Finland's Continuation War
Against Russia 1940-45

1941: The Karelian Army Advances

by Brian R. Train, Victoria, British Columbia

Still further south, the Finnish 14 Division was under independent command. It began moving one 3 July along the route from Repola to Rukajarvi, with the ultimate objective of Belomorsk. This town was a very important point in that it was on the junction of the Murmansk railway with the recently completed spur line from the Archangel-Moscow railway. On 6 July the division took Repola and encircled a portion of the 54 Rifle Division. When the pocket had been reduced enough to continue the advance on 23 July, the division continued another 50 miles to Rukajarvi, where it took up defensive positions on 11 September. It was to advance no further during the war.

The Finnish main effort was made to the north of Lake Ladoga. The Karelian Army was composed of two corps of two infantry divisions each. The VI Corps had 1 Jager Brigade attached to it, while Group Oinonen (named after the commander of the Cavalry Brigade), composed of 2 Jager Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade was on its northern flank. The Finnish 1 Division and the German 163 Infantry Division (less one regiment, which had been detached to help take Salla) were in army reserve. The general plan was to advance to the east and southeast on a broad front, with the objective of reaching the Svir River, which connects Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga.

The Karelian Army attacked on 10 July. The elite Jager brigades (mounted on bicycles) and the motorized cavalry brigade swiftly broke the front open for the infantry divisions around Lake Tolvajarvi. VI Corps (consisting of 5 and 11 Divisions) made for the spur line connecting Sortavala and Petrozavodsk in order to cut the Red Army troops near Lake Ladoga off, then hooked south to strike the coast road along the lake's eastern shore. On 25 July elements of the Corps reached the Tuulos River south of Viditsa and stopped temporarily to let the rest of the Army catch up.

Meanwhile, VII Corps (consisting of 7 and 19 Divisions) pressed the Russians back onto Sortavala. Mannerhiem then ordered II Corps to go over to the attack on 31 July. The 2 Division moved northeast to press on the Russian enclave forming on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, while 15 and 18 divisions moved southeast into the Karelian Isthmus and 10 Division (from IV Corps) was moved behind them as a reserve.

Sortavala fell to 7 Division on 15 August. The Russian survivors took heavy losses trying to flee across the lake in small boats and ships. Priozersk fell on 21 August. The same day, Mannerheim ordered his last corps into the attack, and IV Corps advanced on Vyborg. On 24 August 18 Division wheeled half-right so as to cut the city off from the east, while elements of 8 Division landed at Koivisto to the south of it. The Soviet division left garrisoning Vyborg surrendered on 29 August, while the other two divisions that had been defending the Karelian Isthmus fell back on Leningrad. The Finnish troops reached the pre-Winter War border with the USSR on 31 August.

It was time for a political decision. Finland had now recovered almost all of the territory it had lost in the Winter War, and was now about to press on into Russia itself. The Germans wanted Finnish troops to besiege Leningrad from the north, while they made the main effort from the south. However, both Mannerheim and President Ryti were reticent, because it was not yet apparent that the Germans were going to win the war, and things would not go well for a Finland on the losing side that had participated in the razing of Leningrad.

Also, Finland did not have the heavy equipment or stockpiles of war supplies to engage in successful urban combat, nor could it afford the heavy infantry casualties such a battle would entail. Mannerheim did commit to moving beyond the pre-war border to gain some good defensive ground on the Karelian Isthmus, and to renewing the offensive towards Lodeynoye Pole on the Svir River. He also acknowledged the importance of cutting the Murmansk Railway at as many points as possible - even cutting it at Petrozavodsk or Medvezhyegorsk was still effective, since it would force all Lend-Lease traffic onto the overloaded Archangel-Moscow railway through the connecting line at Belomorsk.

In Eastern Karelia, the Finnish had spent several weeks replenishing and reorganizing. In early August 17 Division was withdrawn from screening Hanko (leaving a brigade and the Swedish Volunteer Battalion to screen the base) and 4 Division was transferred from the Isthmus to this area. On 4 September VI Corps (now consisting of 5, 7, and 163 Divisions, plus what heavy artillery the Finns had) crossed the Tuulos River and headed for the Svir. Lodeynoye Pole fell on 7 September, and the following day took Podporoze, the town where the Murmansk Railway crossed the Svir. By the middle of the month VI Corps was emplaced along the entire river line between Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga.

The VII Corps (now composed of 1, 4, and 11 Divisions, as well as 1 Jager and Cavalry Brigades) drove on Petrozavodsk. The attack began on 18 September: the elite light forces attacked from the south while 1 and 11 Divisions attacked from the west. Later in the month, II Corps (the headquarters had been transferred from the Isthmus and given 8 Division, 2 Jager Brigade and Brigade K, a unit made up of three "tribal battalions") pressed in from the northwest. The 71 Rifle Division defending Petrozavodsk was overwhelmed and the town fell on 1 October. After consolidating, II and VII Corps swung north to attack Medvezhyegorsk at the top of Lake Onega. By the middle of November they threatened the town but snow had already begun to fall and the strain of five months of continuous moving and fighting was beginning to tell. In one final attack, II Corps took Medvezhyegorsk on 5 December, and Povenets the day after.

At this point, substantive activity stopped along the three fronts. The troops had done all they could do in five months, and winter was setting in. Even though the offensive had been conducted against a weakened and confused enemy, the Finnish gains were remarkable. Pressing further would be tempting political as well as military fate.

Ever since the conclusion of the Winter War, Finland had been acutely aware of the delicate course it had to steer between becoming a satellite of Germany and remaining on good terms with Britain and the United States. Hence, the Finnish government had been at pains to stress its independent course in the renewed war with the USSR. No formal alliance had been struck between Finland and Germany, there had been no declaration of war until the Soviet Union had struck first, and Finland was explicitly neutral in the war between Britain and Germany.

Stalin had pressed Britain to declare war on Finland several times during the summer and fall of 1941, but Churchill demurred - he did not want to drive Finland further into the German sphere of influence. While the two countries did break off diplomatic relations in July, it was not until 28 November that Britain sent an ultimatum telling Finland to cease military operations against the USSR by 5 December, else they would declare war. Churchill followed this with a personal letter to Mannerheim offering that Britain would be satisfied if Finland simply stopped fighting and blamed it on the severe weather, thereby saving face.

Mannerheim replied to Churchill on 2 December that Finland was engaged in a defensive war against Russia and would stop as soon as it had reached acceptable defensive positions (he was then awaiting news of the fall of Medvezhyegorsk). He noted later in his memoirs that he meant this as an acceptance of Churchill's offer, but the British government decided to read it as a rejection of their ultimatum. Therefore, Britain (and Canada) declared war on Finland on 6 December, although forces of the two countries were never to exchange fire.

Despite this turn of events, Finland was still not willing to become a satrap of Germany. It was now obvious that while Germany had made impressive gains during the summer and fall, it had not gone far enough.

The Soviet counterattack before Moscow had just begun and the magnitude of the potential disaster for the poorly equipped and exhausted German Army was enormous. While Mannerheim continued to plan a joint attack on Belomorsk for early 1942, he was beginning to entertain doubts about Germany's ultimate success and did not press the Finnish troops in Lapland to advance further on the Murmansk Railway.

During 1941, Finland had lost 25,500 killed and missing, slightly more than they had lost during the Winter War. Mannerheim began to send men home as the situation along the front stabilized and both sides settled into a routine of building fortifications and patrolling. The economy was beginning to suffer from the prolonged absence of so many men from their jobs in agriculture and industry, and Finland was becoming increasingly dependent on Germany for food and finished products. In 1942 over 110,000 men would be sent home.

More Finland Continuation War 1941-45

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