Vesa Nenye - Finland at War - The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941-45

The Karelian Army takes Petroskoi. The city is renamed Äänislinna.

2 October

Finnish forces push past Petroskoi to secure the region. They cross the narrows of the Suojunjoki River, and reach the bridge at Besovets. They also take Koskenkyä village.

3 October

Hitler gives a radio speech announcing that the Soviet Union has once and for all been defeated, and that it will never rise again.

6 October

Finnish troops initially refuse to cross the Syvärinniska River.

7 October

The Finnish 7th Division crosses the Syvärinniska tributary on the eastern edge, by Lake Ääninen. Munjärvi village is captured by Colonel Oinonen’s Group O.

14 October

Parts of the 7th Division head east, cross the river Syvärinniska and meet the vanguard of the Soviet 114th Rifle Division, freshly transferred from Siberia. This meeting defines the front line for the remaining years of the war.

19 October

Group O reaches its objectives in northern Karelia, secures the Munjärvi area and defeats the Soviet 71st Rifle Division.

26 October

The Finnish 8th Division connects with Raappana’s 14th Division and forms a unified front. They settle into trench positions.

27 October

The coastal defences in the Petroskoi area are secured and handed over to the newly formed Äänisjärvi Coastal Brigade.

1 November

Siilasvuo’s III Army Corps attacks again towards Louhi and the Murmansk railway.

5 November

President Ryti informs Mannerheim that discharging parts of the army to return to civilian duty is vital for the infrastructure of the country.

6 November

Mannerheim starts to plan a third line of defence between lakes Seesjärvi and Ääninen. He also orders the formation of II Army Corps under Major-General Taavetti Laatikainen.

17 November

Siilasvuo gives orders to halt III Army Corps’ attack on Louhi. The Murmansk railway is not reached.

17 November

Group O enters the deserted village of Perälahti without a fight.

23 November

The 8th Division of II Army Corps captures Karjalan Maaselkä by Lake Seesjärvi.

25 November

Finland joins the Anti-Comintern Pact.

28 November

Mannerheim proposes the first discharge of parts of the army.

30 November

The German offensive halts at the gates of Moscow.

2 December

The Soviets abandon the Hanko naval base under the cover of darkness.

5 December

Finnish forces take the town of Karhumäki.

6 December

Poventsa village comes under Finnish control. This is as far as Mannerheim allows the front to be extended.

The Finns declare that territories lost in the Moscow Peace Treaty have now returned to Finland. Great Britain declares war on Finland.

7 December

Mannerheim orders the Karelian Army to take up defensive positions on the fronts on the Maaselkä Isthmus (along lakes Ääninen and Seesjärvi) and Aunus Isthmus (along the Syväri River). A prolonged period of trench warfare starts.

8 December

The United States and Great Britain declare war on Japan. In a belated attempt to prevent further Finnish advances, the Soviets blow up the locks of the Stalin Canal, flooding the town of Poventsa.

1 January

The Soviet Navy attacks Finnish islands. The Red Army attacks towards Krivi on the Maaselkä Isthmus.

5 January

President Ryti receives news of Soviet peace terms, presented to the British foreign minister by Stalin.

14 January

Formation of the mostly German Army Command Lapland (AOK Lappland), and relief of the Finnish troops under Army Command Norway. Finnish Major Arnold Majewki leads an attack to sabotage the Murmansk railway at Maiguba.

19 January

Majewski’s sabotage mission destroys a section of railway, and the troops make their return to Finnish territory.

21 January

Mannerheim warns Ryti of a possible German collapse on the Eastern Front. Japan invades Burma. The Soviet Navy manages to capture the station at Krivi.

3 February

Mannerheim informs Germany that, unless its position on the Eastern Front improves, he will abandon the attack on the Murmansk railway.

7 February

The Soviets are ejected from Krivi by Laatikainen’s II Army Corps. A surprise attack by Soviet ski-troops attempts to take the town of Poventsa, but is repelled after a week.

10 February

Finnish headquarters upgrades the Tank Battalion to an armoured brigade. In June the unit is combined with the 1st Jäger Brigade to form the Armoured Division.

27–28 March

Finnish forces perform a daring crossing of the frozen Gulf of Finland to capture Suursaari Island from the Soviets.

28–29 March

The Royal Air Force bombs Cologne (Köln).

30 March

The Finnish Army occupies Tytärsaari Island. The Germans agree to garrison it.

5 April

Hitler orders a shift in focus on the Eastern Front towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus.

8 April

A Soviet attack on the garrison on Tytärsaari is repelled.

9 April

US troops surrender on Bataan in the Philippines.

10 April

Finnish troops depart Tytärsaari, and the German garrison takes over.

11 April

The Soviet attack on the Syväri River marks the beginning of the rasputitsa battles.

21 April

Finnish forces recapture the Syväri River breach during the rasputitsa battles.

24 April

Soviet forces attack from Kiestinki.

7 May

The Soviet encirclement at Kiestinki is contained by the Finns.

8 May

German troops begin an offensive in the Crimea.

12 May

The Soviet Union begins a spring offensive south towards Kharkov.

22 May

The Finnish and German navies begin building a mine blockade, forcing the Soviet Navy into a small corner of the Gulf of Finland.

24 May

The second phase of the rasputitsa battles, at Kiestinki, ends after a month of fierce fighting with a defensive victory for III Army Corps.

26 May

Great Britain and the Soviet Union sign the Anglo-Soviet Treaty. A German–Italian force attacks towards El Alamein on the Egyptian border.

30–31 May

The Royal Air Force launches a major raid on Cologne.

3 June

German troops attack Sevastopol in the Crimea.

4 June

Hitler visits Finland on Mannerheim’s 75th birthday.

27 June

Mannerheim departs for a visit to Germany.

28 June

German forces launch a broad attack on the Don front.

1 July

The German XVIII Mountain Corps relieves Finnish forces on the Lapland front. The 3rd Division takes responsibility for the area south of Uhtua. German troops take Sevastopol in the Crimea.

23 July

Hitler orders preparations for the taking of Leningrad.

27 July

The Germans take Rostov at the mouth of the Don River.

29 July