Lapland War

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Lapland War

German withdrawal From Finland 1944

Date	October 1 1944 – April 25 1945
Location	Lapland, Finland
Result	Finnish victory

Belligerents

Commanders

Strength

200,000

60,000

Casualties and losses

1800 killed
2,000 wounded
1,300 captured

774 killed
3,000 wounded
262 missing

v • d • e Finland 1939-1945

Winter War – Continuation War – Lapland War

v • d • e Lapland War

Suursaari Island – Tornio – Rovaniemi

The Lapland War (Finnish: Lapin sota) were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in the Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. The war is notable in that the Finnish army had to demobilize their forces while fighting the German army off their lands. Despite the odds, the Germans got the worst of the fighting and suffered heavier casualties.

1 Prelude
2 Progress of operations
3 Consequences
4 Roundel change
5 Footnotes
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Prelude

Since June 1941 Germany and Finland had been at war with the Soviet Union, co-operating closely in the Continuation War. 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 Petsamo.

During the winter of 1943-1944, the Germans improved the roads from northern Norway to northern Finland by extensive use of POW labour. Casualties among the POWs were high, due in part to the fact that many of the POWs had been captured in southern Europe and were still in summer uniform. As well, the Germans accumulated stores in the region. Thus they were ready in September 1944, when Finland declared the Moscow Armistice with the Soviet Union.

[edit] 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 Baltic sea German U-boats sank several Finnish civilian vessels. Although some Wehrmacht and Finnish army officers tried to organize a relatively peaceful withdrawal, fighting broke out between German and Finnish forces even before the Soviet-Finnish armistice was signed. Fighting intensified when the Finns sought to comply with the Soviet demand that all German troops be expelled from Finland.

The Finns were thus placed in a situation similar to that of Italy and Romania, 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 to German soldiers left with the German troops, meeting diverse fates.^[2]

'Victory in Lapland', Finnish soldiers setting up a Finnish flag on the Norwegian border

[edit] Consequences

In their retreat the German forces under General Lothar Rendulic devastated large areas of northern Finland using scorched earth tactics. Total of 40–47 % the dwellings in the area were destroyed, and the provincial capital of Rovaniemi was burned to the ground, as well as Savukoski village. Two thirds of the buildings in main villages Sodankylä, Muonio, Kolari, Salla and Ivalo were demolished. 675 bridges were blown up and all main roads were mined, 3,700 km of telephone lines were destroyed. 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. He was released after six years.)

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 1,800 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.^[3]

Municipality of Ivalo destroyed by Germans

[edit] 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 conventional three circle division.