891: 640 killed 203 wounded 48 missing 9 tanks 4 fighters shot down 2 fighters damaged 6 bombers shot down 2 bombers damaged 7 more aircraft shot down 8 more aircraft damaged
The Swedish Intervention in the Winter War was a short-lived but successful attempt by the Swedish Volunteer Corps, along with other Nordic volunteers, to prevent a Soviet invasion of Finland during the Winter War. The volunteers only engaged in a few skirmishes on ground and in the air, the only major battles they participated in being the battles of Salla and Honkaniemi. The term "volunteers" have often been used to describe the Nordic military support for Finland in the Winter War, although involvement by the government of Sweden has been debated over time. Nevertheless, the Swedish military sent enormous amounts of aid to Finland, including:
Approximately 2,000,000,000 SEK (US$ ~312,658,890) of financial aid - twice the size of the Finnish defense budget at the time
The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union began in November 1939 after the Finnish government had rejected the Soviet claims to the Karelian Isthmus and all islands in the Gulf of Finland, as well as a demand to dismantle the defences in Finnish Karelia.[6][7] Finland at the time was only officially allied with Estonia,[8] as Sweden had rejected participation in the anti-Soviet alliance.[9] The casus belli for the Soviet invasion was a claimed Finnish attack against the Russian village of Mainila, although it was later revealed that this was a false flag action conducted by the military of the Soviet Union.[10][11]
The battle of Salla was fought by Finnish-Swedish forces against the Soviet Union, beginning with a massive Soviet attack against the outnumbered Finnish defenders. Major General Kurt Martti Wallenius, the Finnish commander, ordered his men to retreat up the Kemijoki river where a defensive line could be easily maintained. After numerous suicide charges by the Soviet army, the sudden arrival of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian troops forced a Soviet withdrawal with heavy casualties of up to 500 men, compared to 187 among the Finns and 23 among the reinforcements.
The battle of Honkaniemi was fought between Finnish and Soviet forces on 26 February 1940 and was the only tank battle of the Winter War. The Finns were supported by Swedish, Danish and Norwegian volunteers from the Nordic volunteer corps and had an unknown amount of infantry at their disposal (although it is known that they were much fewer than their Soviet enemies), as well as 13 Vickers 6-ton tanks. The Soviet corps of 58 tanks was able to beat back the attackers, losing 3 (Soviet sources) to 9 (Finnish sources) of their armored vehicles while Finland and its allies lost six. Added to that, 87 Finns and 140 Soviets were killed in the battle, while no casualties were reported among the volunteer corps. Although the Soviet casualties were larger than that of their adversaries, the Finnish colonel Voldemar Oinonen ordered a full retreat when he began to doubt the chances of defeating the enemy.
^Commander of the Leningrad Military District Kiril Meretskov initially ran the overall operation against the Finns.[1] The command was passed on 9 December 1939 to the General Staff Supreme Command (later known as Stavka), directly under Kliment Voroshilov (chairman), Nikolai Kuznetsov, Joseph Stalin and Boris Shaposhnikov.[2][3] In January 1940, the Leningrad Military District was reformed and renamed "North-Western Front." Semyon Timoshenko was chosen Army Commander to break the Mannerheim Line.[4]
MILITÄR HISTORIA issue 3 of 2013, pages 24–29 (primary source for this article)
January 01, 1970
swedish, intervention, winter, swedish, intervention, winter, warpart, winter, world, iiswedish, soldiers, inspecting, disabled, enemy, tankdate12, january, march, 1940, months, locationeastern, finlandresultend, winter, with, moscow, peace, treatyterritorialc. Swedish Intervention in the Winter WarPart of Winter War and World War IISwedish soldiers inspecting a disabled enemy tankDate12 January 13 March 1940 2 months and 1 day LocationEastern FinlandResultEnd of the Winter War with the Moscow Peace TreatyTerritorialchangesCession of the Gulf of Finland islands Karelian Isthmus Ladoga Karelia Salla and Rybachy Peninsula and rental of Hanko to the Soviet UnionBelligerents Sweden Finland Denmark NorwayMinor support from France Hungary Italy United Kingdom Soviet Union Terijoki GovernmentCommanders and leadersErnst Linder Carl Gustaf Mannerheim Kurt Martti Wallenius Voldemar OinonenJoseph Stalin Kirill Meretskov Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko 5 Strength10 397 men 8 402 1 010 895 13 tanks 26 aircraft Multiple Finnish army battalions20 000 30 000 men58 tanks29 aircraft in combatCasualties and losses523 245 killed250 wounded28 captured6 fighters lost Specific casualties Swedish 23 killed on ground39 wounded on ground7 captured on ground140 disabled due to frostbite2 pilots killed3 fighters shot down3 fighters crashedFinnish 187 killed at Salla33 killed at Honkaniemi211 wounded at Salla111 wounded at Honkaniemi30 missing at Honkaniemi21 captured at Salla6 tanks at Honkaniemi891 640 killed203 wounded48 missing9 tanks4 fighters shot down2 fighters damaged6 bombers shot down2 bombers damaged7 more aircraft shot down8 more aircraft damaged The Swedish Intervention in the Winter War was a short lived but successful attempt by the Swedish Volunteer Corps along with other Nordic volunteers to prevent a Soviet invasion of Finland during the Winter War The volunteers only engaged in a few skirmishes on ground and in the air the only major battles they participated in being the battles of Salla and Honkaniemi The term volunteers have often been used to describe the Nordic military support for Finland in the Winter War although involvement by the government of Sweden has been debated over time Nevertheless the Swedish military sent enormous amounts of aid to Finland including Approximately 2 000 000 000 SEK US 312 658 890 of financial aid twice the size of the Finnish defense budget at the time 50 013 300 rounds of small arms ammunition 135 402 rifles 450 light machine guns 347 machine guns 301 846 artillery shells 144 field guns 92 anti armor guns 100 anti aircraft guns 300 sea mines 500 depth charges 83 motorcycles 83 cars 350 trucks 13 tractors 17 fighter aircraft 5 light bombers 1 transport aircraft 3 reconnaissance aircraft Contents 1 Background 2 The battle of Salla 3 The battle of Honkaniemi 4 References 5 See alsoBackground editMain article Winter War The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union began in November 1939 after the Finnish government had rejected the Soviet claims to the Karelian Isthmus and all islands in the Gulf of Finland as well as a demand to dismantle the defences in Finnish Karelia 6 7 Finland at the time was only officially allied with Estonia 8 as Sweden had rejected participation in the anti Soviet alliance 9 The casus belli for the Soviet invasion was a claimed Finnish attack against the Russian village of Mainila although it was later revealed that this was a false flag action conducted by the military of the Soviet Union 10 11 The battle of Salla editMain article Battle of Salla 1939 The battle of Salla was fought by Finnish Swedish forces against the Soviet Union beginning with a massive Soviet attack against the outnumbered Finnish defenders Major General Kurt Martti Wallenius the Finnish commander ordered his men to retreat up the Kemijoki river where a defensive line could be easily maintained After numerous suicide charges by the Soviet army the sudden arrival of Swedish Danish and Norwegian troops forced a Soviet withdrawal with heavy casualties of up to 500 men compared to 187 among the Finns and 23 among the reinforcements The battle of Honkaniemi editMain article Battle of Honkaniemi The battle of Honkaniemi was fought between Finnish and Soviet forces on 26 February 1940 and was the only tank battle of the Winter War The Finns were supported by Swedish Danish and Norwegian volunteers from the Nordic volunteer corps and had an unknown amount of infantry at their disposal although it is known that they were much fewer than their Soviet enemies as well as 13 Vickers 6 ton tanks The Soviet corps of 58 tanks was able to beat back the attackers losing 3 Soviet sources to 9 Finnish sources of their armored vehicles while Finland and its allies lost six Added to that 87 Finns and 140 Soviets were killed in the battle while no casualties were reported among the volunteer corps Although the Soviet casualties were larger than that of their adversaries the Finnish colonel Voldemar Oinonen ordered a full retreat when he began to doubt the chances of defeating the enemy References edit Edwards 2006 p 93 Edwards 2006 p 125 Manninen 2008 p 14 Trotter 2002 p 204 Commander of the Leningrad Military District Kiril Meretskov initially ran the overall operation against the Finns 1 The command was passed on 9 December 1939 to the General Staff Supreme Command later known as Stavka directly under Kliment Voroshilov chairman Nikolai Kuznetsov Joseph Stalin and Boris Shaposhnikov 2 3 In January 1940 the Leningrad Military District was reformed and renamed North Western Front Semyon Timoshenko was chosen Army Commander to break the Mannerheim Line 4 Jowett amp Snodgrass 2006 p 4 Trotter 2002 pp 14 16 Turtola 1999a pp 33 34 Turtola 1999a pp 21 24 Edwards 2006 p 105 Turtola 1999a pp 44 45See also editMILITAR HISTORIA issue 3 of 2013 pages 24 29 primary source for this article Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swedish intervention in the Winter War amp oldid 1002036884, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
