Finland's Continuation War
Against Russia 1940-45

Expatriate Soldiers

by Brian R. Train, Victoria, British Columbia

There were several unusual units that served in the Finnish Army during the Continuation War, and some Finns volunteered to serve under the Germans.

The Swedish Volunteer Battalion

Over 8,000 Swedes volunteered to help Finland in the Winter War. A small number, perhaps 400, stayed behind and were formed into a volunteer battalion that served in the early part of the Continuation War. After the 17th Division was withdrawn from screening Hanko in August 1941, the Swedish battalion and a Finnish reserve brigade kept watch on the Soviet base. The Red Navy successfully evacuated 8 Rifle brigade and various anti-aircraft and support units from Hanko on 4 December, and the Swedish battalion was the first unit to explore the (thoroughly booby-trapped) base.

The "Tribal Battalions"

The Finnish formed three "tribal battalions" in 1941 from volunteers, conscripts and prisoners of war who were from Carelia or Ingria (the area around Leningrad) and who spoke Finnish. The units were filled out to full strength by Finnish nationals. The tribal battalions were formed into "Brigade K," which fought in the area of Lake Ladoga.

Infantry Regiment 200

This unit was formed of Estonians who wished to fight the Soviet Union and get military training to conduct their own fight for independence, but did not want to conscripted into German units where they would have no choice of where and how they would serve. (Many Finns had joined the Imperial German Army in World War One for the same purpose, so they could fight for their own independence from Tsarist Russia.)

Before 1943 there were two independent companies of Estonians in the Finnish Army, and the Swedish volunteer battalion had an Estonian reconnaissance platoon. Over 2,500 Estonians dodging the German draft arrived in Finland in the last half of 1943, and the Finnish government refused the German demands to extradite them. In early 1944, the two Estonian companies formed the third battalion of 47 Infantry Regiment, which was then part of 18 Division on the Karelian Isthmus. The battalion soon grew into an independent infantry regiment. In the Soviet offensive in the summer of 1944, the regiment reformed as one unit and defended a section of the VKT Line along the Vuoksi River. It was a relatively quiet sector and as news arrived on 27 July of the Soviet offensive on Narva, the first Estonian town to fall to the Red Army, men began to desert and make thier own way back to Estonia.

After getting a guarantee from the Germans that they would not be tried as deserters, on 12 August the Finns pulled the men of the regiment off the line, announced that the unit was disbanded, and gave them a choice of going back to Estonia in a body or staying on in Finland. Over 90% of them chose to go home and they left via Hanko on 18 August.

On arrival back in Estonia, the Grmans broke the men up into two battalions: one became the third battalion of 46 SS Grenadier Regiment, which was part of 20 SS Grenadier Division (also known as "Estonian #1"), and the other was sent to a training camp not far from Tallinn. Both units came apart quickly in combat in mid to late September. Some men joined partisan groups and resisted the Soviet occupiers. Some of these groups lasted until 1949, requiring the attentions of two rifle divisions and several armored units to put them down.

More Finland Continuation War 1941-45

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