Battle of Salla (1939)

Battle of Salla Part of Winter War Initial Soviet advance November 30 – December 17 Date November 30, 1939 to 28 February 1940 Location Salla, Finnish Lapland Result Finnish victory Belligerents Finland Scandinavian volunteers Soviet Union Commanders and leaders Major General Kurt Martti Wallenius, Swedish General Ernst Linder ? Strength Several battalions, from 10.2 1940 9,400 Scandinavian volunteers One division Casualties and losses Finnish: 187 dead, 211 wounded, 21 captured Volunteers: 23 dead, 39 wounded, 7 captured

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.

Order of battle

Finland

There were only a few Finnish troops in the area at the start of the war. The 17th Separate Battalion (Er.P 17) or the "Salla Battalion" was mobilized before the war. Its main components came from a company of the Frontier Guard. The Finnish troops were part of the Lapland Group (Lapin Ryhmä) which was commanded by Major General Kurt Martti Wallenius.

Soviet Union

The Soviets attacked with 122nd Division; it was planned to use also the 88th Division, but this division didn't participate in combat because of low supplies.

The battle

Soviet troops pushed the Finns up to the Kemijoki river, but weren't able to break through the Finnish defences on the river. On January 13, the Soviet 9th Army ordered the 122nd Division to retreat to the Märkäjärvi village. After this no major combat operations took place, apart from small skirmishes.

Finnish counter-attacks and Soviet withdrawal.