Out of Kemi

Following the Moscow Armistice, Finnish troops began to boot their erstwhile German ally against the Soviet Union out of Lapland. In a bid to speed up the Germans' retreat toward Northern Norway, the troops of General Hjalmar Siilasvuo devised an …

1944-10-03

10925

Following the Moscow Armistice, Finnish troops began to boot their erstwhile German ally against the Soviet Union out of Lapland. In a bid to speed up the Germans' retreat toward Northern Norway, the troops of General Hjalmar Siilasvuo devised an aggressive plan to strike the German forces assembled at Kemi-Tornio. After an initial push that succeeded in taking Kemi, Finnish ski troops supported by Allied Armor began pressuring Pudasjarvi. The Germans quickly counter-attacked, forcing the Finns to fall back and giving German soldiers a chance to resume their escape to Norway.

Kemi, Finland

The Continuation War, also known as Second Soviet-Finnish war, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany, against the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1941 to 1944, as a part of World War II. In Soviet historiography, the war was called the Finnish Front of the Great Patriotic War. Germany regarded its operations in the region as part of its overall war efforts on the Eastern Front and provided Finland with critical material support and military assistance, including economic aid. The Continuation War began 15 months after the end of the Winter War, also fought between Finland and the USSR. There have been numerous reasons proposed for the Finnish decision to invade, with regaining territory lost during the Winter War being regarded as the most common. Other justifications for the conflict included President Ryti's vision of a Greater Finland and Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim's desire to annex East Karelia. Plans for the attack were developed jointly between the Wehrmacht and a faction of Finnish political and military leaders with the rest of the government remaining ignorant. Despite the co-operation in this conflict, Finland never formally signed the Tripartite Pact, though they did sign the Anti-Comintern Pact. Finland's leadership justified their alliance with Germany as self-defence.

Wikipedia: Continuation War

German

Finnish

Game Type: Breakthrough

Board Type: Winter

Website Access: Classified