In Finland during World War II, some 242,000 women join Lotta-Svard (named for a fictional Finnish battlefield heroine), making the female paramilitary group the largest volunteer organization in the world.


 Lotta-Svard member

Machine gun designed by Aimo Lahti. 50th Infantry Regiment, Svir River, 3 December 1942. SA-kuva 117423

This rare picture shows one of only 30 L-41 "Sampo" machine guns issued to frontline units.

L-41 "Sampo" machine gun

Assault gun commander, staff sergeant Börje Brotell. 22-year-old former SS soldier from Turku. Ihantala, 7.7.1944. SA-kuva 155733

From this place he commanded his Stu-40 (Ps. 531-10 "Bubi") in destruction of 11 enemy tanks in June-July 1944. Five of them he destroyed on the first day of Battle of Tali-Ihantala. Before his service in the Finnish armoured division he was machine gunner in the Finnish volunteer battalion of Waffen-SS 1941-1943 and was wounded to his right thigh 15.8.1942. He passed away on Finland's independence day, 6 December 2009.