7th Division (, also known as Sword division) was a

Finnish Army The Finnish Army (Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

in the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

. The division was formed Savo-Karjala military province from the men in Pohjois-Savo (Northern Savonia) and Pohjois-Karjala (North Karelia) civil guard districts.

History

Map of Finnish operations in Karelia in 1941

As a component of the

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

, the 7th Division took part in the

Army of Karelia The Army of Karelia ( fi, Karjalan armeija) was a Finnish army during the Continuation War. The Army of Karelia was formed on 29 June 1941 soon after the start of the Continuation War. Organisation The army was organised in two corps and one se ...

's 1941 conquest of East Karelia. At the start of the war the 7th Division was the westernmost division of the VII Corps, the westernmost division of the

, intended to operate between Lake Ladoga and Lake Opega as part of the Finnish invasion of East Karelia. By July 1941 the division was commanded by Colonel

Antero Svensson Antero Johannes Svensson (30 November 1892 – 26 April 1946) was a Finnish major general, a member of the Jäger Movement and a recipient of the Mannerheim Cross. He participated in the Eastern Front (World War I), Eastern Front of World War I a ...

and had advanced to the Matkaselkä Railway and pushed the Soviets back towards Lake Ladoga. The 7th Division captured

Sortavala Sortavala (russian: Сортавала; Finnish and krl, Sortavala; sv, Sordavala); till 1918 Serdobol (russian: Сердоболь) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish bor ...

, a Russian town since 1917 but which had previously been part of Finland, on 8 August 1941 after a fierce battle. The division advanced between Ladoga and Opega, uniting with the 11th Division it attacked east of Kotkozero to capture Lumatjarvi crossroads on 13 September. Continuing to operated with the 11th Division the 7th Division helped to capture

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...

after penetrating Soviet lines to the south of the city. The 7th Division reached the Svir river by October. The tired division failed to cross the river on 6 October but succeeded the following day. During the 1944 Soviet advances the 7th Division participated in the defence of Loimola during the July

Battle of Nietjärvi The Battle of Nietjärvi (15–17 July 1944) was part of the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union, which occurred during World War II. The battle ended in a Finnish victory. Background: U-line prepares to meet a Soviet attack Nie ...

. By the 4th of September 1944, the division had been subordinated to the II Corps. During the Soviet Svir-Petrozavodsk Offensive of 1944, the division fought a delaying action from the river Svir first to

and eventually to the

region.

Organization

After forming the division consisted of the following sub-units: *Infantry Regiment 9 *Infantry Regiment 30 *Infantry Regiment 51 *Light Detachment 15 *Field Artillery Regiment 2 *Heavy Artillery Battalion 28 *Engineer Battalion 35 *Signals Battalion 26 7th Division was mostly equipped according to division generic organization, only some material quantities were lacking.

Commanders

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

(18 December 1941 promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

) 17 June 1941 – 1 August 1943 *

William Häkli William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Selim Isakson Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to: People *Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin *Salim (poet) (1800–1866) *Saleem (playwright) (fl. 1996) *Selim I, Selim II and Selim III, Ottoman Sultans * Selim people, an e ...

28 January 1944 – 15 November 1944

Losses

Based on the periodic reports made by units to Finnish General Headquarters the total losses suffered by the 7th Division in killed, wounded and missing during the Continuation War were 12,384 men, the second-highest losses suffered by the Finnish divisions during the war.Sotatieteen laitos:"Jatkosodan historia" osa 6 p. 494

References

Sources