Gordon F. Sander - The Hundred Day Winter War: Finlands Gallant Stand against the Soviet Army

The Hundred Day Winter War

MODERN WAR STUDIES

Theodore A. Wilson

General Editor

Raymond Callahan

J. Garry Clifford

Jacob W. Kipp

Allan R. Millett

Carol Reardon

Dennis Showalter

David R. Stone

Series Editors

The Hundred Day Winter War

Finlands Gallant Stand against the Soviet Army

Gordon F. Sander

University Press of Kansas

2013 by the University Press of Kansas

All rights reserved

Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66045), which was organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sander, Gordon F., author.

The Hundred Day Winter War : Finlands gallant stand against the Soviet Army / Gordon F. Sander.

pages ; cm. (Modern war studies)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7006-1910-8

ISBN 978-0-7006-2886-5 (ebook)

1. Russo-Finnish War, 19391940. I. Title. II. Series:

Modern war studies.

DL1097.S26 2013

948.97032dc23

2013016109

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in the print publication is recycled and contains 30 percent postconsumer waste. It is acid free and meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.481992.

T HIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE ESTIMATED 150,000 Finnish and Russian soldiers and civilians, as well as volunteers from various nations, who perished during the Winter War,

and to

My father, the late Lt. Col. Kurt Sander, United States Army, decorated veteran of Normandy, the Bulge, and the conquest of Germany, who bequeathed to me his love of history.

The number of people on both sides of the Atlantic I have to thank for making this tome happen is a long one.

At the top of my honor roll is my good friend Ami Hasan, of hasan & partners, who has been behind this project in every way since its inception. Sharing high honors with him is my friend and collaborator Michael Franck, of Franck Media, who has also been extremely supportive in every way, along with his wife and partner, Nina Pulkis. Laurels, too, to Ilkka Ranta-aho of Apu Magazine, who not only encouraged me to go forward with the book, but also conducted four of the interviews with veterans of the Talvisota that play such a crucial part in it. Thanks, guys!

I am deeply grateful to Petri Tuomi-Nikula, the former director general of the Department of Press and Culture of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, and his colleagues, who have been a bulwark of support. I would also like to thank my friend Christian Moustgaard, whose father was amongst the brave Danish contingent who sailed to Finland to volunteer in the Talvisota, and who helped trigger my original interest in the subject.

My friend and mentor, the great Max Jakobson, also has my profound thanks.

I would particularly like to thank the score of Finns and Russians who either fought during the war or lived through it and who took the time to share their sometimes painful memories with me or my designated interviewers. They are, in Finland, Harry Berner, Colonel Olavi Eronen, Eino Heikala, Lilja Juntunen, Antos Kela, Irja Kela, Dr. Eric Malm, Reino Oksanen, Mai-Lis Paavola, and Eevi; and in Russia, Nikolai Bavin and Edward Hynninen.

My friend and Helsinki assistant, the lovely Mau Vuori, deserves a special plaque of her own. For tracking down, copying, and translating myriad Finnish documents, including everything from the first page of every issue of the Helsingin Sanomat from the Talvisota to an old TV interview with Mannerheims adjutant, Aksel Airo; for conducting and transcribing numerous interviews; for winnowing and condensing hundreds of pages of material; for helping to keep both my morale up when I was down and my eye on the ball during my three extended Finnish sorties, she has my eternal thanks. There is a big part of her in this book. Kiitos, Mau!

Kiitos, too, to the chief of my Suomussalmi bureau, Marketta Raihala, who was my host, driver, guide, and translator during my two visits to the site of the best-known battle of the war, who translated numerous valuable books and documents for me, and otherwise anchored the northern front of the battle. Before leaving that sector, I also would like to thank Markko Seppanen, the director of the Raatteen Portti, for a personal tour of his splendid museum and for providing numerous various valuable contacts.

This book would not be what it is without the help and assistance of some of Finlands leading military historians, most notably Carl-Fredrik Geust and Martti Turtola. I am also grateful to Carl for helping me track down the extraordinary photos, many of which have never been published before, at the Finnish Army Archives, in addition to other favors too numerous to name. Carls and Marttis historiographical colleagues Ohto Manninen and Lasse Laaksonen were also extremely helpful and supportive. I am also indebted to Lt. Col. Ari Raunio for reading the manuscript in its entirety. I am especially grateful to Jussi Kamarainen for helping to illumine the sensitive subject of the residents of the town of Suomussalmi, the site of Finlands most celebrated victory, who were taken hostage during the war. Thanks, too, to Professor Turtolas assistant, Jukka Salli. And gratis to Sam Svard for the superb maps that accompany this volume.

The fantastic Hotel Klaus K has been my principal base of operations during my numerous sorties to Helsinki. I am grateful to its general manager, Marc Skvorc, and his amazing staff for helping to provide a home away from home for me in Helsinki. Speaking of logistics, where would I be without my friend Erkki Kallunki, the proprietor of Tori, and his partner Fredrik, who greeted me every morning with a steaming cappuccino and allowed me to turn his window seat into my field headquarters? Thanks, guys!

The estimable historian-cum-guide extraordinaire Bair Irincheev created and accompanied me on a customized tour of Vyborg (or Viipuri, as the Finns used to call it) and the former Mannerheim Line, including the great castle there that is featured in this book; then on to St. Petersburg and Petrozavodsk, where he tracked down and served as translator for me with several Russian veterans of the war, and otherwise helped me to understand the Russian side of the conflict. Kiitos, Bairor, should I say, spasibo!

I am thankful to Sergey Verigin, the chairman of the Department of History at Petrozavodsk State University and one of Russias top experts on the Winter War, who, along with the late Pavel Razinov, not only was my host during a visit to his splendid campus but who also hosted a conclave about the war on my behalf. Gratis, too, to Yuri Kilin, who vetted the manuscript and added several key insights.

Jumping across the ocean to my beloved alma mater and historiographical headquarters, Cornell University, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my assistantsand now passionate FennophilesMichael Gluck Cornell 12 and J. J. Manford 06, for their respective contributions to this project. For reading my indecipherable handwriting, for running down hundreds of hard-to-find facts, for putting in numerous all-nighters, and for their consistent support and good cheer, I am forever grateful. I literally could not have finished this book without them.