Kollaa

North of the Karelian 1sthmus which received the main initial assault of the Winter War, the Soviet 8th Army, a force of 7 divisions reinforced by armor units, assaulted the 2 divisions of the Finnish 4th Army Corps. After pushing …

1939-12-07

20149

North of the Karelian 1sthmus which received the main initial assault of the Winter War, the Soviet 8th Army, a force of 7 divisions reinforced by armor units, assaulted the 2 divisions of the Finnish 4th Army Corps. After pushing with unstoppable force for some 40 km, the Soviet assault ground to a halt on the banks of an insignificant little river called Kollaa. There the Finns had hastily dug defenses which were, until the very end of the war, able to withstand daily assaults by numerically vastly superior enemy forces assisted by artillery, armor and aircraft. The defenders of Kollaa fought one of the most celebrated actions of the war, holding off the attackers for more than three months, supported only by the snow, the temperatures which fell to 40 degrees below zero, and the knowledge that if Kollaa fell the resulting avalanche of Soviet troops might prove impossible to stop. The legendary Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä, nicknamed "The White Death", also served at the Kollaa front. A famous quote from the Battle of Kollaa is Major General Hägglund's question, “Kestääkö Kollaa?” (Will Kollaa hold?), to which Lieutenant Aarne Juutilainen replied, “Kollaa kestää” (Kollaa will hold), unless the orders are to run away." A prime example of Finnish Sisu!

Rumilus, Finland

The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the organisation.

Wikipedia: Winter War

Finnish

Russian

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Winter

Website Access: Available