The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

Discussions on the Winter War and Continuation War, the wars between Finland and the USSR.
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CanKiwi2
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#16

Post by CanKiwi2 » 28 Jan 2013, 15:37

This is taken from the Canadian Govt website - http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/fi ... eng&view=d

The enthusiastic planning for the Olympics came to a sudden halt when the Soviet Union attacked Finland on November 30, 1939. Immediately the war became headline news and Canadian public opinion was strongly in support of “gallant Finland.” On December 14, 1939 the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations which declared its condemnation of the actions of the USSR against the Republic of Finland. This declaration was followed by British and Allied promises for military help.

About 250 Finnish immigrants left Canada to defend Finland and joined the “American Legion.” Initially the Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act was a hindrance for Canadian citizens who also wished to volunteer in this battle between “David and Goliath.” For the next three and a half months, the Consulate General in Montreal, now headed by K.F. Altio (1939-1941), and the seven honorary consulates that had been established across Canada, lived through tumultuous times organizing passports and documents for the Finnish Canadian volunteers, seeking clarifications from the Canadian government of its position vis-a-vis Canadian citizens who wished to fight in Finland.

The consulates transferred goods and funds collected in Canada by the many Finland Aid organizations and the newly established Canadian Relief Fund chaired by the Senate Leader of the Conservative Party and former Prime Minister of Canada, Arthur Meighen. Canada announced on March 1, 1940 that its citizens were free to enlist for service in the Finnish armed forces. This lead to the creation of a historically unique “Finland’s Little Army” in Canada. Colonel Hunter, MPP of Ontario, was offered the command of Canadian and British forces in Finland.

On March 9, 1940, Senator Meighan dispatched a telegram to the President of Finland, Kyösti Kallio, that “Ontario friends sending 2000 more men immediately to help fight in Finland.” Finland’s little army was disbanded before setting out as armistice was declared just four days later on March 13, 1940. Finland-Aid activity, however, continued for another year.

Interestingly enough, the Govt of Canada official website and the Finnish Embassy in Ottawa publish the identical information (and wording) online. See http://www.finland.ca/public/default.aspx?nodeid=36033&. Not sure but what they both picked it up from http://www.vapaasana.com/Attitudes%20to ... varied.htm

Also see this linke - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17671093

"MR. EDEN PRAISES CANADIANS.
"Splendid Keenness."
(British Official Wireless.)
LONDON, March 15.
The Secretary for the. Dominions, Mr. I Eden, visited units of the First Canadian Division yesterday. After a four-hour tour of inspection Mr. Eden said: "One cannot but be Impressed by the splendid keenness of the men and the wonderful way in which they have adapted themselves so quickly to strange conditions. It is encouraging to hear that the percentage of sickness is very low. The men certainly seem to be very fit and In the best of spirits."

TORONTO, March 15. (A.A.P.)
Colonel Fraser Hunter, a member of the Ontario Legislature, has offered France the services of 31 aviators and also ground crews. [It was announced on March 4 that Colonel Hunter was organising 700 Canadians, including aviators, for service in Finland, and that he expected to command British and Canadian volunteers to Finland.]


There's actually a book about Colonel Frederick Fraser Hunter - "Kiplings Canadian Colonel" - http://www.amazon.com/Kiplings-Canadian ... 1450210864 - he was a graduate of the Royal Military College, Kingston, served first in India and China with the Bombay Lancers before joining the Survey of India and doing secretive work for the British Foreign Office. During the First World War and back in uniform again he was first Chief of Staff to the South Persia Rifles, then onto St Petersburg at the height of the Revolution. Following his escape across Siberia and onto New York and then the Western Front, he joined the Persian Cossacks in their campaign against the Bolsheviks. Back in the Survey and before retirement and politics in Ontario, he reached the upper echelons of their secretive work in India. His political career was as controversial as his military, illustrating a degree of integrity that would have endeared him to Rudyard Kipling.

Going to pick this book up and see what it says about Colonel Hunter and the Finnish American volunteers.

Senator Arthur Meighan, mentioned above, was a political heavyweight. He was in politics for 34 years, was twice Prime Minister of Canada (1920-21 and 1926), lost his seat in the 1926 elections and was appointed to the Senate in 1932. he was Canada's first Western Prime Minister and the current Canadian PM, Stephen Harper, is his grandson. He was persuaded to become Conservative Party leader again in 1941 but was defeated in a by-election and, disillusioned with politics, returned to a business career. Thus, in chairing the Canadian Relief fund for Finland and supporting the sending of volunteers to Finland, he was certainly influential, even if he wasn't in the Government of the day.
ex Ngāti Tumatauenga ("Tribe of the Maori War God") aka the New Zealand Army

DaveSullivan
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Re:

#17

Post by DaveSullivan » 23 Oct 2014, 18:23

Mikko H. wrote:
A fair number of Americans, mainly of Finnish birth, formed a Finnish American Legion (Amerikansuomalainen legioona, ASL) during the Winter War. The ASL fought late in the conflict - March 1940- and suffered some casualties.
I'm afraid that's incorrect. One company of the ASL was sent to the front just days before the war ended. It arrived the front late on 12 March 1940, and was slated to go into battle the next day. But the local commander knew already that the war was about to end on 13 March, and thought it useless to send the volunteers to fight and die when it made no difference.

The company commander was informed of this decision and went back to his company. He asked the men were they ready to fight and the men answered enthusiastically in positive. He then told them that they were not to fight because the war was about to end. The men were very disappointed to hear that.

While the ASL saw no action, individual Americans of Finnish ancestry made their way to Finland and served among Finns in Finnish units.
Mikko;

May I ask you to provide the source of the company commander's decision not to send the ASL into comabt?

Thanks,

Dave Sullivan


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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#18

Post by DaveSullivan » 23 Oct 2014, 18:38

Juha Tompuri wrote:War diary of the Finnish American Legion:
http://digi.narc.fi/digi/slistaus.ka?ay=38699

Regards, Juha

Hello, Juha.

I am the editor of the journal of the Company of Military Historians and am working on an article dealing with the Finnish American Legion in the Winter War. I had a friend translate the War Diary and noted the mention of numerous attachments, none of which were part of the online version. Do you know whether they are still available?

My requests of the Finnish National Archives and the Finnish War Museum for assistance in locating photographs of the several officers and enlisted men of the Legion mentioned in the war diary have been unsuccessful. The same applies to anything dealing with ASL. No documents seem to have been saved. Detachment Sisu had a distinctive shoulder patch. Did ASL have one? Do you have a friend in the Archives and War Museum who will assist me?

Thanks,

Dave Sullivan

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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#19

Post by DaveSullivan » 23 Oct 2014, 20:09

Will you please tell me where this item is located?

Thanks,

Dave Sullivan

Mangrove
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#20

Post by Mangrove » 23 Oct 2014, 21:17

DaveSullivan wrote:I had a friend translate the War Diary and noted the mention of numerous attachments, none of which were part of the online version. Do you know whether they are still available?
Legion's war diary has been fully digitised, including the five attachments. Other documents have been preserved in the National Archives in Helsinki. According to the online catalog, it seems that all of the material worth saving is there, including:

- War diary
- Order of the days
- Personnel files
- Equipment lists
- Training schedules
- Other miscellaneous documents regarding supply, commands etc.

Most of these documents are under signum Perus-5692.
DaveSullivan wrote: My requests of the Finnish National Archives and the Finnish War Museum for assistance in locating photographs of the several officers and enlisted men of the Legion mentioned in the war diary have been unsuccessful.
You might also want to try the Archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where they keep the archives of the Finnish embassy in Washington.

Mikko H.
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#21

Post by Mikko H. » 23 Oct 2014, 21:24

Mikko;

May I ask you to provide the source of the company commander's decision not to send the ASL into comabt?

Thanks,

Dave Sullivan
Like I wrote in a later post, it IIRC was in one of the following books:

- Talvisodan pikkujättiläinen ed. by Leskinen & Juutilainen
- Todellisuus ja harhat by Laaksonen
- The official history Talvisodan historia

I own the first two books, and will try to search them for the incident once I have more time on my hands.

Mangrove
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Re: Re:

#22

Post by Mangrove » 23 Oct 2014, 21:33

DaveSullivan wrote: May I ask you to provide the source of the company commander's decision not to send the ASL into comabt?
From ASL's war diary:

"I received following written order on 13 March 1940 at 6.50 a.m:

Group S.
Department III
13 March 1940

[To] The Company CO of 1./ASL

The company must be prepared to be moved at once. The CO of the company must arrive to the Group's HQ. (If the men have not drank their tea, it must be drunk. Take care that the men are inside.)

As ordered

The CO of Department III
Captain P. A. Váhren.

After I gave an order to my platoon commanders to move out, I visited the Group's HQ. While I was being briefed about my upcoming mission, suddently news about a peace arrived through the radio and the telephone. Firing was to cease at 11 a.m.

The order given to me was cancelled, but I did not announce peace after returning to the camp site, but described the situation at the front as quite critical. I ordered the platoon leaders to find out who among the men were willing to join the small group who would be sent to face a quite certain death. The result was that all were willing to test their abilities against the Russkies. After I annonced the peace had come, I heard some men swearing why had the peace come now and why we had not let them go to the front sooner."
[...] 13.3.40 klo 6.50 sain seuraavan kirjallisen käskyn:

Ryhmä S.
Osasto III
13.3.40.

1./ASL:n kompp.pääll.

Komppania heti lähtövalmiiksi. Komppanian pääl:n saavuttava Ryhmän esikuntaan. (Jos miehistöllä on tee juomatta, on se juotava. Huom. miehistö sisällä.)

Käskystä

Tst III pääll.
Kapt. P. A. Váhren.

Annettuani joukkueen johtajilleni käskyn valmistautumisesta lähtemään eteen, lähdin ryhmän esikuntaan, jonne saapui, kun parhaillaan minulle selvitettiin tulevaa tehtävääni, yllättäen tieto sekä radiolla että puhelimella rauhan solmimisesta ja siitä, että ammunta lopetetaan tänään klo 11. Minulle annettu käsky peruutettiin, mutta en majoitusalueella palattuani heti ilmoittanut rauhan solmimisesta, vaan kuvasin tilanteen edessä sangen kriitilliseksi ja käskin joukkueen johtajien ottamaan selvää miehiltään ketkä haluavat siihen pienehköön joukkoon joka nyt lähetetään melko varmaan kuolemaan. Tulos oli, että kaikki halusivat lähteä vihdoinkin koittelemaan kykyjään ryssän kanssa. Ilmoitettuani tämän jälkeen, että rauha on solmittu, kuulin joukosta kiroilua miksi rauha tuli nyt ja minkä tähden heitä ei ollut päästetty aikaisemmin rintamalle. [...]

Mikko H.
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#23

Post by Mikko H. » 24 Oct 2014, 09:57

Thanks, that makes it unnecessary for me to wade through the books.

BTW, the document in question is not strictly the ASL war diary, but a unit history written soon after the war by an ASL officer who had access to unit diaries etc.

DaveSullivan
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#24

Post by DaveSullivan » 24 Oct 2014, 20:48

Mikko;

Thanks very much. Was the officer's name Tauno Simo? The same man who, as a major in the Finnish Army, was KIA in 1944? I have, without any success, tried to locate photographs of ASL officers and enlisted men. Do you know of any? If so, where? Did ASL have a distinctive shoulder patch as did Detachment Sisu?

Thanks,

Dave

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Re: ASL Story

#25

Post by DaveSullivan » 25 Oct 2014, 03:26

USA_Finn wrote:The ASL is an interesting topic, worthy of a book.

The Finnish American community of Astoria – Clatskanie Oregon USA were proud of the fact that a number men joined the ASL in support our Mother Country. Wish I had captured the names of these volunteers. Most of this generation are gone now. But the local newspapers are a good reference source and I will do some research and post what is found.
This universal support of Finland did much to heal the wounds resulting from the Finnish civil war and to bind the Finnish community together as one.

Matti
Matti;

Were you able to find any newspaper clippings or other information regarding volunteers for ASL?

Thanks,

Dave Sullivan

Mikko H.
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#26

Post by Mikko H. » 25 Oct 2014, 10:48

I tried searching http://www.sa-kuva.fi from 01/01/1939 to 01/01/1941 using such search terms as 'amerikka' ('America'), 'amerikkalainen' ('American'), 'legioona' ('legion'), 'yhdysvallat' ('United States'), but got no meaningful results. Search term 'vapaaehtoinen' ('volunteer') gave results showing only Swedish, Danish and Hungarian volunteers.

If sa-kuva.fi doesn't have any photos, then I don't know where to search, sorry.

Mangrove
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#27

Post by Mangrove » 25 Oct 2014, 14:29

DaveSullivan wrote:I have, without any success, tried to locate photographs of ASL officers and enlisted men. Do you know of any? If so, where?
Some visa application forms also contain photograph(s) of the person. These forms can be both find from the aforementioned National Archives and the Archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

DaveSullivan
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#28

Post by DaveSullivan » 25 Oct 2014, 18:10

Mangrove wrote:
DaveSullivan wrote:I had a friend translate the War Diary and noted the mention of numerous attachments, none of which were part of the online version. Do you know whether they are still available?
Legion's war diary has been fully digitised, including the five attachments. Other documents have been preserved in the National Archives in Helsinki. According to the online catalog, it seems that all of the material worth saving is there, including:

- War diary
- Order of the days
- Personnel files
- Equipment lists
- Training schedules
- Other miscellaneous documents regarding supply, commands etc.

Most of these documents are under signum Perus-5692.
DaveSullivan wrote: My requests of the Finnish National Archives and the Finnish War Museum for assistance in locating photographs of the several officers and enlisted men of the Legion mentioned in the war diary have been unsuccessful.
You might also want to try the Archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where they keep the archives of the Finnish embassy in Washington.
Hello, Mangrove.

Thank you for your instructions. I did go to the National Archives of Finland web site and found the list of documents you mentioned. Very exciting source material! However, the translation of the web site text appeared to say pdfs of the documents could be downloaded by clicking on the name of the document. It must have been a bad translation because no pdfs were ever displayed. Have you dowmloaded them? If so, please tell me what I did wrong.

Thanks,

Dave

Mangrove
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#29

Post by Mangrove » 25 Oct 2014, 18:34

DaveSullivan wrote:However, the translation of the web site text appeared to say pdfs of the documents could be downloaded by clicking on the name of the document. It must have been a bad translation because no pdfs were ever displayed.
No actual documents can be downloaded from the online catalog, only digitised paper catalogs that specify the catalog number of the document inside the National Archives.

DaveSullivan
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Re: The Finnish American Legion in the Winter War

#30

Post by DaveSullivan » 26 Oct 2014, 01:13

Thanks. I'll contact the National Archives of Finland for copies.

Dave

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