Battle of Salla (1939)
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The Battle of Salla was fought between
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
and
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops near
Salla Salla (''Kuolajärvi'' until 1936) ( smn, Kyelijävri) is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The nearby settlement of ...
in northern Finland during the
Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
. The Soviets had orders to advance through Salla to
Kemijärvi Kemijärvi ( se, Giemajávri, smn, Kiemâjävri, sms, Ǩeeʹmmjäuʹrr) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. History The first permanent settler inhabitant of Kemijärvi was Paavali Ollinpoika H ...
and
Sodankylä Sodankylä (; sme, Soađegilli ; smn, Suáđigil; sms, Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 ( E63) and along Highway 4 ( E75). The Kitinen River flows nea ...
, and from there to
Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per ...
in just two weeks. From there they were to advance to
Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...
and cut Finland in two. The Finnish troops managed to stop the Soviet advance just east of Kemijärvi. During the last days of February 1940 the Finnish troops were replaced with the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish volunteers of the Stridsgruppen SFK.


Background


Opposing plans


Soviet preparations

By 1938 the Soviet Union had decided to conquer Finland. Relying in part on the information provided by Finnish
communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
, detailed intelligence on Finnish infrastructure had been prepared by the summer of 1939 in a 200-page book that was distributed to the invasion force. The Soviet 14th Army was tasked with invading Finland between
Kuhmo Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a town and a municipality in Finland and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...
and Salla and cutting the country in half by advancing to the shores of the
Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast (West ...
. As part of the 14th Army's offensive, the 122nd Rifle Division, having arrived from Poland on 8 November 1939, was supposed to capture Salla and Kemijärvi and advance to Rovaniemi within two weeks, from where it would continue to
Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...
near the Finnish border with
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The Soviets were only expecting light resistance and the troops were ordered not to cross the Swedish frontier. The Soviets began building a railroad from
Kandalaksha Kandalaksha (russian: Кандала́кша; fi, Kantalahti, also ''Kandalax'' or ''Candalax'' in the old maps; krl, Kannanlakši; sms, Käddluhtt) is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandal ...
to the Finnish border in 1939 using 100,000 prisoners as
slave labor Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. In the late 1930s, existing roads were improved and new ones built from the Murmansk Railway to the Finnish border, such as the road from Kandalaksha to Alakurtti.


Finnish preparations

The improvements in Soviet infrastructure and demographics near the border that made it possible to supply 40,000 troops in the region had little effect on Finnish operational planning in northern Finland. The Finnish general staff did not believe the Soviets would launch a major offensive from the
White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...
region to Finland. As a result, work on fortifying key road choke-points in northern Finland only began in the autumn of 1939. The forces in northern Finland were under the command of the staff of the
Lapland Group The Lapland Group (''Lapin Ryhmä'') was a formation of the Finnish Army during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. The group was formed on 13 December 1939 from troops of the North Finland Group. The group was placed under the ...
, which in turn was led by the
North Finland Group The North Finland Group ( fi, Pohjois-Suomen Ryhmä) was a formation of the Finnish Army (1939), Finnish Army during the Winter War. It was responsible for an almost 800-kilometer-long border from the town of Lieksa to the Arctic Ocean. The group wa ...
. The Finns had one detached battalion (''Er.P 17'') and one company (''Er.K Kojonen'') near Salla that were supposed to conduct an active defense by crossing the border, stopping the advance of the Soviet regiment that was expected in the area and harassing the Soviet lines of communications, thereby tying down Soviet forces. The Finnish general staff considered the force insufficient for even this mission, but could not spare any more troops from the more important
Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...
. As Finland undertook a general mobilization in October 1939, the troops had time to take stock of the situation and came to the conclusion that even limited offensive operations across the border were beyond their capabilities and afterwards only defensive and delaying operations were practiced in training. A Finnish intelligence estimate on 15 October placed one Soviet division in the Murmansk-Kandalaksha area. The Finns expected a larger Soviet force concentration in the future. On 30 November, the Soviets had four divisions in the area.


Military geography

Southern Lapland is 80% covered by forests or swamps. The geography is dominated by forest-covered fells that surround large swamps and lakes. In December 1939 the lakes and swamps were not yet sufficiently frozen over to support motor vehicle movement but this became irrelevant as the winter progressed and the temperature dropped to -40°, which also made military operations more difficult. Movement outside roads was thus impossible for large military formations. Only one road existed from the Soviet border to Salla. The road network was better developed west of it, with numerous small roads to support lateral movements and the encirclement of defending forces.


Order of battle


Finland

There were only a few Finnish troops in the area at the start of the war. The 17th Separate Battalion (''Er.P 17'') or the "Salla Battalion" was mobilized before the war. Its main components came from a company of the Frontier Guard. From 11 December 1939 onward the Finnish troops were part of the
Lapland Group The Lapland Group (''Lapin Ryhmä'') was a formation of the Finnish Army during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. The group was formed on 13 December 1939 from troops of the North Finland Group. The group was placed under the ...
(''Lapin Ryhmä'') which was commanded by
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 ...
Kurt Martti Wallenius Kurt Martti Wallenius (25 July 1893 in Kuopio – 3 May 1984 in Helsinki) was a Finnish Major General. Jäger Movement Wallenius was a member of the Finnish Jäger troops trained in Germany prior to Finnish independence. In 1915, Wallenius trav ...
. After 5 December infantry, artillery, mortar and anti-tank units were to reinforce the defenders. The total number of Finnish forces in the area was 3,500.


Soviet Union

The Soviets attacked with 122nd Rifle Division. The stalling of the offensive forced the Soviets to reinforce it in late December 1939 with the
88th Rifle Division The 88th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army, first as part of the prewar buildup of forces. In its first formation in the far north it had an unusual ''shtat'' (table of organization and equipment) probably to ...
.


The battle

Soviet troops pushed the Finns up to the
Kemijoki Kemijoki ( sv, Kemi älv, se, Giemajohka), with its length, is the longest river in Finland. It runs through Kemijärvi and Rovaniemi before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Kemi. Facta 2001, part 8, ''finnish'' At Rovaniemi the Ounasjoki r ...
river, but were unable to break through the Finnish defences on the river. The Soviet supply lines were now 145 kilometers long. The Finns took advantage of the overstretched Soviet position by launching attacks with ski troops on the Soviet lines of communications. One third of Soviet troops were occupied guarding them. On 13 January, the Soviet 9th Army ordered the 122nd Division to retreat to the Märkäjärvi village. For the next two months the battle was a stalemate, apart from small skirmishes and exchanges of artillery fire. On 13 March, the last day of the war, the Soviets initiated a major fire preparation with artillery, aircraft and infantry weapons as part of a planned renewal of offensive operations towards Rovaniemi. The Scandinavian volunteers suffered their most casualty-intensive day of the war, with 10 killed and 30 wounded. Overall, Finnish casualties were 1,100 men, including 650 dead or missing. Scandinavian volunteer casualties were 33 dead, 50 wounded and 130 frostbitten. Soviet losses are estimated at 4,000.


See also

*
List of Finnish military equipment of World War II {{short description, None This is a list of military equipment used by Finland during World War II. The main Finnish conflicts of the war are the Winter War and Continuation War. After the Continuation war the Lapland War occurred which was a small ...
*
List of Soviet Union military equipment of World War II The following is a list of Soviet military equipment of World War II which includes firearms, artillery, vehicles, aircraft and warships. World War II was the deadliest war in history which started in 1939 and ended in 1945. Following political ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* {{refend 1939 in Finland 1940 in Finland Salla 1939 Salla 1939 History of Lapland (Finland)