LugerForum Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Krieghoff Parabellum in Finland

Panu · 08-11-2004, 06:40 AM

Hi Gang,

I'm very sorry for delay in my reply, it's been bit hecktic at work, and I also had some of my summer holiday days in between here :I.

Thank you very much John of the very detailled story for my question

. I must say I'm very impressed of your knowledge on Finnish WW2 wars

!

Finland didn't have no allies after Winter War, even the offers from Britain for assistance were part of British politics to get access to nickel mines and secure them from Soviets and Germans. Only open choise was Germany who was willing to sell Finns the wepons it needs - badly. Some volunteers came from Britain to fight the Soviet invasion during Winter War, and many volunteer soldiers came from Sweden too to assist in FAF with their own planes, and infantry with their own weapons. Many Finns also took their personally owned small arms with them to battle (if they had any), expecially the Civil Guard memebers. There was huge need for all kinds of weapons (cannons, small arms, planes, practically no tanks, etc.), especially pistols were in short supply. That is why some men had even small 6,35 cal pocket pistols in battle with them - if they owned any. All Soviet pistols/weapons were immediately taken into action by the Finns against their former owners. Calibers I have seen ranges from 6,35 up to .45 ACP, biggest handgun in size are probably those broom handle Mausers. I've seen one Colt Government 1911A1 (nickel plated, ivory grips (Tsaar's order- too long a story to tell))
with Russian markings on it. Some Thompson SMGs were also captured from Soviets in 1941.

The last shipment of Me Bf-109 G6 & 2's from Germany were drawn straight into fierce battles when they came from Germany. Actually the situation was so desparate after the Soviets lauched their massive attack against Finnish lines in 1944, and Soviets had so huge superiorioty in number of planes they had in use, that no FAF markings were painted to some of the Messerschmitts due to lack of time to do so. This is why some Finnish pilots flew with Luftwaffe markings on their fighters through the hardest battle periods in 1944. German flight attachment KÃ?Â¼hlmey took part into the heaviest battles also during 1944 in South-Eastern part of front lines.

I will take those pictures of this Krieghoff piece when I get a change to do so, and I'll post them for you all to see.

Due to being a small nation, we Finns had to use what ever was available for battle during WW2. This shows very well in the number of calibers and weapon types soldiers had in use. This shows out in all weapons used: pistols, rifles, cannons etc. Lots of captured weapons were used also, most of which came from Soviets (war booty).
This is why you see so much different kinds of weapons still around in Finland, even though lot of wepons have been destroyd by the Finnish Army too and sold abroad, like to USA, especially in 1950's and 1960's (InterArms deals).
Here's a pretty good link to Finnish war histories of WW2 battles for those of you who want to know more:

http://hkkk.fi/~yrjola/war/war.html

or shorter story:

http://hkkk.fi/~yrjola/war/finland/summary.html

Rgrds,

Panu

08-11-2004, 06:40 AM	#6
Panu New User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: FINLAND Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hi Gang, I'm very sorry for delay in my reply, it's been bit hecktic at work, and I also had some of my summer holiday days in between here :I. Thank you very much John of the very detailled story for my question . I must say I'm very impressed of your knowledge on Finnish WW2 wars ! Finland didn't have no allies after Winter War, even the offers from Britain for assistance were part of British politics to get access to nickel mines and secure them from Soviets and Germans. Only open choise was Germany who was willing to sell Finns the wepons it needs - badly. Some volunteers came from Britain to fight the Soviet invasion during Winter War, and many volunteer soldiers came from Sweden too to assist in FAF with their own planes, and infantry with their own weapons. Many Finns also took their personally owned small arms with them to battle (if they had any), expecially the Civil Guard memebers. There was huge need for all kinds of weapons (cannons, small arms, planes, practically no tanks, etc.), especially pistols were in short supply. That is why some men had even small 6,35 cal pocket pistols in battle with them - if they owned any. All Soviet pistols/weapons were immediately taken into action by the Finns against their former owners. Calibers I have seen ranges from 6,35 up to .45 ACP, biggest handgun in size are probably those broom handle Mausers. I've seen one Colt Government 1911A1 (nickel plated, ivory grips (Tsaar's order- too long a story to tell)) with Russian markings on it. Some Thompson SMGs were also captured from Soviets in 1941. The last shipment of Me Bf-109 G6 & 2's from Germany were drawn straight into fierce battles when they came from Germany. Actually the situation was so desparate after the Soviets lauched their massive attack against Finnish lines in 1944, and Soviets had so huge superiorioty in number of planes they had in use, that no FAF markings were painted to some of the Messerschmitts due to lack of time to do so. This is why some Finnish pilots flew with Luftwaffe markings on their fighters through the hardest battle periods in 1944. German flight attachment KÃ?Â¼hlmey took part into the heaviest battles also during 1944 in South-Eastern part of front lines. I will take those pictures of this Krieghoff piece when I get a change to do so, and I'll post them for you all to see. Due to being a small nation, we Finns had to use what ever was available for battle during WW2. This shows very well in the number of calibers and weapon types soldiers had in use. This shows out in all weapons used: pistols, rifles, cannons etc. Lots of captured weapons were used also, most of which came from Soviets (war booty). This is why you see so much different kinds of weapons still around in Finland, even though lot of wepons have been destroyd by the Finnish Army too and sold abroad, like to USA, especially in 1950's and 1960's (InterArms deals). Here's a pretty good link to Finnish war histories of WW2 battles for those of you who want to know more: http://hkkk.fi/~yrjola/war/war.html or shorter story: http://hkkk.fi/~yrjola/war/finland/summary.html Rgrds, Panu