Recommended books on the Winter War & Continuation War

[JTV]

I'm thinking of buying Ari Raunio's (et.al) Jatkosodan torjuntataisteluja 1942-1944, but before I do I'd like to know if anyone who might have the book could tell me how detailed the battle descriptions are? Are battles such as Tali-Ihantala or Ilomantsi described in a day to day fashion? I already own Sotatoimet - Suomen sotien 1939-1945 kulku kartoin, but I am looking for a similar book that goes in more detail.

I think you are going to be pleased with the particular book. With Tali - Ihantala it does indeed go through the battles day by day. When it comes to Ilomatsi battle, the book does go through it with great detail, although the chain of events get explained in separate chapters presumably due to overlapping events making basic day by day method too complicated. In addition of going through the battle events the book contains excellent maps (which you may already have) and personal histories of commanding officers. The notable thing that it has and that are missing from the older Finnish books is, that it typically has also accurate info about Soviet losses, since authors had access to Russian archives.

Jarkko

EDIT: Typos fixed

[Teemu S]

Thanks Jarkko! I will definitely add it to my collection.

[Lotvonen]

Here is an old book :

Kaarlo Simojoki
Taipale "Tavanmukaista tykistötulta"
Otava, Helsinki 1941
202 p in Finnish

The author was an infantry Platoon leader, then a Company commander at Taipale about 15 to 22 February 1940.
I did not (yet) bother to find out which Regiment it was.

The story spans five days the author's platoon held at Koukunniemi field stronghold no.4. What is unique in the story is the "nuts-and-bolts" description of what he did. To begin with 2nd Lt. Simojoki tells the reader what the inside of the dugout looked like when the Company received orders to take over the front line at Koukunniemi. He then describes what he was wearing, how it felt like to get from a warm dugout into very cold night,...In brief, the reader gets an excellent idea what it was like to be a Platoon leader and what his duties were. On the fourth day the Company CO is killed in a counterstrike and 2nd Lt Simojoki is ordered to take over the Company. His unenviable task now is to defend half a kilometer of front line, trenches all smashed up, with a Company - comprising less than 70 (seventy) tired and badly fed men...
Finally he is able to hand over the front line to an outfit comprising inexperienced hastily trained men led by an incompetent officer.

Certainly worth reading.

[kuuskajaskari]

https://mitra-books.com/images/products ... mg_692.jpg

MANNERHEIM LINE ASSAULT - BAIR IRINCHEEV
This book, has anyone read it ?

I`m looking for any info of the troops at Punnus-sector under Winter War. Finnish troops were mostly JR5.

regards Jukka

[krp13]

My recommendations about Finnish ww2 books:

Summan Ristit
http://legendarywarbooks.blogspot.com/2 ... summa.html

Forgotten front
http://legendarywarbooks.blogspot.com/2 ... tujen.html

http://legendarywarbooks.blogspot.com/

[Seppo Koivisto]

Air defence in Northern Europe, 1997, by Heikki Nikunen former commander of the Finnish air force.
https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/119972

[milda684]

Hello, dear forum members. I am new here, so I don't know everything. I am very interested in WW2 and especially in Finland against the Soviets. I would like to highly recommend this book which I have recently read. https://www.perkuknyga.lt/knyga/lapland ... mika-kulju Of course this book is in Lithuanian, but I think you will find somewhere in English as well. The English book would be "The Lapland War" by Mika Kulju. It is really a very interesting book, a lot of unheard facts. I hope this book has not been mentioned before. If so, I apologise. Happy reading!!!

[Robert M Hammond]

Dear Listers:

Greetings from Southern California! Is there anything written which describes in detail a day-by-day battle account of the first week of the Winter War in the Karelian Isthmus? I am trying to learn about the four Finnish Groups (U, M, L, R).

All the best,
Robert