Finland's co-belligerence with Nazi Germany: ϟϟ-Kampfgruppe „Nord“

Waffenbrüderschaft

Finnish FM Gustaf Mannerheim and German Gen. Erwin Engelbrecht

German dictator Adolf Hitler and Finnish marshal Gustaf Mannerheim

Co-belligerence was the term used by the wartime government of Finland for its military co-operation with the German Reich. Finland, like Italy and Japan, as well as a number of countries including neutral Spain, belonged to Adolf Hitler's anti-Communist pact. Germany was also allowed to recruit Finnish volunteers to the Waffen-SS which served under direct German command in operations away from Finnish-Soviet border. The German troops in Finland were not the representatives of foreign despotism but helpers who the Finns called their brothers-in-arms. The SS-Kampfgruppe Nord was the only SS unit to fight inside the Arctic Circle when it was stationed in Finland and in the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Its manpower strength was 10,373 officers and men in June 1941. The formation was not made up of regular Waffen-SS troops, but from German, Hungarian and Romanian SS men used for garrison duties in Norway who lacked proper training and leadership. Due to lack of training the Nord suffered heavy losses at the Soviet fortress at Salla in July 1941. In September 1941 Nord was attached to the Finnish III Corps operating in the Kiestinki area of North Karelia under Finnish General Hjalmar Siilasvuo. Over the winter of 1941-1942 it received replacements from the general elite pool of Waffen-SS recruits and was redesignated as an Waffen-SS mountain division in June 1942. Top image: the German Reichskriegsfahne designed personally by Adolf Hitler and the Finnish triple-tailed war flag waving above a newly built bridge across the river Sohjana in the Kiestinki area in May 1942. Middle image: German 163.Infanterie-Division on route march inspected by Finnish Field marshal Gustaf Mannerheim and German General Erwin Engelbrecht on July 18 1941 in Finnish Kaurila. Sweden had allowed the fully armed Engelbrecht division safe transit through Swedish territory to join Finnish forces in East Karelia. It was a decision that raised many challenging questions about Sweden's neutrality during WWII. Credit: Sami Toivonen. Photo by Aarne Pietinen. Bottom image: on June 4 1942, Hitler made a surprise visit to Finland in honour of Field marshal Gustaf Mannerheim's 75th birthday. Dining in the train wagon: Adolf Hitler, Finnish PM Jukka Rangell, President Risto Ryti and Gustaf Mannerheim. Credit: Jussi Luostarinen. All photos: Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive.