Battle of Salla

Overview

The Battle of Salla was fought between Finnish and Soviet troops near Salla in northern Finland during the Winter War. The Soviets had orders to advance through Salla to Kemijärvi and Sodankylä, and from there to Rovaniemi in just two weeks. From there they were to advance to Tornio and cut Finland in two. The Finnish troops managed to stop the Soviet advance just east of Kemijärvi. During the last days of February 1940 the Finnish troops were replaced with the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish volunteers of the Stridsgruppen SFK.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Salla formed part of the Soviet effort to sever Finland's territorial continuity by driving through the northern interior. Soviet forces were tasked with advancing from Salla through Kemijärvi and Sodankylä to Rovaniemi, and then pressing on to Tornio on the Swedish border — a thrust that, if successful, would have cut Finland in two. Finnish defenders halted this advance just east of Kemijärvi, denying the Soviets their operational objective and preserving Finland's north-south lines of communication. Soviet casualties reached roughly 4,000 against a Finnish force of approximately 3,500, reflecting the difficulty the attackers encountered in executing the timetabled drive. In the final days of February 1940 Finnish troops at Salla were relieved by Scandinavian volunteers of the Stridsgruppen SFK, one of the more concrete expressions of Nordic solidarity during the Winter War.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (4)