Wehrmacht
Panzers in Finland
Panzer units in Finland 1941-1944
"Wehrmachtin panssarit
Suomessa Saksalaiset panssariyksiköt Suomessa 1941-1944"
INTRODUCTION
To the reader:
By combining the second world war and German Panzers one can easily imagine fast moving armored spearheads striking deep into enemy territory. After this the enemy should surrender and the streets should be filled with prisoners of war resulting in a quick victory.
The above described scenario never came true in Finland. Use of German Panzers in Finland from 1941 to 1944 is still very interesting as this was the first time tanks were used in combat in northern Finland. German Panzer units were, together with other units, forced to operate in terrain totally unsuitable for them.
When the so called Jatkosota (Continuation War) broke out in the summer of 1941, three tank battalions advanced east. Only one of them was Finnish, the others being German. Every battalion had to operate in places unsuitable for tanks. For some inexplicable reason the obvious place were tanks could have been used successfully, the Karjalan kannas (Karelian isthmus), was left without tank units. In retrospect it is very difficult to understand how these conclusions were arrived at. The decisions were totally incorrect.
In the most critical moments of the Continuation War in June-July 1944 two thirds of the modern tank units in Finland were again German. The Panzers were now used in appropriate terrain, in the Karelian isthmus and Viipurinlahti (Gulf of Vyborg). The use of the Panzers was, however, for some reason rather limited, they could well have been used more effectively.
As author of this book I would like to express my gratitude to all individuals and institutions which have helped me during research. I would especially like to thank both Finnish and Germany military archives, and their friendly staff. I 'm also grateful to those numerous veterans and collectors who have helped me in the preparation of this work.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Olli Wikberg and Karl Rosenlof for translation work.
This work can by no means be considered the definitive presentation of German Panzer units and their use in Finland during the second world war due to the lack of references. The author would therefore be very interested in hearing from persons who can submit additional information and comments. The author can be reached through the publisher.
The Author (Kari Kuusela)
