Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

by Jarto Nieme, Russ Folsom and Jason Pipes

History

Finns of 1.Kp./Finnisches Frw.Bn.d.W-SS at Gross Born Truppenlager, 1941

The story of Finnish volunteers in the service of the Third Reich began with a
series of behind the scenes diplomatic negotiations between Germany and Finland
at the post-March 1940 negotiated end of her "Winter War" with the Soviet Union.
Because of their well proven fighting qualities, Reichsfuhrer-SS Himmler expressed
interest in having a Finnish contingent become a part of his growing Waffen-SS.
While the Finns were open to such a suggestion, both parties were quite aware
that any open recruitment into Germany's armed forces of Finnish soldiers and
citizens would certainly be interpreted as a belligerent provocation by the Soviets.
Subsequently, every effort was made to disguise the enrollment of active-duty
Finnish soldiers and other volunteers into the ranks of the Waffen-SS. There was
also a stipulation made in a secret protocal by the Finnish government that no
Finnish volunteers in the service of Germany would fight against Great Britain or
Greece (this reflects the time-frame of the contract signing - Spring 1941, when
the German incursion into the Balkans made these two governments the only
active combatants against Germany); or any other nation, "except the Soviet
Union." Clearly, the Finns wanted to respect the differences that western

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

governments, (who had been generously forthcoming with critical military and
logistical aid during the winter-war), had with Germany; but at the same time,
wanted to align a major continental power in their corner against the threat of
further Soviet hostilities. In this sense, the Finns decision to pursue a pro-Axis
stance in the early months of 1941, well before the onset of an actual German-
Russo conflict would reflect both self-interest, and an astute strategic grasp of
their current geo-political situation.

In February, 1941, Himmler's Waffen-SS recruitment chief, Gottlob Berger, worked

with the "Auslands-Amt" of the German Embassy in Helsinki to receive the first
complement of 1000 Finnish volunteers into German service. These conscripts
were publicly announced as "workers for German Industry" to avoid international
complications. Because of minor differences, such as the Finnish objection to take
the Waffen-SS oath to the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler - the bulk of the initial contingent of
125 Officers, 109 NCO's,and 850 other ranks of Finnish soldiers were held up, and
wouldn't reach German soil until June 5, 1941. Five batches of Finns were sent to
Germany between May and June, 1941. The first three batches of men were those
with previous military training experiance, and they were direcetly incorporated
into the 5.SS Wiking Division (mot) already on the Eastern Front for the initial
stages of the invasion of the Soviet Union on June, 22nd, 1941. The remaining 2
batches of Finnish recruits were those without previous military training and they
were sent to Wien outside of Vienna to form the basis of the new Finnish Battalion.
Fresh drafts of volunteers from Finland joined those at Wien to train as Waffen-SS
combat infantrymen. This first contingent of Finns were organized as the SS-
Freiwilligen Bataillon Nordost, but the unit was later renamed in September of
1941, to the Finnisches Freiwilligen Bataillon der Waffen-SS. The Finns liked to
refer to themselves as the "Jagerbataillon" (light infantry battalion) in
commemoration of the Finnish 27.Jagerbataillon that served with the Kaiser's
forces on the Eastern front during the Great War.

After initial training at Wien, the Finnisches Freiwilligen Bataillon der Waffen-SS
was transfered to Stralsund in July, 1941. In August, 1941, the Finnisches
Freiwilligen Bataillon der Waffen-SS was moved to the troop training ground at
Gross-Born, otherwise known as "Zum Truppenlager Gross Born." A well known
image of the "Drie Grenadier" greeted all those that entered the troop training
grounds at Gross Born. On October 6th, 1941, after many months of training, the
ceremonial 'nailing' of the Bn flag took place, and on October 15th, 1941, the new
Battalion flag was officially presented to the Finnisches Freiwilligen Bataillon der
Waffen-SS during a ceremony at the Gross Born training grounds. After the official
ceremonies, the Bn left Gross Born on December 3rd, 1941, and was transfered to
the Eastern Front on five rail transports, arriving at Vinnitsa on December 8th,
1941. The Battalion was then sent towards the lines of the Mius River on January
8th, 1942, where it was offically attached to the 5.SS Wiking Division (mot) that

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

was already holding positions along the Mius River. The Finnish Battalion was
attached as the III Battalion of the Nordland Regiment of the Wiking Division. The
new III Battalion of the Nordland Regiment offically entered combat in the end of
January, 1942, when it took up positions along the Mius River. Attached to SS-
Wiking's motorized-infantry Regiment Nordland, the Finns would distinguish
themselves as reliable soldiers during the division's summer 1942 thrust deep into
the Caucases. They would in fact, be in the vanguard of the deepest investment
south made by the German army during the campaign, reaching the Grozny oil-
fields before being pushed back by the Soviets.

From January 21st, 1942 to April 26th, 1942, the Finnish Bn saw action along
positions on the Mius River against elements of the 31st Soviet Guards Division.
During much of the defensive, positional fighting, the Finnish Bn fought along side
of the Slovak Mobile Division that was also positioned along the Mius River to the
North of the Finnish Bn lines. On the 23rd of January, 1943, the Bn experianced its
first known combat fatality when Onni Martikainen of the 3rd Company was killed
by a Soviet sniper. The main focus of fighting for the next many weeks until
sometime in April, 1942, was on reconaissance raids, small assualt group attacks,
and scouting of the enemy lines. A great deal of artillery duels and sniper attacks
also took place. In April, 1942, the Bn was withdrawn from its previous positions
along the Mius River and sent to Alexandrovka. This new position was also situated
along the Mius River, although in a new location from the one last held by the
Battalion. "West of the Mius the battalion sector was dominated by tow hills,
numbered by compass as 115.2 and 114.9. The town of Demidovka lay about in
the center of the Finnish lines and it was surrounded by fruit orchards which had
begun coming into bloom. The battalion command post was situated in a farm
house in the middle of the village. Upon the roof of the house an observation post
with trench binoculars was set up and this provided a good view deep into enemy
territory." It was in these positions, still fighting against sniper and raiding parties,
that all waited until the eventual German Summer offensive was launched in late
June, 1942. The objective of this offensive was the conquest of Stalingrad, and on
July 13th, the southern wing of Army Group South was directed to attack towards
the region of the Caucasus Mountains, with the 1st Panzer Army in the vanguard
of the attack. For this assualt, the 298th, 73rd and 125th Infantry Divisions were
scheduled to make the initial assault into the Soviet lines, while the Wiking Division
was pulle back from the lines to await a break though by the initial assualting
units, after which it would thust into the lines and attempt to smash deep into
Soviet territory. When the Wiking Division was pulled back to await its
breakthrough assault, the III/Nordland Regiment had all of its motorized transport
and equipment removed and sent to the other two battalions of the Regiment. The
Finnish Bn was then sent for rest and relaxation to Mokryj Jelantshick. The Finnish
Bn stayed there from July 13th until August 10th, 1942, while the other elements
of the Wiking Division took part in the storming of Rostov and in the breakthough

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

assualt into the Caucasus region. On August 9th, 1942, the Finnish Bn recieved
orders to finally join the rest of the Nordland Regiment now located near Maikop
south of the Caucasus Mountains. From here, the Finnish Bn took part in fierce
and bloody fighting in the south Caucasus region. Later, in October 1942, the Bn
took part in fighring near Hill 711.

The Finnish Battalion was unique from the other Freiwilliger of the Wiking division,
such as the Dutch or the Norwegian contingents in Westland and Nordland, by the
fact that it's Officer's and NCO's were ex-Finn Army veterans, and fully in charge.
The Finns were always an independent breed, and their first introduction to
German 'parade-ground' discipline was met by a steely disregard for German
language "befehle." (orders). The Finns held out for Finnish language NCO's, and it
was there and then that the Germans realized that this contingent might be
formed up and kitted out as a Waffen-SS unit, but would ultimately be
commanded only by Finnish speaking Officers.

In March 1943, after many bitterly contested ordeals on the southern Eastern
Front, members of the Finnisches Freiwilliger der Waffen-SS, facing the end of
their two-year contractual agreement with Germany to fight against the Soviet
Union, would, upon the advisement of their government, choose not to stay as
combat troops in the service of the German armed forces. The Finnisches
Freiwilliger der Waffen-SS were pulled from the lines in May, 1943, and transfered
to Auerbach/Grafenwohr, and then sent on to Ruhpolding, Bavaria, for rest. On
May 28th, 1943, the Finnisches Freiwilliger der Waffen-SS were loaded up and
arrived at Tallinn on June 1st, 1943. An offical ceremony was held to greet the
arrival and disbandenment of the unit at Hanko on June 2nd, 1943, and another
unoffical ceremony was held the next day on June 3rd, 1943, and Tempere. The
troops of the Bn were then given a one month leave, after which they returned to
Hanko to await the final fate of the Bn. In negotiations that the RFSS-
Kommandostab and the Finnish High Command held during this period it was
made quite clear to the Germans that because of the distinct threat to the
Northern front implied by the massive buildup of Soviet forces, that any continued
consignment of Finnish soldiers to any other sector would be dangerous to the
protection of Finnish sovereignty. The unit was offically disbanded on July 11th,
1943, and members of the Bn were transfered into the ranks of the Finnish Army.
The last offical ceremony for the fallen members of the Bn was held on September
19th, 1943 in Helsinki. An offical state sponsered memorial to the fallen of the
Finnish unit stands in Helsinki.

Back in June of 1943, RFSS Himmler disbanded the Finnish volunteer formation
altogether from the Waffen-SS order of battle, but allowed any voluntarily
remaining Finnish volunteers from Nordland to continue to serve in Waffen-SS
combat units. Many accounts describe Finns serving in the W-SS well beyond the
June 1943 disbandment of the so-called officially sanctioned Finnish

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

"Jagerbataillon", and it has been universally confirmed that Finns served in the
German armed forces until the end of hostilities in May of 1945 with the 11.SS-Pz.
Gren.Divison Nordland, and with the SS-Kriegsberichter-Regiment Kurt Eggers
( war-correspondents), on the Eastern Front.

Also back in early 1943, the Regiment Nordland to which the Finnisches Frw.Bttln.
d.-SS was then attached, was detached from the Wiking Division to become the
nucleus of another West-European/Scandanavian Divisional entity, the 11.SS
Nordland Division.

After the Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS was stood down in March
of 1943, and disbanded in June and July of the same year, the Estnisches SS-
Freiwilligen Bataillon Narwa (Estonian) was used to replace the Finns as the third
Battalion within the SS-Pz.Gren Regiment Nordland. The Estonians stayed with the
Wiking Division when the Nordland Regiment was detached to become the nucleus
of a new eponymously named divisional entity. The Estonians attached to Wiking
were actually one of 3 battalions then forming up at the Heidelager SS-
Truppenubungsplatz (training ground) in Debica, Poland in early 1943 as the 1.
Estnisches SS-Frw.Grenadier Regt. They lost the I (Narwa) battalion, but later
aquired sufficient manpower to constitute a 2 regiment strength (45 & 46.SS-Frw.
Rgt.) Brigade (3.SS-Frw.Brigade) before being formed into a full SS-Grenadier
division in January 1944.

In October 1943, the Wiking was reorganized as a full Panzer Division. The
Estonians became III/10.SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. Westland. By April of 1944 the Narwa
Battalion would be detached from the Wiking and renamed 20.SS-Fusilier-Btln. as
part of the Estonian 20.SS-Frw.-Grenadier Division. During it's tenure with Wiking
the Estonian battalion was commanded by (German) SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Georg
Eberhardt, and it's Feldpostnummer was 48 314. Reports of the Battalion's
strength vary, but it was said to have been as great as 1280 men when attached
to SS-Pz.Gren. Rgt. Westland. The honorific title Narwa was also reported to have
been unofficially continued as part of it's new SS-Fusilier-Btl. designation.

The casualty rate for Finnish volunteers in the Geman Armed Forces is a reported
222 killed and 557 wounded (See below for more info on this).

Complete Order of Battle and list of commanders

Commander: Ostub. Hans Collani
Adjutant: Ostub. Helmut Hirt

1.Kompanie:

6.15.41 - 10.13.42: Ostuf. Hoy

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

10.13.42 - 10.17.42: Ostuf. Pallesche

10.17.42: Ostuf. Karl-Heinz Ertel

2.Kompanie:

6.15.41 - ??: Ostuf. Pallesche

?? - ??: Hstuf. Ladau
4.11.42 - 8.13.42: Ostuf. Hilker
8.14.42 - 10.08.42: Ostuf. Porsch
?? - ??: Ostuf. Pohjanlehto
?? - 1.19.43: Ostuf. Porsch
1.19.43 - 3.12.43: Ostuf. Pohjanlehto
3.12.43 - 3.26.43: Hstuf. Tenomaa
3.26.43: Ostuf. Sartio

3.Kompanie:

6.15.41 - 11.23.41: Ostuf. Hartmann

?? - 8.13.42: Hstuf. Schnabl
?? - 8.16.42: Ustuf. Luttgens
?? - 10.17.42: Ostuf. Muhlinghaus
?? - ??: Ostuf. Eugen Deck

4.Kompanie (MG):

6.15.41 - 7.04.42: Ostuf. Franz Pleiner

7.04.42 - 8.08.42: Hstuf. Bruckner
?? - ??: ??
?? - ??: Hstuf. Ladau

A replacement company was formed in September, 1941, with SS-Obersturmfuhrer

Schroder as the company commander. It was formed in Radom, and then later
transfered to Granz.

The Finnish Bn disbanded its 4th Machine Gun Company on May 12th, 1942. The
MG platoons of the former 4th Company then then became MG platoons for each
of the other 3 Companies of the Bn. They were also joined by mortar squads, each
squad with two 80mm mortars. This new arrangement gave each of the 3
Companies of the Bn better fire support. This change was finished by May 15th,
1942. When the original 4th Heavy Weapons Company was disbanded, a new one
was formed, this time consisting of engineer, anti-tank, infantry gun, and signals
platoons.

The Bn was offically made a part of the Wiking Division on May, 23rd, 1942. When

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

this occured, the Komapanie 1, Kompanie 2, Kompanie 3, and Kompanie 4 of the

Bn were renamed as Kompanie 9, Kompanie 10, Kompanie 11. and Kompanie 12
of the new III/Nordland Regiment. When the Finnish Bn became the III/Nordland/
Wiking, the previous III/Nordland was split up and seperated into the other two
battalions of the Nordland Regiment.

Battalion Strenght on 1.09.42: 34 Commanders/786 NCOs & men

Battalion Strenght on 4.29.43: 16 Commanders/353 NCOs & men
Battalion Strenght on 5.08.43: 18 Commanders/740 NCOs & men
Battalion Strenght on 7.11.43: 14 Commanders/234 NCOs/534 men

Ideological & social background of the first draft of Finns

Finns were not originally consider to be of Nordic race. Therefore the goal of the
SS recruiment office was to recruit Swedish speaking Finns (preferably National
Socialists), whom they regarded as Nordic. The Finnish governement realized that
the recruiting to SS could be politically problematic. Therefore the goal of the
governement was to have volunteers from all classes and political circles (including
social-democrats). The final result was something between these contradictory
goals.

12% of the volunteers were swedish speaking, (9.6% whole population) 20%
were supporters of IKL (fascist oriented party) (6.6% whole pop.)

There is some evidence that the upper and middle class and farmers were
presented in greater numbers than in the whole population.

Germans wanted volunteers that are 17-30 years old. They got men that were 15-
36 years old. Average was 21.6 years, about 50% of men were 18-20 years old.

Military background of the first draft

The first draft was sent to Germany in five batches (departures 6th May -5th
June), total 1197 officers and men. Note, the figures 125 officers +109 NCO's
+850 men are based on Standartenfuehrer Tack's report on 20th May 1941,
figures are not final, especially the number of officers decreased.

From the first three batches men that had combat experience were attached
directly to the Wiking division. These men are called division men in the finnish
litterature and the rest are called battalion men.

Whole Div. Btn.

draft Men Men

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

Officers 76 43 33

NCO's 337 196 141

Men (Trained) 264 152 112

Men (Un-
520 38 482
trained)

Totals 1197 429 768

About 60% of the division men had combat experience in the front line, on the
other hand 8% didn't have proper military training at all when they went to
combat.

About 22% of the battalion men had been in the front line during the winter war.
These men as well as the other trained men had to go trough the whole training.

Status of the officers and NCO's

The finnish officers got corresponding SS-ranks but initially they didn't get
organization positions as officers (i.e no platoon leaders or company
commanders). First the NCO's were not recognized at all. Later the situation
improved, but the finnish battalion was newer completely led by Finns. Many
officers and NCO's were released and returned to Finland before the main
disbandment in July 1943.

The Second Draft

The second draft consisted of 201 men that were recruited by the army. All men
had combat experience more than 6 month. They left for Germany in September
1942. These men got an ironical nickname 'the 200 brave ones'.

Casualties & disbandment & later service in the Waffen-SS

In addition to the two drafts there were about 10 men that served in the Wiking
division, among others one man that probably was not a Finn, and other man that
was a double defector/spy.

Casualties
Served 1407 TOTAL = 1409

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

250 (Including MIA)

+1 prob. not a Finn
+4 died in hospitals in Finland
Fell 256 +1 shot when caught stealing
food

TOTAL = 256

Wounded 686 TOTAL = 686

Disbandments
Div. Men
Btn.
Dates Off + NCO & Totals
Men
Men

31.7.1941 0 16 + 3 19

13.2.1942 19 + 0 0 19

17.5.1942 0 + 127 0+4 131

Various Dates 12 + 29 4 + 14 59

4.7.1943 2 + 108 6 + 668 784

Autum 1943 1 + 33 2 + 34 70

Date
3+5 2 + 65 75
Unknown

Totals 37 + 302 30 + 788 1157

The exact number of men that served in SS after the main disbandmet is not
known but probably the men whose disbandment date is unknow continued
serving in the SS.

Officer Training
There were Finns in three courses at the SS Officers school Bad Toelz. Course 1,
Spring, 1942 to December, 1942 had 7 participants, with 6 graduates. Course 2
from January, 1943 to July, 1943 had 18 participants with 15 graduates. Course 3
from June, 1943 had 17 participants but none actually graduated, all participants
were sent to Finland after the general disbandment of the Finnish battalion. The
participants of the second course were all privates and not NCO's. When Steiner
realized that, he promoted them all to Unterscharfuehrers, the lowest NCO rank,

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

before sending them to the Junkerschool.

The decorations
There are no offical documents concerning the decorations, but Veikko Elo (ref 2
below) has tried to solve the question. His data consists of about 1000 cases.

Decoration EK1 EK2 KVK1 KVK2 Total

Officers 9 33 1 1 44

NCO's &
5 181 - 25 213
men

Totals 16 214 1 26 257

EK = Eisernes Kreuz = Iron Cross

KVK = Kriegsverdienst Kreuz = War Service Cross

About 25% of the men got some form of decoration. No one was awarded the
Knight's Cross or the German Cross during their service before the disbandment.
Two men received the Iron Crosse and in addition, their names were mentioned in
the bulletin "Ehrenblatt des Deutschen Heeres". They receieved diplomas signed
by Adolf Hitler as well. After the disbandment in July 1943, some men continued
service in the SS. It seems that at least one of them, Obersturmfuehrer Ulf-Ola
Olin, received some form of higher decoration.

The Finns were not much more distinguished from other non-Germans with
respect to military achievments and awards. See below the German statistics
concerning the foreign volunteers in the Wiking Divsion. These statistics were
formed on the 19th of September, 1941 (ref 1).

Promoted
EK2 Assault
KIA WIA due to
EK1 Badges
Bravery

27 84
415 Finns 44 - 103 5
6.5% 20.2%

291 19 30
7- 104 2
Norwegians 6.5% 10.3%

1 1
8 Swedes -- 5 -
12.5% 12.5%

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Finnish Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

20 45 21
141 Danes 48 -
7.9% 17.9% 1

821 78 167 50
425 37
Dutchmen 9.5% 20.3% 1

45 3 10
8- 30 -
Flemings 6.7% 22.2%

1831 148 337 130

715 44
volunteers 8.1% 18.4% 2

Sources
1) Mauno Jokipii: Panttipataljoona (Pledge Battalion), 1st ed. 1968 858 pages, a
rather detailed study on the Finnish SS-unit

2) Veikko Elo: Pantin lunastajat (Redeemers of the Pledge), 1993 325 pages,
corrections and supplements to the source 1)

3) Niilo Lappalainen: Panssarieverstin kuolema (The Death of an armour colonel),

1995

4) David Littlejohn: Foreign Legions of the Third Reich, vol 4, 1987

5)Peter Abbot & Nigel Thomas: Germany's Eastern Front Allies 1941-45, 1989

6)Richard Landwehr: Siegrunen, issues #14, 34 and 43

7)Kari Kuusela & Olli Wikberg: Wikingin suomalaiset, 1996

Finnish Volunteer Battalion Cuff title, never offically issued

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