Finnish Armed Forces 1941-1944

Strength and Organization of the Army, Air Force and Navy of Finland in the Continuation War against the Soviet Union.

The Finnish Armed Forces in the ‘Continuation War’ from 1941 to 1944.

The Finnish Continuation War

The Continuation War was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944.

Overview

Finland joined Hitlers’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, seeking to regain territories lost during the Winter War of 1939-1940.
Finnish forces advanced rapidly, recapturing lost territories and pushing into Soviet Karelia. By December 1941, the Finnish advance halted, and the war entered a relatively static period.
The Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944) involved Finnish forces in the north, although they did not actively participate in the assault on the city.

In June 1944, the Soviet Union launched a major offensive against Finnish positions, known as the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. Finland managed to halt the Soviet advance in July-August 1944, particularly at the Battle of Tali-Ihantala.

As Germany’s defeat became increasingly likely, Finland sought a separate peace with the Soviet Union. The Moscow Armistice was signed on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War.
Finland agreed to expel German forces from its territory, leading to the Lapland War (1944-1945) between Finland and Germany.

The Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 formally concluded the war, with Finland ceding territory to the Soviet Union and paying reparations.

The Continuation War resulted in Finland maintaining its independence but losing additional territory to the Soviet Union and being forced to pay significant war reparations. It also led to a period of “Finlandization,” where Finland adopted a policy of neutrality and deference to Soviet interests in foreign policy matters.

Finnish Army

Although the signing of the Moscow Treaty in March 1940, which ended the Winter War, guaranteed Finland her borders with the Soviet Union, the Finnish Government remained uncertain of Soviet intentions towards the independence of Finland.

So when Hitler informed the Finns of his impending invasion of the Soviet Union they readily cooperated with Germany to secure the contested Karelian region and the strategically important center of Murmansk.

On 10 July 1941 the Finnish Army attacked Soviet troops deployed around Lake Ladoga for the protection of Leningrad. But when they had fulfilled their objective of recovery of territories lost in 1939-40, the Finns halted their advance. On 12 December Mannerheim ordered his men to go over to the defensive, and the Finnish Army played little part in the fighting until the Soviet offensive of 1944. Finnish casualties in this phase of the war amounted to 25,000 killed and more than 50,000 wounded.

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Finnish Army Organization

Finnish Orders of Battle at the Eastern Front, 1941:

Army	Corps	Divisions	Regiments
South-Eastern Army (Karelian isthmus in front of Leningrad)	II Corps (Reserves: 2 Coast Artillery Bde)	2 Infantry Division	7, 28, 49 Inf., 5 Art., 8 Recce Bde.
		10 Infantry Division	1, 22, 43 Inf., 9 Art., 12 Recce Bde.
		15 Infantry Division	15, 36, 57 Inf., 12 Art., 16 Recce Bde.
		18 Infantry Division	6, 27, 48 Inf., 19 Art., 6 Recce Bde.
	IV Corps	4 Infantry Division	5, 25, 46 Inf., 1 Art., 9, 14 Recce Bdes.
		8 Infantry Division	4, 24, 45 Inf., 11 Art.
		17 Infantry Division	13, 34 Inf., 8 Art., 19 Recce Bde.
Karelian Army (east of Lake Ladoga along river Svir)	VI Corps (Reserves: 1 Jager Bde.)	1 Infantry Division	14, 35, 56, 60 Inf., 5 Art., 8 Recce Bde.
		5 Infantry Division	2, 23, 44 Inf., 3 Art., 4 Recce Bdes.
		11 Infantry Division	8, 29, 50 Inf., 4 Art., 10 Recce Bde.
		German 163 Infantry Division
	VII Corps (Reserves: Cavalry Bde., 2 Jager Bde.)	7 Infantry Division	9, 30, 51 Inf., 2 Art., 15 Recce Bde.
		19 Infantry Division	16, 37, 58, 61 Inf., 10 Art., 18 Recce Bde.
subordinated to German Army Headquarter Norway (v.Falkenhorst), Lapland	III Corps	3 Infantry Division	11, 32, 53 Inf., 16 Art., 5 Recce Bde.
	subordinated to German XXXVI Corps	6 Infantry Division	12, 33, 54 Inf., 14 Art., 3 Recce Bde.
for siege of Hanko		14 Infantry Division	10, 31, 53 Inf., 18 Art., 2 Recce Bde.
Army reserve		12 Infantry Division	3, 26, 47, 55 Inf., 7 Art., 1 Recce Bde.
new units raised 1943-44		Armoured Division (August 1943)	I, II Tank Bdes., Assault gun Bde., Jager Bde. (2,3,4,5 Bns.), 14 Art Bn., AT Bn.
			200 Infantry Regiment (February 1944): 3,000 Estonian volunteers, one Swedish volunteer battalion

On 9 June 1944 the Soviet Army launched its attack on Finland deploying five armies totaling 450,000 men and 10,000 guns. The Finnish Army was caught by surprise, largely because of the complacency of the Finnish High Command which had failed to take the necessary defensive precautions during the preceding years. Indeed, the long period of static positional warfare had undermined the morale of the troops and made the Red Army’s attack all the more successful. The powerful Russian onslaught caused some units to panic and the Finnish Army withdrew towards its own territorial boundaries. After a month’s hard fighting the Soviet advance was held and the front stabilized, but Mannerheim realized that his small forces had no chance against the five armies facing him: on 5 September 1944 there was a cease-fire. Casualties during the whole of World War II were 90,000 killed. German troops evacuated Finland peacefully, apart from an unsuccessful attempt to take the island of Sur Sari.

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Finnish Army Divisions:

	Infantry Division	Armoured Division	Cavalry and Jaeger Brigades (elite mobile troops)
Total units	16	1	3 (1 Cavalry, 2 Jager)
Infantry regiments	3 (Mosin-Nagant M1928 rifles)	1 Jager Bde. with 4 Bns.	4 battalions
Total men	14,200	?	c. 5,000-6,000
Machine guns	116 (plus 250 Suomi sub-machine guns)	c. 52	c. 52
Mortars	18 (81mm)	c. 8	c. 8
Howitzers and Field guns	36	c. 12	?
Anti-tank guns	c. 10	c. 12	?
Tanks	-	c.225 (150 tanks- mainly captured T26 and c. 75 StuGIII and captured BT-42 assault guns)	captured T26, T-37 and T-38 (strength of total 3 battalions)
Vehicles	?	Jaeger Bde mounted on lorries and bicycles	cavalry in June 1941 in process of motorization and in winter in action as ski troops, Jaeger mounted on lorries and bicycles"

During the period leading up to the Soviet invasion of 1944 there were no major changes in the organization of the Finnish Army. German aid helped to give a more modern face to the armed forces but the disasters on the Eastern Front ensured that this help was necessarily limited. By May 1944 the front-line strength of the Army stood at 270,000 soldiers, 1900 guns and 800 tanks now organized into a full armored division.

The inadequate Finnish artillery had been overhauled so that the Army was supported by modern field pieces adequately supplied with munitions. Despite these improvements, however, the Finnish Army was still basically an infantry army and was woefully lacking in the support services (especially radio communications) that were commonplace in most modern armies. The Army compensated for these deficiencies by the overall quality of its officers and men, although the war was to prove that Fins fought better when defending their homeland than in initiating offensive operations.

The Army still suffered from two critical shortages: too few aircraft to protect the ground forces and inadequate anti-tank weapons to use against the well-armored Russian T-34 and KV heavy tank. The Army of 1944 was much as it had been in 1941 – well-trained and led but lacking in sufficient modern equipment.

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Finnish Air Force

The Finnish Air Force had put up a stiff resistance to the numerically stronger Red Air Force during the Winter War (November 1939 – March 1940) and in so doing had gained invaluable experience. Although small, with about 222 front-line aircraft (other sources are speaking about 307) in June 1941, the Finnish Air Force was a useful addition to German air strength on the northern sector of the Eastern Front.

The Air Force was part of the Army but commanded by the Chief of Flying Troops. It was organized in five flying regiments and a number of independent units. Anti-aircraft artillery which in 1939 had been about 192 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers, had increased to nearly 700 by June 1941.

During the Continuation War the Finns split their units into smaller flights of about ten aircraft which could be deployed nearer the front and in the vicinity of the sector where they were required.
By spring 1944, the Air Force had about 223 fighters and 106 bombers of various types, many old-fashioned, but at least four flights flew Me 109G s.
Following the September 1944 armistice with the Allies the Finnish Air Force was used against its former ally in Finland and northern Norway.

During the Continuation War the Finnish Air Force and anti-aircraft artillery claimed 2,674 enemy aircraft destroyed. Losses were 366 combat aircraft and 361 men.

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Finnish Navy

During the Continuation War the Finnish Navy was reactivated and equipped with vessels left by the retreating Red Army. Finland possessed a Minister of Defense and a C-in-C Naval Forces, Major-­General V.L.R. Valve. The Coastal Fleet, which was organized in flotillas and divisions, was commanded by a seagoing flag-officer, Commodore E. A. Rahola; personnel totaled 4,500.

From June 1941 onward, when Finland fought alongside Germany, Finnish naval forces contributed one large coastal defense vessel and around 30 gun-boats, minesweepers and motor torpedo-boats to the Axis naval force in the Baltic. There were also an additional 432 vessels comprising the Finnish Mercantile Marine.

Throughout the Continuation War the tiny Finnish Navy operated in conjunction with German and Finnish land forces, rather than as an independent sea-going force. Its principal tasks were mine laying, transportation and evacuation of friendly troops, and attempts to cut enemy coastal lines of communication and supply.

The Lake Ladoga Flotilla was also reactivated in 1941 and equipped with 41 craft seized from the Red forces. Other inland flotillas were formed on Lake Segozero (one tug), Payazero (two tugs and motor boats) and Onega (130 vessels). All were later abandoned during the subsequent retreat.

Finnish losses in the Continuation War were two mine layers, 16 minesweepers, one yacht, two motor torpedo-boats and various other small vessels. At the end of the war the Soviet government seized the one remaining armored coastal defense ship and five submarines.

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References and literature

The Armed Forces of World War II (Andrew Mollo)
World War II – A Statistical Survey (John Ellis)
Der Grosse Atlas zum II. Weltkrieg (Peter Young)
Germany’s Eastern Front Allies 1941-45 (Peter Abbott, Nigel Thomas)