The standing forces of the Finnish Army consisted of three divisions, but these were really just administrative headquarters as all units were maintained at cadre strength, with each regiment having only a battalion on active duty. These existed mainly to train the yearly intake of conscripts. During mobilization each division fielded a brigade which, along with the four jager battalions and the cavalry brigade, formed the core of the covering forces along the Karelian Isthmus. The remaining forces at the home stations then became the nucleus of the replacement training command.

These covering forces which were to hold the frontier until the second wave could reach the main defensive positions. Eight divisions then took up positions along the frontier (six along the Mannerheim Line and two north of Lake Ladoga) with the 6th Division guarding the coast between Viipuri and Kotka and the gth Division in reserve at Oulu. Brigade Hannell occupied Ahvenanmaa in the Aland Islands and various independent battalions reinforced the north and guarded the southern coast.

A rifle division consisted of three rifle regiments, a light brigade, a field replacement battalion, a field artillery regiment, two engineer companies, two signal companies, and a logistics company for a total of 14,200 men. Major infantry weapons totaled 11,000 rifles, 250 automatic rifles, 250 SMGs, 116 LMGs, and eighteen 81 mm mortars.

Each rifle regiment consisted of three battalions, a company of six 81 mm mortars, and a separate jager company. Regimental arms included the Russian Model 91 7.62 nun bolt-action rifle, 7.62 mm Model 26 Lahti-Saloranta automatic rifle, 9 mm Model 31 Suomi SMG and Maxim 7.62 mm Model 09 LMG. An antitank platoon of six 37 mm Bofors guns was more or less permanently attached to each regiment.

The light brigade served as the divisional reconnaissance force and, during the Winter War period, it consisted of a reinforced bicycle company.

Divisional artillery was organized into three battalions, each of three four-gun batteries. Two batteries of each battalion were armed with 75 mm or 76 mm field guns and one battery was supposed to be armed with 122 mm howitzers. Shortages of the larger guns meant that the 9th, 12th, 13th , 21st, 22nd, 23rd Divisions had no artillery larger than 76 mm which is why they're only self-supported. All the artillery was obsolete. In addition, there was a serious shortage of ammunition for the guns.

The replacement battalions were intended to provide trained replacements to the divisions, but due to a shortage of infantry early in the Winter War, they were used as regular infantry battalions. Two of these were subsequently used to rebuild JR 32, one became the 1st Division's light brigade, and three were formed into JR 4 1. Administratively, these were grouped into the Field Replacement Brigade.

There were four jager battalions in the regular army. They were structured much like the ordinary divisional rifle battalions, except that they had an extra rifle company and were also more lavishly equipped with a total of 36 SMGs, sixteen LMGs, and eight 81 mm mortars compared to the standard 26, twelve and two respectively.

The cavalry brigade consisted of two cavalry regiments, an armored car platoon and a battery of horse artillery (six 76 mm field guns). Each regiment disposed of four cavalry squadrons, a MG squadron, and an anti-tank platoon for a total of about 900 men. During the winter months the horses were stabled and the men used skis.

26 independent rifle and four bicycle battalions were intended for economy of force missions and were organized identically to those assigned to divisions with three rifle and one heavy weapons companies. The 1st and 2nd Battalions combined to form the 4h Rifle Brigade. The 25th and 26th Battalions were formed from "Divisions" A and B of the Rovaniemi Mobilization Center and are often referred to as Battalions A and B in combat histories. The second wave battalions, with designations from 18 to 24, were formed from civil guards and older age classes of reservists. One battalion which often appears in combat histories as independent, the 112th, was actually the third battalion of JR 37 so it isn't shown directly. These were grouped into the rifle, ski and bicycle regiments with an ID ending in L (Lohko) [sector] to cut down counter clutter.

Twenty-two independent companies also were also mobilized (ten rifle, eight bicycle, and four machine-gun). The ten rifle companies were factored into the rifle and ski regiments with an ID ending in R (Ryhma) [area] that were mainly composed of border guards. The bicycle and machine-gun companies were lumped into the same regiments as most of the independent battalions.

Independent artillery consisted of four heavy artillery battalions, each with eight to twelve guns-mostly 150 mm or 152 mm howitzers and eight light artillery batteries, each with four to six 75 mm or 87 mm field guns. Three of these were motorized while the others were horse-drawn. The heavy guns were part of the Army reserve and were split between II and III Corps for most of the Winter War. The five light batteries deployed along the border as supporting arms for the independent rifle companies and border guards. The three batteries of motorized guns were used to aid the forces in the Mannerheim Line and have been incorporated into the corps artillery.

A number of regiments were shuffled during the early stages of the war. The 8 Division moved to the frontier with JR 26 from the 9th Division since its 22 d Regiment was occupying Ahvenanmaa. Later the 6th Division detached its 16th Regiment to reinforce the key battle of Tolvajarvi north of Lake Ladoga; when the 22 d Regiment returned from Ahvenanmaa it was attached to the 6th Division to replace this unit. All this means that the gth Division was initially short one regiment. The 9th Division appears as self-supported because only one of its artillery units had guns; the other two didn't receive theirs until mid-December and they only had two batteries of eight 76 mm guns total rather than the usual three batteries with twelve guns. A third battery was added in February with 75 mm ex-Swedish guns.

The Finns had no higher organization than the company for engineers during the Winter War aside from a pontoon bridge battalion. The two named engineer units are therefore composites of the 40+ independent engineer companies and platoons. There were also ten companies of rail repair troops that have been combined into a composite RR engineer brigade.

The New Land Rifle Regiment, 18 , 19th, and 20 Independent Rifle Battalions, and all four independent heavy artillery regiments were composed of Swedish-speaking Finnish citizens.

After the regular army had mobilized and deployed, the Finnish home training forces were organized using leftover equipment and personnel. Initially, these consisted of three training brigades and three field replacement brigades (totally different from the original field replacement brigade), but in mid-December they were consolidated into three training divisions. Each of which was organized identically to a rifle division, but at cadre level. Normal practice was to use these, units to provide trained replacements to the field army, but whenever sufficient extra personnel were on hand, they were used to form new units. In this manner the Finns raised a total of nine new rifle regiments before the Winter War ended (JR 40, 60-62, 64-65, 67-69), with the 1st Training Division ultimately becoming the 21" Division and the 3rd Training Division becoming the 23 d Division. Plans were underway to form two more divisions (27th and 29th) at the time of surrender and Finnish resources were considered sufficient to maintain a total of sixteen divisions. In addition to these real increases in strength, the Finns attempted to deceive the Soviets as to their true strength by renumbering the 6th, 10th and 11th Divisions (and all their subordinate units) in January 1940.

Five final units formed during the Winter War were the guerrilla battalions (Sissi-literally "wolf"). These were all-volunteer units formed at or near the front lines chiefly from men whose homes in areas that had been overrun by the Soviet advance. The exploits of these units were many, they often operated behind Soviet lines and spearheaded many of the key battles of the war. They have been shown as partisans in A WW.

Finland began the Winter War with two armor companies (each equipped with 16 Renault FT- 17 tanks--obsolete WW I tin cans armed with MGs). Twenty-seven unarmed Vickers Model V Mark E tanks were also on hand. They were fitted with 37 mm guns in February 1940, when the supply of 37 mm anti-tank guns improved to the point that some could be supplied to the tankers. It starts out as a 0-6 light armor battalion to represent the FT-17s and converts to a 1-0-8 armor battalion as the Vickers tanks get their main guns. It has a zero defense because it has no attached infantry.

The Border Guards were administratively organized into a brigade with six area commands. The Salmin area border guards were mobilized in 1938 and never stood down. The 10 independent rifle battalions along the border were sometimes referred to as border guards, but officially they were part of the regular army. That did seem to be their function, however. The only unit officially designated as "border guards" during the Winter War was the West Lapland Border Guards Battalion formed from men drawn from the Swedish frontier.

Auxiliary forces included an 80,000 man Civil Guard (old men, young boys and men on the sick list) and a 100,000 strong women's auxiliary (the Lotta Svard).

More Finnish Army 1939-1944

The Winter War
The Continuation War
Weapons and Equipment