1939-40 Russo-Finnish Winter War

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Actually the Finns are ethnically different than the Norwegians or the Swedes.

Very true. They are closer to Hungarians and Lithuanians than any other nationality.

[klr]

Actually the Finns are ethnically different than the Norwegians or the Swedes.

Very true. They are closer to Hungarians and Lithuanians than any other nationality.

This was always my understanding as well, but apparently whoever wrote the wiki entry for one seems to think different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries

Also, Finland is part of the Nordic Passport Union, formed in the 1950's. It seems that for some purposes, simple geography trumps culture and ethnicity. So I guess you can argue it either way.

Going back on topic: The Finns seemed to be able to get the absolute best out of any piece of equipment. Their air force was a motley collection of different types bought from wherever they get them. Aircraft that were considered second-rate or worse by other countries usually had a very good or even outstanding service record with the Finns. The Brewster Buffalo (B-239) is one example:



And yes, that is a swastika. The Finns adopted it long before the Luftwaffe ever did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Buffalo

...
In the end, the Brewster Buffalo gained a reputation in Finnish Air Force service as one of their more successful combat aircraft. In service during 1941-1945, Brewsters of Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) were credited with 477 Soviet aircraft destroyed, against the loss of 19 Brewsters: a victory ratio of 26:1. [41] However, substantiation of this claim from German and Soviet records (matching reported kills to acknowledged losses) has not been completed as of 2007. These figures also do not specify the number of bombers versus number of fighter aircraft destroyed.

During the Continuation War, Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) was equipped with the B-239s until May 1944, when the Brewsters were transferred to Hävittäjälentolaivue 26 (Fighter Squadron 26). Attacking Soviet Air Force pilots using formulaic defensive tactics, many Finnish pilots racked up enormous scores on the Finnish front. Most of the pilots of Lentolaivue 24 were Winter War combat veterans; the squadron achieved total of 459 Soviet aircraft kills with B-239s, while losing 15 Brewsters in combat.[42]

The top-scoring Buffalo pilot was Hans Wind, with 39 kills in B-239s. [43] Wind scored 26 of his kills while flying aircraft No. BW-393, while Eino Luukkanen scored seven more in the same aircraft. The top scoring Finnish ace, Ilmari Juutilainen, scored 34 of his 94½ kills in B-239s, including 28 in BW-364.[44] After evaluation of claims against Soviet actual losses, aircraft No. BW-364 was credited with 42½ kills in total by all pilots operating it, possibly making it the highest-scoring fighter airframe in the history of air warfare.

[Pappa]

Actually the Finns are ethnically different than the Norwegians or the Swedes.

Surely Swedes are part of a different branch of the tree of life altogether.

*groan*

Sorry.

[Chinaski]

Mythology trivia question!
What is the name of the tree of life and what does that name mean (i.e. stand for)?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Mythology trivia question!
What is the name of the tree of life and what does that name mean (i.e. stand for)?

Yggdrasil, The Terrible One's Horse.

[Chinaski]

Yay ^^ Let's have a mythology trivia thread!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Yay ^^ Let's have a mythology trivia thread!

Go for it, but the Corn Twins are mine!

[Woodbutcher]

My uncle was a fighter pilot in the Finnish air force during Continuation war. My father fought in the army, as did my other male relatives. My father was a refugee from Karelia and spoke Russian fluently, so he was always sent as a scout to find out about enemy location etc. He told me that sometimes he even ate with the russian soldiers, since many of them wore a mishmash of civilian clothing; there was a shortage of uniforms, and he blended right in. He also mentioned that some of the attacking Russians weren't even armed, their own commanders forced them to attack or be shot. He told me of one instance where some Russian captives were commanded to dig graves for their own casualties. The ground was hard, and the diggers made short shallow graves, broke the corpses' legs off at the knees, and folded them into the graves.
One thing that Mannerheim did which people talked about, was that he made the Finnish army weapons compatible with the Russian weapons. That way captured ammunition could be used.
We Finns have always been stubborn assholes, a fact of which I'm extremely proud.

[FedUpWithFaith]

Wood,

The more I learn about Finland, the more impressed I am. Also came across some really cool stuff about linguistic-genetic studies of the Finns and Laplanders too. Some really fascinating migration must have happened to and from that relatively small area.

I seem to recall that Finland was subjet to radiation poisoning from Chernobyl and possibly some other Soviet nuclear tests and accidents (particularly a nuclear sub that went kaput in your waters). What ever came of that?. Are people still getting sick? Did the Russians or Soviets ever do anything to help?

[Har]

I seem to recall that Finland was subjet to radiation poisoning from Chernobyl and possibly some other Soviet nuclear tests and accidents (particularly a nuclear sub that went kaput in your waters). What ever came of that?. Are people still getting sick? Did the Russians or Soviets ever do anything to help?

0,02 millisievert per year.

[FedUpWithFaith]

I seem to recall that Finland was subjet to radiation poisoning from Chernobyl and possibly some other Soviet nuclear tests and accidents (particularly a nuclear sub that went kaput in your waters). What ever came of that?. Are people still getting sick? Did the Russians or Soviets ever do anything to help?

0,02 millisievert per year.

That's not bad - well below normal background levels (about 1% of background)

Now if you'd said 20mSv then I would be worried.

[Chinaski]

My uncle was a fighter pilot in the Finnish air force during Continuation war. My father fought in the army, as did my other male relatives. My father was a refugee from Karelia and spoke Russian fluently, so he was always sent as a scout to find out about enemy location etc. He told me that sometimes he even ate with the russian soldiers, since many of them wore a mishmash of civilian clothing; there was a shortage of uniforms, and he blended right in. He also mentioned that some of the attacking Russians weren't even armed, their own commanders forced them to attack or be shot. He told me of one instance where some Russian captives were commanded to dig graves for their own casualties. The ground was hard, and the diggers made short shallow graves, broke the corpses' legs off at the knees, and folded them into the graves.
One thing that Mannerheim did which people talked about, was that he made the Finnish army weapons compatible with the Russian weapons. That way captured ammunition could be used.
We Finns have always been stubborn assholes, a fact of which I'm extremely proud.

Maybe you know... How accurate is the Talvisota movie?

[devogue]

Can't believe this has reached three pages.

[Chinaski]

Can't believe this has reached three pages.

I know, neither can I It's a small little unknown war fought in the shadow of WWII... But it was badass!

[klr]

Can't believe this has reached three pages.

I know, neither can I It's a small little unknown war fought in the shadow of WWII... But it was badass!

Changing the page size from 25 comments to 15 also helped ...