Military Hans Högman
Copyright © Hans Högman 2021-01-18

The Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland - 1

The Finnish Winter War - WWII

The Winter War (Swe: Vinterkriget) was a war between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland. It began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 12 March 1940 with a cease-fire at 11:00 on 13 March. Finland ceded about 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union, foremost the Karelia Isthmus. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact gave the Soviets full freedom of action in the Baltic Region and Finland. In October 1939 the Soviets made several demands, including that Finland cedes substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons—primarily the protection of Leningrad, 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. When Finland refused, the USSR invaded. Early morning on 30 November 1939 the Soviet artillery opened fire into Finland followed by Soviet infantry crossing the Finnish border on the Karelia Isthmus. The Soviet forces were superior; both in the number of soldiers and armament. At this point, Finland’s armed forces consisted of 200,000 men, 32 tanks, and 119 aircraft. However, the Finns knew the terrain better, were better adapted to war in Arctic conditions and their units were able to operate more independently. When the Soviet Union attacked Finland on 30 November Sweden mobilized on December 2 an Army division of 100,000 men to protect its north-eastern border to Finland. On December 5 the Swedish Navy began laying mines in the Åland Sea between Sweden and Finland, east of Stockholm, to keep Soviet submarines away from the Gulf of Bothnia. When World War II broke out, Sweden like many other European countries declared themselves as neutral states, among these states were also Norway, Denmark, and Finland. When the Winter War broke out Sweden changed its declaration to a non-belligerent state. Thereby Sweden was able to help and support Finland during the war without actively participating in the war. Being non-belligerent, the Swedish government allowed the recruiting volunteers in Sweden. The association Finland Committee (Swe: Finlandskommittén) organized the enlistment of volunteers in Sweden under the motto “Finland’s Cause is Ours!” (Swe: Finlands sak är vår!). In total, besides the military equipment supplied to the Volunteer Corps, the Swedish government handed over to Finland 131,000 rifles, 42 million cartridges, 450 machine guns, 132 field artillery guns, 100 anti-aircraft guns, 85 anti-tank guns (including 256,000 grenades), and 8 military aircraft.

Sweden and Finland

Until 1809, Finland constituted the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden. In the Swedish-Russo War 1808 - 1809, the Russian Empire conquered Finland and converted it into an autonomous buffer state. The resulting Grand Duchy of Finland enjoyed wide autonomy within the Empire until the end of the 19th century when Russia began attempts to assimilate Finland as part of a general policy to strengthen the central government and unify the Empire through russification.

Swedish Volunteer Corps (SVC)

The Swedish Volunteers Corps (Swe: Svenska Frivilligkåren, SFK) organized the Swedish citizens who signed up as volunteers to fight in Finland with the Finns in the Winter War 1939 - 1940, a war between Finland and the USSR. The relations between Finland and the Soviets had been very tense for some time and even before the Soviet attack on Finland on 30 November, there had been plans for a Swedish volunteer force. On the day of the Soviet attack, volunteer recruiting stations opened up at several places in Sweden for the enlistment of volunteers. At first, the Volunteers Corps wasn’t allowed to advertise but that changed soon. The Finland Committee in Sweden was the main body for the organization of the Swedish Volunteer Corps. In the evening of the day the Soviets attack on Finland, Swedish Lieutenant Colonel C. A. Ehrensvärd began the work of founding an organization for a Swedish volunteer force. The Finland Committee was constituted on 4 December 1939 in Stockholm. On 12 December, the Finland Committee received all the necessary permits from the Swedish government to purchase needed military equipment and arms from the Swedish Armed Forces. Further, the Swedish draftees needed a leave of absence from their units during WWII to go to Finland. Also, the regular officers needed to be granted a leave of absence. These requests were accepted by the government too. Actually, the officers had to resign with the right to re-enter their positions when they returned from Finland. The Finland Committee posted their first advertisement for enlistments of volunteers on December 13. On December 15 they published posters with the motto “Finland’s Cause is Ours!”. Also, fund-raising schemes were initiated which turnout was very large. The image to the right shows one of the posters used by the Finland Committee. “Finlands sak är vår” means “Finland’s Cause is Ours!" and “Kom med i Frivilligkåren” means “Join the Volunteer Corps”. The skier to the left is wearing the Finnish flag on his chest and the skier to the right, the Swedish flag. Image: Army Museum. The fund-raising for the Cause of Finland gave about 100 million Swedish Crowns which was a very large amount then. These funds weren’t only financing the Volunteer Corps. A large amount was also put to the disposal of the government of Finland. After only one month 125 volunteer recruiting stations had been established in most parts of Sweden. These recruiting stations signed up the volunteers. After medical check-ups, vaccinations, and other formalities were done each volunteer received food coupons and a train ticket to the city of Haparanda in northern Sweden, a Swedish-Finnish border town. The first contingent of volunteers left Stockholm Central Station for Haparanda on 21 December 1939. The image to the left shows a volunteer recruiting office in Stockholm. Image: Finland, landet som kämpade. Runeberg. Once in Haparanda (Sweden) and Torneå (Finland) the military organization of the Volunteer Corps took over the volunteers. When the volunteers reported for duty in Torneå they had to sign a contract with the government of Finland for war service and it was now the volunteers received their uniforms and personal military kit and arms. This equipment and arms came from Swedish military depots purchased by the Finland. Committee. January 1940 was used for military training and field exercises of the volunteers. This was done near the city of Kemi in Finland, east of Haparanda. The Commander of the Swedish Volunteer Corps, General Linder, arrived in Torneå on 7 January 1940 together with his Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Ehrensvärd. The Swedish Volunteer Corps was directly subordinated to the Supreme Commander of the Finnish Armed Forces, Field Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim. The image to the left shows a group of Swedish volunteers boarding a train on their way to the front. Image: Finland, landet som kämpade. Runeberg. The Swedish Volunteer Corps consisted of a Headquarters with a headquarters company, Signal Company, and three battlegroups (strengthened battalions) supported by artillery and antitank units. Each battlegroup consisted of a company headquarters, a snowplow platoon, three infantry rifle companies, a ranger company, a heavy company, a military baggage unit, a 7 cm artillery battery, and an army service unit. In total, each battlegroup numbered about 1,600 men. There were also anti-aircraft units, army engineers, and different supply units. The image to the right shows a ski-patrol with the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland in white ski- wear. The white ski-wear worked as camouflage in the snowy terrain. This snow-camouflage made the ski troops almost invisible. Image: Wikipedia. The Corps also consisted of an independent ranger company, two motorized antitank platoons, an army engineer company, an anti-aircraft company, two motorized army service companies, a guard company, two medical platoons, etc. The Corps also included an Air Wing with 12 fighter aircraft and 4 light bombers. Arms and military equipment were mainly purchased from the Swedish Army. The cost of having the Swedish Volunteer Corps fully operational was covered by the fund-raising with the Swedish population and the Swedish Industry. The retired Swedish General Ernst Linder (1868 - 1943) was appointed Commander of the Corps. General Linder had been a volunteer in Finland during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. Linder was a Major General in the Swedish Army and of Finland-Swedish origin. In total, 12.705 men applied to enroll with the Swedish Volunteer Corps (727 of these were Norwegians). Out of all the applicant volunteers, 8,260 Swedes were admitted and enrolled with the Corps. However, there were about 9,500 Swedish volunteers in Finland during the Winter War of which 8,260 served with the Swedish Volunteer Corps. The enrolled Norwegian volunteers foremost served in separate groups with the SVC but under the command of Swedish officers since the Norwegian government did not allow Norwegian officers to leave Norway due to a shortage of officers in their army. No other foreigners than Norwegians were admitted into the Swedish Volunteer Corps. About 1,000 Danes wished to enroll as volunteers with the SVC like many from other countries. However, they had to serve in Finnish volunteers units further south in Finland since they were regarded as unable to fight in Arctic conditions. For example, they lacked the necessary skill in cross-country skiing and weren’t used to the very cold temperatures and deep snow that existed in the region the Corps was to operate in. Depots for all the military equipment were organized in Torneå and Kemi and it was here the volunteers were dressed in uniform and armed. The different units of the Corps were initially quartered in Kemi and Karihaara. A military basic training of the men now began. The military training and fitness exercises, foremost skiing and field marches, continued throughout January. The Swedish Volunteers Corps arrived at the end of February 1940 in the so-called Salla front sector. Not all of the Swedish volunteers served with the SVC. About 200 served with the artillery in Vasa, a full hundred with the Åbo air defense, and another hundred with the coastal defense in Pellinge. Circa 200 physicians and nurses had positions at military and civilian hospitals. The Swedish Red Cross had two ambulance units and operated two base hospitals and field hospitals and the Blue Star operated an ambulance for horses with veterinaries. The image to the left shows two Swedish soldiers in Finland during the Winter War wearing white ski- wear carrying antitank guns on their backs. Image: Wikipedia. The image to the right shows Swedish volunteers on their way to the front on the back of a truck. Note their white fur coats which were needed in the Arctic climate. Image: Finland, landet som kämpade. Runeberg. Finland was finally forced to end the war. The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed in Moscow on 12 March 1940. A cease-fire took effect the next day, 13 March, at 11:00 Helsinki time. The Swedish Volunteer Corps remained on the alert until the end of March. The disarmament of the Corps began on 1 April and was completed about three weeks later. Of all the members of the Swedish Volunteer Corps, 38 men were killed, about 50 wounded in action and over 130 were frostbitten. On 26 March 1940 the Finnish Supreme Commander, Field Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim (1867 - 1951), officially thanked the members of the Swedish Volunteer Corps in a ceremony at Paikanselkä, just north of the former front-line. More about the Swedish Volunteer Corps - Operations and Organization

An Arctic Region

The Swedish Volunteer Corps (SVC) was inserted in the Finnish part of Lapland, in order words, North Finland. The territory the SVC was to fight in was on the Arctic Circle with extremely cold temperatures in winter, down to -45 C (-49 F), and with up to 1.5 m of snow. The climate was a challenge to both men and equipment during the Winter War. This region is a vast wilderness, sparsely populated and mostly road-less with hilly forestland and open mires. The map to the right shows both northern Sweden and northern Finland. The Arctic Circle is marked on the map. The Finnish town Salla is located to the extreme right on the map, just north of the Arctic Circle. The Salla front sector was about 30 km (20 mi.) west of Salla. The Soviet borderline is just east of Salla. The sea seen south of Haparanda is the Gulf of Bothnia.

Related Links

Swedish Volunteer Corps - the organization Swedish Volunteer Corps - battles Swedish Volunteer Corps - fallen soldiers Swedish Volunteer Air Wing - aircraft The uniform of the Swedish Volunteer Corps Sweden’s military preparedness 1939 - 1945 Swedish military war units 1939 - 1945 Signals Intelligence - Crypto Department 1939 - 1945 Swedish military intelligence Swedish regiments The organization of the Swedish armed forces in the 20th century - conscription Norwegian and Danish police-troops established in Sweden during WWII Uniforms of the Swedish Army - the 1900s History of the Swedish Air Force

Source References

Svenska flygare i strid. Frivilligflottiljen F 19 i finska vinterkriget 1939-1940. Mikael Forslund. Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Biblioteks Förlag, 2010. För Finlands frihet - Svenska frivilligkåren 1939-1940. Nicolas von Schmidt-Laussitz & Klaus Jürgen von Schmidt-Laussitz. 2008. F19 - En krönika. Den svenska flygflottiljen i Finland under vinterkriget 1939 - 1940. Greger Falk. 1988. G. Falk var flottiljadjutant vid flygflottiljen F19 under vinterkriget. F19, Frivilliga flygande för Finlands sak och politiken bakom. Jessica Eriksson, 2008. C-uppsats, Historia Luleå tekniska universitet. Svenska frivilligkåren – En återblick, Svensk Tidskrift, M. Silfverstolpe. Finland, landet som kämpade: den första sammanfattande skildringen i ord och bild av det finska kriget 1939-1940. Stockholm: Saxon & Lindström. 1940. Runeberg. I österled : en bokfilm om Svenska frivilligkåren. Red.: Örnulf Tigerstedt. Stockholm. 1940. Runeberg. Wikipedia Flygvapenmuseum Armémuseum Top of Page

The Soviets drops bombs over Sweden

Sweden and Swedish interests were also submitted to acts of war during WWII. The Soviet bombing in Norrbotten, North Sweden, in 1940 was most likely an attempt to discourage Sweden from becoming more involved in Finland during the Winter War. Already at the outbreak of the Winter War on 30 November 1939 the Soviet Union, via diplomatic channels, warned Sweden that statements of sympathy and relief actions for Finland might lead to unwanted complications”. An early, and a very obvious warning was the Soviet submarine SC-311:s firing on the Swedish steamer Fenris on 5 January 1940, in the Gulf of Bothnia, just south of Umeå at Sydostbrotten.

Aerial Bombing on the City of Luleå on 14 January 1940

The Swedish Volunteer Air Wing F 19 carried out their first mission in Finland on 12 January 1940 when they attacked Soviet troops and an airbase at Märkäjärvi. During the air raid, two Swedish bombers, two Hawker Hart, collided while avoiding Soviet anti-aircraft firing, and the two pilots’, Sterner and Jung, managed to bail out behind the Soviet lines. However, they were later captured and taken prisoners of war. Thereby it became obvious to the Soviets that Sweden had flying combat units in Finland. The Soviet retaliation came two days later. On 14 January, three Soviet bombers, in a snowstorm, dropped bombs over the city of Luleå. However, due to Swedish anti-aircraft firing, the Soviet aircraft came out of course dropped their bombs on the island Kallax, just outside Luleå. There were material damages but no people were injured. The Soviet bombers might have failed in their navigation and ended up in Sweden by mistake in the bad weather, but the air route chosen indicates that the target was a new Swedish air force airbase under construction in Kallax. The construction began in 1939 and the airbase was opened in 1940. During the Soviet bombers’ return flight they got into trouble due to fuel shortage and had to make an emergency landing in Finland. The crew was taken as prisoners of war and the aircraft were ceded by the Finns. The map to the right shows northern Sweden with both Luleå and Pajala (encircled in red).

Air Raid on Pajala town on 21 February 1940

On 21 February 1940, seven Soviet bombers dropped about 150 bombs over Pajala, Norrbotten, North Sweden. Six buildings were destroyed but no casualties; two people were lightly injured. The bombing raid began at 12:40 (noon) and in total 48 high-explosive bombs and about 100 incendiary bombs were dropped, setting many buildings afire. However, most of the bombs fell on the outskirts of the small town which indicates that the Soviets misjudged their altitude and the wind force. The Soviet bombers had earlier been observed in Kengis, closer to the Finnish border, so the people of Pajala were warned about the approaching bombers and were able to seek refuge outdoors or in basements, etc. After the air raid, the people of Pajala began putting out the fires caused by the bombs, to their best ability. There was no fire- brigade in Pajala in 1940. Several bombs fell near the town church. The church survived besides broken windows, smashed by the shock waves. The Soviet bomber aircraft was probably the twin-engined Tupolev SB-2 and Iljushin DB-3. The image to the right shows the homestead of Sven Westerberg in Pajala burning down after being hit by a Soviet incendiary bomb. Image: Wikipedia. Later on the same day, over Rovaniemi, a pair of Swedish fighter aircraft with the F 19 Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland made eye- contact with a group av Soviet bombers consisting of three SB-2 and seven DB-3 from Soviet 5. OSAP. The two Swedish fighters, Gloster Gladiators, with pilots’ Carl-Olof Steninger respectively Arne Frykholm immediately charged the Soviet bombers. Together they shot down an SB bomber. Steninger also damaged one of the DB-3 bombers. Further, the two Swedish fighters winged another DB-3 that forced landed near Sikakoski in Finland. The DB-3 bombers normally carried o crew of four, however, this one only had three. The three Soviet members of the crew tried to escape on skis but were captured by Finnish ground troops. The Russian air gunner was killed when he tried to escape. It turned out that this bomber was one of the bombers that dropped bombs over Pajala in Sweden earlier that day. The image to the left shows the Soviet bomber aircraft Tupolev ANT-40/TB-SB. This one is a Soviet bomber that was captured by the Finns after it made an emergency landing in Finland during the war. Image: Wikipedia. Sweden made a formal but vigorous diplomatic protest to the Soviet Union on the same day. At first, the Soviets denied that they had dropped bombs over Pajala. “A malicious fabrication” they called it. However, on 6 March they acknowledged that a group of Soviet bombers had got lost during an air raid in Finland. This was the only bombing over Sweden the Soviet government acknowledged during WWII. Soviet officers later inspected the damages done to Pajala and the Soviet government paid 40,000 SEK in damages.

Soviet Submarines

During 1942 the Swedish Navy fought an unofficial, but very real war with Soviet submarines in the Baltic Sea, submarines that had been attacking and destroying Swedish merchant ships. A few hundred Nazi Germans and an unknown number of Soviet soldiers and seamen were killed during these anti-submarine activities carried out by the Swedish Navy. Further, on 13 occasions Sweden was being bombed by air raids.

Air Raids on Stockholm and Strängnäs in 1944

During the evening and night on 22 - 23 February 1944 East Central Sweden was being bombed by the Soviets. Several places in and near Stockholm were hit. Two other cities in the vicinity of Stockholm was also bombed, Strängnäs and Södertälje. There were no casualties, but two people were injured in Stockholm. Around nine o’clock in the evening on 22 February 1944, four bombs were dropped over the Eriksdalslunden Park in Södermalm district, downtown Stockholm. In the park was a new outdoor theater that was destroyed by the bombs. Bombs were also dropped over several inhabited islands in the Stockholm archipelago. The air defense warning service identified six formations of enemy aircraft of at least one aircraft per formation. Sweden had no radar warning systems in 1944. The first formation of bombers headed for Strängnäs and arrived about 14 minutes before the third formation which attacked Stockholm. Only three formations flew in over the Swedish mainland. Strängnäs is a city west of Stockholm and the location of the Södermanland Armored Tank Regiment. The Soviet bombers dropped their cargo of bombs over and near the garrison. Thousands of windows were broken in the barracks but there were also other material damages. To soldiers were injured by shell splinters. The image to the right shows trees in the Eriksdal Park, Stockholm, damaged by the bombing on 22 February 1944. Photo: Lennart af Petersens (1913-2004). Stockholms stadsmuseum, Image-ID: SSMF034063. The incident brought about a formal diplomatic protest by Sweden in Moscow, the following day. The Soviet standpoint was clear. Moscow declared that not a single Soviet plane flew over Stockholm or over Swedish territory in general. Shrapnel with Cyrillic letters found in Stockholm and Strängnäs didn’t originate from Soviet bombs, according to Moscow. The traditional Moscow manner of explaining away almost anything, still very familiar today.

Brittish Aircraft Drops Bombs over Sweden

Even British bombers made navigational errors during air missions. Early morning on 3 October 1940 a British bomber, an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, dropped three bombs over Malmö City, Skåne, South Sweden. The explosions didn’t cause only minor damages to a few nearby houses. London denied having dropped the bombs. However, convincing evidence forced the British to acknowledge the dropped bombs. The air raid was supposed to be intended on the city of Stettin in Nazi Germany. At 21:10 on 18 November 1943, a British bomber dropped explosive bombs and a few incendiary bombs over the city of Lund, Skåne. Two bombs destroyed an electric transformer station. The aircraft thereafter turned south and flew over Ystad city where it was fired at by Swedish anti-aircraft batteries. It was regarded to be a British bomber on its way home to England from a mission in Germany when it dropped its remaining bombs. The aircraft was an Avro Lancaster which at this time was used for night bombing over Berlin. On 4 April 1945, a British aircraft attacked a Swedish train by mistake in Bohuslän on the Swedish west coast. The real target was a train in occupied Norway.
Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland during the Winter War. The image shows the 2. battery’s second piece firing shells over the Soviet lines, 7.5 cm gun. Image: Miliseum, ID: MILIF.003907. DigitaltMuseum. Swedish soldiers with the Volunteer Corps with a destroyed T-26 Soviet tank on the Kemijärvi-Märkäjärvi road during the Winter War. Image: Wikipedia.

Other Swedish Volunteer Units in Finland during the Winter War

Besides the Swedish Volunteer Corps, there were other Swedish military units in Finland during the Winter War. The Swedish Artillery had a volunteer unit in Finland. The volunteer artillery force had a base in the city of Vasa in Österbotten with Swedish artillery volunteers. The artillery unit consisted of 30 officers and 200 artillerymen. During the Winter War, the City of Åbo purchased nine 7.5 cm m/1930 anti-aircraft guns from Sweden. Further, about 40 volunteer seamen from the Swedish Navy served with a Finnish anti-aircraft battery located on an island outside the city.

The Continuation War 1941 - 1944

The Continuation War (Swe: Fortsättningskriget) was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany, against the Soviet Union (USSR) between 25 June 1941 and 19 September 1944, during World War II. Germany regarded its operations in the region as part of its overall war efforts on the Eastern Front and provided Finland with critical material support and military assistance, including economic aid. There have been numerous reasons proposed for the Finnish decision to invade the USSR, with regaining territory lost during the Winter War being regarded as the most common including the desire to retake Karelia. However, after the war, Finland was required to return to the borders agreed to in the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty and demobilize its armed forces. The Finnish Army implemented a ceasefire at 8:00 a.m. Helsinki time on 4 September 1944; the Red Army followed suit a day later. The Peace Treaty was signed in Moscow on September 19, 1944. After the Winter War, Finland was in a state of emergency. Sooner or later they had to choose between Nazi Germany or the USSR. Germany planned an assault on the USSR and needed Finnish territory in the attack, especially Finnish Lapland. The Germans began negotiations with the Finns at the end of 1940. The Finns saw this as an opportunity to retake lost territories. German troops arrived in Finland at the beginning of 1941 and eventually numbered 200,000 soldiers. In May 1941 the Finnish parliament decided to join the Germans in the invasion on the USSR. The attack of USSR, Operation Barbarossa, was launched on 22 June 1941.

Less Swedish Volunteers in the Continuation War - Swedish Volunteer Battalion

The Continuation War didn’t attract as many Swedish volunteers as the Winter War. The Finnish collaboration with Nazi Germany was one reason. Further, the Winter War was a Finnish defensive war while the Continuation War was offensive. However, about 2.800 Swedish volunteers signed up and about 800 of these served in the so-called Swedish Volunteer Battalion (Swe: Svenska frivilligbattaljonen) on the Hangö front during the summer and fall of 1941. The Swedish battalion participated in the liberation of Hangö on 4 December 1941. The Swedish unit lost 26 men and about 80 wounded. After the liberation of Hangö, the battalion was phased out and the volunteers returned to Sweden.

Swedish Volunteers in the Svir Company

At the beginning of 1942 yet another Swedish volunteer force was organized, the so-called Svir Company (Swe: Svirkompaniet). The unit was deployed to the Svir front between Lake Ladoga and Onega. The Swedes fought here in a positional war for two years. Thereafter they participated in the dreadful preventive war on the Karelia Isthmus during the summer of 1944. When the company was disestablished in Åbo on 16 September 1944, the company counted 35 dead Swedish soldiers. Further, a few hundred Swedes also fought in the two Finland Swedish regiments (Finnish regiments with Swedish speaking Finns).
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Swedish F 19 Air Force Wing in Finland

The Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland or F 19 Finland was a Swedish volunteer flying unit forming an air wing in 1940 in Finland during the Winter War. At the outbreak of the Winter War, the Finnish Air Force was small with only 114 combat planes fit for duty and were mainly used to repel Soviet bombers. To reinforce the Finnish Air Force the Swedish government on 8 December 1939 handed over 8 fighter aircraft to Finland; three Swedish Jaktfalk J 6, three reconnaissance aircraft Fokker CV-E S 6, and two Bristol Bulldog J 7. These aircraft were inserted into the Finnish Air Force who now concentrated their air defense in southern Finland. To help Finland, the Swedish Air Staff began preparations to raise a volunteer flying unit with a fighter aircraft group and a bomber group to be used in North Finland with the Swedish Volunteer Corps. On 14 December 1939, the Swedish government gave the green light to a Swedish volunteer flying unit. Commander of the Volunteer Air Force Wing was Major Hugo Beckhammar, who already in December 1939 recruited 240 volunteer airmen (ground crew and pilots), who at the end of December went to Kemi in North Finland to prepare an airbase in Veitsiluoto. On 30 December, the government ruled that combat planes were to be put to the disposal of the volunteer air wing; four bombers B 4 Hawker Hart, and twelve fighter aircraft J 8 Gloster Gladiator. At this point, at the beginning of WWII, these twelve fighter aircraft represented a third of the Swedish fleet of fighter aircraft. However, the Swedish Air Force had an order of a large number of modern fighter aircraft coming, so it was possible to give these older biplane Gloster Gladiators to Finland. The Swedish Volunteer Air Wing fought in Finland with the Finnish national markings on the planes. The air wing’s mission was to pursue reconnaissance and attacks on Soviet airbases and ground troops. The image to the left shows No 873 Second Lieutenant Ian Iacobi (1916 - 2008), a fighter pilot with F 19, the Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland during the Winter War 1940. On his shoulder straps is his air force pilot wings visible. Photo: Karl Johan Åke Sundström. Image: Flygvapenmuseum, ID: FVMF.004280. DigitaltMuseum. On 12 January 1940 Second Lieutenant Ian Iacobi became the first Swedish pilot with the F 19 Air Wing to shot down an enemy aircraft in aerial combat, a Russian Polikarpov I-15. The F 19 Air Wing was organized with a Wing Headquarters, a fighter group, a light bomber group, an air transportation group, and an airbase company, in total 250 men and two women. On 8 January the Swedish Air Wing reached an agreement with the Finnish authorities to adopt the name "19. Air Force Wing (F 19)" while the Finns would use the name "Flight Regiment 5", in Finnish: Lento R 5” for the Swedish air wing. On 10 January the Swedish aircraft arrived from Sweden and two days later the flying unit relieved a hard-pressed Finnish army group that held a position at Joutsijärvi despite repeatedly intense Russian attacks. During January five advanced airbases were constructed closer to the front-line. Preparations were also initiated to transfer a Swedish bomber group with the heavy bomber aircraft B 3 (Junkers Ju 86) to F 19 but the war was ended before these aircraft arrived. When the armistice took effect on 13 March 1940, the F 19 had been carrying out flight missions for 62 days, which resulted in twelve destroyed Soviet aircraft but also the loss of 6 own aircraft, and three killed Swedish pilots. Nine Gloster Gladiators J 8 and two Hawker Hart B 4 returned to Sweden at the end of March 1940 where they resumed service. The image to the right shows No 858 Sergeant Thure Hansson, air gunner with the Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland during the Winter War, 1940. On his shoulder straps is his air force aircrew wings visible, two wings. On his collar is the insignia of the Swedish Volunteer Corps attached, four hands (see left image). Photo: Karl Johan Åke Sundström. Image: Flygvapenmuseum, ID: FVMF.004290. DigitaltMuseum. The Swedish term for Air Wing is “Flygflottilj” (literal meaning is Air Flotilla or Flight Flotilla) and the unit designation for the Swedish Air Wings is “F” followed by each unit’s serial number, for example, F 19. The airmen of the F 19 Air Wing in Finland wore, besides their flying-suits, the same uniform as the ground troops with the Swedish Volunteer Corps, the Swedish Army uniform m/1939 (see below). The majority of the Swedish fighter pilots were recruited from the Svea Air Wing F8 (Svea flygflottilj F 8) in Barkaby, Stockholm, while the bombers came from Jämtland Air Wing F 4 (Jämtlands flygflottilj F 4) in Frösön, Östersund. More about the Swedish F 19 Air Wing - Flight Missions and Aircraft.

The Uniform of the Swedish Volunteer Corps

The soldiers of the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland were equipped with the Swedish Army’s battle dress uniform m/1939. However, some modifications were made; the Swedish buttons were removed and replaced with the Finnish type of buttons with the Finnish Lion imprinted instead of the Swedish Three Crowns. The Corps insignia of the Swedish Volunteer Corps was worn on the collars. The different unit’s insignias of the Corps were worn on the shoulder straps. The headgears were equipped with the Finnish military nationality insignia. The rank insignias were worn at the bottom of the sleeves according to Finnish traditions. Officers wore Finnish rank insignias consisting of golden marks of roses while NCOs wore silver roses and other ranks silver stripes. The image to the right shows coat m/1939 which was used by the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland. On each shoulder strap of this particular coat is a round brass plate showing an imprinted crossbow which was the unit insignia for the First Battle Group. The collar holds the insignia of the Volunteer Corps; four hands holding each other. At the bottom of each sleeve is the rank insignia; 2 golden roses which are the rank of Lieutenant. The coats buttons are made of metal with the Finnish Lion imprinted. Image: Armémuseum, ID: AM.020073. DigitaltMuseum. This particular coat was worn by a Swedish officer in the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland during the Winter War, Lieutenant Melcher Wase Bo Gustaf Wernstedt, b. 1909. Wernstedt was enlisted with the Volunteer Corps on 26 December 1939 and was assigned to the First Battle Group under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Magnus Dyrssen. The image to the right shows the skiing cap. Below the blue and white nationality insignia is a button with the Finnish Lion. Image: Armémuseum, ID: AM.104313. DigitaltMuseum. The Swedish uniform m/1939 was when it was distributed to the Swedish Volunteer Corps, a brand new uniform model. Then, the uniform wasn’t yet distributed to the Swedish Army. See also the Uniform of the Swedish Volunteer Corps.

Summary

To support Finland, the Swedish government handed over a lot of military arms to the Finnish armed forces. Besides the arms to the Swedish Volunteer Corps, Finland received from Swedish Army depots among others; 131,000 rifles with 42 million cartridges, 132 artillery field guns, 100 anti-aircraft guns, 85 anti-tank guns with 256,000 grenades, and 8 combat aircraft. Finland needed to take delivery of large quantities of military equipment during the Winter War and at the same time be able to export Finnish produce, for example, paper and paper pulp. In the Baltic Sea, Soviet submarines lurked. Transportation of goods on the railroad line between Finland and Sweden via Torneå in Finland and Haparanda in Sweden couldn’t swallow the large quantities needed. The Gulf of Bothnia was frozen, so an ice-road between Vasa in Finland and Umeå in Sweden was prepared across the sea at the so-called “Kvarken”, where Swedish and Finnish trucks in cold weather and total darkness during nights (to avoid Soviet bombers) transported very large quantities of freight to and from Finland. This ice-road was a lifeline for Finland and the Finns called it the “Milky Way” (Swe: Vintergatan). All volunteers in the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland during the Winter War have been conferred a distinction, a plaque. See the image to the right. The front of the plaque has the Finnish Lion imprinted and the text "FÖR NORDENS FRIHET OCH SVERIGES ÄRA" (For the Freedom of the Nordic and the Honor of Sweden). The back of the plaque holds the text "SVENSKA FRIVILLIGKÅREN KRIGSTJÄNST I FINLAND 1940" In Service with the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland 1940). Image: Armémuseum, ID: AM.019223.

Cold Winters during the War

There were three extremely cold winters in Northern Europe during WWII; they were the winters of 1939/1940, 1940/1941, and 1941/1942. The winter of 1939/1940 was very cold in the entire of Sweden with deep snow. This winter was the fourth or fifth coldest winter ever in the 20th century. However, in Vilhelmina, North Sweden, the thermometer dropped down to −53 °C (-63 F) on 13 December 1941. North Finland had the same very cold winter in 1939/1940. As we can see in the photos above, the soldiers are well wrapped-up.

Refugee Children from Finland

During the Winter War of 1939 – 1940 and the Continuation War 1941 – 1944 about 70,000 Finnish children were sent to the other Scandinavian countries, foremost to Sweden. About 10,000 of these children were adopted by their Swedish families. The image to the right shows Finnish refugee children being taken care of by Swedish Red Cross nurses in Uppsala, Sweden, in May 1942. Image: Upplandsmuseet, ID: PS10592. DigitaltMuseum.

Peace Treaty

On 7 March 1940 Finnish Prime Minister Ryti arrived in Moscow with a negotiation team. The Finns had to accept the Soviet terms and among other territories cede the Karelia Isthmus. The Peace Treaty was signed on 12 March 1940 with a cease-fire at 11:00 on 13 March. (Helsinki time). Finland ceded about 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union.
Military Hans Högman
Copyright © Hans Högman 2021-01-19

The Swedish Volunteer

Corps in Finland - 1

The Finnish Winter War - WWII

The Winter War (Swe: Vinterkriget) was a war between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland. It began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 12 March 1940 with a cease-fire at 11:00 on 13 March. Finland ceded about 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union, foremost the Karelia Isthmus. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact gave the Soviets full freedom of action in the Baltic Region and Finland. In October 1939 the Soviets made several demands, including that Finland cedes substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons—primarily the protection of Leningrad, 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. When Finland refused, the USSR invaded. Early morning on 30 November 1939 the Soviet artillery opened fire into Finland followed by Soviet infantry crossing the Finnish border on the Karelia Isthmus. The Soviet forces were superior; both in the number of soldiers and armament. At this point, Finland’s armed forces consisted of 200,000 men, 32 tanks, and 119 aircraft. However, the Finns knew the terrain better, were better adapted to war in Arctic conditions and their units were able to operate more independently. When the Soviet Union attacked Finland on 30 November Sweden mobilized on December 2 an Army division of 100,000 men to protect its north- eastern border to Finland. On December 5 the Swedish Navy began laying mines in the Åland Sea between Sweden and Finland, east of Stockholm, to keep Soviet submarines away from the Gulf of Bothnia. When World War II broke out, Sweden like many other European countries declared themselves as neutral states, among these states were also Norway, Denmark, and Finland. When the Winter War broke out Sweden changed its declaration to a non- belligerent state. Thereby Sweden was able to help and support Finland during the war without actively participating in the war. Being non-belligerent, the Swedish government allowed the recruiting volunteers in Sweden. The association Finland Committee (Swe: Finlandskommittén) organized the enlistment of volunteers in Sweden under the motto “Finland’s Cause is Ours!” (Swe: Finlands sak är vår!). In total, besides the military equipment supplied to the Volunteer Corps, the Swedish government handed over to Finland 131,000 rifles, 42 million cartridges, 450 machine guns, 132 field artillery guns, 100 anti-aircraft guns, 85 anti-tank guns (including 256,000 grenades), and 8 military aircraft.

Sweden and Finland

Until 1809, Finland constituted the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden. In the Swedish-Russo War 1808 - 1809, the Russian Empire conquered Finland and converted it into an autonomous buffer state. The resulting Grand Duchy of Finland enjoyed wide autonomy within the Empire until the end of the 19th century when Russia began attempts to assimilate Finland as part of a general policy to strengthen the central government and unify the Empire through russification.

Swedish Volunteer Corps (SVC)

The Swedish Volunteers Corps (Swe: Svenska Frivilligkåren, SFK) organized the Swedish citizens who signed up as volunteers to fight in Finland with the Finns in the Winter War 1939 - 1940, a war between Finland and the USSR. The relations between Finland and the Soviets had been very tense for some time and even before the Soviet attack on Finland on 30 November, there had been plans for a Swedish volunteer force. On the day of the Soviet attack, volunteer recruiting stations opened up at several places in Sweden for the enlistment of volunteers. At first, the Volunteers Corps wasn’t allowed to advertise but that changed soon. The Finland Committee in Sweden was the main body for the organization of the Swedish Volunteer Corps. In the evening of the day the Soviets attack on Finland, Swedish Lieutenant Colonel C. A. Ehrensvärd began the work of founding an organization for a Swedish volunteer force. The Finland Committee was constituted on 4 December 1939 in Stockholm. On 12 December, the Finland Committee received all the necessary permits from the Swedish government to purchase needed military equipment and arms from the Swedish Armed Forces. Further, the Swedish draftees needed a leave of absence from their units during WWII to go to Finland. Also, the regular officers needed to be granted a leave of absence. These requests were accepted by the government too. Actually, the officers had to resign with the right to re-enter their positions when they returned from Finland. The Finland Committee posted their first advertisement for enlistments of volunteers on December 13. On December 15 they published posters with the motto “Finland’s Cause is Ours!”. Also, fund-raising schemes were initiated which turnout was very large. The image to the right shows one of the posters used by the Finland Committee. “Finlands sak är vår” means “Finland’s Cause is Ours!" and “Kom med i Frivilligkåren” means “Join the Volunteer Corps”. The skier to the left is wearing the Finnish flag on his chest and the skier to the right, the Swedish flag. Image: Army Museum. The fund-raising for the Cause of Finland gave about 100 million Swedish Crowns which was a very large amount then. These funds weren’t only financing the Volunteer Corps. A large amount was also put to the disposal of the government of Finland. After only one month 125 volunteer recruiting stations had been established in most parts of Sweden. These recruiting stations signed up the volunteers. After medical check-ups, vaccinations, and other formalities were done each volunteer received food coupons and a train ticket to the city of Haparanda in northern Sweden, a Swedish-Finnish border town. The first contingent of volunteers left Stockholm Central Station for Haparanda on 21 December 1939. The image to the left shows a volunteer recruiting office in Stockholm. Image: Finland, landet som kämpade. Runeberg. Once in Haparanda (Sweden) and Torneå (Finland) the military organization of the Volunteer Corps took over the volunteers. When the volunteers reported for duty in Torneå they had to sign a contract with the government of Finland for war service and it was now the volunteers received their uniforms and personal military kit and arms. This equipment and arms came from Swedish military depots purchased by the Finland. Committee. January 1940 was used for military training and field exercises of the volunteers. This was done near the city of Kemi in Finland, east of Haparanda. The Commander of the Swedish Volunteer Corps, General Linder, arrived in Torneå on 7 January 1940 together with his Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Ehrensvärd. The Swedish Volunteer Corps was directly subordinated to the Supreme Commander of the Finnish Armed Forces, Field Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim. The image to the left shows a group of Swedish volunteers boarding a train on their way to the front. Image: Finland, landet som kämpade. Runeberg. The Swedish Volunteer Corps consisted of a Headquarters with a headquarters company, Signal Company, and three battlegroups (strengthened battalions) supported by artillery and antitank units. Each battlegroup consisted of a company headquarters, a snowplow platoon, three infantry rifle companies, a ranger company, a heavy company, a military baggage unit, a 7 cm artillery battery, and an army service unit. In total, each battlegroup numbered about 1,600 men. There were also anti-aircraft units, army engineers, and different supply units. The image to the right shows a ski-patrol with the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland in white ski-wear. The white ski- wear worked as camouflage in the snowy terrain. This snow-camouflage made the ski troops almost invisible. Image: Wikipedia. The Corps also consisted of an independent ranger company, two motorized antitank platoons, an army engineer company, an anti-aircraft company, two motorized army service companies, a guard company, two medical platoons, etc. The Corps also included an Air Wing with 12 fighter aircraft and 4 light bombers. Arms and military equipment were mainly purchased from the Swedish Army. The cost of having the Swedish Volunteer Corps fully operational was covered by the fund-raising with the Swedish population and the Swedish Industry. The retired Swedish General Ernst Linder (1868 - 1943) was appointed Commander of the Corps. General Linder had been a volunteer in Finland during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. Linder was a Major General in the Swedish Army and of Finland- Swedish origin. In total, 12.705 men applied to enroll with the Swedish Volunteer Corps (727 of these were Norwegians). Out of all the applicant volunteers, 8,260 Swedes were admitted and enrolled with the Corps. However, there were about 9,500 Swedish volunteers in Finland during the Winter War of which 8,260 served with the Swedish Volunteer Corps. The enrolled Norwegian volunteers foremost served in separate groups with the SVC but under the command of Swedish officers since the Norwegian government did not allow Norwegian officers to leave Norway due to a shortage of officers in their army. No other foreigners than Norwegians were admitted into the Swedish Volunteer Corps. About 1,000 Danes wished to enroll as volunteers with the SVC like many from other countries. However, they had to serve in Finnish volunteers units further south in Finland since they were regarded as unable to fight in Arctic conditions. For example, they lacked the necessary skill in cross-country skiing and weren’t used to the very cold temperatures and deep snow that existed in the region the Corps was to operate in. Depots for all the military equipment were organized in Torneå and Kemi and it was here the volunteers were dressed in uniform and armed. The different units of the Corps were initially quartered in Kemi and Karihaara. A military basic training of the men now began. The military training and fitness exercises, foremost skiing and field marches, continued throughout January. The Swedish Volunteers Corps arrived at the end of February 1940 in the so-called Salla front sector. Not all of the Swedish volunteers served with the SVC. About 200 served with the artillery in Vasa, a full hundred with the Åbo air defense, and another hundred with the coastal defense in Pellinge. Circa 200 physicians and nurses had positions at military and civilian hospitals. The Swedish Red Cross had two ambulance units and operated two base hospitals and field hospitals and the Blue Star operated an ambulance for horses with veterinaries. The image to the left shows two Swedish soldiers in Finland during the Winter War wearing white ski- wear carrying antitank guns on their backs. Image: Wikipedia. The image to the right shows Swedish volunteers on their way to the front on the back of a truck. Note their white fur coats which were needed in the Arctic climate. Image: Finland, landet som kämpade. Runeberg. Finland was finally forced to end the war. The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed in Moscow on 12 March 1940. A cease-fire took effect the next day, 13 March, at 11:00 Helsinki time. The Swedish Volunteer Corps remained on the alert until the end of March. The disarmament of the Corps began on 1 April and was completed about three weeks later. Of all the members of the Swedish Volunteer Corps, 38 men were killed, about 50 wounded in action and over 130 were frostbitten. On 26 March 1940 the Finnish Supreme Commander, Field Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim (1867 - 1951), officially thanked the members of the Swedish Volunteer Corps in a ceremony at Paikanselkä, just north of the former front-line. More about the Swedish Volunteer Corps - Operations and Organization

An Arctic Region

The Swedish Volunteer Corps (SVC) was inserted in the Finnish part of Lapland, in order words, North Finland. The territory the SVC was to fight in was on the Arctic Circle with extremely cold temperatures in winter, down to -45 C (-49 F), and with up to 1.5 m of snow. The climate was a challenge to both men and equipment during the Winter War. This region is a vast wilderness, sparsely populated and mostly road- less with hilly forestland and open mires. The map to the right shows both northern Sweden and northern Finland. The Arctic Circle is marked on the map. The Finnish town Salla is located to the extreme right on the map, just north of the Arctic Circle. The Salla front sector was about 30 km (20 mi.) west of Salla. The Soviet borderline is just east of Salla. The sea seen south of Haparanda is the Gulf of Bothnia.

Related Links

Swedish Volunteer Corps - the organization Swedish Volunteer Corps - battles Swedish Volunteer Corps - fallen soldiers Swedish Volunteer Air Wing - aircraft The uniform of the Swedish Volunteer Corps Sweden’s military preparedness 1939 - 1945 Swedish military war units 1939 - 1945 Signals Intelligence - Crypto Department 1939 - 1945 Swedish military intelligence Swedish regiments The organization of the Swedish armed forces in the 20th century - conscription Norwegian and Danish police-troops established in Sweden during WWII Uniforms of the Swedish Army - the 1900s History of the Swedish Air Force

Source References

Svenska flygare i strid. Frivilligflottiljen F 19 i finska vinterkriget 1939-1940. Mikael Forslund. Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Biblioteks Förlag, 2010. För Finlands frihet - Svenska frivilligkåren 1939- 1940. Nicolas von Schmidt-Laussitz & Klaus Jürgen von Schmidt-Laussitz. 2008. F19 - En krönika. Den svenska flygflottiljen i Finland under vinterkriget 1939 - 1940. Greger Falk. 1988. G. Falk var flottiljadjutant vid flygflottiljen F19 under vinterkriget. F19, Frivilliga flygande för Finlands sak och politiken bakom. Jessica Eriksson, 2008. C- uppsats, Historia Luleå tekniska universitet. Svenska frivilligkåren – En återblick, Svensk Tidskrift, M. Silfverstolpe. Finland, landet som kämpade: den första sammanfattande skildringen i ord och bild av det finska kriget 1939-1940. Stockholm: Saxon & Lindström. 1940. Runeberg. I österled : en bokfilm om Svenska frivilligkåren. Red.: Örnulf Tigerstedt. Stockholm. 1940. Runeberg. Wikipedia Flygvapenmuseum Armémuseum Top of Page

The Soviets drops bombs over

Sweden

Sweden and Swedish interests were also submitted to acts of war during WWII. The Soviet bombing in Norrbotten, North Sweden, in 1940 was most likely an attempt to discourage Sweden from becoming more involved in Finland during the Winter War. Already at the outbreak of the Winter War on 30 November 1939 the Soviet Union, via diplomatic channels, warned Sweden that “statements of sympathy and relief actions for Finland might lead to unwanted complications”. An early, and a very obvious warning was the Soviet submarine SC-311:s firing on the Swedish steamer Fenris on 5 January 1940, in the Gulf of Bothnia, just south of Umeå at Sydostbrotten.

Aerial Bombing on the City of Luleå on 14

January 1940

The Swedish Volunteer Air Wing F 19 carried out their first mission in Finland on 12 January 1940 when they attacked Soviet troops and an airbase at Märkäjärvi. During the air raid, two Swedish bombers, two Hawker Hart, collided while avoiding Soviet anti-aircraft firing, and the two pilots’, Sterner and Jung, managed to bail out behind the Soviet lines. However, they were later captured and taken prisoners of war. Thereby it became obvious to the Soviets that Sweden had flying combat units in Finland. The Soviet retaliation came two days later. On 14 January, three Soviet bombers, in a snowstorm, dropped bombs over the city of Luleå. However, due to Swedish anti-aircraft firing, the Soviet aircraft came out of course dropped their bombs on the island Kallax, just outside Luleå. There were material damages but no people were injured. The Soviet bombers might have failed in their navigation and ended up in Sweden by mistake in the bad weather, but the air route chosen indicates that the target was a new Swedish air force airbase under construction in Kallax. The construction began in 1939 and the airbase was opened in 1940. During the Soviet bombers’ return flight they got into trouble due to fuel shortage and had to make an emergency landing in Finland. The crew was taken as prisoners of war and the aircraft were ceded by the Finns. The map to the right shows northern Sweden with both Luleå and Pajala (encircled in red).

Air Raid on Pajala town on 21 February 1940

On 21 February 1940, seven Soviet bombers dropped about 150 bombs over Pajala, Norrbotten, North Sweden. Six buildings were destroyed but no casualties; two people were lightly injured. The bombing raid began at 12:40 (noon) and in total 48 high-explosive bombs and about 100 incendiary bombs were dropped, setting many buildings afire. However, most of the bombs fell on the outskirts of the small town which indicates that the Soviets misjudged their altitude and the wind force. The Soviet bombers had earlier been observed in Kengis, closer to the Finnish border, so the people of Pajala were warned about the approaching bombers and were able to seek refuge outdoors or in basements, etc. After the air raid, the people of Pajala began putting out the fires caused by the bombs, to their best ability. There was no fire-brigade in Pajala in 1940. Several bombs fell near the town church. The church survived besides broken windows, smashed by the shock waves. The Soviet bomber aircraft was probably the twin-engined Tupolev SB-2 and Iljushin DB-3. The image to the right shows the homestead of Sven Westerberg in Pajala burning down after being hit by a Soviet incendiary bomb. Image: Wikipedia. Later on the same day, over Rovaniemi, a pair of Swedish fighter aircraft with the F 19 Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland made eye-contact with a group av Soviet bombers consisting of three SB-2 and seven DB-3 from Soviet 5. OSAP. The two Swedish fighters, Gloster Gladiators, with pilots’ Carl-Olof Steninger respectively Arne Frykholm immediately charged the Soviet bombers. Together they shot down an SB bomber. Steninger also damaged one of the DB-3 bombers. Further, the two Swedish fighters winged another DB-3 that forced landed near Sikakoski in Finland. The DB-3 bombers normally carried o crew of four, however, this one only had three. The three Soviet members of the crew tried to escape on skis but were captured by Finnish ground troops. The Russian air gunner was killed when he tried to escape. It turned out that this bomber was one of the bombers that dropped bombs over Pajala in Sweden earlier that day. The image to the left shows the Soviet bomber aircraft Tupolev ANT-40/TB- SB. This one is a Soviet bomber that was captured by the Finns after it made an emergency landing in Finland during the war. Image: Wikipedia. Sweden made a formal but vigorous diplomatic protest to the Soviet Union on the same day. At first, the Soviets denied that they had dropped bombs over Pajala. “A malicious fabrication” they called it. However, on 6 March they acknowledged that a group of Soviet bombers had got lost during an air raid in Finland. This was the only bombing over Sweden the Soviet government acknowledged during WWII. Soviet officers later inspected the damages done to Pajala and the Soviet government paid 40,000 SEK in damages.

Soviet Submarines

During 1942 the Swedish Navy fought an unofficial, but very real war with Soviet submarines in the Baltic Sea, submarines that had been attacking and destroying Swedish merchant ships. A few hundred Nazi Germans and an unknown number of Soviet soldiers and seamen were killed during these anti- submarine activities carried out by the Swedish Navy. Further, on 13 occasions Sweden was being bombed by air raids.

Air Raids on Stockholm and Strängnäs in

1944

During the evening and night on 22 - 23 February 1944 East Central Sweden was being bombed by the Soviets. Several places in and near Stockholm were hit. Two other cities in the vicinity of Stockholm was also bombed, Strängnäs and Södertälje. There were no casualties, but two people were injured in Stockholm. Around nine o’clock in the evening on 22 February 1944, four bombs were dropped over the Eriksdalslunden Park in Södermalm district, downtown Stockholm. In the park was a new outdoor theater that was destroyed by the bombs. Bombs were also dropped over several inhabited islands in the Stockholm archipelago. The air defense warning service identified six formations of enemy aircraft of at least one aircraft per formation. Sweden had no radar warning systems in 1944. The first formation of bombers headed for Strängnäs and arrived about 14 minutes before the third formation which attacked Stockholm. Only three formations flew in over the Swedish mainland. Strängnäs is a city west of Stockholm and the location of the Södermanland Armored Tank Regiment. The Soviet bombers dropped their cargo of bombs over and near the garrison. Thousands of windows were broken in the barracks but there were also other material damages. To soldiers were injured by shell splinters. The image to the right shows trees in the Eriksdal Park, Stockholm, damaged by the bombing on 22 February 1944. Photo: Lennart af Petersens (1913- 2004). Stockholms stadsmuseum, Image-ID: SSMF034063. The incident brought about a formal diplomatic protest by Sweden in Moscow, the following day. The Soviet standpoint was clear. Moscow declared that not a single Soviet plane flew over Stockholm or over Swedish territory in general. Shrapnel with Cyrillic letters found in Stockholm and Strängnäs didn’t originate from Soviet bombs, according to Moscow. The traditional Moscow manner of explaining away almost anything, still very familiar today.

Brittish Aircraft Drops Bombs over Sweden

Even British bombers made navigational errors during air missions. Early morning on 3 October 1940 a British bomber, an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, dropped three bombs over Malmö City, Skåne, South Sweden. The explosions didn’t cause only minor damages to a few nearby houses. London denied having dropped the bombs. However, convincing evidence forced the British to acknowledge the dropped bombs. The air raid was supposed to be intended on the city of Stettin in Nazi Germany. At 21:10 on 18 November 1943, a British bomber dropped explosive bombs and a few incendiary bombs over the city of Lund, Skåne. Two bombs destroyed an electric transformer station. The aircraft thereafter turned south and flew over Ystad city where it was fired at by Swedish anti-aircraft batteries. It was regarded to be a British bomber on its way home to England from a mission in Germany when it dropped its remaining bombs. The aircraft was an Avro Lancaster which at this time was used for night bombing over Berlin. On 4 April 1945, a British aircraft attacked a Swedish train by mistake in Bohuslän on the Swedish west coast. The real target was a train in occupied Norway.
Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland during the Winter War. The image shows the 2. battery’s second piece firing shells over the Soviet lines, 7.5 cm gun. Image: Miliseum, ID: MILIF.003907. DigitaltMuseum. Swedish soldiers with the Volunteer Corps with a destroyed T-26 Soviet tank on the Kemijärvi-Märkäjärvi road during the Winter War. Image: Wikipedia.

Other Swedish Volunteer Units in

Finland during the Winter War

Besides the Swedish Volunteer Corps, there were other Swedish military units in Finland during the Winter War. The Swedish Artillery had a volunteer unit in Finland. The volunteer artillery force had a base in the city of Vasa in Österbotten with Swedish artillery volunteers. The artillery unit consisted of 30 officers and 200 artillerymen. During the Winter War, the City of Åbo purchased nine 7.5 cm m/1930 anti-aircraft guns from Sweden. Further, about 40 volunteer seamen from the Swedish Navy served with a Finnish anti-aircraft battery located on an island outside the city.

The Continuation War 1941 - 1944

The Continuation War (Swe: Fortsättningskriget) was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany, against the Soviet Union (USSR) between 25 June 1941 and 19 September 1944, during World War II. Germany regarded its operations in the region as part of its overall war efforts on the Eastern Front and provided Finland with critical material support and military assistance, including economic aid. There have been numerous reasons proposed for the Finnish decision to invade the USSR, with regaining territory lost during the Winter War being regarded as the most common including the desire to retake Karelia. However, after the war, Finland was required to return to the borders agreed to in the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty and demobilize its armed forces. The Finnish Army implemented a ceasefire at 8:00 a.m. Helsinki time on 4 September 1944; the Red Army followed suit a day later. The Peace Treaty was signed in Moscow on September 19, 1944. After the Winter War, Finland was in a state of emergency. Sooner or later they had to choose between Nazi Germany or the USSR. Germany planned an assault on the USSR and needed Finnish territory in the attack, especially Finnish Lapland. The Germans began negotiations with the Finns at the end of 1940. The Finns saw this as an opportunity to retake lost territories. German troops arrived in Finland at the beginning of 1941 and eventually numbered 200,000 soldiers. In May 1941 the Finnish parliament decided to join the Germans in the invasion on the USSR. The attack of USSR, Operation Barbarossa, was launched on 22 June 1941.

Less Swedish Volunteers in the Continuation

War - Swedish Volunteer Battalion

The Continuation War didn’t attract as many Swedish volunteers as the Winter War. The Finnish collaboration with Nazi Germany was one reason. Further, the Winter War was a Finnish defensive war while the Continuation War was offensive. However, about 2.800 Swedish volunteers signed up and about 800 of these served in the so-called Swedish Volunteer Battalion (Swe: Svenska frivilligbattaljonen) on the Hangö front during the summer and fall of 1941. The Swedish battalion participated in the liberation of Hangö on 4 December 1941. The Swedish unit lost 26 men and about 80 wounded. After the liberation of Hangö, the battalion was phased out and the volunteers returned to Sweden.

Swedish Volunteers in the Svir Company

At the beginning of 1942 yet another Swedish volunteer force was organized, the so-called Svir Company (Swe: Svirkompaniet). The unit was deployed to the Svir front between Lake Ladoga and Onega. The Swedes fought here in a positional war for two years. Thereafter they participated in the dreadful preventive war on the Karelia Isthmus during the summer of 1944. When the company was disestablished in Åbo on 16 September 1944, the company counted 35 dead Swedish soldiers. Further, a few hundred Swedes also fought in the two Finland Swedish regiments (Finnish regiments with Swedish speaking Finns).

Swedish F 19 Air Force Wing in

Finland

The Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland or F 19 Finland was a Swedish volunteer flying unit forming an air wing in 1940 in Finland during the Winter War. At the outbreak of the Winter War, the Finnish Air Force was small with only 114 combat planes fit for duty and were mainly used to repel Soviet bombers. To reinforce the Finnish Air Force the Swedish government on 8 December 1939 handed over 8 fighter aircraft to Finland; three Swedish Jaktfalk J 6, three reconnaissance aircraft Fokker CV-E S 6, and two Bristol Bulldog J 7. These aircraft were inserted into the Finnish Air Force who now concentrated their air defense in southern Finland. To help Finland, the Swedish Air Staff began preparations to raise a volunteer flying unit with a fighter aircraft group and a bomber group to be used in North Finland with the Swedish Volunteer Corps. On 14 December 1939, the Swedish government gave the green light to a Swedish volunteer flying unit. Commander of the Volunteer Air Force Wing was Major Hugo Beckhammar, who already in December 1939 recruited 240 volunteer airmen (ground crew and pilots), who at the end of December went to Kemi in North Finland to prepare an airbase in Veitsiluoto. On 30 December, the government ruled that combat planes were to be put to the disposal of the volunteer air wing; four bombers B 4 Hawker Hart, and twelve fighter aircraft J 8 Gloster Gladiator. At this point, at the beginning of WWII, these twelve fighter aircraft represented a third of the Swedish fleet of fighter aircraft. However, the Swedish Air Force had an order of a large number of modern fighter aircraft coming, so it was possible to give these older biplane Gloster Gladiators to Finland. The Swedish Volunteer Air Wing fought in Finland with the Finnish national markings on the planes. The air wing’s mission was to pursue reconnaissance and attacks on Soviet airbases and ground troops. The image to the left shows No 873 Second Lieutenant Ian Iacobi (1916 - 2008), a fighter pilot with F 19, the Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland during the Winter War 1940. On his shoulder straps is his air force pilot wings visible. Photo: Karl Johan Åke Sundström. Image: Flygvapenmuseum, ID: FVMF.004280. DigitaltMuseum. On 12 January 1940 Second Lieutenant Ian Iacobi became the first Swedish pilot with the F 19 Air Wing to shot down an enemy aircraft in aerial combat, a Russian Polikarpov I-15. The F 19 Air Wing was organized with a Wing Headquarters, a fighter group, a light bomber group, an air transportation group, and an airbase company, in total 250 men and two women. On 8 January the Swedish Air Wing reached an agreement with the Finnish authorities to adopt the name "19. Air Force Wing (F 19)" while the Finns would use the name "Flight Regiment 5", in Finnish: Lento R 5” for the Swedish air wing. On 10 January the Swedish aircraft arrived from Sweden and two days later the flying unit relieved a hard-pressed Finnish army group that held a position at Joutsijärvi despite repeatedly intense Russian attacks. During January five advanced airbases were constructed closer to the front-line. Preparations were also initiated to transfer a Swedish bomber group with the heavy bomber aircraft B 3 (Junkers Ju 86) to F 19 but the war was ended before these aircraft arrived. When the armistice took effect on 13 March 1940, the F 19 had been carrying out flight missions for 62 days, which resulted in twelve destroyed Soviet aircraft but also the loss of 6 own aircraft, and three killed Swedish pilots. Nine Gloster Gladiators J 8 and two Hawker Hart B 4 returned to Sweden at the end of March 1940 where they resumed service. The image to the right shows No 858 Sergeant Thure Hansson, air gunner with the Swedish Volunteer Air Wing in Finland during the Winter War, 1940. On his shoulder straps is his air force aircrew wings visible, two wings. On his collar is the insignia of the Swedish Volunteer Corps attached, four hands (see left image). Photo: Karl Johan Åke Sundström. Image: Flygvapenmuseum, ID: FVMF.004290. DigitaltMuseum. The Swedish term for Air Wing is “Flygflottilj” (literal meaning is Air Flotilla or Flight Flotilla) and the unit designation for the Swedish Air Wings is “F” followed by each unit’s serial number, for example, F 19. The airmen of the F 19 Air Wing in Finland wore, besides their flying-suits, the same uniform as the ground troops with the Swedish Volunteer Corps, the Swedish Army uniform m/1939 (see below). The majority of the Swedish fighter pilots were recruited from the Svea Air Wing F8 (Svea flygflottilj F 8) in Barkaby, Stockholm, while the bombers came from Jämtland Air Wing F 4 (Jämtlands flygflottilj F 4) in Frösön, Östersund. More about the Swedish F 19 Air Wing - Flight Missions and Aircraft.

The Uniform of the Swedish

Volunteer Corps

The soldiers of the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland were equipped with the Swedish Army’s battle dress uniform m/1939. However, some modifications were made; the Swedish buttons were removed and replaced with the Finnish type of buttons with the Finnish Lion imprinted instead of the Swedish Three Crowns. The Corps insignia of the Swedish Volunteer Corps was worn on the collars. The different unit’s insignias of the Corps were worn on the shoulder straps. The headgears were equipped with the Finnish military nationality insignia. The rank insignias were worn at the bottom of the sleeves according to Finnish traditions. Officers wore Finnish rank insignias consisting of golden marks of roses while NCOs wore silver roses and other ranks silver stripes. The image to the right shows coat m/1939 which was used by the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland. On each shoulder strap of this particular coat is a round brass plate showing an imprinted crossbow which was the unit insignia for the First Battle Group. The collar holds the insignia of the Volunteer Corps; four hands holding each other. At the bottom of each sleeve is the rank insignia; 2 golden roses which are the rank of Lieutenant. The coats buttons are made of metal with the Finnish Lion imprinted. Image: Armémuseum, ID: AM.020073. DigitaltMuseum. This particular coat was worn by a Swedish officer in the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland during the Winter War, Lieutenant Melcher Wase Bo Gustaf Wernstedt, b. 1909. Wernstedt was enlisted with the Volunteer Corps on 26 December 1939 and was assigned to the First Battle Group under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Magnus Dyrssen. The image to the right shows the skiing cap. Below the blue and white nationality insignia is a button with the Finnish Lion. Image: Armémuseum, ID: AM.104313. DigitaltMuseum. The Swedish uniform m/1939 was when it was distributed to the Swedish Volunteer Corps, a brand new uniform model. Then, the uniform wasn’t yet distributed to the Swedish Army. See also the Uniform of the Swedish Volunteer Corps.

Summary

To support Finland, the Swedish government handed over a lot of military arms to the Finnish armed forces. Besides the arms to the Swedish Volunteer Corps, Finland received from Swedish Army depots among others; 131,000 rifles with 42 million cartridges, 132 artillery field guns, 100 anti- aircraft guns, 85 anti-tank guns with 256,000 grenades, and 8 combat aircraft. Finland needed to take delivery of large quantities of military equipment during the Winter War and at the same time be able to export Finnish produce, for example, paper and paper pulp. In the Baltic Sea, Soviet submarines lurked. Transportation of goods on the railroad line between Finland and Sweden via Torneå in Finland and Haparanda in Sweden couldn’t swallow the large quantities needed. The Gulf of Bothnia was frozen, so an ice-road between Vasa in Finland and Umeå in Sweden was prepared across the sea at the so-called “Kvarken”, where Swedish and Finnish trucks in cold weather and total darkness during nights (to avoid Soviet bombers) transported very large quantities of freight to and from Finland. This ice-road was a lifeline for Finland and the Finns called it the “Milky Way” (Swe: Vintergatan). All volunteers in the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland during the Winter War have been conferred a distinction, a plaque. See the image to the right. The front of the plaque has the Finnish Lion imprinted and the text "FÖR NORDENS FRIHET OCH SVERIGES ÄRA" (For the Freedom of the Nordic and the Honor of Sweden). The back of the plaque holds the text "SVENSKA FRIVILLIGKÅREN KRIGSTJÄNST I FINLAND 1940" In Service with the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland 1940). Image: Armémuseum, ID: AM.019223.

Cold Winters during the War

There were three extremely cold winters in Northern Europe during WWII; they were the winters of 1939/1940, 1940/1941, and 1941/1942. The winter of 1939/1940 was very cold in the entire of Sweden with deep snow. This winter was the fourth or fifth coldest winter ever in the 20th century. However, in Vilhelmina, North Sweden, the thermometer dropped down to −53 °C (-63 F) on 13 December 1941. North Finland had the same very cold winter in 1939/1940. As we can see in the photos above, the soldiers are well wrapped-up.

Refugee Children from Finland

During the Winter War of 1939 – 1940 and the Continuation War 1941 – 1944 about 70,000 Finnish children were sent to the other Scandinavian countries, foremost to Sweden. About 10,000 of these children were adopted by their Swedish families. The image to the right shows Finnish refugee children being taken care of by Swedish Red Cross nurses in Uppsala, Sweden, in May 1942. Image: Upplandsmuseet, ID: PS10592. DigitaltMuseum.

Peace Treaty

On 7 March 1940 Finnish Prime Minister Ryti arrived in Moscow with a negotiation team. The Finns had to accept the Soviet terms and among other territories cede the Karelia Isthmus. The Peace Treaty was signed on 12 March 1940 with a cease-fire at 11:00 on 13 March. (Helsinki time). Finland ceded about 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union.