Lapland War
| Lapland War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |||||||||
 German Withdrawal From Finland 1944. |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Combatants | |||||||||
 Germany |
 Finland |
||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
 Lothar Rendulic |
Hjalmar Siilasvuo |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 200,000 | 60,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties | |||||||||
| 950 killed 2,000 wounded 1,300 captured |
774 killed 3,000 wounded 262 missing |
||||||||
| Finland 1939-1945 |
|---|
| Winter War – Continuation War – Lapland War |
| Lapland War |
|---|
| Suursaari Island – Tornio – Rovaniemi |
The Lapland War is a name used for the hostilities between Finland and Germany between September 1944 and April 1945. It carries its name since it was fought in the northernmost province of Finland, Lapland.
Prelude
Since June 1941 Germany and Finland had been at war with the Soviet Union, co-operating closely in the war effort. As early as
the summer of 1943, the German high command began making plans for the eventuality that Finland
might make a separate peace agreement with the Soviet
Union. The Germans planned to withdraw their forces northward in order to shield the nickel mines near
Progress of operations
While German ground troops withdrew northward, the German navy mined the seaward approaches to Finland and with
Operation Tanne Ost attempted to seize Suursaari
Island in the Gulf of Finland. The sailors on Finnish ships in German-held ports
(including Norway) were arrested, and at the
The Finns were thus placed in a situation similar to that of the Italians and of the Romanians, who, after surrendering to the Allies, had to fight to free their lands of German forces. The Finns' task was complicated by the Soviet demand that the major part of Finnish armed forces must be demobilized at the same time, even during the campaign against the Germans.
General Hjalmar Siilasvuo, the victor of Suomussalmi, led the Finns against the Germans under General Lothar Rendulic. Striking first at Kemi-Tornio and in October and November 1944, Siilasvuo drove the Germans out of most of northern Finland. Hard battles were fought at Tankavaara and Kaunispää where the Germans made a stand to cover their retreat towards Norway.
Most of the civilian population of Lapland, totalling 168,000 persons, was evacuated to Sweden and Southern Finland prior to start of the hostilities with the exception of the inhabitants of Tornio area. The evacuation was carried out as a cooperative effort of German and Finnish authorities.[1] However, they conducted severe scorched earth warfare, burning most buildings in the province. The town of Rovaniemi was destroyed completely, all important bridges demolished and the roads extensively mined. On the other hand, hundreds of women who had been engaged with German soldiers, left with the German troops, meeting diverse fates.[2][3][4]
Consequences
In their retreat the German forces under General Lothar Rendulic devastated large areas of northern Finland using scorched earth tactics. More than one-third of the dwellings in the area were destroyed, and the provincial capital of Rovaniemi was burned to the ground. All but two bridges in Lapland were blown up and many roads were mined. In addition to the property losses, estimated as equivalent to about US $300 million (in 1945 dollars, which is equivalent to $3.15 billion in 2005 dollars), about 100,000 inhabitants became refugees, a situation that added to the problems of postwar reconstruction. (After the war the Allies convicted Rendulic of war crimes, and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.)
The last German troops were expelled in April 1945. By that time only 600 Finnish troops, mostly fresh recruits, were left facing them due to the Soviet demand for demobilisation of the Finnish army. Because of this, the latter half of the Lapland War is known in Finland as the Children's Crusade.
Military casualties of the conflict were relatively limited: 774 KIA, 262 MIA and about 3,000 WIA for the Finnish troops, and 950 KIA and about 2,000 WIA for the Germans. 1,300 German soldiers became POWs, and were handed over to the Soviet Union, according to the terms of the armistice with the Soviets.[5]
Roundel change
The Finnish Air Force fought the Lapland war with two national symbols. The pre-war
insignia was changed to the current roundel on April 1, 1945. The
last war sorties were flown during April 1945. The original roundel featured a traditional
swastika, which was not rotated as the Nazis tended to do.
The current version incorporates the same colors in a more traditional three circle division.
Footnotes
- ^ Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE: Evacuation of Lapland Retrieved 22-2-2007. Real Audio Clip. (Finnish)
- ^ Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE: Naiset saksalaisten matkassa WWW-page and linked Real Audio clip. Retrieved 22-2-2007 (Finnish)
- ^ Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE: Paluu miinavaaraan. WWW-page and linked Real Audio clip. Retrieved 22-2-2007 (Finnish)
- ^ Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE: Jälleenrakennus WWW-page and linked Real Audio clip. Retrieved 22-2-2007 (Finnish)
- ^ Lapland War Retrieved 2-22-2007
See also
External links
- Pictures from Wars during Finland´s independence:The War of Lapland (maps, photos from front, songs and radio speeches)be-x-old:Ляпляндзкая вайна
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