1940 Death in the Karelian Forests

British Newsreel. January 4, 1940. The Soviet army was poorly prepared for winter warfare, particularly in forests, and heavily used vulnerable motorized vehicles. These vehicles were kept running continuously so their fuel would not freeze, which led to increased breakdowns and aggravated fuel shortages. One of the most remarkable losses in military history is the so-called "Raatteentie Incident," during the month-long Battle of Suomussalmi. The Soviet 44th Infantry Division (c. 25,000 troops) was almost completely destroyed after marching on a forest road straight into an ambush of the Finnish "Kontula detachment" (a unit of 300 men). This small unit blocked the advance of the Soviet Division, while Finnish colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo and his 9th Division (c. 6,000 troops) cut off the Soviet retreat route, divided the enemy force into smaller units and then destroyed it in detail. The Soviet casualties amounted to up to 23,000 men, while the Finnish lost around 800 men. In addition, the Finnish troops captured 43 tanks, 71 field and anti-aircraft cannons, 29 anti-tank cannons, AFVs, tractors, 260 trucks, 1,170 horses, infantry weapons, ammunition, medical and communication material.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Winter
• War
• USSR
• Russia
• Finland
• Karlia
• Mannerheim
• Line
• Talvisota
• Karelia
• Vyborg
• Viipuri
• Helsinki
• Meretskov
• Timoshenko

[AlexFreconHD]

Thumbs up if WW2 Tweets sent you here.

[GoAndDreamOn]

R.I.P Headsett users

[Menties1]

TheYellowbellyfins, MrBlockTheHood, blockthehood or whoever next is idiot, lout, ultimate trol or have mental problems and something against Finland. He made always new account. Please, ingnore this stupid kid and mark his messages as trash. Dont reply to him or anything. DONT FEED THE TROLL. I have try to argue whit him several time but it is totaly useless because he have no any reason, sense or arguments and dont care what you reply him. He only try to cause disturbances and make other angry.

[AtrumMixer]

Te Finns arr dettly vhen pist off.

[DCTriv]

@WigTuts Same, great twitter feed.

[WigTuts]

Here from WW2 tweets, awesome Twitter account (the only one I actually follow)

[kettune855]

@TheYellowbellyfins Tuleppa sanomaan tuo tänne face-to-face. Kakara . Annan osoitteen jos löytyy miestä .

[obuBBubo]

@TheYellowbellyfins is a LIE and a dirty little LIAR.

Now, it says: "At the signing, Ribbentrop and Stalin enjoyed warm conversations, exchanged toasts".

Then, as per the pact, Nazis started their invasionSS on 1.9.1939, and the RuSSians on 17.9. 1939. It says: "the two armies (RuSSian and Nazi) warmly greeted one another in Poland", and "after Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands, Stalin sent his congratulations to him".

- Ah Joseph, too much, you shouldn't..

- It's ok Adolf my chum, muah!

[RocketBuzzsaw]

@TheYellowbellyfins What the hell is your problem with the Finns? Are you mentally disabled?

[TheYellowbellyfins]

Finland AT THE CENTRE OF EUROPEAN FASCISM HITLERS DIRTY LITTLE HENCHMEN