lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966 
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Feb 28, 2019 4:01:44 GMT
Sins 1940 is a leap year and 29 February exists there, there will be two posts today.
Day 91 of Winter War, February 28th 1940
Second Lt. Kermit Roosevelt of the Middlesex Regiment is appointed to command British volunteers in Finland. Roosevelt, the second son of President Theodore Roosevelt, is a protege of Winston Churchill. Roosevelt is prepared to resign his commission in the British Army to lead the group, but does not do so yet.
The Allies continue with their plan to send troops to Finland via the Narvik railway that passes through Norway and Sweden. Once again, they ask the Finns to request right of passage from their Scandinavian brothers. There is no sign that such permission, which has been rejected repeatedly, is forthcoming.
Winter War Army Operations
At 0045 hours, Soviet High Command permitted the surrounded 34th Tank Brigade to retreat from the East Lemetti pocket in Finland. Finnish troops eased pressure and allowed 2,750 wounded Russian soldiers to escape on foot. About 1,000 out of the 1,250 who escaped to the south returned safely, but all 1500 men moving East are hunted down and annihilated by Finns on skis. Finnish attacks on the East Lemetti pocket continue overnight on the motti, which is notable for the large number of Soviet tanks (about 100 many of which are dug in as fixed artillery). On the Karelian Isthmus, however, Soviet troops were able to penetrate the second defensive line. Finnish aircraft raided Russian lines of communications.
Further North, Swedish Volunteer Corps (Svenska Frivilligkåren) takes over front line duty at Märkäjärvi in Salla. Although officially non-belligerent, 8,402 Swedes, 1,010 Danes and 895 Norwegians volunteer go to Finland. They will lose 28 dead, 50 wounded and 140 invalids with frostbite. British volunteers in Finland are to be commanded by Major Kermit Roosevelt. First Canadian Volunteers arrived in Finland.
Winter War Peace Talks
The Finnish Council of State convenes to discuss the Soviet terms, which include major territorial concessions in the Karelian Isthmus, a base at Hango, and the return to Finland of the port of Petsamo.
Day 92 of Winter War, February 29th 1940
The Soviets follow the Finnish withdrawal closely and immediately begin attacking to surround Viipuri. The Soviets once again attempt to outflank Viipuri by crossing the frozen Gulf of Finland. They make it to shore 15 miles west of Viipuri, but the Finns immediately launch a massive counterattack and drive them off. As part of the operation, the Soviets capture Teikari Island.
Soviets also attack at Taipale for the second day in a row, but all three attacks are repelled. The Soviets begin to lose interest in this extremely difficult sector.
There also is a Soviet attack at Pitkaerantae, Northeast of Lake Ladoga, but it also is repelled.
The Finns overrun another motti north of Lake Ladoga. This time, it is East Lemetti Motti (West Lemetti Motti having already fallen). The Finns capture 5 field guns, 1 antitank gun, 71 tanks, 12 armored cars, 6 antiaircraft machineguns, 206 trucks & 70 machineguns.
Winter War Peace Talks
One day before the Soviet deadline, the Finns accept the Soviet terms in principle and they are willing to enter into final negotiations about them. They do not communicate this to the Soviets immediately because of negative French and British reaction to the news.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 1, 2019 3:09:18 GMT
Day 93 of Winter War, March 1st 1940
The Soviet peace deadline expires today. The Finns are ready to capitulate to the Soviet terms, but the British and French are aghast. Finland knows what it is up against and demands 100 bombers and 50,000 troops to stay in the fight. France immediately replies that it will send the troops if the Finns make an immediate request by 5 March. Great Britain, on the other hand, just shakes its collective head at this fanciful promise and says it is impossible.
Winter War Army Operations
Soviets close to within 4 mi/6 km of Viipuri city center. Soviet tanks break out past Viipuri and now are on much easier tank country. Essentially, the city is surrounded and the defense fragmented. Soviet 7th Army is heading west.
Lieutenant-Colonel Magnus Dyrssen, the commander of the Swedish volunteers (Stridsgruppen SFK), at Salla, is killed by Soviet shelling.
Winter War Air Operations
There are fierce dogfights over Viipuri, as the Finnish Air Force is making a stand there. The Finns send their own bombers to attack Soviet lines of communication, attacking railway junctions and troop trains.
Winter War Naval Operations: Marshal Mannerheim transfers Jaeger (elite light infantry) Major-General Kurt M. Wallenius from Lapland to a new coastal command protecting Viipuri from the seaward side. Since everything is frozen, there is no natural boundary on that side of the city. Wallenius is famous for his saying, ""We don't let them rest, we don't let them sleep," and is something of a national hero.
Wallenius is no fool, having managed the extremely successful strategic defense of Salla and Petsamo. However, he knows an impossible situation when he sees it, and he protests the assignment because the Soviets already have crossed the frozen gulf and there is nothing that he can do. His troops, used to fighting in woods and tundra, are completely out of their element. They fail to dislodge the Soviets.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 2, 2019 7:31:14 GMT
Day 94 of Winter War, March 2nd 1940
France and Great Britain once ask Norway and Sweden for the right of passage to Finland, and again are refused. Finland still has not made a formal request for military assistance.
A Hungarian Volunteer Detached Battalion arrives at a Finnish training camp at Lapua. They travelled through Europe posing as tourists going skiing. The trip took three weeks by train.
Canada authorizes volunteer participation in the Winter War. A unit of volunteers boards a ship bound for Finland.
Winter War Army Operations
The fluid battle that has developed on the Karelian Isthmus is not working out to the Finns' favor. Soviet troops enter the southern suburbs of Viipuri at Sainio, 5 miles south of the city along the coast, and Heinjoki River, 17 miles east of the town. They continue swarming west. Fires break out in Viipuri, which is being abandoned and destroyed.
The front at Taipale settles down, as the Soviets have had no success there and the prospects are better further south at Viipuri.
The Soviets capture the islands of the islands of Tuppuransaari and Teikarsaari after the former runs out of ammunition and a counterattack fails. The Soviets are now digging in on the mainland on the western shore of Viipurinlahti Bay. Finnish Major General Wallenius cannot dislodge them and is said to be drinking heavily.
At Kollaa, Soviet artillery begins at 06:30, followed by a large-scale, multiple-division assault. The Finnish trenches hold.
At Kuhmo, the Finnish defensive line at Kuusijoki is hit with 3,000 artillery shells, then a massive assault. The Soviets capture the Finns' forward positions.
Winter War Air Operations
Soviet bombers again try to bomb Helsinki, but Finnish fighters drive them off.
Winter War Peace Talks
Finland’s Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner informs the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee that the acceptance of the Soviet peace terms has not yet been communicated to them, and explains why. He has asked the Swedish Foreign Minister Christian Günther to hold off on transmitting the acceptance.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 3, 2019 8:06:51 GMT
Day 95 of Winter War, March 3rd 1940
The Finns continue resisting the urge to convey their acceptance of the Soviet peace terms, which technically have expired. Finland’s Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner instead phones Sweden’s Foreign Minister Christian Günther and proposes an alliance between the two countries. Finland is ready to capitulate if the Soviets would drop their demand for the cession of Viipuri and Sortavala.
Winter War Army Operations
There is hand-to-hand fighting in the Viipuri suburbs. The Soviets capture the main railway station.
Marshal Mannerheim dishonorably discharges Major-General Kurt M. Wallenius from his position of coastal defense west of Viipuri. The Soviets have consolidated their bridgehead there, and Wallenius is said to be drinking heavily. Mannerheim vows never to re-employ Wallenius and removes him from the Defence Forces officer list. Lieutenant General Karl Lennart Oesch replaces Wallenius.
The fighting in Viipurinlahti Bay, Wallenius' command, is extremely dangerous to the Finnish strategic position, threatening a breakout to the Finnish industrial heartland. The Soviet 86th Motorized Rifle Division pushes across the frozen Gulf of Viipuri, taking the short route to the mainland. They take the island of Uuras and consolidate the beachhead on the western shore.
At Mikkeli, the Finnish HQ orders the staff of the army of the Isthmus to plan for a major withdrawal to the Virolahti-Kivijärvi-Saimaa-Hiitola line.
Winter War Air Operations
The Finns claim to have brought down 28 Soviet planes over the weekend.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 4, 2019 7:42:54 GMT
Day 96 of Winter War, March 4th 1940
A League of Nations mission arrives in Helsinki to investigate Finnish allegations of Soviet methods of warfare that are illegal. The deadline for Finland to appeal to the Allies for military assistance expires tomorrow.
Winter War Army Operations
The Soviets continue attacking across the Gulf of Viipuri. Their hold there is tenuous because should the ice melt before they consolidate the bridgehead with an overland advance, they would be stranded on the far shore of the Gulf with no hope of rescue. Soviet troops, meanwhile, try to scoot across the ice quickly around noon, but Finnish artillery and planes attack them relentlessly and cause heavy casualties.
Elsewhere along the front, the Finns dig in and prevent any further major advances. The Finns still hold the greater part of Viipuri despite Soviet inroads. The Soviets are focusing attacks to the east of the city, trying to bypass it on both sides.
The Vuoksi River sector flares up with fighting near Äyräpää church.
The Taipale sector is quiet.
In the far north, Soviet forces withdraw in the Petsamo sector. Under the current peace offer (which, while expired, remains the only one outstanding), Petsamo would be handed back to the Finns anyway.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 5, 2019 8:52:12 GMT
Day 97 of Winter War, March 5th 1940
Canada promises to send 1000 volunteers to help the Finnish Army. The British government extends a 3% £300,000,000 war loan to aid Finland.
Winter War Army Operations
The Soviet 28th Corps consolidates the Soviets' hold on the western shore of the Bay of Viipuri. The Soviets capture more islands and push inland. They need to consolidate quickly because frozen Viipuri Bay typically melts in March.
Winter War Naval Operations
Soviet minelayer Murman sows mines near Petsamo.
Winter War Air Operations
The Soviets bomb Helsinki and other towns in central and southern Finland.
The Finns engage in heavy attacks against Soviet troops in the Ristniemi-Tuppura sector. Two Soviet Tupolev SB-2 bombers collide near Kymi, three crew members killed. Two Polikarpov I-153 "Chaika" biplane fighters force-land behind Finnish lines.
Winter War Peace Talks
The Soviets announce that its terms are still on the table and it is willing to negotiate to end the Winter War. The Finns, meanwhile, come to the shocking realization that the British and, especially, French promises of immediate military aid are worthless. Thus, the Finns accept the Soviet offer to negotiate terms, with the understanding that they are going to have to cede valuable territory.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 6, 2019 4:00:27 GMT
Day 98 of Winter War, March 6th 1940
The Finns waste no time and compose a peace delegation to send to Moscow. It is led by Prime Minister Risto Ryti, and the delegation (including also J.K.J.K. Paasikivi, Rudolf Walden & Väinö Voionmaa) leaves for Moscow via Stockholm in the evening.
There is still no cease fire. Molotov somewhat characteristically says, "Why stop the juggernaut now it is rolling?" Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner hedges his bets by asking Great Britain and France for an extension of the deadline for requesting military assistance. They give Finland until the March 12, 1940 to make a formal request.
Winter War Army Operations
The Soviets slightly expand their bridgehead on the western shore of the Gulf of Viipuri. Finnish pilot Eino Luukkanen observes as he strafes 800 shells into them:
A column of men & horse is crossing the ice - a long black snake.
He is surprised that they are not even wearing any camouflage. The remaining Finnish coastal batteries use their last shells to break the ice under the advancing men.
The Soviet 168th Rifle Division, which has been encircled north of Lake Ladoga, is relieved
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 7, 2019 3:52:06 GMT
Day 99 of Winter War, March 7th 1940
With the situation becoming desperate, the Finns have begun calling up the next class of recruits, lowering the service age to 20.
Winter War Army Operations
The fighting continues in the Viipuri Bay sector and north of Lake Ladoga. The Soviets make small gains in both sectors. The major Soviet success is that the Soviet 28th Corps cuts the highway between Viipuri and Helsinki, which basically is a lifeline for Finnish positions further north.
The Finns have almost no ammunition left, but they know they have to stop the Soviets from continuing to cross the bay. Someone thinks of using saws to cut the ice... but the cuts quickly freeze.
Legendary Finnish sniper Simo Hayha, the "Magic Shooter" who has 505 kills in 95 days, is shot in the jaw, but survives. "Half his head is hanging out," says one man who helps to rescue him.
Winter War Peace Talks
The Finns arrive in Moscow in the evening. They announce that negotiations are in progress over Soviet terms that are even more drastic than those issued before the war - and they should know since Juho Kusti Paasikivi is the one who failed at his negotiations with the Soviets in November. German and Swedish mediators are participating.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 8, 2019 7:17:16 GMT
Day 100 of Winter War, March 8th 1940
The French government states that they are sending large quantities of arms (including French Renault FT-17 tanks), ammunition and 175 airplanes to Finland even without any requests for aid. The British offer to send 50 planes and also an expeditionary force, but Norway and Sweden must agree - and they don't. The Finns promise that they will not accept a "peace of defeat."
Finnish Marshal Carl Mannerheim, who was against the war, sees the military situation deteriorating presses for the government to accept the offer of assistance from the Allies. Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner feels this will sabotage the negotiations proceeding in Moscow.
The Soviets reject a Finnish request for an immediate cease-fire while negotiations proceed.
Winter War Army Operations
The Soviets edge further into Viipuri. There is fighting in the suburb of Tali. The weakest spot in the Finnish line, aside from the foothold the Soviets have established on the western shore of Viipuri Bay, is to the northeast of the city.
The Finns in the bay capture more islands in Viipurinlahti Bay.
The T-Line is holding, but barely. The Soviet 7th and 13 Armies continue assaulting it.
Further north, at Kuhmo, some remaining elements of the Soviet 54th Rifle Division of 9th Army that has been trapped in a dwindling pocket are eliminated by the Finns.
Winter War Peace Talks
Finnish delegates in Moscow begin negotiations in the evening with Molotov, Zdanov and General Vasilevski but not Stalin, to their disappointment. Finns ask for a ceasefire during negotiations. The Soviets know that they are about to take Viipuri and refuse, preferring to negotiate from a position of strength.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 9, 2019 8:42:44 GMT
Day 101 of Winter War, March 9th 1940
The Finns admit in a communique that the Soviets have established a beachhead on the far (northwestern) shore of Viipuri Bay. However, they are quick to add that everywhere else the line is holding.
The British and French still promise assistance, but they want a formal request for assistance. Their offers are cynical: while they promise 12,000 troops, only 4,000 are allocated to Finland; the rest would be to seize control of iron ore mines in Norway and Sweden.
Winter War Army Operations
While there are no major breakthroughs, the Finnish positions are deteriorating. They evacuate key positions in the Gulf of Viipuri.
Winter War Air Operations
The Finns perform strafing missions with nine Moranes and a Fiat, destroying 6 trucks, and also shoot down 2 Soviet I-153 and a Tshaika. Ten new Hawker Hurricanes, much more advanced than current planes on either side, arrive at the Sakyla base, but must be worked up and pilots trained on them.
Winter War Peace Talks
The Soviets are demanding a huge slice of Finnish territory to the west of Lake Ladoga, including Salla in Lapland. The Finns are aghast, because they never expected to lose all access to Lake Ladoga. Marshal Mannerheim calls at 17:00, and he tells PM Ryti that General Heinrichs, in charge of the most sensitive area of defense on the Karelian Isthmus, says that there is no military hope. Mannerheim thus urges acceptance of the Soviet terms, draconian as they may be perceived.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 10, 2019 7:41:13 GMT
Day 102 of Winter War, March 10th 1940
Winter War Army Operations
The Finnish position on the Karelian Isthmus continues disintegrating.
They lose Repola and nearby territory on the northeast of Viipuri, and also Karppila and Ruhela on the other side of the city along the shoreline. The massive Soviet pincer around Viipuri is wide open and getting ready to close. There is hand-to-hand fighting deep in the city itself. The city is the linchpin of the defense, once it is lost the Soviets will have multiple avenues into the heart of the country.
Finnish General Öhqvist:
This is an awful gamble. We might hold Viipuri until tomorrow night. After that, either city or army is doomed.
Winter War Peace Talks: The government in Helsinki realizes the peril of the military situation - it could hardly be more perilous - and messages Ryti in Moscow:
Headquarters not sanguine about carrying on fighting- we authorise you to accept any terms.
Stalin still does not feel this negotiation is of sufficient importance for him to attend - another sign of how perilous it is for the Finns.
The Finnish negotiating team meets with Molotov at the Kremlin for two hours. Molotov says that the offer is take-it-or-leave-it, there can be no alterations. As Rytie puts it, they will alter "not a single comma."
Winter War Air Operations
Three Finnish planes strafe Soviet columns, destroying vehicles.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 11, 2019 4:05:16 GMT
Day 103 of Winter War, March 11th 1940
Winter War Peace Talks:
The two sides meet at 18:00 on 11 March 1940 with the end of the process a foregone conclusion. With little real choice in the matter, the Finnish negotiators agree to the Soviet terms. The key provisions:
- The Soviets get the entire Karelian Isthmus;
- Petsamo (occupied during the war) is returned to the Finns, but the Soviets keep the nearby Rybachiy Peninsula;
- The Soviets get extensive territory, mostly forested, in the "waist of the country, including Salla;
- The Soviets get a lease on the port of Hango.
- While the terms give the Soviets all of their war aims, the losses are acceptable given the alternative of complete and utter defeat and occupation. The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes a bulletin telling the public of the peace talks.
Thirteen members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament vote for the peace terms. There are only four votes against. The success of the vote is leaked to the media in time for publication in Swedish evening newspapers. This news is published even before the negotiators meet at 18:00, causing a major embarrassment for the Finnish government.
Chamberlain and Daladier, obviously informed of the proceedings, try to prevent the Finnish capitulation by announcing that they will send help to Finland despite the lack of a formal Finnish request. This comes to naught with the announcement of the peace deal. However, the original idea to send troops to Narvik remains on the minds of the British and French. The entire idea all along, in fact, was a cynical use of the Finnish difficulties as a pretext to occupy the iron ore mines so that Hitler could not use them.
Winter War Army Operations
Soviet forces score breakthroughs against the Finnish forces which are learning about the peace deal. There are Soviet attacks all around Viipuri, and five Soviet tanks reach Tammisuo station in the northeast.
The Soviets launch an offensive at Vuosalmi that the Finns stop with great difficulty and heavy loss of life.
Finnish fighters engage a flight of five DB-3 Soviet bombers near Kouvola and shoot one down near Loviisa. This is the final aerial victory of the war. The Finns lose a Fiat flown by an Italian volunteer who perishes, SSgt Diego Manzocchi, on the ice of Ikolanjarvi. He was shot in the chest and then hangs upside down in his crashed plane for six hours before expiring.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 12, 2019 4:02:29 GMT
Day 104 of Winter War, March 12th 1940
At 09:00, Finnish President Kyösti Kallio authorizes the peace delegation in Moscow to sign an agreement ending the war. There is no further negotiation, the Soviet terms have not changed throughout the meetings and agreement is a formality. The Finns meet with Molotov at 22:00 to formalize the document. They capitulate and sign the Moscow Peace Treaty around midnight on the 12th.
The Armistice goes into effect at 11:00 on 13 March. There is no ceasefire until that time. The treaty must be ratified within three days.
As demanded by the Soviets, the Finns give up the entire Karelian Isthmus where the bulk of the fighting took place and which contains their only defensive fortifications. The Finns lose all access to Lake Ladoga. They also surrender a long-term (30 years) lease on the naval base at Hango, a slice of the eastern portion of the country around battle-torn Salla, the major cities of Viipuri and Vuokis, and nearby towns of Sortavala and Käkisalmi. The surrendered territory is rich in natural resources, but more importantly, served as the only defensive buffer zone against the Soviet Union. As a consolation, they receive back the basically worthless port of Petsamo in the far north while the Soviets retain the nearby peninsula which is in a strategic location.
The end result is that Finland loses roughly 10% of the country, 35,000 square km. About 430,000 Finns are displaced, 12% of the population.
Kallio says:
This is the most awful document I have ever had to sign. May the hand wither which is forced to sign such a paper.
The Allies are hopelessly behind the curve. French Prime Minister Daladier still, on this final day, tells his Chamber of Deputies that an Anglo-French expeditionary force of 50,000 men is ready to go - all Finland has to do is ask. With the Moscow Peace Treaty signed, such a request will be a long time coming.
The Swedes add insult to injury by hinting that, finally, when it no longer matters, it might be open to a defensive alliance with Finland.
The British go even further. They actually load 20,000 men - five brigades - on ships at Rosyth in the Firth of Forth. The transports are ready to go to Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger. Another brigade is on alert at Scapa Flow to head to Narvik and occupy the key port there. The troops are odds and ends from the Home Army, mostly reservists hastily called up recently, ill-equipped and lacking in training and morale. The most organized troops are serving with the BEF on the continent and thus unavailable.
However, the British War Cabinet is uncertain how to proceed. No agreement to a British military presence has been received from either Norway or Sweden, and such agreement would effectively violate their neutrality. Nobody knows what to expect, and how to handle armed opposition is up in the air. Prime Minister Chamberlain condemns the entire idea, but he is rapidly losing moral authority due to the deteriorating international situation that he helped create.
Winter War Army Operations
There is a blizzard in the southern and central sectors of Finland that halts most operations. The Soviet 7th Army continues assaulting Finnish defenses at Viipuri. There is fighting throughout the city's suburbs. The Finnish-American Legion, some 300 strong, reaches the city to help defend it.
Winter War Air Operations
The weather keeps most planes grounded. Before things close down, a Soviet Polikarpov I-16 "Ishak" fighter (the Finns call it Siipiorava ("Flying Squirrel")) wages a solitary battle against a lone Finnish anti-aircraft gunner located on a water tower at the city of Utti. The fighter makes numerous passes, obsessed with eliminating the gunner, but finally, the anti-aircraft gunner wins and shoots it down.
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,966
Likes: 49,370
|
Post by lordroel on Mar 13, 2019 4:36:19 GMT
Day 105 of Winter War, March 13th 1940The Winter Wars ends at 11:00 Finnish time on the morning. Fighting continues in numerous areas past that deadline due to communication issues or sheer indifference, but also in cases out of spite. There are Soviet bombing missions to Vuosalmi, Koivisto, and Iso Kalastajasaarento. Soviet artillery gunners, many if not all aware of the deal, empty their loads during the morning, killing hundreds of Finns. To be fair, the Finnish gunners also fire, but they do not have nearly the firepower. Photo: Finnish territorial concessions from the Winter War.  Red Army signalman Anatoly Derevenets: The entire earth started vibrating- all weapons on both sides. 2 days' ammunition spent in minutes.
The final order of the day from Marshal Mannerheim: Peace has been concluded between our country and the Soviet Union, an exacting peace which has ceded to Russia nearly every battlefield on which you have shed your blood on behalf of every thing we hold dear and sacred. You did not want war. You loved peace, work and progress; but you were forced into a struggle in which you have done great deeds, deeds that will shine for centuries in the pages of history.
Estimated total losses from the 105-day Winter War: - Dead: Finns have 25,904 dead or missing, Soviets have 126,875–167,976 dead or missing. - Wounded: 45,557 Finns, Soviets have 188,671–207,538 wounded or sick. - Tanks Lost: 3 Finns, 1600+- Soviets - Planes Lost: 61 Finns, 750-900 Soviets - Guns Lost: unknown Finns, 300+ Soviets - Civilian Dead: 637 Finns, 0 Soviets - Civilians Wounded: 1,400 Finns, 0 Soviets - Buildings destroyed: 4,500 Finns, 0 Soviets. The Soviets had 425,000–760,000 soldiers men committed to the conflict. The Finns had 300,000–340,000 soldiers. The official Soviet summary states that they lost 48,000 dead and 158,000 wounded, but most historians believe those figures are vastly understated. There were tremendous numbers of death and injuries, overwhelmingly among the Soviet forces, from frostbite and starvation. Some Soviet dead were due to NKVD blocking detachments. The subject of Soviet casualties has been the subject of wild guesses that often are influenced by the political environment of the moment - extremely typical in the USSR. Molotov, immediately after the war, gave an estimate of 200,000 Soviet killed and wounded. In the post-Stalin era, though, Nikita Khrushchev ratchets that figure up to 1,000,000 in his memoirs. The first figure appears low, the latter high - but nobody knows. The war is a Soviet victory, but at a tremendous cost to its reputation. Its failure to overcome Finnish resistance despite massive numerical superiority in all areas of warfare betrays incompetence at all levels. This results partly from the Stalin purges of the 1930s, but also from unrealistic communist principles applied to the military, lack of proper training in all ranks and weaponry that is unsuited to the conditions faced and, in many cases, of mediocre quality for the era. Many Soviet soldiers of all ranks are disgusted at the casualties and the small gains attained. Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner broadcasts news of the Armistice at 12:00. Later in the day, he also states that Finland is looking into the possibility of creating a defensive alliance with Norway and Sweden. Swedish Foreign Minister Guenther, Lord Halifax and Prime Minister Chamberlain all address their legislatures. The British troops on board ships for transport to Norway disembark. While the pretext to send Allied troops to Norway has evaporated, the idea remains very much alive in the Supreme War Council. As First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, a notorious hawk, puts it in a letter to Foreign Minister Halifax: Whether they [the Germans] have some positive plan of their own [for Norway]… I cannot tell. It would seem to me astonishing if they have not.
Photo: Helsinki celebrating peace. On the right, entrance to Hotel Kämp at address Pohjoisesplanadi 29. 
|
|
