Finland
Tag
(41)1939
October
November
December
- 07
- The Battle of Suomussalmi beginsOn 7 December 1939 the Soviet 163rd Division reached Suomussalmi, burnt by the Finns. The Finnish command sent Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo's brigade there.
- The Battle of Kollaa beginsOn 7 December 1939 the Soviet 56th Rifle Division attacked Finnish positions on the Kollaa river in Ladoga Karelia. The Finns held them to the end of the war.
1940
January
- 07
- The destruction of Soviet divisions on the Raate roadIn the first week of January 1940 Colonel Siilasvuo’s Finns cut the Soviet 44th Division into pockets on the Raate road and destroyed it, taking tanks and guns.
- Timoshenko takes command in FinlandOn 7 January 1940 Moscow formed the North-Western Front under Komandarm Timoshenko. After the defeats of December, he was to break the Mannerheim Line.
February
March
June
1941
January
June
- 25
- Finland goes to war with the USSROn 25 June 1941 Soviet aircraft bombed Finnish airfields and towns. That evening Prime Minister Rangell told parliament that Finland was at war.
- The Engelbrecht Division’s transit through SwedenOn 25 June 1941 Sweden agreed to let the armed German 163rd Infantry Division travel by rail from Norway to Finland – a breach in its neutrality.