My
Honor is Loyalty!
Uniforms of the Finnish SS volunteers 1941-43
"Meine
Ehre heißt Treue! Suomalaisten SS-vapaaehtoisten asepuvut 1941-1943"
INTRODUCTION
To the reader:
The Finnish volunteer battalion was a unique unit in the history of Waffen-SS. It was one of the first volunteer units, and the sole volunteer unit of battalion level formed of volunteers from country not occupied by Germany. The history of Finnisches Freiwilligen Bataillon der Waffen-SS has received rather much attention from writers, mainly in Finland. There are however no publications dealing with uniforms or insignia of these volunteers. This is not strange, as there are hardly no such books of other foreign volunteers either. Those persons interested in Finnish volunteers or Waffen-SS uniforms in general are advised to look for publications listed in bibliography.
The aim of this book is to present the reader the uniforms and insignia typical for Finnish volunteers of 1941-9143 period. A small group of Finns served in Waffen-SS in 1944-1945 as well. There has however been no possibility to include a comprehensive history of their uniforms as well. This is largely due lack of period photos and other reference material. Despite of concentrating in Finnish volunteers, this book will also deal with uniforms typical for Waffen-SS soldiers of that period in general.
I would like to express my gratitude to all individuals and institutions, which have helped me during my work. I am especially grateful to all my fellow collectors, and above all the former Finnish SS-volunteers, who have helped in preparation of this book. I would also like to express my gratitude to Mr. Malcolm Gray of London for checking the translations.,
The author would like to hear from fellow collectors and historians if they have any additions to the contents, or do possess items related to Finnish volunteers.
The Author (Olli Wikberg)
