Sweden during the Continuation War: Swedish Volunteer Battalion

Swedish Volunteer Battalion greeted by Field marshal Mannerheim

Swedish Volunteer Battalion following the liberation of Hanko

The Heavy Company of the Swedish Volunteer Battalion

Like in the Winter War, Swedish volunteers were again recruited in the Continuation War in 1941. Although far cooler in its attitude towards Finland than during the Winter War, the Swedish government nonetheless permitted pro-Finnish activities which were ipso facto also to the advantage of the German war effort. At the beginning of September 1941, the Swedish government made it clear that, apart from the Finnish forces on the eastern front, Swedes were not permitted to volunteer for a foreign force. About 25 percent of the men were Swedish officers on leave. The Volunteer Battalion succeeded the Swedish Volunteer Corps and preceded the Swedish Volunteer Company. Swedish neutrality during World War II has been much debated and challenged. Relations between Nazi Germany and Sweden remained co-operative during World War II. Sweden exported iron ore to supply Germany's war industry via the Norwegian port of Narvik. The Swedish Government gave the Wehrmacht access to the Swedish rail system. Sweden also allowed German naval transports to take shortcuts across Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea. The most controversial transit of German troops through Sweden was that of a fully armed and equipped infantry division under the command of General Erwin Engelbrecht from Norway to Finland during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Responding to German appeals for volunteers Swedish citizens enlisted in the German Armed Forces and saw combat on the Eastern Front. This was a choice made by individual Swedish citizens, and not Swedish government policy (foreign recruitment of volunteers was banned in Sweden). Credit: Lecturter in European History Christian Leitz. Top image: Field marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim greeting members of the Swedish Volunteer Battalion in Hanko on December 14 1941. Photo by 2nd Lieutenant Pentti Ilmari Nikulainen. The Finnish Wartime Photo Archive. Middle image: Swedish Volunteer Battalion in Hanko 1941. Hangö Frontmuseum. Bottom image: soldier of the Swedish Volunteer Battalion in the trenches on the Hanko front with a Finnish 20 mm anti-tank rifle. The emblem on the Swedes' helmet was used by Captain Harald Bråkenhielm's Heavy Company. Photo by Finnish TK photographer Nils Helander on October 15 1941. Credit: Julius Jääskeläinen. The Finnish Wartime Photo Archive.