70 years ago: Nov. 30, 1939 - Winter War

[Crossroads]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War

"The Winter War (Finnish: talvisota, Swedish: vinterkriget, Russian: Зимняя война) was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939, three months after the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union on 14 December 1939."

"The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939. The pact was nominally a non-aggression treaty but it included a secret protocol in which the Eastern European countries were divided into spheres of interest. Finland fell into the Soviet sphere of interest.

On 1 September 1939, Germany began its invasion of Poland and two days later Great Britain and France declared war against Germany. Shortly afterwards, the Soviets invaded eastern Poland.

The Baltic states were later forced to accept treaties allowing the Soviets to establish military bases and to station troops on their soil. The government of Estonia accepted the ultimatum, signing the corresponding agreement in September. Latvia and Lithuania followed in October. Unlike the Baltic states, Finland started a gradual mobilisation under the guise of "additional refresher training.""

"On 30 November, Soviet forces invaded Finland with 21 divisions, totaling some 450,000 men, and bombed Helsinki."


Total War immediately spread its ugly face to Northern Europe.


Bombing of Helsinki, Nov. 30, 1939 (actual footage). Having not located their naval targets, the priority two target Helsinki dockyards is to be bombed instead. Possibly because of the cloudy weather, the target area is completely missed and the centre of Helsinki is bombed instead. Again, because of the cloudy weather, the air raid alarm was signaled too late as the bombs were already falling from the sky.


The first civilian casualty of war, 7 year old Armi Metsaranta was waiting for the evacuation at Helsinki bus station when the first bombs exploded. A total of 91 civilians were killed and 240 were wounded on that grey winter day seventy years ago.


"At the beginning of the war, total victory over Finland was expected within a few weeks. [...] Soviet soldiers had even been warned not to cross the border into Sweden by mistake."

Battle of Raate road http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raate_road

Human life had little value as two Soviet divisions were decimated in brutal small-arm battles in the vast wilderness of Suomussalmi region.


Raate road. I picked this particular picture because of the look on the faces of these men. Seems they've seen and done unthinkable deeds and are not about to stop here.


Weather in November - December 1939 was relatively mild, but in January 1940 a very cold weather front settled over Finland. Unlike the myth of Winter War, this made battle conditions very difficult for Finns as well.


Patrol on skis

Winter War in media

"Winter War", the movie (YouTube -- Buy the DVD!).
http://bit.ly/4KMYm0


A platoon of reservists from Finland's rural bible belt leave their homes, to be deployed into the soon infamous Taipale river front.


Memorable quotes (iMDB):

Overchange to front lines ("Reel 6/19" in YouTube)
Paavo Hakala: "Is this a bad spot?"
Soldier that leaves the position: "Nothing but bad spots here, pal."

The battle for Taipale river, from Wikipedia:

"As the Soviets then charged onto the Finnish positions, they were met by withering fire. As hundreds of Soviets launched human wave attacks, well placed Finnish machine gun emplacements mowed down the Soviets, killing many, and sometimes, entire battalions were wiped out. Some waves of Soviet troops were able to get closer to Finnish lines by taking cover behind their own dead - the freezing temperatures would freeze a corpse solid. Hundreds of Soviet troops were killed per day, and in some cases, some Finnish machine gunners became mentally unstable from the carnage they were forced to create. Three Soviet divisions failed to breach Taipale."