"Rifles of Simo Häyhä: The World's Greatest Sniper "
- Thread starter steve podleski
- Start date
Are we talking about the same time period, or do you mean in a specific conflict?
Well, some are quite good there, of what I´ve heard though ...
i think someone else commented but
finnish issues ammunition was LApua ammunition made with lapua case, vihtavuori n140 and a d166 bullet.
to this day, more then 80 years later the that's a winning combo.
finland fought the red army for more then half a decade with valmet, sako and tikka rifles. they had to work. that lineage is still alive and well with tikkakoski rifles.
You are correct that they weren't part of the 3rd Reich. But they did maintain trade with the Reich and Germany supplied the Finns with weapons during the Winter War. It was partly to keep Stalin occupied while Barbarossa was being contemplated. And also served as a proxy war that helped the Germans evaluate the strength of the Red Army. Which was, during the purges, almost totally useless.
Finland was technically neutral in WW2, but it provided iron ore, timber, probably coal and other resources to Germany through much of the war. As did neutral Sweden. Likely both did this because both saw Germany as a bulwark against Soviet invasion... Which Finland experienced. And because both were cash-and-carry nations. If you are going to be neutral, you have to be neutral to everyone.
There was also a Finnish volunteer SS battalion that fought on the Eastern Front. They were NOT Finnish troops. They were men from Finland who went to Germany to volunteer to fight the Soviets and were organized into a Waffen SS unit. So there is some truth to it. But Finland was essentially neutral in WW2.
Of note, I own a 25MM French Hotchkiss cannon. A 1936 Puteaux. It came from Finland where it had been sent by Germany after the Fall of France. Germany had little use for obsolete French artillery. Their guns were much better. So they shipped tons of captured French military equipment to the Finns to help them bleed the Soviets white. My guess is that they were not free... but traded for commodities, especially iron to keep the Krupp furnaces running.
It was a complicated diplomatic and military situation and technically you are correct, ND. But there is some truth behind it.
BTW, if one wants to list countries that were part of the Third Reich... France, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Holland, Ukraine.... Not by choice. But they were a part of the Third Reich. Until the 'real' anti-Fascists came along and screwed up the Austrian Corporal's little fantasy world.
Sirhr
PS. Fun snapshot taken on the Norwegian/Finnish border at Karigashinmi (sp) when I motorcycled Norway, Finland and Sweden in June 2012. This was several hundred miles North of the Arctic Circle and surprise... an ice storm started just as I crossed the border. Was over quickly but just after this picture, all the grass was covered with ice pellets. Got to see some interesting battlefields, the Fjord where the Tirpitz sank, the Wasa. An amazing trip!
karigasniemi i would assume you mean.
as for the finnish involvement in WW2, it's fairly straightforward. finns hate ruski's. that's the story.
never been to finland myself. plenty of nissu, kalamojakka and sauna swim on cold lakes surrounded by mosquitoes and pulpwood at home.
lol
Well, just because there were volunteer SS units from almost any country around in WW 2, doesn´t mean that those countries were connected in any way with the 3rd Reich.
It had nothing to do with the countries they came from.
Right now are volunteer people from Europe and even some from America helping the Kurds to defend against ISIS.
That doesn´t mean, that their countries are involved in any meaning.
Hitler visited Finland only once, and it was a cold "welcome".
Nothing was dealed or done after that.
And trade is not a crime, if you like it or not.
Neutral means you are neutral, and nothing else.
Did the Fins trade with other countries in that time period as well?
I´ll bet they did.
Many of those volunteer SS units joined for their own reasons, many of them to fight Russia, because they had no chance to do it otherwise.
Others wanted a change in their own gouvernment, switch from a socialistic to a nationalsistic and so on.
I can´t proof it, but I´m pretty sure the least of them joined in because they found Germany or Hitler so fantastic.
And in saying so, I guess many of the members inhere would rather like a nationalistic spin than a socialistic.
YMMV.
It had nothing to do with the countries they came from.
Right now are volunteer people from Europe and even some from America helping the Kurds to defend against ISIS.
That doesn´t mean, that their countries are involved in any meaning.
Hitler visited Finland only once, and it was a cold "welcome".
Nothing was dealed or done after that.
And trade is not a crime, if you like it or not.
Neutral means you are neutral, and nothing else.
Did the Fins trade with other countries in that time period as well?
I´ll bet they did.
Many of those volunteer SS units joined for their own reasons, many of them to fight Russia, because they had no chance to do it otherwise.
Others wanted a change in their own gouvernment, switch from a socialistic to a nationalsistic and so on.
I can´t proof it, but I´m pretty sure the least of them joined in because they found Germany or Hitler so fantastic.
And in saying so, I guess many of the members inhere would rather like a nationalistic spin than a socialistic.
YMMV.
It wasn't a socialistic reason they went, it was idealistic. They wanted to kill Russians.
Well it goes back to the Finnish civil war at least. The red Finns were split between their desire for an independent state and ceding to a bolshevic govt in Russia. For the white Finns it was no question.
There were also Germans, who even after defeat in ww1, were eager to kill commies in Finland. And of course the American military, using 1891 Mosins were with the white Russians, trying to stop the bolshevics.
Pretty sure that isn’t wholly accurate, but when their supposed ‘friends’ sided up to the enemy next door what should anyone expect!?
It’s hard to criticize them under the conditions that were imposed on them.
Finns are great.
Their rifles are accurate
Their women are lovely
Their beer and vodka is strong.
MRAD reticle
Their rifles are accurate
Their women are lovely
Their beer and vodka is strong.
MRAD reticle
Finns are great.
Their women are lovely
Hummm, aha, tell us more about it ...
Similar threads
