Battle of Salla

Battle context

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.