Finnish Forces

The Hero of Suomussalmi

Hjalmar Siilasvuo (1892–1947) Knight of the Mannerheim Cross #183. One of the first Finnish jaegers, who were trained in Germany in 1915, participated in battles against Russians on the eastern front and fought in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. Siilasvuo is best known for the Battle of Suomussalmi (Dec 7, 1939 - Jan 8, 1940), where he led 11,000 men and achieved major victory over two Soviet divisions and a tank brigade. After Suomussalmi he led his troops at Kuhmo where they encircled Soviet division and chopped it up to seperate "motti's" which were all later destroyed, except one which held until the peace came. According to Siilasvuo, the last motti would have been destroyed if the peace had come 1 or 2 days later. Continuation War didn't start so well. The III Corps that he commanded in the northern front suffered heavy casualties and the hero of Winter War was nicknamed "Hjalmar the Bloody" by his demoralized soldiers who thought they were getting killed just because he wanted to succeed at all cost to please Germans. Siilasvuo finally halted the offensive towards Murmansk railway in November 1941. He was disappointed to Germans and got into bad relations with them after several arguements. Year later he was taken the command of his corps and put to a desk job until february 1944 when he was made commander of reformed III Corps, which he led succesfully in the defense battles on Karelian Isthmus during the summer of 1944. Siilasvuo was independent and stubborn commander who didn't liked being told what to do. He was also known for taking big risks, like the Tornio landing during Lapland War where he loaded unarmed ships with 2900 men and sent them to land to rear of Germans from open sea. The operation was success and 12,500 men were landed in total with little casualties during the landings. Siilasvuo led the III Corps in Lapland until it was disbanded at the end of the year and then commanded 1st Division to the end of the war in April 1945.