possible.
I thank the Finnish Army in all its branches, which in noble competition have done heroic deeds since the first day of the war. I thank the Army for the courage with which it has faced an overwhelming superior enemy equipped in part with hitherto unknown weapons, and for the stubbornness with which it held on to every inch of our soil. The destruction of over 1,500 Russian tanks and over 700 enemy aircraft speaks of deeds of heroism that were often carried out by single individuals.
With joy and pride my thoughts dwell on the Lottas of Finland - their spirit of self-sacrifice and untiring work in many fields, work which has liberated thousands of men for the fighting line. Their noble spirit has spurred on and supported the Army, whose undivided gratitude and respect they have achieved. Posts of honour have also been those of the thousands of workers who, often as volunteers and during air-raids, have worked beside their machine for the Army's needs, or laboured unflinchingly under fire, strengthening our positions. On behalf of the Fatherland, I thank them.
In spite of all bravery and spirit of sacrifice, the Government has been compelled to conclude peace on severe terms, which however are explicable. Our Army was small and its reserves and cadres inadequate. We were not prepared for war with a Great Power. While our brave soldiers were defending our frontiers we had by insuperable efforts to procure what we lacked. We had to construct lines of defence where there were none. We had to try to obtain help, which failed to come. We had to find arms and equipment at a time when all the nations were feverishly arming against the storm which sweeps over the world. Your heroic deeds have aroused the admiration of the world, but after three and a half months of war we are still almost alone. We have not obtained more foreign help than two reinforced battalions equipped with artillery and aircraft for our fronts, where our own men, fighting day and night without the possibility of being relieved, have had to meet the attacks of ever fresh enemy forces, straining their physical and moral powers beyond all limits.
When some day the history of this war is written, the world will learn of your efforts.
Without the ready help in arms and equipment which Sweden and the Western Powers have given us, our struggle up to this date would have been inconceivable against the countless guns, tanks and aircraft of the enemy.
Unfortunately, the valuable promise of assistance which the Western Powers have given us, could not be realised when our neighbours, concerned for their own security, refused the right of transit for troops.
After sixteen weeks of bloody battle with no rest by day or by night, our Army still stands unconquered before an enemy which in spite of terrible losses has grown in numbers; nor has our home front, where countless air-raids have spread death and terror among women and children, ever wavered. Burned cities and ruined villages far behind the front, as far even as our western border, are the visible proofs of the nation's sufferings during the past months. Our fate is hard, now that we are compelled to give up to an alien race, a race with a life philosophy and moral values different from ours, land which for centuries we have cultivated in sweat and labour. Yet, we must put our shoulders to the wheel, in order that we may prepare on the soil left to us a home for those rendered homeless and an improved livelihood for all, and as before we must be ready to defend our diminished Fatherland with the same resolution and the same fire with which we defended our undivided Fatherland.
We are proudly conscious of the historic duty which we shall continue to fulfil; the defence of that Western civilisation which has been our heritage for centuries, but we know also that we have paid to the very last penny any debt we may have owed the West.
http://www.histdoc.net/historia/pic/mhsign.gif/thread
The Suomi Sodassa (=Finland at War) Youtube channel has released an hour worth of footage pieced together for the Soviet side of the Winter War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gtfxy_aTMU
:salute:
I don't think I've ever posted this Finnish documentary about Simo Häyhä (turn on eng subs), so here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfZuTLKDeXA
26 photos added to the thread and some low resolution ones replaced with higher resolution versions. New photos can be easily recognized by the smaller thumbnail I used (same as in the Continuation War thread).
Extracts from a sergeant's war diary 1/5
Written by then sergeant H. Kolehmainen , translated using machine translation (w/corrections) from "Kansa Taisteli"-journal issue 1/1957.
6 February, 1940
The artillery barrage in the direction of Summa continues day after day. So do
the enemy attacks. Still our people have been able to repel all the attacks --
But for how long?
Today my platoon and I skied two tracks over the Leipäsuo and north of the
village of Kiltee behind Summa. The intention is to use the tracks to move our
battalion to the Summa sector for a counterattack or to plug a possible gap in
the defence. Besides shells, the air was full of all sorts of contraptions,
from large bombers to a fire-control plane that was almost stationary. The
station village of Kämärä was bombed a couple of times. An anti-aircraft gun
battery in Kiltee tried in vain to distract the bombers.And soon the division
was hit by artillery fire, which forced the gunners to take cover.
At the end of December there was still a solid forest around the village of
Huumola. Now all that was left were fragmented stumps and shrapnel from shells
lying scattered on the ground.
On our return in the afternoon, we almost skied into an "ambush". A rumour had
spread through the battalion that a large enemy patrol had got through
somewhere and was circling around in the rear doing damage. Then, when a
sentry had spotted a detachment skiing in a swamp in the distance, approaching
the camp area, he had sounded the alarm. A terrible commotion had broken out
in the camping area. All the companies were working on the support line. There
were only cooks, shoemakers, tailors, clerks, etc. The battalion commander
himself had started to get the defence together. Every able-bodied man, even
the slightly wounded, had been called in to help in the fight.
We approached the campsite at our leisure, the afternoon sun shining into the
eyes of those waiting in ambush. When we were less than a hundred metres from
the edge of the forest, the command "Stop or be shot!" rang out in our ears.
The skiing stopped immediately. To our question, "What is going on now?", came
the counter-question, "Are you Russians or Finns?" Well, it turned out that we
were on the same side, and belonged to the same battalion.
But the face of our sergeant-major Otto Hautakoski was worth seeing, when he
climbed out of the snow, shaking his coat and saying, "What kind of fools they
are, making even an old man scared of ghosts!"
12 February
"The enemy has entered our positions east of Summa," it was reported yesterday
evening. The breach is less than a kilometre wide and the enemy's advance has
been halted in front of the support line.
The artillery fire has continued day after day with the same hellish intensity.
Now it extends as far as the railway line, to the sector of the battalion
formed by the Pori Regiment. The boys of Pori were in a tight spot today, and
the second company of our battalion was sent there to help.
The fortification work has been completed and we are "ready to go in two
hours". Judging by the signs, departure will be soon, probably to the Summa meat grinder.
On the morning of 16 February at Kuikkalampi
The day before yesterday we got the order to leave. The enemy had broken
through the positions in the Lähde sector and continued to advance towards the
village of Kämärä. The other two battalions of our brigade had already the
night before scrambled to block the enemy's advance somewhere in the terrain
of the village of Kultakumpu.
We felt relieved to leave. For the last 24 hours we had been on "one-hour
standby", with shells hitting our accommodation area from time to time. At
record speed we crossed the three kilometre wide, almost open, Leipäsuo swamp.
The speed was increased by the shells falling all around us, guided by a
sighting ball seen in the direction of Lake Perkjärvi, and by the black-nosed
fighters testing us with the accuracy of their machine guns. The accuracy was
poor, with only a couple of men getting a hole in their skin in the wide
target area. After crossing the railway, we pushed north of the village of
Kiltee, to an abandoned campsite about a kilometre west of the village. The
artillery fire had died down, but the small arms fire could be heard fiercely
and sometimes quite close. Messengers skied past. From them we heard that the
2nd and 3rd Battalions of our Brigade had been in action all day, pushing the
enemy back. The losses were heavy. The worst problem had been the lack of
anti-tank weapons.
We huddled in cold tents and waited. It wasn't until 22.00 that we found out
what our mission was. We had to attack from the left along the trench of the
support line and close the breach. We were informed that the breach was about
a kilometre and a half wide and that there was a battalion of JR 62, I think
it was a battalion of JR 62, which had just arrived at the front, coming from
the right to roll the trench at the same time.
As the moon rose, we started to navigate across the terrain towards the base,
the eastern side of which was supposed to be ours. No one had any idea if
there were any enemies in the area between us. Therefore, the march had to be
carried out under cover. My platoon was given the task of securing the flank
and navigating. We skied in three columns.
As we were descending a gentle hill, all the patrols side by side, we came
across an enemy campfire, where a dozen of them were warming their hands. We
were frightened, but probably the others were more frightened, because without
firing a shot they retreated along their trampled path to the west. We opened
fire, but instead of staying to investigate its effect, we continued in the
direction of the objective. At about 3.00 o'clock we were at the dugout which
was our objective. There was only one man in the dugout, a lieutenant, with a
bearded face, eyes inflamed with fatigue, wearing a dirty rag of snow-suit,
dozing with his head between his hands beside a cold stove. He seemed almost
impossibly apathetic. He seemed neither pleased nor saddened by our arrival.
He answered a few questions about the situation with a sense of absence.
"Company Palo" was ordered to attack by rolling the trench and take up a
defensive position facing south. "Company Forssell" was to attack on the north
side of the trench and secure to the north.
As my platoon was the first of "Company Palo", it was tasked to roll the
trench. The other platoons of the company would come up behind and take care
of the defence.
The assault section was soon formed: a submachine gunner, two grenade throwers
and the rest of the platoon as back-ups and grenade suppliers. We had
practised this very thing to the point of boredom in Käkisalmi a few months
earlier, so now it was just a question of applying the exercise. The skis were
pushed into the grenade craters around the dugout, and then we followed the
lieutenant who had been sent to guide us into the connecting trench, or rather
the caved-in trench that pointed to it. A hundred metres further on the
connecting trench branched off into a perimeter trench. On the right, just
round the first bend, stood two men whose form and appearance told us that
they, like the lieutenant, had reached the limit of human endurance, and it
seemed that only instinct could have kept them going. Silently, they pointed
to the next bend in the trench and followed their lieutenant back down the
trench to the left. We were in the thick of the battle with the enemy.
The trench ran right through open terrain. As far as we could see in the
moonlight, it looked like a lifeless, cratered ditch. Burnt-out ghosts of
tanks loomed here and there on either side of the trench. A strange smell of
explosions and burnt flesh hung in the air.
But we didn't have time to admire the landscape. Two hand grenades flew around
the next bend, and when they exploded, the submachine gunner rushed after
them. And so it began. It felt a little strange to step on a half-frozen or
still warm human body in a dark trench. But you had to step on them, for there
were many of them, twisted into the strangest positions, some only partially,
others almost completely buried under the crumbled gravel, a mixture of Finns
and Russians. However, progress was rapid. Bend after bend was recaptured. The
enemy seemed strangely unresponsive, dying in place almost without a fight.
Perhaps they too were overcome by frost and fatigue. We, on the other hand,
warm from the skiing, were refreshed. From the front we could hear the clatter
of tanks, but we paid it no attention. We managed to advance about three
hundred metres and then came to a halt. We ran out of hand grenades. We made a
collection from the platoons behind us. But it took about ten minutes.
Although smoking was banned, a couple of boys lit up a cigarette while waiting.
It was their last. Up ahead, about two hundred metres away, there was a bang,
and at the same time a cannon shot hit the heads of the smoking boys. Only now
did we realise that the enemy had driven tanks to block our way. One of them
loomed crosswise over the trench, its cannon pointing towards us along the
trench. On either side of it we could see other tanks. We knew the game was
lost. We had no anti-tank guns, and in the open terrain there was not the
slightest chance of engaging the tanks from close range. However, we still
tried to keep rolling and made some headway, but the bullets from the tanks
and the cannon fire that exploded in the walls of the trench soon stopped our
advance.
Then we waited for something to happen, but to no avail. The hours of the night
passed slowly. The tanks guarding the trench occasionally fired a few bursts,
and the cannon roared as if in defiance: "Come on over here!"
The day dawned before eight. The traces of the battles were now revealed in all
their horror. Shell holes, tank wrecks, corpses, broken or abandoned weapons
and equipment everywhere. But the day revealed more. Russians marched along
the road leading to the Kämärä station on the western side of Munasuo. A line
of trucks and wagons marched in a kilometre-long line, as if in a peacetime
exercise.We had no artillery, not a single artillery spotter.We tried firing
small arms at the column, but it had no effect. Our mortar team also tried to
fire, but none of the shells even exploded -- the fuses were frozen. For
another hour we watched the march, and there seemed to be no end to the column.
Then came the order to leave the positions and move to the Lakusuo terrain. We
were the last to leave, as my platoon was the furthest away. At least we all
still got our skis from the dugout, although not the ones we had skied with on
the way in. Everyone seemed to be in a terrible hurry to get off that death
field.
About half a kilometre away from the aforementioned dugout, I came across a
strange sight. A man was crawling along the track, or rather dragging himself
along with his hands, shouting and begging for someone to stop and take him
with them: 'Boys, boys, don't leave me... shoot if you don't take me with you!'
But no one stopped. Everyone skied past the man as if in a race.
I stood next to him, calling for the two men behind me to stop, but they
wouldn't listen. I fired my pistol after them to get their attention, but that
only increased their speed.
I was alone with a man who was unable to move, in an unknown forest, perhaps
surrounded by the enemy. He had a bullet wound in his thigh, and because of
his panic he was almost out of his mind. I helped him onto my skis on his
belly, put the ends of the poles in his hands and, pulling on the other end of
the poles, set off to drag him along the trails, wading in the metre-deep
snow. The going was as difficult as possible. The man's belly was dragging
snow between the skis, the skis tended to break apart, and pulling a heavy
load in snow like that started to take its toll after only a few tens of
metres. Metre by metre, however, the journey continued. Sweat was dripping
from every pore. Every now and then I had to stop and rest. Every moment I
waited for the enemy to appear on the track. It would have meant certain
death. At best, capture. At noon, I finally reached the road. It had taken
more than two hours to cover less than two kilometres. Almost immediately, as
if on cue, a horse from a pioneer troop drove along the road, which I managed
to stop, even though the driver was also in a hurry to get away from the
enemy. We lifted the wounded man onto the load, and the driver promised to
take him to the first place he met where the wounded were treated.
It was only at dusk that I found my group. The company had not received any
provisions for a day and a half, so the company commander sent me out to find
a supply crew and direct those bringing provisions and ammunition to the
company. The battalion supply and company supply troops were already moving
into the Kuikkalampi terrain. The previously cooked food had gone sour and had
to be dumped on the ground. While waiting for the new soup to cook, I have
written down these events I have narrated.
Aktungbby
11-05-21, 10:16 AM
I don't think I've ever posted this Finnish documentary about Simo Häyhä (turn on eng subs), so here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfZuTLKDeXA this video requires a little more Sisu from U!??:D
Extracts from a sergeant's war diary 2/5
Written by then sergeant H. Kolehmainen, translated using machine translation (w/corrections) from "Kansa Taisteli"-journal issue 2/1957.
February 19, at the intermediate position, at Kämärä station.
As soon as the soup was eaten in the morning of 16 February, our company moved
to the west of the village of Kiltee and began to form up for defence in an
area about a kilometre wide. In the middle of the defensive position was a
road leading to the Lähde sector and next to the road was a former
communications dugout.There were no other fortifications in the position.
With feverish haste we started digging foxholes, but the digging seemed
hopeless. The frozen ground reached more than half a metre. With bayonets and
knives, the boys dug up the earth a little at a time. For a couple of hours we
were allowed to dig in peace, but then shouts and commands began to be heard
from the front. A few shots were heard, but as nothing was seen we did not
return fire.
The company commander skied up to us and told us that there was a group of
enemy on the hill in front of our positions two hundred metres away. He
ordered me and my platoon to attack it and drive the enemy out. No fire
support could be provided. Once the enemy is dislodged we can return, but we
must leave a guard on the hill.
I gathered my men and explained our mission to them. We then moved behind the
ridge opposite our target, climbed it and skied as fast as we could to the
halfway point of our target hill. We left our skis there and continued on
foot. It was only near the top of the hill that we started to take rifle fire.
A bullet hit the head of our light machine gunner, but the assistant gunner
caught the gun and opened fire. There were only 3 or 4 enemies on the hill,
who, escorted by our bullets, ran away. On the back slope of the hill was a
rock about a metre and a half high and a metre wide. I shouted to the boys to
move behind it. I was a little ahead of the others and was just about to get
behind the rock when I noticed a large figure in a snow suit on the other side
of the rock. As I dove for the cover of the rock, I had time to notice that
the guy had a rifle -- I only had a pistol. It was a startling blink of an
eye. Within seconds, the question flashed through my mind: what to do -- who
would get the first shot? Guided more by instinct than reason, I swung the
bottom of my overcoat over the edge of the rock and -- the guy fired. I jumped
to the side of the rock and fired as I jumped. It missed, but it distracted
him enough to slow the loading motion. My pistol went off a second time, then
a third and a fourth -- aimlessly and as fast as I could squeeze the trigger
and he slumped from his knees to his stomach. Heart pounding, I jumped back.
It all happened so fast that it was only afterwards that the boys realized
what had happened.
Only now do I have time to look further afield. There was an unexpected view.
Along the road, a couple of hundred metres away, men in brown were lying side
by side. They were absolutely still, face down. The foremost were only fifty
metres away.
By gesturing, I got the boys to crawl into a position where they could see the
road. I gave the signal to open fire. It went off almost simultaneously from
all the guns. The brown mass came to life -- at least the ones that still
could. We fired for a couple of minutes. Then I left a guard on the hill, and,
dragging our fallen man with us, we returned to our position.
It was already evening when the sentries returned and reported that at least
five tanks were approaching along the road. For a long time we had heard their
rumbling, so the information came as no surprise. The frost was getting worse.
The digging of the pot holes continued. A cold and dreary night under the
twinkling stars lay ahead.
From the sounds we can deduce that a food truck arrived at the enemy. There was
a clatter of cutlery, shouts and the noise of a large crowd. Then the engines
of the tanks started to run. Two tanks approached on the road, their machine
guns discharging long bursts along the sides of the road. They drove up to our
positions, passed us for some distance, turned around suddenly and came back
along the same road. The spectacle was repeated again after a while, and then
again and again. The company commander tried to get some anti-tank mines from
the rear. At this point, however, they were nowhere to be found. The tanks
never once left the road, and the rain of bullets did little harm either, as
they mostly rustled high up in the trees. So we let them play on and just kept
an eye on the tanks to make sure the infantry didn't follow them.
It was the third day without sleep. The boys were already starting to fall
asleep in their holes. Sleeping would have meant freezing to death, and I
tried to keep myself and the boys awake by constantly rotating from position
to position. Often a man snoring in his hole had to be lifted up and shaken
before he began to show signs of waking up. Despite this, many of the boys'
feet were freezing.Among others, my combat messenger, Jaeger Valkolehto, had
to go to hospital.
In the morning, the sky filled with clouds and the frost eased. I asked for and
received permission to sleep for two hours in the company commander's dugout.
That's how I missed when the mortar team was performing anti-tank duties. There
were some good hits on the tanks. But grenade hits can't penetrate tank armor.
Heavy artillery shells can. In the morning, a artillery spotter appeared on
the scene, laid down a target on the road, pointed his guns at it, and when
the tanks on their next show approached, gave the order to fire. One of the
tanks remained stationary and the other left the scene. The crew attempted to
exit the disabled tank but were killed on the spot.
The enemy artillery was apparently moving to a new position, as its fire was
unusually light. Stubbornly, however, the infantry tried one attack after
another along the road. The attacks were repulsed.
At about 14.00 an unexpected order to withdraw was received. The company left
for Kiltee, but my platoon had to stay in position for half an hour to ensure
the withdrawal. The company left for Kiltee, but my platoon had to stay in
position for half an hour to ensure an undisturbed withdrawal.
After half an hour we went after the company. Just as we were about to reach
the road leading through the centre of the village of Kiltee, an officer rode
up from Kämärä and informed the troops that the Russians had captured the
village of Kämärä and that tanks were coming from there to Kiltee. They had
recently shot up one of our trucks carrying the wounded. Our retreat was
blocked.
The troops that had reached the village started to return, and at the same time
troops from defensive positions on the west side of the village kept arriving.
The supplies were already behind the intermediate position in the Kuikkalampi
terrain. Within a quarter of an hour our entire brigade and nearly a hundred
vehicles were assembled in the village clearing of Kiltee.
In the autumn, there had been a horse track from Kiltee across the Leipäsuo
swamp to the supply road leading from Kattilaoja to Kuikkalampi. It had not
been used since Christmas, so it was now deep in snow. Two vehicles were
unloaded and a few loads were lightened. The empty vehicles went first and the
lightened loads followed. Then there was enough of a trail for the other
vehicles to follow with the help of the men.
But they had not yet moved when 25-30 Russian fighters appeared over the
village. The clouds were hanging low, and visibility was poor due to snowfall.
The planes flew low, circling and curving over us like a swarm of mosquitoes
on a summer evening, but -- not a shot was fired. Someone told me they saw the
pilot of one of the planes peek over the edge and wave. They had mistaken us
for one of their own.
After the fighters left, the vehicles moved off, and the battalions and
companies skied alongside them across the swamp. At Kuikkalampi,
sergeants-majors with already steaming kitchens had even set up tents ready
for their reduced companies.
Sleep was tasty after the wakefulness and excitement. But it didn't last long,
because before the next morning the alarm came. The enemy had already attacked
the intermediate position in the evening and during the night, and it was only
with difficulty that the inexperienced troops gathered there had been able to
repel the attacks. A particularly close call had been in the direction of the
Kämärä road, where the enemy had tried to break through with their tanks. It
was there that our company had to hurry.
The intermediate position is unfinished. Not even the barbed wire barrier is
continuous, with large sections still to be built. There are sparsely spaced
firing positions, a few dugouts, a bit of trench here and there, and a patch
of anti-tank obstacles.
The Road base was already occupied by company Toivio from Detachment Berg. Our
company was assigned to the same location. So there were two companies working
side by side.
The fourth and fifth squads of my platoon went to reinforce the Forward
position, 300 meters in front of the actual defensive position, on the edge of
the fields of the station village. If enemy pressure became unbearable, they
were to withdraw to reinforce the defences of the Road base. At the Forward
position the officer in charge was an officer from Toivio's company with his
platoon. I placed the rest of my platoon in a stretch of trench next to the
Road base, separated from the previous one by 50 metres of open terrain. In my
platoon's area was the only crew dugout in the immediate vicinity. At the Road
base, a hundred metres from the road, there is a machine-gun position and, on
either side of the road, a light machine-gun position. These positions were
built so high that they were guaranteed to stand out from their surroundings
and be visible far into the enemy's line of sight.
The artillery fire was weak, and the enemy did not show any special willingness
to act on this occasion. But if you glanced across the field from the Forward
position, you had to look twice before you believed what you saw. There stood
dozens of tanks, lined up at regular intervals as if on parade. They stood in
the open field in their strength, aware of our powerlessness. We had two
anti-tank guns next to the road, but from there they could not fire into the
field. The previous evening, when the Russians had tried to break through with
their tanks along the road, three of our guns had been destroyed and the crews
had suffered losses. Two gun crew leaders, among others, had fallen beside
their guns, but they had nevertheless managed to prevent the breakthrough, and
behind a broken stone barrier stood six destroyed and burnt tanks. Somewhere
they had managed to get intact guns to replace the broken ones.
In the evening, our company commander made an attempt to harass the tanks
parked in the field. He and his men pulled an anti-tank gun through the snow
to the Forward position. It managed to fire five shots and got one of the
tanks on fire, when the other tanks directed such a hellish shower of fire at
the gun that there was no longer any chance of getting near it. After dark the
broken gun was towed away. The tank burning in the field lit the night
landscape a misty yellow.
In the early hours of the morning, a couple of groups of engineers arrived with
a load of box mines. I was their guide as they set their mines in front of the
barrier. They were left to finish their work when, at dawn, I returned to my
platoon.
But I didn't have time to finish my cigarette when the tanks in the field
opened fire with all their weapons and the artillery joined the orchestra. A
moment later the commander of the Front base crawled out, wounded in the leg,
and it was not long after that the men came after him. They told us that the
tanks had shot the outpost to pieces and then started moving towards it.
Several dead had been left there, including two replacements who had arrived
yesterday. I ran with my men to the Road Base. There, too, things were a mess.
The Russians had used their tank guns to fire in through the gaps in the
machine-gun emplacements. In the light machine gun position nearest the road,
several men had been wounded, and all the others had gone to "escort" them to
the rear. At the machine gun emplacement, the gunner had fallen, the assistant
gunner was wounded and the machine gun was lying on its side among the debris
on the floor of the emplacement. Here too, some of Toivio's men had thought it
best to move on to safer ground, first-timers in combat as they were.
However, these things only became clear afterwards, because as soon as we got
to the machine gun emplacement, we saw that a closed section was marching on
the road almost at the light machine gun emplacement. Some of the men were
wearing snowsuits, and it therefore occurred to me that those must be our own
engineers, now returning from their mission. I jumped to the edge of the
trench and shouted something to the men. When they turned their heads at my
shout so that their faces were visible, it was immediately clear that they
were Russians, and from my position I fired my submachine gun in the direction
of the column and the boys joined the firing. Some of the Russians ducked to
the ground, but others ran into the light machine gun emplacement in front of
them and into the trench, where those who had ducked to the ground also began
to rush. I had snatched the submachine gun from the edge of the trench.
Shrapnels had cracked the barrel, and after a few bursts it stopped working.
Corporals Pöntinen and Jäppinen seized the machine gun lying on the floor of
the nest, lifted it to the edge of the trench and made it work. This was the
trick that -- in my opinion -- prevented the intermediate position from
collapsing that day.The Russians kept feeding new troops down the road to the
battle, but Pöntinen and Jäppinen's machine gun cut them off before they
reached the trench, and those who had already reached it were unable to extend
their break-in. The machine gun was in a sheltered rear position, so the
Russians could not fire at it from a distance.
On the orders of the company commander, we tried a counterattack to expel the
enemy who had reached the vicinity of the light machine gun position. Perhaps
we would have succeeded, had it not been for the sudden intervention of three
tanks that had come through from the right flank and were now rushing behind
our positions. Because of them our counterattack had to be stopped.
Then the anti-tank men of the brigade and our company took action. After some
time they managed to set all three tanks on fire. Black clouds of smoke rose
into the sky and the Russians did not send more tanks into our rear. But the
infantry attempted to advance in the direction of the road, and those who
reached our position in the morning fired from the rear at our men who were at
the machine-gun emplacement. One man after another got a bullet in the skin.
Among the casualties was our excellent light machine gunner, Jaeger Ulmanen.
In the afternoon, both corporals who were in charge of the machine gun were
wounded, and by then the base was already stretched to the limit.
But then a platoon of Swedish-speaking first-timers arrived to help us. They
had had very bad luck when they arrived, because on the way they had already
lost their platoon leader, their platoon sergeant and two squad leaders. The
two remaining squad leaders spoke Finnish, but none of the boys did. They had
started their war in a bit of a rough place and seemed nervous at first, but
soon settled down and took things like men.
As darkness fell, we thought that the Russians must have had their fill for the
day. But no. Their political officer had come to the front line and a hundred
metres from our positions was shouting his incitements in a shrill voice. With
all weapons we let out a brief burst of fire in the direction of the sound.
The speech halted, but then continued. It ended with a triple "Uraa! Uraa!
Uraa!" which, admittedly, seemed a little forced. Here comes the assault -- we
thought, and opened fire again in the direction from which the shouts were
coming. There was no assault, but soon the political officer began to shout
and shout some more. He shouted for a while and then again "Uraa! Uraa!
Uraa!". We opened fire again, and again there was no assault.
Gradually it became quieter on the opposite side. A messenger came to inform us
that at 21:00 the 2nd company of our battalion would take over the front line
at the Road Base.
The rookies were pulled out first and the changeover went smoothly. The
sergeant-major had sent my platoon dry food. It was our first meal after
yesterday. There was plenty of food, as it had been sent according to the
previous day's strength, which was 29. Now there were only eleven of us to
share the food.
All the platoons in our company had suffered heavy losses during the day. The
leader of the second platoon, Lieutenant Ojapelto, had been wounded.
We were given a dugout for the night, with walls but no roof. We built a fire
in the middle and huddled around it to spend a cold and smoky night.
This morning, the remaining personnel of our company were divided into two
platoons and two bases were formed in our defensive area. I was assigned the
one on the left, closest to the road. It has two covered machine gun
emplacements and a small dugout attached to them. Half the men in my base
could just about fit into the dugout at any one time, but no more could be
removed from the positions anyway.
The enemy has not attacked in the direction of the road today either. But they
have got their artillery in position and are now preparing the way for their
attack.
Extracts from a sergeant's war diary 3/5
Written by then sergeant H. Kolehmainen, translated using machine translation (w/corrections) from "Kansa Taisteli"-journal issue 3/1957.
I have attached a map at the bottom of the post of the area with some points of interest marked. Click to see larger image. I am still trying to find out the unit the writer belonged to for some additional details.
21 February 1940, in the intermediate position
Our dugout is on the banks of the Pero River. It was built as a machine gun
emplacement, but its firing port faces the enemy and its area of fire is
limited. We have placed the machine gun in a trench behind the dugout. The
river at this point is 10 metres wide and heavily frozen. So heavy that it can
carry tanks, as evidenced by the tracks of the tanks that drove close to the
Road Base a few days ago.
The commander of the machine gun platoon, Sergeant Ovaska, also lives in our
dugout. This morning he went on an errand to the Road Base, but returned a
moment later to tell us that he had dropped in to take a peek at a stretch of
anti-tank trench that cannot be observed from our positions. The trench had
been full of Russians. He thought they could easily be destroyed by a small
surprise attack. We roused some of the men who were resting and, led by
Ovaska, crept under cover of darkness to the edge of the trench. Hand grenades
exploded in the pit. The submachine gun completed the job. Twenty-two were
deducted from the Russian strength, including one lieutenant. On our return we
had with us a watch, binoculars, map case, compass, flare gun, sniper rifle
and several semi-automatic and standard rifles.
The company commander ordered anti-tank mines to be placed in the tank tracks
leading past our dugout, in case the Russians thought of using the same route
again. The sergeant-major brought five mines by sleigh, and it was my job to
set them in place. We went to work with Jäger Lappalainen. With my field
shovel and two mines, I crept down to the river. I dug holes for the mines,
set them and crawled back. Then Lappalainen went out, dug the holes and
started to arm the mines. Something went wrong. There was a huge bang. There
were no more mines and no more Lappalainen. He was from Lapinlahti in Sakkola.
One Saturday, during the extra exercises, I was at his house in the sauna.
At dusk, a Russian soldier, Pyotr Sergein Shuvalov, tried to come and greet us,
but the man on guard duty was in such a hurry that he shot him in the head.
The stranger's friendly intentions towards us should have been evident from
the fact that he had dragged his rifle behind him along the trench, humming a
sad song as he went. In one hand he had an opened bottle of vodka and in his
pocket was another unopened one. How and by what means he had got into the
trench unnoticed by the guards is a mystery. From his documents, the
Russian-speakers could tell that he was from Kiev, 24 years old and a
mechanical engineer by profession. He had been something of a 'ladies' man',
as he had many pictures of beautiful girls in his pocket. Shame about the
girls. But the vodka was good.
23 February
Yesterday, the Russians stormed the road again, their artillery thundering from
dawn to dusk. They were content to fire their tank and direct fire cannons at
our company's front line, apparently because their own men were too close. The
distance between our positions is less than a hundred metres. But behind our
positions, the woods were reduced to a shrubbery. The second company held its
ground at the Road Base, regardless of casualties. Last night, a company of
the Uusimaa Regiment relieved them.
Our company had a bad day today. Not so much because of the enemy, but because
of the sour pea soup we had this morning. Peeling off the many layers of
clothing and equipment for a discharge is a demanding operation because it can
only be done without incident if your metabolism is normal. When the sour pea
soup festered in the intestines, the process was not successful at all, not
for anyone. In the afternoon, I don't think anyone even bothered to try it
anymore. We were reduced to the level of an animal. But animals have it easier
-- they don't have pants. We had to carry in our trousers what they leave
behind. In the morning, the boys asked to see a doctor because of their
diarrhoea, but we couldn't leave the positions empty. A medical officer went
around handing out kilos of charcoal tablets.
24 February
Our dugout is at the forest line, along which we can see for a kilometre across
the Pero River and diagonally behind the road. We built a lookout and sniper
post on the roof of the dugout on our very first night. During the daylight
hours there is always someone in position watching from behind the sniper
rifle we received from the Russians, which we first sighted in the rear. I
doubt the Russians have a clue where the death is coming from that is
harvesting their men behind the road 500-600 meters from our dugout. That's
apparently their footpath, as there's plenty of movement all day long. The
most diligent stalkers boast that they can get up to twenty kills a day. I
don't know. I mean, you can't verify every kill. But you can always count the
ones that the guys have to drag off the line. It's happened that they've had
to send four guys after another, when the first ones have always turned from
draggers to dragged. You can see that they think the cause of the casualties
is right on the front line and try to protect themselves in that direction.
The Russians tried again today with their tanks in the direction of the road.
Not along the road, but in the woods a few hundred meters from the road. That
attempt went badly wrong for them. The boys of the Uusimaa Regiment set fire
to eight tanks with their Molotovs.
Diarrhoea continues. Albeit already milder than yesterday. But it has made me
feel as if I am powerless. Fortunately, we will be able to rest for a couple
of days next night. The second company will take the front line.
26 February
We live in dugouts near the brigade headquarters. We are on our second day of
rest, and the worst of the fatigue has passed.
Washing up, shaving and changing underwear are mundane chores in everyday life.
Now they have a sense of celebration. Even if the water melted from a pack
full of snow doesn't make you feel very clean after two weeks of not washing,
it feels like you're becoming human again. So, happiness and joy in human life
are relative and dependent on the circumstances.
This time we got some rookies who had been in training for a couple of months
as replacements. Our company was reorganised today. The remaining old
replacements were transferred to the supply platoon and the young men from
there to the rifle platoons. The old ones looked happy. They believe that they
can keep their lives in their posts more surely than in the trenches. But the
part of the company supply man is not much better than that of the rifleman in
terms of safety. But they believe it to be so, and what a man believes is
truth to him.
27 February
Last night we took over the defensive positions of the third company. The enemy
is attacking fiercely in the terrain of Lake Näykkijärvi and Honkaniemi stop
and has made a small breakthrough there. One of the jäger battalions has been
ordered to restore the positions.
The boys of the 3rd Company have had a joint water opening with the enemy on
the ice of the Perojoki River. The water has been fetched in turns, and the
water fetchers have not been shot at. Just now at dusk a hasty recruit
happened to be on guard. He couldn't resist firing at a Russian water
retriever crouching 40 metres away. Probably now we have to melt the coffee
water from the snow, it's bad because for some reason there is only black snow
here.
However, more serious damage occurred a little later. Twenty engineers came to
mine the terrain on the front line. They had mines and other supplies in a
vehicle, which they drove close to the front line. I was given the task of
guiding the engineers to the mine site. I discussed the operation with their
leader and proceeded to walk ahead to open an opening in the barbed wire
barrier. The engineers stayed behind to move their mines into a sled. A single
mortar shot was heard from the enemy side, the shell whizzed over and -- hit
the sled. The pressure of the explosion knocked me over. Three engineers were
taken to the first aid station, -- of the others there was nothing left to
take anywhere.
28 February
In the morning, the enemy launched a massive artillery barrage. It continued
for a couple of hours, then gradually quietened down. We waited for the
attack. It did not come. All day long there have been noises -- as if moaning
-- from in front of the positions, and solitary enemies have been seen
crawling here and there. When the moon rose, we held an "area firing" with all
guns in front of our positions. The artillery took part with a few grenades,
as did the battalion mortar platoon. The voices fell silent.
Then a lone Russian started shouting repeatedly, "Stalin! Stalin! Stalin!"
The scream seemed almost eerie in the otherwise quiet night. It turned out that
the shouter was a wounded Russian who had become entangled in our barbed wire
barrier. We decided that if the Russians came for their man, we would let them
do it in peace. No retrievers came, and the shouting continued. Not wanting to
send any of our own men to be exposed to Russian fire, a burst of light
machinegun fire was sent out. The shouting stopped.
1 March
Last night, two patrols went out to investigate the area in front. They found
that the front of the positions was full of fallen Russians. There was not a
single survivor in the surrounding area.
As the day wore on, things began to clear up. A patrol was sent out, which
stayed on its way for half an hour, and on its return confirmed the report of
the night patrols.
With the company commander and a few men, we went to investigate the area.
Behind the river there is a zone about 200 metres wide with large fir trees.
Then the marshland begins, with open areas and small islands of forest. The
forest zone revealed the tragedy that befell the Russians. In an area of about
four or five hectares, there were fallen Russians almost side by side. We did
not attempt to count their number. But an estimate based on the area of the
site suggests that the number of the fallen was certainly closer to four
hundred than three hundred. Many of them still had the bread in their hands
that they had been eating when the Retriever came. It turned out that the
Russians had brought a reinforced battalion within a couple of hundred metres
of our positions during the night of 28 February. Its purpose had been to
attack through our positions and then continue eastward, turning onto the
road, which would have put our troops -- three companies -- on the west side
of the road in danger of being encircled and their only supply route would
have been cut off.
Yes. This had been the plan. Maybe a good one for them. But there had been at
least one miscalculation. A mistake made by the man who drew up their
artillery fire plan. He had probably made a mistake in calculating the
distance of a kilometer when he set the targets.
A kilometre here or there -- What does it matter in a war. In this case it did.
It was downright fatal. For the fire preparation for their attack, intended to
defeat us, had fallen on their own battalion, ready to attack and completely
exposed.
There sat a fire control officer with a map in front of him and a telephone
receiver in his stiffened hand. He must have been hit as soon as the
bombardment began, because he had been unable to stop it. Heavy artillery
ammunition they must have been mainly. Large 16- to 18-inch fir trees had
fallen like matchsticks under their force. One of them had snapped in half,
and the top had fallen on the neck of a man sitting at the foot of the tree,
resting on the branches. The lieutenant-colonel had an open bread bag in front
of him. It contained wheat bread, tinned food and a slightly less than full
bottle of vodka. The Retriever had come to him, too, in the middle of his
'last meal'.
The battalion was no ordinary battalion, but an NCO school based in Leningrad.
It had been brought by train directly from the barracks to a place near Kämärä
station. Only two days before, they had been on an evening pass in the
amusement parlours of the big city.
They were all 22-23 years old, strong-looking young men. They wore new
overcoats of some silky fabric, with a plain military summer uniform, also
new, underneath, and two pairs of flannel, clean underwear. Their faces were
neither wrinkled by the winter winds nor blackened by the camp fires, but with
smooth faces and shaved beards they had gone to war as to a party.
In addition to the Lieutenant Colonel, the dead included officers from Captain
to Junior Lieutenant and many non-commissioned officers. The map cases were
full of maps and papers. And, amazingly, their maps were already printed in
the printing press with the unfinished dugouts, emplacements and obstacles of
our unfinished intermediate position. The maps also had thick arrows drawn in
coloured pencil showing the course of their planned attack.
It was a snowy day. The enemy remained silent. Only a solitary shell would
occasionally whistle overhead. We cut a hole in the barrier and trampled our
way to the killing field. We drove in one horse at a time and loaded the
sledge full of spoils. All the company horses and some of the battalion horses
came during the day to pick up a load of spoils of war. Twelve new machine
guns were loaded into the first loads. They had been painted white and were
still so new that they had not even been degreased. They could not be fired
immediately, but the Russians must have thought that the artillery made such a
clean job that there was no need to fire the machine guns - and there was
none. We got mortars, light machine guns, submachine guns, automatic rifles
and all the stuff that a battalion carries. No pistols appeared in the loads,
but the boys had plenty of them in their pockets.
One platoon at a time, the boys took it in turns to collect the loot. Each one
saved something for himself as a war souvenir. The fallen had an unusually
large amount of money. Paper money, coins and badges of all sorts. In the
afternoon, my platoon's trench was covered with Russian paper money as the
boys emptied the wallets they had collected from the pockets of the fallen. It
occurred to me that if you could put together a couple of rucksacks full of
them, who knows if you'd live to be a rich man, but where would you have been
able to find rucksacks in such a hurry? So the money was left to get mixed up
in the mud of the trench. Strangely shifting "values" in the world. The money
that people spend all their lives trying to accumulate, the money for which
the greatest crimes and villainous deeds are committed, now no one bothered to
deposit more than one or two notes, which were deposited not because of the
money itself, but because of the commemorative value it contained.
Although we have had an easy day today, the enemy has been attacking more
fiercely towards the Honkaniemi stop and has made a deep breakthrough there.
The intermediate position is abandoned. In a few hours the delay phase will
begin again. Supply is already withdrawing behind the Valkjärvi track. Our
company sets up a delaying position in the terrain south of the Pilppula stop
at the halfway point of Lake Kämäränjärvi. A battalion of the Uusimaa Regiment
will leave patrols at the intermediate position to maintain contact with the
enemy.
https://i.imgur.com/IqqeWhM.jpg
Extracts from a sergeant's war diary 4/5
Written by then sergeant H. Kolehmainen, translated using machine translation (w/corrections) from "Kansa Taisteli"-journal issue 1/1958.
4 March 1940, in Lyykylä
After leaving the intermediate position, we skied along the road leading to the
village of Kämärä. During the twelve days we had been in the intermediate
position, the scenery had become unfamiliar. All that was left of the forest
were ragged, jutting stumps. Grenades had ploughed the road into a lumpy field.
It is remarkable how your eyes adapt to "night life". When the moon was behind
a thin veil of clouds, it was hard to tell whether it was night or day. All
objects were clearly visible, even plain text was easy to read.
From Kämärä road we turned to the horse road leading to Pilppula and stopped
approximately in the midpoint of Kämärä lake. There we had to establish
delaying positions. The last of our own troops passed us. The day dawned, and
it was the first warm day of winter. It was very quiet at the front. It was
only in the afternoon that the first artillery shots rang in our ears.
The second platoon stayed in position by the road, the third platoon near
Kämärä lake and my platoon between them about 300 meters from the road. Each
platoon was reinforced with a machine gun. We prepared the positions from
packing snow. The terrain was hilly grassland where there had been a forest
fire a few years ago.
There was a sand pit in my team's area. We chose it as a fallback position,
where we placed our skis and backpacks. Our actual position was 70-80 meters
away on a small hill.
It would have been a great day to rest, but according to battalion orders we
were not allowed to pitch tents, and sleeping on snow even in warm weather is
no rest. This order was grimly cursed. The messengers told us that the
battalion headquarters slept in peace and quiet 7 or 8 kilometres to the rear
of our positions in some house.
But we couldn't sleep. We walked, shuffled and wrestled to stay warm. And so
evening came and night came. Still the same shuffling. We changed sentries and
shuffled. At night it became cold. Our wet clothes and boots froze. We stayed
awake and shuffled in our armour-clad clothes.
Finally, the tops of the trees began to turn red, a sign that the sun was
rising. At the same time, a swarm of fighter planes flew over us, and from the
direction of the road the sound of tanks could be heard in the distance. We
drank the soup sent by the sergeant-major to refresh our weary limbs and then
walked along the path to the position and began to wait.
There was gunfire and the sound of fighting from the direction of the road. A
tank had been set on fire as a tall column of smoke rose above the forest. We
waited and froze in our snow holes.
Then it appeared in front of us. A hundred and fifty metres away, a line of men
came towards us in two columns. Two large men in snow suits were in front,
side by side, knees high, trampling a path for those behind them. Our gunfire
erupted and the queues disappeared into the snow. But the approach did not
stop, but continued -- inside the snow. The Russians had learned the art of
"swimming" and "diving" forward in the snow. Occasionally one of them would
rise slightly and several guns would pop out at once to catch the unwary.
We were so engrossed in the stalking that we were not paying attention to what
was happening elsewhere. I happened to glance behind us and -- the blood
almost froze in my veins.
Along the path leading to our fallback position and very close to us, two tanks
roared in succession. The woodland in front of the one in front swept like hay
under a mower.
That's the end of it -- flashed in my mind. They're sure to run us over and
crush us under their treads. In a metre deep snow we can't outrun them. But
maybe they don't know about us -- hope whispered in my ear. "Take cover in
your holes!", I managed to yelp as the foremost tank was already roaring on
our positions and so close to one of the men that a piece of his overcoat was
chipped off under the track. The tank that followed stopped twenty meters
behind us.
What the hell am I supposed to do now -- I thought. Less than a hundred meters
ahead of us were Russians, swimming in the snow, getting closer by the minute,
behind us on our only path was a tank, and all around us was more than a meter
of snow.
I already had time to order the group on the extreme left to start trampling
the path diagonally backwards to the third platoon's position. It was at least
300 metres. When the first man stood up he was immediately shot in the chest.
I guess some instinct led me to the right decision. I shouted to the boys
"Follow me!", got up and headed straight down the path towards the tank -- and
there was no shooting. I passed the tank a meter away, came up behind it on
the path and the boys followed. At the edge of our fallback position, we set
up another fighting position. The Russians in the tank had mistaken us for
their own men.
I realised that I had made an unforgivable mistake by leaving our skis in the
fallback position. It had actually been done without thinking, -- out of old
habit. I had been taught, and I in turn would teach, that when going to
fighting positions you leave your skis behind. Only luck had saved us from the
unfortunate consequences of that teaching.
Then a messenger of the company commander crawled towards us along the track
left by the tank. He had a rucksack on his back and it was visible above the
snow. Somewhere a machine gun cracked and the messenger's backpack jerked as
bullets hit it. And the boy laughed. Laughed truly as death scratched his
back. In the past, this boy had shown a downright contempt for death. There
hadn't been much of a shellstorm that he'd bothered to take cover unless a
superior told him to. And yet bullets and shrapnel seemed to skirt him. If he
had a normal self-preservation instinct, he kept it in check in an abnormal
way. The word 'fearless' can be used with perfect justification. Otherwise, he
was a man of silence, and no one ever heard him bite his tongue against even
his heaviest duties.
He brought orders from the company commander that these positions be abandoned
and the company move to a new delaying position one kilometre further back.
Through the forest we skied straight north for half an hour and then turned
sharply left. By chance we came to the spot where the company's roadside
element had taken up position. We were told that there had been some heavy
fighting on the road. The brigade's anti-tank platoon had been involved and
had destroyed four tanks. A corporal in the platoon had jumped on the rear
armour of a moving tank, placed a satchel charge at the base of the turret and
then jumped into the snow. The explosion had left him with minor scratches.
The Russians started attacking again, and the company commander sent me and my
platoon to occupy the positions near the Pilppula stop.
It was already afternoon. There were large rocks in the terrain, and we each
prepared a position for ourselves behind the rocks. The elements of the
company in front began to retreat to our level, and the engineers hurriedly
laid their mines. A few tanks could already be seen across the clearing. One
of the tanks broke away from the group and started to drive along the road
towards us. The engineers threw snow on their mines and jumped behind the
nearby rocks. The tank approached and -- explosion -- seemed to leap into the
air. It was out of action, but only one track was broken. The gun lowered and
a dozen rounds of rapid fire boomed out of the tank. The tanks behind them
approached in jerks. They moved in for a moment, paused to fire, and then
moved in again. The infantry tried to follow, but our fire forced them to
resort to swimming in the snow. The men left in the stalled tank were tired of
waiting. They opened the hatch and one after the other tried to jump behind
the tank. The first to try succeeded. He even managed to take the light
machine gun with him. But the next two got caught halfway outside the hatch.
In the course of this, Jäger Savolainen got too excited and raised himself too
high from his rock, and a bullet in the middle of his forehead extinguished
his enthusiasm. The sun was close to the horizon. The Russians drove a second
tank behind their immobilized tank and, under cover, managed to attach a wire
to the broken tank. A hundred meters away from us they were banging and
rattling on their tank. It would have been a great target for artillery or
mortars, but we had neither.
A messenger brought an order that the company would leave Pilppula and take the
forest road to Lyykylä. And the company went. But I had to stay with my
platoon for at least an hour to make sure the enemy couldn't interfere with
the march. A patrol from the light detachment would then stay behind to keep
an eye on the enemy's activities.
An officer-led patrol came, as was supposed to. We listened together for a
while to the enemy's repair efforts, and then, in the light of the rising
moon, I set off with my platoon after the company. At first we tried to carry
the body of Jäger Savolainen in a sledge with us. But the sledge also
contained ammunition and hand grenades, and the heavy sledge slowed us down.
The tired men grumbled against pulling the sledge. So we lifted the body under
the fir trees beside the road and folded the branches to cover him.
Early in the morning we arrived in Lyykylä. The village was full of troops, and
we had to ask at several houses before we found our company. Everyone was
asleep, and so we also got down on the floor with the others.
It was already afternoon when we woke up to the sound of an officer shouting
from the door of the house:
-"Wake the hell up! The Russkies will be here soon. All the other troops have
already gone and you are lying there like in an inn."
He was the commander of the burning detachment and was going around getting
the houses ready for burning.
The horses were put in harness and we moved a couple of kilometres towards
Karisalmi, where we stopped for lunch. We got to Karisalmi and were put in
reserve in our brigade.
Extracts from a sergeant's war diary 5/5
Written by then sergeant H. Kolehmainen, translated using machine translation (w/corrections) from "Kansa Taisteli"-journal issue 4/1958.
We are staying in a house on the edge of the woods. We don't know who we are
intruding on, as the host had already left the house before we arrived. They
had cleaned their house before they left, as if for guests. We have a good
sauna and it has steamed from dusk till dawn both nights. Everyone has already
had one bath, but it is a treat that I would gladly enjoy more than once in a
row now. The basement of the house is full of canned berries -- strawberries,
raspberries, currants -- you name it. It felt criminal to take them just like
that, even though common sense says they're in danger of going to waste if
unused.
The front line is 4-5 km away. Our brigade's II and III battalions are in
position there. The enemy has remained calm here, but there has been heavy
fighting a little further west on the isthmus between Lake Repola and Lake
Kärstilä.
8 March 1940
The reserve period was short. At noon we received a report that the enemy had
advanced on the railway line near the Tali station. We immediately had to
occupy blocking positions along the eastern shore of Lake Repola up to the
railway line.
The position was occupied. It is just a line on the map. There are not even ski
trails on the terrain. But there were grenade craters, and new ones were
constantly appearing. We huddled among the rocks and watched the Russians
march along the road on the opposite shore of the lake. With binoculars, the
Russians' activities were startlingly visible. Sergeant Potinkara positioned
his machine-gun platoon and fired a few belts with four guns. The Russians
didn't seem to mind, but we were immediately greeted by heavy artillery shells
on our heads.
Only one platoon was left in position for the night and the others were taken
to rest in a dugout that was still under construction. At midnight there is a
changeover and then in the morning everyone is back in position.
10 March
Yesterday we started digging positions. The terrain is almost a ruin of stone.
The enemy's activity has intensified. Twice already today they sent troops
across the lake, a company each time. The first attempt was repulsed halfway
across the lake, but the second time they had armoured shields with them,
which they pushed ahead on skis. This allowed them to get close to the shore,
as a rifle bullet could not penetrate the shield armour. The defence had to be
arranged so that we could shoot from the sides behind the shields. It worked
and the line of shields became motionless.
13 March
Peace. It seems unbelievable, but it's true. When the battalion messenger this
morning brought the news that peace had been concluded in Moscow and that not
a single shot should be fired after eleven o'clock, the announcement seemed
more like a joke than anything else. The Russian guns roared even more
fiercely. Their infantry attacked across the ice, as they had done yesterday.
Men were wounded. At half past ten, a horseman fell near the dugout under
construction. No -- we have been betrayed. A few minutes to eleven and still
the guns roared...
And then -- total silence. A lone enemy plane was returning to its own side.
Water droplets dripped from a nearby fir tree, and a pair of sparrows chirped
on a branch...
We cautiously climb out of our holes. Light a cigarette. Is this true after all
-- peace. The Russians who were on the ice have also emerged from behind their
shields and from their snow holes.
-- That's how close they were already!
The Russians wave their arms and raise their weapons. No one responds to their
gestures.
Then comes another order. One last look at the front area, backpack on and
silently we start to ski to the supply platoon. There, the sergeant-major has
the loads ready and the horses harnessed. We move to the road about a
kilometre away. The soup is ready. We eat. New troops arrive. Officers are
passing by. Even the battalion commander, who hasn't been seen since we left
Leipäsuo. We wait...
The hours go by. We are still waiting. What are the peace terms? Where will the
border be? There are rumours. Someone knows to say that Viipuri, Käkisalmi and
Sortavala must be left to the Russians -- supposedly having heard Tanner's
speech on the battalion headquarters radio. Nobody believes it. A lively
argument ensues on the road.
Finally comes the company commander. It's true. Nobody says anything. Not a word.
There is no order or command. The commander takes the lead, and the company
starts skiing after him.
We arrive in Karisalmi and stay in the same house where we stayed two weeks
ago. Everyone collapses on the floor and sleeps.
Windows are not covered. The lanterns burn without being dimmed. There is no
guard at the door. There is peace.
"Counter-attack"
Translated from story told by Paavo Linnanterä, a company commander in Taipale area, in "Kansa Taisteli"-journal issue 1/1957.
The battle of Taipale in the Winter War reminds me vividly of the
counter-attack of 11 February.
The situation for me that day was that my company had been ordered to the
position at Karmankolo, that famous dugout, as a sort of fighting reserve.
The pressure on the front line was high. At noon, Major Saarelainen arrives,
very winded. I hear the call for me in my dugout and then the words of Major
Saarelainen:
-" We must go now, quickly. The situation is getting difficult!"
While we were running out of that dugout, a soldier between us got a bullet
through his nose. The man was left to the care of the others, we had to hurry
on foot towards Base 3. What had happened. Saarelainen said that the base crew
was dead to the last man, and my job was to prepare for a possible attack soon
to retake the front line.
After some time, the 3rd Company was ordered to retake this base. Later I heard
that this company had been beaten back in a bloody fight, and the casualties
had been heavy.
After dark, I was ordered to retake the base. The battalion commander briefed
me on the situation in his dugout. He did not give any instructions, he just
said "do what you want, but we have to get the base back". After a moment's
deliberation, I expressed my wish to receive as many hand grenades and
submachine gun magazines as possible.
We were in a situation where first the defenders of the base had fallen to the
last man, then 3rd Company had tried to retake the base, but without success,
and now I would be the third to try to do the same. It was quiet in that
dugout after the briefing. The men around me, many of whom were strangers to
me, looked on in silence, many of them holding out their hands and silently
wishing me luck.
Coming out of the dugout, I crossed my hands, praying for God's protection for
this company of mine, who had been given a very difficult task. After all, we
had to start by attacking over an open field some 700 metres wide.
A battle plan was then drawn up. From the remnants of the Third Company, I
remember I got 16 men, and from some of them, some of my own company, a
assault group was formed to try to get into the trenches. The main part of the
company was to use a false attack to draw the enemy's attention to itself in
order to make the task of the assault group easier.
Standing there in front of the company at the briefing, my men may have sensed
my silent thoughts about the difficulty of the mission. But since in Taipale
it had become accepted that an order is an order that must be carried out,
there was also a husky remark from the rank and file, after the situation and
the mission had been explained:
-"It's a clear order, that's all we can do."
Thus, this was the start of this attack, for which artillery preparation had
been promised. But there was a great shortage of grenades, and so the
assistance of the artillery was limited to five or six grenades.
When the fighting started, I was with the main part of the company. So there
were two assault groups from the company pushing into an enemy-held base. I
think I have never been under such machine-gun fire as I was then, and like a
mole I tried to crawl out from under the fire. Soon, too, I found that the
charge into the base had already begun. With waving and shouting I tried to
get the company there. I succeeded, and inch by inch we then began to roll the
positions held by the enemy. This was done one bend in the trench after
another, and took perhaps four or five hours. My men had more than their share
of difficulties, loading and carrying the magazines of the submachine guns was
no easy task in that battle, where the defenders were tough, but even tougher
were my men, who had been through the fire and were experienced.
What sticks in my mind from that battle is the action of a soldier who had come
from near Joensuu as a replacement as a submachine gunner. When the trench was
cleared, I remember how he was wounded twice and still had visions, explaining
that the enemy was still in the area. I tried to reassure him and get him to
the first aid station, but he was still so intent on his mission that even
wounded he could not bear to give it up. Finally, I went to the front of the
line to the "enemy" he claimed was there, thus demonstrating that there was no
one there. The man calmed down and got over his shock.
In particular, I would like to mention the activities of Lieutenant Toiviainen
as the platoon leader of the 3rd Company. During this counterattack, he was
the leader of the assault group whose achievements led to the capture of the
trench.
The company was hit hard by the loss of two platoon leaders, of whom the fall
of Lieutenant Seitola in particular was a heavy blow, not only to me, but to
the whole company. He was a brave, well-liked leader. He was not found, in
spite of all the searching, until the early hours of the morning, bent over on
his knees in front of the base. There he had received a bullet through the
heart.
Steady, silent, heads bowed, in icy snowsuits, we then marched to the Jyväshovi
terrain, where we were greeted with hot juice and maybe a drop of alcohol.
This happened during the morning hours, between 6 and 7 am. I assumed that now
we could get a proper sleep after all we had endured. But -- it wasn't long
before a messenger arrived in the dugout with an order:
-"To the front line, for another counterattack!"
Note: The writer appears to misremember the base (Kirvesmäki 3) his troops attacked against. From the war diary of Infantry Regiment 21, it seems the base in question was Base 1 (Kirvesmäki 1). See aerial photo below.
https://i.imgur.com/1iutjgD.jpg
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