Dritte
Nordland
The photo history of the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen SS
1941-43
"Dritte
Nordland Suomalainen SS-vapaaehtoispatalkoona uvissa"
Size: 8.5" x
12"
Pictures: 450+ B&W photographs
Pages: 256 pages, Laminated Cover, Glossy Paper
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Olli Wikberg
Text and Picture Captions: Chapters written in Finnish first
and then English. All picture captions in both Finnish and English
Publish Date: 2002
Publisher: Wiking Divisioona Oy
Price: $40
This book provides the complete photographic history of the finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS, from their first training through two years of war and their final return to Finland. The book begins with an introduction that provides a text overview of the Battalion and its service in the Waffen-SS. The hundreds of photographs, most from private collections and never before published, document the Finnish volunteers and their service in the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front. The photographs are all captioned in great detail, and all text in the book is provided in both English and Finnish.
The history of the finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS (Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS) is unique. Finland was the only European country, not occupied by the Germans, which sent a battalion-sized unit of volunteers to the German Waffen-SS. Some 1200 volunteers were recruited in the spring of 1941, of which about 400 served in the SS-Division "Wiking" in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa. The rest formed a Finnish Battalion, which after extensive training was later sent to the front. At the front the Battalion belonged to the Regiment "Nordland" of the SS-Division "Wiking."
The Battalion had an excellent combat record and lost 255 Finns fallen in the battles of the Ukraine and the Caucasus. The whole Battalion was withdrawn from the front in the spring of 1943 and was sent to Finland on home leave. As both the military and the political situation had changed since 1941, the high Command of the Finnish Army wanted to keep the volunteers in Finland, and thus forbade further recruitment. The Battalion was disbanded in July 1943.
