What was 'Lapland War' ?

[Crossroads]

Work in progress...

It is my intention to create a modification for adding the Lapland War to JTCS. This requires an addition of Allied Finland into EF OOB.

A very brief history of Finland in World War II, with terminology used in Finland to separate the wars:

- Winter War: Nov 1939 - March 1940. Neutral vs Soviet Union
- Continuation War: June 1941 - Sept 1944. As a co-belligerent with Nazi-Germany vs Soviet Union
- Lapland War: Sept 1944 - April 1945. As a co-belligerent with the Allies vs Nazi-Germany

I will first do some minor tweaks to std Finnish EF OOB (country code 05), then copy it as a new country into EF OOB. Possibly taking over the slot reserved for Belgium (country code 10). Sorry, Belgium!

I will also add a couple of Axis Finland scenarios with new units, and a couple of Lapland War scenarios as well.

First thing to do is to create a work plan and to document it here for all interested parties to view and comment!

Volunteers welcome! :smoke:

The end result will be a parallel installation to standard EF installation, for those interested.

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Lapland War

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

The Lapland War (Finnish: Lapin sota) were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the Second World War.

General Hjalmar Siilasvuo led the Finns against the Germans, who were commanded by General Lothar Rendulic. Strength: Germans: 200 000 - 215 000 men, Finland: 60 000 then up to 75 000 men, with only some 12 000 men during the last months of war.



While German ground troops were reorganised for withdrawal to the north, the German navy mined the seaward approaches to Finland and attempted to seize the island of Gogland in Operation Tanne Ost.



The Soviets demanded that all German troops be internated or expelled from Finland. The Finns, located in the southern half of Finland, were thus placed in a situation of having to fight to free all their northern lands of German forces while withdrawing towards their new border with Soviet Union in the southeast.

The task was further complicated by the Soviet demand that the major part of Finnish armed forces be demobilized at the same time, even while conducting a military campaign against the Germans.



A peculiarity of the war was indeed the fact that the Finnish army was forced to demobilise their forces while at the same time fighting to force the German army to leave Finland. The resulting use of a conscript army against battle hardened Germans earned the war its' nick name 'Children's Crusade'.

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[Crossroads]

Further reading to those interested:

Ziemke, Earl F.: The German Northern Theater of Operations 1940-1945. (1959)
Available online for free, - note that there are two parts. A must have!
http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm/compoundobje...729/rec/88

Gebhardt, James F.: The Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation: Soviet Breakthrough and Pursuit in the Arctic, October 1944. (1989)
Also available online for free
http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm/singleitem/c.../331/rec/1.

[Crossroads]

Another map on Lapland sector and a few pictures, from http://rajajoki.com/lapland.htm

Map: The war in Lapland, showing also the Soviet thrust into Finland after armistice of Septemeber 2.

"German observation post at the Sturmbock-Stellung, north of Lätäseno. "

German pictures from Lapland 1941-1944 can be viewed here: http://personal.inet.fi/koti/pekka.jaati...ller1.html

Including this, which I believe is a picture of men building the defensive system of Schutzstellung Rovaniemi, near Ylimaa, (** Delaying Action At Ylimaa)

And here's a rare colour picture by LIFE magazine:

"View of a Finnish infantry batallion as it begins the encircling maneuvers against Germans positions in Lapland, Finland, October 1944."