mack pl
06-29-2004, 05:27 AM
The Winter War
When the Soviet Union started the Winter War on 30 Nov 1939 by invading Finland, there were many in Sweden, esp. in the military, who hoped that Sweden would intervene in behalf of Finland. Numerous Swedish officers had fought as volunteers in the victorious White side in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, and personally knew their Finnish collagues. In the inter-war period the Finnish and Swedish General Staffs had jointly drawn up detailed plans on how Sweden could send military help to Finland in event of Soviet invasion, but the political context of these plans need to be stressed. In the 1920s and early 1930s many small European states hoped that the League of Nations would evolve into an efficient arbiter of international affairs. It was hoped that the League would develop a system of sanctions to discourage aggression, and the possible Swedish help to Finland was supposed to take place in context of internationally approved sanctions.
As is well known, the League of Nations proved to be a failure, and when the Soviet Union invaded, all Finland could get was declarations of sympathy. Swedish government was naturally enough not interested in getting involved in a war against a Great Power, especially as it thought the Nazi Germany a bigger threat. As it in early December 1939 became clear that Sweden would not intervene (at least for the time being), certain Swedish officers began to plan a movement of Swedish volunteers to aid Finland - with the motto "Finlands sak är vĺr", "Finland's sake is ours".
On 4 Dec 1939 lieutenant-colonels Carl August Ehrensvärd, Magnus Dyrssen and Viking Tamm founded the Finlandskommittän (the Finland committee) to organize the volunteer movement. Initially the Swedish government tried to strictly regulate the actions on the committee, but finally it had to bow to the popular pressure to help Finland. It was promised that regular officers going to Finland would be released from service for the duration of the war, and that a maximum of 5000 reservists and conscripts would be free to go to Finland. Later that limit was raised. The Swedish government, however, rejected the Finnish plea to allow the sending of ready units of volunteers to Finland. The result was that the Swdish volunteers had to travel to Finland with their equipment, where they were organized into units.
The Swedish volunteers were trained in Tornio and Kemi near the Fenno-Swedish border. What was of utmost importance for Finland was that the Swedish volunteers brought their own equipment with them. Finland was at the time hard pressed to equip properly all its own men, and it would have been impossible to equip the foreign volunteers. Because the Norwegian government did not allow the regular officers to volunteer to serve in Finland, the Norwegian volunteers were also annexed into the Svenska Frivilligkĺren (Swedish Volunteer Corps, SFK). The CO of the SFK was Lt. Gen. Ernst Linder.
Gen. Linder (1868-1943) had a very curious career, and it is a fitting illustration of the close Fenno-Swedish relationship. Linder had been born in Finland, but was Swedish by nationality and made his early career in the Swedish Army. In 1918, as a colonel, he resigned his commission and travelled to Finland and volunteered to serve in the White Finnish Army. There he became a personal friend of Gen. Mannerheim, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the White Army. Later in the year Linder was promoted to Major General in the Finnish Army. Linder resigned his commission in the Finnish Army in 1920 and returned to Sweden, but failed to get a new commission there, and was transferrred to reserve. In 1927 he was promoted to Major General in the Swedish Army reserve, and in 1938 Lieutenant General in the Finnish Army reserve. Thus it was quite natural for Mannerhem, now Field Marshal and again the C-in-C of the Finnish Army, to give Linder the command of the SFK.
The SFK saw action for the first time on 12 January 1940, when the planes of the Flygflottilj 19 (Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Harts) began to fly combat missions. At the same time SFK's AA-artillery took the responsibility of the aerial defence of northern Finland. On 22 Feb 1940 Gen. Linder's SFK took the responsibility of defending northern Finland, and the Finnish units of Detachment Willamo in far north were subordinated to him. On 27 Feb the two reinforced battalions of SFK manned the front around M=E4rk=E4j=E4rvi in Salla, freeing five Finnish battalions to the desperate battles in and around the western shore of Gulf of Viipuri. Of SFK's third battalion only a company and a battery made it to the front just before the end of the hostilities.
The front-line battalions belonged to Col. A. Nordensvan's Stridsgruppen SFK (Battlegroup SFK). The CO of the Ist Battalion was Lt. Col. Dyrssen, and after he was KIA on 1 March, he was followed by Lt. Col. C.-O. Agell. The CO of the IInd Battalion was Lt. Col. Tamm. The Finnish units of 16. Jäger Company and Separate Battalion 17 were also subordinated to the Stridsgruppen SFK.
SFK had relatively easy time in the front. The Soviets had already concentrated their effort on breaking the Finnish front on the most important front of the war, Karelian Isthmus, so the Swedes were spared the worst fighting. However, if the war would have went on for a week longer, the SFK would have been subjected to a major Soviet offensive. Nevertheless, the 8042 Swedish volunteers of the SFK suffered 33 KIA and some 50 WIA as losses. The 693 Norwegians lost 2 KIA. After the war ended on 13 March 1940, the SFK was disbanded on 25 March and the men demobilized between 1 and 25 April 1940.
On 25 March 1940 Marshal Mannerheim promoted Gen. Linder to the rank of ratsuväenkenraali (General of Cavalry) in the Finnish Army. This was a very rare honour. When the Winter War started there were no full generals in active service in the Finnish Army (nor were in Air Force and there were not a single admiral in the Navy), and Linder was the first promoted to the rank since the beginning of the war. In the later war years, only three other officers reached the rank.
The SFK was not the only body of Swedish volunteers during the Winter War. Some 420 Swedes served in air-defence all around southern Finland, and there was also a corps of Swedish and Norwegian volunteers building in fortifications around Luumäki in Svenska Arbetskĺr i Finland (Swedish Labour Corps in Finland, SAK). The strength of the SAK reached some 900 men before the Norwegians were recalled on 11 April.
The SFK was the only significant body of foreign volunteers to see action in the Winter War. It can be argued that their presence in northern Finland had certain strategic significance - it freed five desperately needed Finnish battalions to fight in southern Finland, where the war was decided.
The Continuation War
After the Winter War Finland was bound to seek redress in the first opportunity that arose - Operation Barbarossa. In the Continuation War that began on 25 June 1941, Finland was not officially an ally of Germany, and the Finns carefully avoided any formal alliance, but a so-called co-belligerent who fought in 'armed brotherhood' (Fin. aseveljeys, Ger. Waffenbrüderschaft) with Germany against a common enemy.
Again there were Swedish volunteers fighting in Finland. There were not as much volunteers as there had been during the Winter War. Firstly, the Swedish government was not willing of associating too much in this war against Soviet Union, esp. as the Nazi Germany was now much more concrete danger as it had been during the Winter War. Second, there also wasn't as much enthusiasm among the Swedes. Nevertheless, 3273 Swedish volunteers served in Finland 1941-44, losing 126 KIA, 72 MIA and 286 MIA.
The Svenska Frivilligbataljonen (Swedish Volunteer Battalion) was founded in July 1941, and fought against the Soviet base in Hanko (Hangö) in southern Finland. Because of political reasons and initially also because of lack of equipment (this time the Swedish volunteers could not bring their own equipment), the battalion didn't see as much action as it otherwise could have, but it still distinguished itself. After the recatpure of Hanko in December 1941, the battalion was disbanded, and most of its men returned home.
Those men who volunteered to stay were formed into a separate company of Infantry Regiment 13. The company held line in Syväri (Svir) front from 1942 to 1944, but as time went by, it had more and more problems of maintaining its manpower strength. In the battles of summer 1944 the company fought with distinction, and after the end of war in September 1944, the company was dibanded and its men sent home. In all, some dozen Swedish volunteers served for the whole duration of the Continuation War.
..........
Regards
mack pl
When the Soviet Union started the Winter War on 30 Nov 1939 by invading Finland, there were many in Sweden, esp. in the military, who hoped that Sweden would intervene in behalf of Finland. Numerous Swedish officers had fought as volunteers in the victorious White side in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, and personally knew their Finnish collagues. In the inter-war period the Finnish and Swedish General Staffs had jointly drawn up detailed plans on how Sweden could send military help to Finland in event of Soviet invasion, but the political context of these plans need to be stressed. In the 1920s and early 1930s many small European states hoped that the League of Nations would evolve into an efficient arbiter of international affairs. It was hoped that the League would develop a system of sanctions to discourage aggression, and the possible Swedish help to Finland was supposed to take place in context of internationally approved sanctions.
As is well known, the League of Nations proved to be a failure, and when the Soviet Union invaded, all Finland could get was declarations of sympathy. Swedish government was naturally enough not interested in getting involved in a war against a Great Power, especially as it thought the Nazi Germany a bigger threat. As it in early December 1939 became clear that Sweden would not intervene (at least for the time being), certain Swedish officers began to plan a movement of Swedish volunteers to aid Finland - with the motto "Finlands sak är vĺr", "Finland's sake is ours".
On 4 Dec 1939 lieutenant-colonels Carl August Ehrensvärd, Magnus Dyrssen and Viking Tamm founded the Finlandskommittän (the Finland committee) to organize the volunteer movement. Initially the Swedish government tried to strictly regulate the actions on the committee, but finally it had to bow to the popular pressure to help Finland. It was promised that regular officers going to Finland would be released from service for the duration of the war, and that a maximum of 5000 reservists and conscripts would be free to go to Finland. Later that limit was raised. The Swedish government, however, rejected the Finnish plea to allow the sending of ready units of volunteers to Finland. The result was that the Swdish volunteers had to travel to Finland with their equipment, where they were organized into units.
The Swedish volunteers were trained in Tornio and Kemi near the Fenno-Swedish border. What was of utmost importance for Finland was that the Swedish volunteers brought their own equipment with them. Finland was at the time hard pressed to equip properly all its own men, and it would have been impossible to equip the foreign volunteers. Because the Norwegian government did not allow the regular officers to volunteer to serve in Finland, the Norwegian volunteers were also annexed into the Svenska Frivilligkĺren (Swedish Volunteer Corps, SFK). The CO of the SFK was Lt. Gen. Ernst Linder.
Gen. Linder (1868-1943) had a very curious career, and it is a fitting illustration of the close Fenno-Swedish relationship. Linder had been born in Finland, but was Swedish by nationality and made his early career in the Swedish Army. In 1918, as a colonel, he resigned his commission and travelled to Finland and volunteered to serve in the White Finnish Army. There he became a personal friend of Gen. Mannerheim, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the White Army. Later in the year Linder was promoted to Major General in the Finnish Army. Linder resigned his commission in the Finnish Army in 1920 and returned to Sweden, but failed to get a new commission there, and was transferrred to reserve. In 1927 he was promoted to Major General in the Swedish Army reserve, and in 1938 Lieutenant General in the Finnish Army reserve. Thus it was quite natural for Mannerhem, now Field Marshal and again the C-in-C of the Finnish Army, to give Linder the command of the SFK.
The SFK saw action for the first time on 12 January 1940, when the planes of the Flygflottilj 19 (Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Harts) began to fly combat missions. At the same time SFK's AA-artillery took the responsibility of the aerial defence of northern Finland. On 22 Feb 1940 Gen. Linder's SFK took the responsibility of defending northern Finland, and the Finnish units of Detachment Willamo in far north were subordinated to him. On 27 Feb the two reinforced battalions of SFK manned the front around M=E4rk=E4j=E4rvi in Salla, freeing five Finnish battalions to the desperate battles in and around the western shore of Gulf of Viipuri. Of SFK's third battalion only a company and a battery made it to the front just before the end of the hostilities.
The front-line battalions belonged to Col. A. Nordensvan's Stridsgruppen SFK (Battlegroup SFK). The CO of the Ist Battalion was Lt. Col. Dyrssen, and after he was KIA on 1 March, he was followed by Lt. Col. C.-O. Agell. The CO of the IInd Battalion was Lt. Col. Tamm. The Finnish units of 16. Jäger Company and Separate Battalion 17 were also subordinated to the Stridsgruppen SFK.
SFK had relatively easy time in the front. The Soviets had already concentrated their effort on breaking the Finnish front on the most important front of the war, Karelian Isthmus, so the Swedes were spared the worst fighting. However, if the war would have went on for a week longer, the SFK would have been subjected to a major Soviet offensive. Nevertheless, the 8042 Swedish volunteers of the SFK suffered 33 KIA and some 50 WIA as losses. The 693 Norwegians lost 2 KIA. After the war ended on 13 March 1940, the SFK was disbanded on 25 March and the men demobilized between 1 and 25 April 1940.
On 25 March 1940 Marshal Mannerheim promoted Gen. Linder to the rank of ratsuväenkenraali (General of Cavalry) in the Finnish Army. This was a very rare honour. When the Winter War started there were no full generals in active service in the Finnish Army (nor were in Air Force and there were not a single admiral in the Navy), and Linder was the first promoted to the rank since the beginning of the war. In the later war years, only three other officers reached the rank.
The SFK was not the only body of Swedish volunteers during the Winter War. Some 420 Swedes served in air-defence all around southern Finland, and there was also a corps of Swedish and Norwegian volunteers building in fortifications around Luumäki in Svenska Arbetskĺr i Finland (Swedish Labour Corps in Finland, SAK). The strength of the SAK reached some 900 men before the Norwegians were recalled on 11 April.
The SFK was the only significant body of foreign volunteers to see action in the Winter War. It can be argued that their presence in northern Finland had certain strategic significance - it freed five desperately needed Finnish battalions to fight in southern Finland, where the war was decided.
The Continuation War
After the Winter War Finland was bound to seek redress in the first opportunity that arose - Operation Barbarossa. In the Continuation War that began on 25 June 1941, Finland was not officially an ally of Germany, and the Finns carefully avoided any formal alliance, but a so-called co-belligerent who fought in 'armed brotherhood' (Fin. aseveljeys, Ger. Waffenbrüderschaft) with Germany against a common enemy.
Again there were Swedish volunteers fighting in Finland. There were not as much volunteers as there had been during the Winter War. Firstly, the Swedish government was not willing of associating too much in this war against Soviet Union, esp. as the Nazi Germany was now much more concrete danger as it had been during the Winter War. Second, there also wasn't as much enthusiasm among the Swedes. Nevertheless, 3273 Swedish volunteers served in Finland 1941-44, losing 126 KIA, 72 MIA and 286 MIA.
The Svenska Frivilligbataljonen (Swedish Volunteer Battalion) was founded in July 1941, and fought against the Soviet base in Hanko (Hangö) in southern Finland. Because of political reasons and initially also because of lack of equipment (this time the Swedish volunteers could not bring their own equipment), the battalion didn't see as much action as it otherwise could have, but it still distinguished itself. After the recatpure of Hanko in December 1941, the battalion was disbanded, and most of its men returned home.
Those men who volunteered to stay were formed into a separate company of Infantry Regiment 13. The company held line in Syväri (Svir) front from 1942 to 1944, but as time went by, it had more and more problems of maintaining its manpower strength. In the battles of summer 1944 the company fought with distinction, and after the end of war in September 1944, the company was dibanded and its men sent home. In all, some dozen Swedish volunteers served for the whole duration of the Continuation War.
..........
Regards
mack pl