"Nobody respects a country with a poor army, but everybody respects a country with a good army. I raise my toast to the Finnish Army."

J. Stalin
1948

Winter War Data

The Finnish division consisted of headquarters, staff, three infantry regiments, one light brigade, one field artillery regiment, two engineering companies, one communication company, one line fortification company, one quartermaster company. Total manpower, approximately 14,200 men.

The Russian division consisted of three infantry regiments, one field artillery regiment, one howitzer regiment, one anti-tank battery, one reconnaissance battalion, one communications battalion, one engineering battalion. Total manpower, approximately 17,500 men.

Ammunition, weapons, etc., actually purchased by Finland, as reported by Juho Niukkanen, Finland's Defense Minister during the Winter War.

---
Renault FT17

32 Renault FT Model 1917 tanks were purchased from France in early July, 1919. Fourteen carried 37mm Puteaux-guns, eighteen had a single 8mm Hotchkiss MG. This order also included Latil tractors and associated trailers. These extra vehicles were used to transport the tanks on any long distance move. The tanks were made between 1918-1919 and had French number plates in the range from 66151 to 73400. Two Finnish FT17s saw service with General Yudenich's White Army and were returned in bad shape. France made up for this by giving Finland two extra tanks (exact type unknown) in 1921 with the registration numbers 66614 and 67220, which raised the total number of FT-17's to 34. The type was obsolete in the 1930's, but lack of funds prevented them to be replaced by newer models. At the beginning of Winter some were dug in and used as "fortifications". After war only 4 remained serviceable. They never saw combat or operational service again, and were retired in 1943.

Note: Photos by Steven Guy

Austin-Putilov 1917 - Russia/England

The Austin-Putilov was a British design, though mostly produced and used in Russia. The Russians took the basic chassis (that was all that could be supplied by the over stretched Britsh production lines) and modified it considerably to cope with the harsh Russian conditions. Inprovements included later replacing the rear wheels with tracks and adding additional armor and rear steering. Both in terms of numbers and performance, the Austin-Putilov was the most important armored car the Russians possessed during WW1. Many saw action in the internal fighting surrounding the October revolution and afterwards in the Russian Civil War. After 1918 some saw service in the Polish and Japanese armies. This vehicle proved itself to be extremely rugged. The Finns aquired a few from Russia and used them in the 1918 Civil War. All were phased out of service in the 1920's.

(no picture)
Peerless Armored Car

No information.

(no picture)
Fiat Armored Car - Russia/Italy

Purchased from the Russians, this vehicle was used in the 1918 Civil War and phased out of service by the early 1920's.

The French St. Chamond - model 1921

St Chamond: Chenillette St Chamond modèle 1921, build for export, the Finnish army purchased a few for experimental reasons. They were found to be unacceptable.

---------
The Vickers-Armstrong Six-ton tank

Tested in 1933 (model B), this tank was found acceptable by the Finns and more were purchased. Roughly thirty Vickers-Armstrong Six-ton tanks used in the Winter War. The tanks were ordered unarmed from Vickers. The hulls were sent to Germany for fitting with optics. This took much longer than planned and that by the time the Winter War broke out, only ten were fully operational. These tanks were fitted with the Finnish-built 37mm At-guns (37 psvk 36) - they were also armed with MG and exellent 9mm Suomi SMG, which had a sufficient efficiency and accuracy at most combat ranges. One Vickers company took part in the first Finnish tank battle at Honkaniemi in February 1940 - because of technical problems and inexperienced crews, the Vickers company suffered heavy losses - 7 tanks destroyed and one disabled. During the Winter War, an abundance of Soviet T-26 tanks and equipment were captured. These tanks were the very similar to the Vickers design. The surviving twenty-three were refitted with captured Soviet equipment. The Soviet 45mm (high-velocity antitank) guns, and Degtyarev Tankoviy coaxial MG's were extracted from knocked out T-26 tanks. The Finns had plenty new resources, it seems that over 2000 Soviet tanks were knocked out in the short war. The Vickers were then redesignated as T-26E. About 30 vehicles started the Continuation War - in the beginning of 1945, nineteen were still in service. The photos located in the center and right were taken by Mikko Lipponen. These show a Soviet T26 on the left, a rare T26B in the middle, and the far right is a Vickers.

---
Vickers-Armstrong-Carden-Loyd Model 1933

Four Vickers-Carden-Loyd 2 man tankettes were bought 1933 for testing. The vehicles were removed from inventory in 1941. Photo by Mikko Lipponen.

Vickers-Armstrong Mk IV

One test vehicle was purchased in 1933 and was used in training until 1943.

Soviet BA-3

Soviet BA-6

Soviet BA-10

On the left is a BA-10, on the right is a BA-20. Notice the difference in size and firepower. Numbers in service were ten in 1941, twenty four in 1943, and twenty three in 1945. An excellent, though underpowered, heavy armored car. Remaining units served into the 1950's. A variation was the BA10N, a recovery vehicle.

---
Soviet BA-20 and BA-20M

In addition to heavy armored cars, small, light scout cars were also captured and used.

(no picture)
Soviet D8 Armored Car

Based on the GAZ-A chassis, it was a next phase follow up to the Soviet BA-27M developed in 1931. The vehicle had a open-top. A two-man crew sat back to back so that the rear man could fire a rear-mounted machine-gun. Limited numbers were built by the Soviets from 1932 to 1934.

Soviet FAI and FAI-M

FAI, FAI-M types were extremely fast (road speed 80 and 90 km/h), but the armor was thin and armament only a single Degtyarev MG. In 1941, 10 were in use and in 1943 18. They were too light for real combat duties, but were still used, often in HQ-detachments. The Finns placed radio equipment in these captured cars.

---
Soviet Komsomolets Tractor

A Soviet copy of the Vickers Carden Loyd Universal Carrier.

---------
The Soviet T26

Repairable Soviet tanks were added to the inventory. There is more on the history of this tank above in the Vickers 6 Ton section. The T-26 was nearly a carbon copy of the Vickers 6 ton tank. The least damaged from the Winter War were repaired in Finnish factories and used with the Vickers T-26Es to form a tank battalion. Models known to be used by the Finns were: T26 Model 1931, T26 Model 1933, T26 Model 1937, T26 model 1939, T26E, T26T.

(no picture)
The Soviet OT26

A variation of the T26.

The Soviet OT64

Shown here as captured by the Finns during the Winter War.

The Soviet OT130

A variation of the T26.

The Soviet T27

---------

---------
The Soviet T28

T-28 was designed by the Soviets to be used in support of infantry against strong enemy positions. According to Red Army statistics, the Finns destroyed 97 T-28s in the Winter War. Seven units were captured, two during Winter war and five more early in the Continuation war. This tank had some serious drawbacks, slow and big, it was an easy target and tended to be an anti-tank gun "magnet". Poor visibility hampered the commander, and it was mechanically unreliable. Even worse, this tank's main gun could not penetrate the armor of the Soviet T-34 or KV-1 tank. Although obsolescent by 1941-42, a heavy tank platoon was formed with the captured seven T-28s. The Finns nick-named them "the mail train" owing to the capture of one filled with Soviet mail, and the huge size of this tank reminded soldiers of a railroad train. The T-28 had a main armament of a 76.2mm low-velocity gun and six machine guns. Some of the captured Soviet tanks were the newer T28E-models (uparmored), later, all T-28s in Finnish service were upgraded to this standard. The T-28 was used until the end of WW2. The photo on the right is a Red T28 during the Winter War. The photo in the center was taken by Mikko Lipponen.

(no picture)
The Soviet T33

No information.

---------
The Soviet T34/76 Models 1941, 1942, 1943

One of the finest and popular tank designs of WW2 . The T34-series combined good firepower, armor protection, and cross-country mobility. A top speed of 55km/h was considered amazing for a main battle tank (medium) of the period. The tank was considered reliable. At the start of the war with Germany, many of the USSR’s losses were due to simple breakdowns. About 40.000 T34s of all types built (70% of soviet tank production) made it the most numerous tank of WWII (although also USA built over 40.000 vehicles based on M4 Sherman chassis). It stands as a symbol of the Red Army during WWII and was no doubt a war winning-vehicle. The First generation of T34's, were armed with 76mm L/30 and later L/40 guns. After 1943, units came to be armed with the 85mm gun owing to increased protective armor coming into use by the Germans. Units built in 1940-43 had many similar parts as used in KV-series heavy tank. For example, both units used the same motor, but the lighter weight of T34 made it's performance far better than that of KV. Armor was well sloped with a maximum of 75mm (turret) and a minimum of 15mm.

Model types were:

“A” the 1940 production model.

“B” with a rolled-plate turret.

”C” with a larger turret with twin roof hatches in place of the original single hatch.

“D” with hexagonal turret and wider mantlet.

“E” with a cupola on the turret and of all welded construction.

“F” with cast turret.

---------
The Soviet T-34/85

The upgraded model of the T34. The T34/85 three-man turret which mounted a capable 85mm AT-gun developed from an AA-weapon. With the new gun Armor was increased to 110mm maximum at front and 75mm at sides. They were used by the Soviets in Karelia in summer 1944. Although Finnish troops were in retreat, they were able to capture nine T34/85 tanks. Most of them when the attack had ceased and lines in some form established. Finns pressed seven of them in service immediately. The remaining two were repaired and ready for action when war ended. After the Continuation War it was planned to change the 85mm gun to a 75mm AT-gun (used in StuGs) due to ammunition supply, and the good performance of the German weapon. The Gun was changed for experiments in one tank, but later (winter 1944-45) 85mm gun was re-mounted and all tanks retained their original armament. All nine survived both the Continuation and Lapland Wars. Afterwards they were used until early 60's like T34/76s. The tank proved popular with it's crews and remained in Finnish inventory until 1962. The far right picture is by Mikko Lipponen.

---
The Soviet T37/38 amphibious light tank

Armed with a main armament of a single 7.62mm machine gun, this tank had dubious combat value. The picture on the right is the tank in the service of the Red Army. Several models were aquired by the Finns: T37A, T38-M2, T38-34, T38-KV.

The Soviet T40

One unit was captured from the Soviets.

The Soviet T50

One unit was captured from the Soviets and remained on Finnish inventory until 1955. This tank was intended to be the Soviet replacement for the T-26.

The Soviet BT-5

Large numbers of light, fast BT-tanks (BT5, BT7) were captured during Winter war. When the war ended many of them were lying on the Soviet side and were not transported back to Finland. The border of Finland and USSR was moved and the Karelia was lost to Finland where the bulk of these tanks were being kept. In the Continuation War, however, more were captured. The type was not accepted for full operational service. In general, units captured in summer/autumn 1941 were not used after spring 1942. In summer 1942 there was 53 repairable or undamaged BT7s, and plans were made to rebuilt many them as BT42s and BT43s. In summer of 1944 no working BT-tanks remained. In the whole, the operational career of the BT type in Finnish colors was very short, lasting only a year (most used only for 6 months or so). As a fast "cavalry" tank, BT7 (and its predecessor BT5) were armed with a powerful 45mm standard At-gun and co-axial LMG. A unusual feature about the BT series was that it could be driven with or without it's tracks. This technology was a Russian development of the American Christie tank. The design was never adopted in the United States due to the questionable thin armor required to run this tank at the high speeds it was capable of. It did not help that J. Walter Christie was also a difficult man to work with. The Russians bought 2 examples from Christie's company and proceeded to take the design into full production. The BT was thinly armored and were vulnerable to even the smallest AT guns.

---
The Soviet BT-7 Models 1935 and 1937

Dubbed "Mickey Maus" by the Germans due to the twin turret hatches, this tank fooled many Axis soldiers into thinking they were being attacked by it's big brother - the T-34. Large numbers of light, fast BT-tanks (BT5, BT7) were captured during Winter war. When the war ended many of them were lying on the Soviet side and were not transported back to Finland. The border of Finland and USSR was moved and the Karelia was lost to Finland where the bulk of these tanks were being kept. In the Continuation War, however, more were captured. The type was not accepted for full operational service. In general, units captured in summer/autumn 1941 were not used after spring 1942. In summer 1942 there was 53 repairable or undamaged BT7s, and plans were made to rebuilt many them as BT42s and BT43s. In summer of 1944 no working BT-tanks remained. In the whole, the operational career of the BT type in Finnish colors was very short, lasting only a year (most used only for 6 months or so). As a fast "cavalry" tank, BT7 (and its predecessor BT5) were armed with a powerful 45mm standard At-gun and co-axial LMG. A unusual feature about the BT series was that it could be driven with or without it's tracks. This technology was a Russian development of the American Christie tank. The design was never adopted in the United States due to the questionable thin armor required to run this tank at the high speeds it was capable of. It did not help that J. Walter Christie was also a difficult man to work with. The Russians bought 2 examples from Christie's company and proceeded to take the design into full production. The BT was thinly armored and were vulnerable to even the smallest AT guns.

------

------

---
The Soviet KV1 and KV1(e) Models 1941, 1942

The name KV, were the initials of Klim Voroshilov. Klim was a Soviet hero and a buddy of Stalin (don't we all love politically correct generals?) who did a great job back in the Russian Civil War (at least that is what Soviet propagandists sell). Between the wars he spent his time pointing the big finger at his comrades so that Stalin had plenty of cannon fodder for his purges. His value as a Marshal during WW2 was less than spectacular. He was quickly replaced on the front line and spent the remainder of the war reviewing parade troops. This rather dim witted Marshal was probably under qualified to even do that. The picture on the right is of a KV1E. Hits on the tank are marked in red paint. Two KVI heavy tanks were captured during the Continuation War by the Finns. The first was captured near the Syväri (Svir) power plant, the second in Solomanni. When first introduced in late 1930's, the KVI was no doubt one of the most powerful tanks in the world, and a complete secret. It was built to be completely "bulletproof", and was shot proof against the 37mm Anti-Tank Gun with it's thick 100mm armor. In the B-model, armor was increased an additional 25-35mm. The C-model used a cast turret, replacing the old plated one to increase protection. This heavy tank, weighing around 45 tons with crew of five, was armed with 76.2mm main gun and two MGs. The armament was considered heavy for 1940, but by 1943 the main gun lacked punching power against new Panthers and Tigers. Its weight caused constant trouble with the transmission. As weight increased due to additional armor, the engine power was not increased. This caused successive models to become slower. The discovery of this tank after the German invasion caused reports to filter back to Germany that expressed suprise, even horror. All guns but the famed German "88" were useless against it. There is a story of a KV that was immobilized and blocking a road in northern part of Russia during the invasion. This single tank held up the German advance for over 24 hours in that sector. All attempts to kill it failed. Even a squad of infantry sent against it with sachel charges did no damage. It was finally knocked out by three shots from an "88" in the rear as German troops attacked from the front. After knock out, German troops gathered around the tank to view the monster up close. The gun barrel started to move! It is not known if any of the tank's crew were still alive or if the gun moved on it's own. German troops immediately inserted a sachel charge and ensured that the kill was complete. The Finns used their KV's until phased out in the 50's. The KVIE m1941 (KVIB) was used from autumn 1942 onwards, like the another heavy KVI m1942 (KVIA).

---------
StuG III Ausf. G
7.5cm Sturmgeschutz 40 Ausf G Sd Kfz 142/1

Orginally designed as an assualt gun for infantry, it was found that the StuG made an excellent tank killer. As the war progressed, this turned out to be a very handy weapon. By the end of WW2, there was less need for an offensive assault gun and more of a need for tank destroyers. The StuG was an excellent design based to the Panzer III chassis and served throughout WW2 on all fronts. The Ausf G was the last production series of the StuG. Coming off the assembly-line in December 1942. The Ausf G was produced until the end of the war with no major changes made to the design. One of the most powerful Finnish weapons in late continuation war was German StuG III Ausf. G (Sturmgeschutz 40 Ausf G). 30 of these tank destroyers were bought from Germany in 1943 and they were used in good effect. In 1944 an order for more was placed, and 29 were delivered, although not all were used against Soviets. The StuGs formed an Assault-gun Brigade. During the war 8 were lost, but Finnish StuGs inflicted considerable damage - over 80 Soviet tanks were destroyed by Assault-guns alone. Losses were mainly inflicted during the crucial moment of stopping soviet 1944 summer attack in Karelian Isthmus. The Assault-gun Brigade was heavily involved in the fights, taking part in the greatest Scandinavian tank and artillery duel of WW2 in the Tali-Ihantala-area, just north of Vyborg. The Soviet great assault was made by two army groups (later increased to three) with heavy artillery, air and armor support against lines held by the Finns. Soon an entire Finnish Army Group was thrown into the battle, but the Soviets were able to make a breaktrough of 7 km deep and wide. Parts of the Finnish Assault-gun Brigade counter-attacked with infantry support and threw the Soviets back with heavy casulties. Finnish StuGs were gun-armed like the German ones (75mm gun), but the original MG34-machine gun was replaced with captured Soviet 7.62 Degtyarev MGs due to the abundance of ammunition available. Extra protection was made by using thick logs at the crew's compartment sides and placing spare track parts on the front hull. Some other minor modifications were made, like adding tool boxes. Most StuGs were protected by Zimmerit paste.

---
Soviet ISU-152 and ISU-152V

Finnish troops captured two heavy russian ISU152 assault guns in 25th of June, 1944, at Portinhoikka. Both were immediately pressed onto sevice against former owners. However, one was lost three days later. The second one was later on used as a gunless armoured recovery vehicle and continued its operational service over 20 years. Refitted with it's gun, the vehicle now rests at the Parola Armor Museum in Finland. The picture on the left is of a Russian model taken during the fall of Berlin. The picture on the right is of a Finnish model.

Landsverk Anti II  AA  tank

Sweden had exported 6 Landsverk Anti-II vehicles to Finland. The six Landsverk Anti II AA-tanks were used by Finnish army from 1942 onwards. The AA-weapon was 40mm Bofors auto-cannon, in Finland it was known as the 40 ItK38. All survived the war and performed considerable work by covering tank column movements. Eleven enemy aircraft are reported to have shot down by the Landsverk Anti II-AA-battery.

Landsverk 182

One was purchased from Sweden for testing. The vehicle were removed from inventory in 1941.

---
PzKpfIV Ausf. J

15 Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.Js were purchased from Germany in mid-1944. A further tank deliveries were halted when the Finland-German war (Lapland war) began. When PzIVs arrived in Finland, the Continuation War was about to end and were modified to meet the needs of Finland. These included changing the German MG34s to Soviet Degtyarevs and removing the additional side armor plating. None of them actually saw operational service against Soviets. They did become involved in the fighting against Germans in Lapland. After the war PzIVs remained in service and were one of the best tanks available until deliveries of the Charioteer and Comet from the UK.

Polish C2P

On current display in a Finnish museum. The history of this vehicle is unknown and controversial. Possible reasons for inclusion of the vehicle in that museum are that it was simply purchased from another museum, on loan from another museum, captured from either the Soviets or Germans, purchased prior to WW2 from the Poles, or purchased from German war booty. Do you know?

SOLVED:

"Hello Bill,

After doing some investigations (with our Defence Forces Materiel Command Armor Section people) I can now say for sure that the little Polish C2P has never been used by Finnish defence Forces.

Best wishes,

Lt. Janne Tirkkonen FDF"

BT-42

The BT-42 was a Finnish built assault gun. Early in the Continuation war, Finland obtained a large stock of captured BT-light tanks. By 1942 the type was becoming obsolete. In order to get some use from the chassis it was decided to rebuild some to assault guns. The main gun chosen for these vehicles was the English QF4.5inch Mark II 114mm field howitzer. Twenty four had been received as a gift from UK during Winter war and 30 more were purchased from Spain. The guns were old, outdated, and outmoded. The gun was noted for a slow rate of fire. The ammunition supplied was worthless against anything but soft targets. Conversion to a mounted role was difficult and made the gun even more unsuited for warfare in the 1940’s. The only weapon of the assault howitzer, then named BT42, was its main gun. The BT42 had a high, box-like, purpose-built and rotating turret. which gave it the features of a traditional tank. The vehicle is very unique design - not a pure tank, assault gun, tank destroyer nor a mobile artillery piece. Combat value was limited because of gun's performance. A total of 18 were built, the last of them being delivered in late autumn of 1943. In combat BT42's achieved some small successes, but during the fighting in Viipuri (Vyborg) in summer 1944, 8 were lost to enemy armor. One BT42 was reported to have hit an enemy tank over 15 times without any visible damage. The gun proved effective only against soft targets and was unpopular with crews due to poor mechanical reliability. BT42's were intended as infantry support vehicles, not as tank destroyers. When placed in the destroyer mode, Soviet tanks found them an easy target. The remaining 10 vehicles, were used until 1950.

(no photo)
BT-43

A special rear view shot of a T34-76, T34-85, KV1, KV1E, ISU-152. In the foreground, a sideview of a T34-76 and a gun tractor. The gun tractor was not used in WW2 and only by Finland.

A special front view shot of a T-50, Landsverk Anti II, T60, and a T40.

---

Finnish/German anti-tank guns. The left is a 7.5cm PaK40. The right is a 5cm. Note the kill rings.

Finland's armored force, then and now by Mikko Lipponen

---
Finnish Soldiers wait to attack! The aftermath - severe Soviet losses.

---
Cartoons of the day

The cartoon on the left is from the London Daily Mirror and pokes fun at Red inefficiency. The cartoon on the right is from the London Evening Standard and pokes fun at Stalin sitting down to eat Finland and finding her too tough to eat.

------
Warposters from Finland

The poster on the left dates from 1938 (pre-war). The center shows a Finnish soldier looking at a poster advising people to watch what they say publicly. The right is one of a profusion of posters calling for financial aid for Finland's battle against Russia, which had won the sympathy and admiration of the west.

---
1941 Continuation War Attacks By Finland and Germany

Major Jim Collins - USAF

Mikko Lipponen

Tim Keennon

Olaf Schiltmans

Teppo Nieminen

Katya Kuersteiner

Daniella Carlsson

Jakub Marszalkiewicz
author of
JAKUB MARSZALKIEWICZ - moja strona / my page

Magnus Rosander

Chris Sundstrom

Steven Guy
author of
Thunder and Steel

Last Update: Thursday, February 13, 2003