Photos WW2 Finnish armed forces

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A soldier with a pack Reindeer, on slippery ice, near the tiny village of Nautsi, in northern Lapland, Finland, on October 26, 1941.


Flamethrower in action in the woods near the village of Niinisalo, on July 1, 1942

Pilots in flight above Jämijärvi, on July 17, 1942


Propeller-driven snowmobile near Haapasaari, Finland. The swastika was used as the official national marking of the Finnish Air Force and Tank Corps between 1918 and 1945.


Looking out toward approaching aircraft with binoculars and listening with a huge acoustic locator.


62-year-old Finnish-American volunteer soldier Hyvönen going to the front, in Mikkeli, Finland, on September 4, 1941.


Finnish tank crew, July 8, 1941.


Hitler’s visit to Finland. Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, made a brief visit to Finland in June of 1942.


Anti-aircraft fire over Suomenlinna, Helsinki.


Finnish anti-aircraft crew in action in Helsinki.

 

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A woman of the Finnish Lotta Svärd preparing for war, 1941.


A Wehrmacht soldier allows two Finnish children to "ride" his motorcycle, June 1941.


German pilots in Malmi, Helsinki on 25 June 1941.


Finnish troops crossing a lake under a smoke screen. Hiisjärvi, Karhumäki, July 27 1942.


Finish artillery shelling Hanko on 25 June 1941.


Field Marshall Carl G. Mannerheim


Finnish troops march on Sulkava Road near Savonlinna, Finland, 26 June 1941.


NSU 251 OSL motorcycle with a Suomi KP/-31 resting on top. Finnish T-26E light tank in the backround. September 6, 1941, Aunus


Finnish soldier with a KP-31 submachine gun. March 12, 1942 Homorovits, Velikij-Navolok.


Finnish soldiers hunting enemy partisans. Major Pyökkimies communicates with a field telephone. Jolmajärvi, August 18, 1942

 

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After the Winter War the enemy stationed some troops in the Hanko area, Finland. But that was of course not acceptable any more when the Continuation War broke out, so one of the first missions was to push away the enemy from Hanko. Looks like the Finns started to hammer the area with everything available, here a 120 mm French gun, model 1878 (120 K 78). Hanko, Porsö 1941.06.25 (SA-kuva)

 

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Sort of "clumsy" looking enemy aircraft, forced to land on the Finnish side. Caption tells its a Polikarpov I-153, called ”Tsaikka”. Simpele, Kerimäki 1941.06.25 (SA-kuva)

 

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It´s war again and Finland need to get as much "iron" as possible to the border. Here a artillery unit from Tampere moving east.1941.06.25 (SA-kuva)

 

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This set of pics shows a knocked-out T-34-76, a close-range AT squad and a 75 PstK/97-38 "Mulatti" ("Mulato") AT gun with her crew from around 800 meters from the Ihantala church on June 30 1944.

The close-up pic of the wreck shows (from right to left) Sgt. Heino Nikulassi (6./JR 12), Sgt. Kaarlo "Kalle" Niemelä (8./JR 12) and Trooper Eino Heikkilä. Numbers 6 and 8 indicate their Companies.

T-34 was demolished by German Unteroffizier Willy Obeldobel from the Assault Gun Brigade 303, who's StuG fired twice. Some Finn finalized the damages by a Panzerfaust. The pic is sometimes seen with a caption stating that the AT gun crew managed to hit the tank, but that wasn't the case. Obeldobel was awarded with the Finnish Medal of Liberty 1 Class.

The incident was a bit odd, two T-34s approached the Finnish defense line, guns pointing backwards, confusing the infantry and the AT squads so they didn't open fire. The other reversed before crossing the line but this one continued rolling. When the tank commander spotted being behind the lines he decided to roll back, but the defenders were alert. Obeldobel's first shell immobilized the tank and while the gunner re-loaded, the tank commander, Guard Lt. Zhirnov, bailed out trying to reach the own lines. He was KIA by the infantry.
Sgt. Nikulassi fell on July 1.

SA-kuva pics # 155334, 155326, 155339 and 155431

 

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A group of Finnish pilots who downed 10 enemy bombers during the first day of the war. Joroinen 1941.06.25 (SA-kuva)
The Finnish G.50 y were taken from the 235 built by CMASA, both Serie I and Serie II, but all but seven had the open cockpit of the Serie II, a feature that Finnish pilots disliked, especially in winter. There were some attempts to improve the aircraft – one was tested with an enclosed cockpit, another with a D.XXI ski-undercarriage – but none of the modifications were put into service. Better protection for the propeller, which had problems at extremely low temperatures, and a few other changes were introduced. The speed of the Finnish G.50s was around 430–450 km/h (270–280 mph), much lower than the standard series could achieve.[56] At this stage, Finnish pilots preferred the Hawker Hurricane, the French Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and the Brewster F2A Buffalo to the G.50. The first demonstration of the Finnish Air Force's effectiveness came on 25 June 1941, when the G.50s from HLeLv 26 shot down 13 out of 15 Soviet SB bombers.[57] Thirteen aerial victories were achieved altogether.[58]

During the Continuation War, the G.50s were most successful during the Finnish offensive of 1941, after which they became ever less impressive.[59] In 1941, HLeLv 26 claimed 52 victories for the loss of only two fighters. The Soviets brought better, newer types of fighter to the front line in 1942 and 1943, while the Fiats were becoming old and run-down and the lack of spare parts meant that pilots were restricted to a minimal number of sorties. Nevertheless, between 30 November 1939 and 4 September 1944, the G.50s of HLeLv 26 shot down 99 enemy aircraft, including aircraft more modern than they, such as the British fighters sent to the USSR. In the same period, Finnish squadrons lost 41 aircraft of several types.[54] But Fiat lost in combat were just three,[7] with a ratio victory/loss of 33/1.

The most successful Finnish G.50 pilots were Oiva Tuominen (23 victories), Olli Puhakka (11[60] or 13), according to other sources, Nils Trontti (6), Onni Paronen (4), Unto Nieminen (4) and Lasse Lautamäki (4).[58] The Finnish G.50s were finally phased out of front-line duty in the summer of 1944. They were no more than 10 or 12, and even as trainers, they did not last long, since they lacked spare parts. Unlike the older MS.406, there was no effort to change their engine to make them better and faster. The last G.50 was struck off the inventory on 13 December 1946, at the FAF flight academy in Kauhava

 

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The Russian embassy leaves Helsinki. On the same time, a Finnish "Lotta" also leaves Helsinki, going on her assignment, somewhere out there. Helsinki 1941.06.25 (SA-kuva)

 

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Finnish anti-aircraft position (Bofors 40 mm) at Malmi (Helsinki) airfield, Rest of the pics show German pilots and their JU88 bombers, also stationed at Malmi airfield. Helsinki, Malmi 1941.06.25 (SA-kuva)

 

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Finnish towns gets bombed, First pic show enemy bombers over Helsinki.

Helsinki 1941.06.25 (SA-kuva)

 

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Finnish Lt. Tasa inspects his troops while they’re passing by after some fierce fight on the western shore of the Viipuri Bay on July 4 1944.

Little did they know that after some weeks of fighting the Soviet units had been weakened enough to be withdrawn from the front by Stavka, that meaning the abortion of the enemy offensive there.

SA-kuva

 

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A Finnish rifleman (at Riuttasaari) and a Finnish MG-position (Höytiänsaari, Saimaa) 1941.06.26 (SA-kuva)

 

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Finnish troops on their way east. 1941.06.26 (SA-kuva)

 

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Finnish troops on top of a T-34 destroyed by a Panzerschreck, the penetrating hit can be seen below the number "1" painted on the turret, Summer 1944