Lapland Group
Encyclopedia
The Lapland Group was a formation of the Finnish Army
Finnish Army
The Finnish Army is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces.Today's Army is divided into six branches: the infantry , field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, signals, and materiel troops.-History of the Finnish Army:Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of...

 during the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

 between Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. The Group was formed on 13 December 1939 from troops of the North Finland Group
North Finland Group
North Finland Group was a formation of the Finnish Army during the Winter War. It was responsible for an almost 800-kilometer-long border from the town of Lieksa to the Arctic Ocean. The group was under Major General Wiljo Tuompo, and the headquarters was located in Kajaani.It was charged to...

. The Group was placed under the command of Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 Kurt Martti Wallenius
Kurt Martti Wallenius
Kurt Martti Wallenius was a Finnish Major General.Wallenius was a member of the Finnish Jäger troops trained in Germany prior to Finnish independence. In 1915 Wallenius travelled to Germany where he enrolled in the Royal Prussian 27th Jäger Battalion...

 and had its headquarters at Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...

. The Forces took part in the Battle of Salla
Battle of Salla (1939)
The Battle of Salla was fought between Finnish and Soviet troops near Salla in northern Finland during the Winter War. The Soviets had orders to advance through Salla to Kemijärvi and Sodankylä, and from there to Rovaniemi in just two weeks. From there they were to advance to Tornio and cut Finland...

 and the Battle of Petsamo
Battle of Petsamo (1939)
The Battle of Petsamo was fought between Finnish and Soviet troops in the area of Petsamo in the far north of Finland in 1939 and 1940. The Finnish troops were greatly outnumbered but managed to contain the Soviet troops due to the extreme terrain and weather....

.

Order of battle

Osasto Roininen was located at Salla
Salla
Salla is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....

 and consisted of the following forces:
  • Separate Battalion 26 (Erillinen Pataljoona 26, Er.P 26)
  • Separate Battalion 17 (Erillinen Pataljoona 17, Er.P 17)
  • Infantry Regiment 40 (Jalkaväkirykmentti 40, JR 40)
  • Two battalions of the "Replacement Brigade" VII/KT-Pr and IX/KT-Pr
  • One battery of artillery
    Artillery
    Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...



At the End of February 1940 the troops around Salla were replaced by the Swedish volunteers of the Stridsgruppen SFK

Osasto Pennanen which was located in Petsamo
Pechengsky District
Pechengsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the five in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is located to the northwest of the Kola Peninsula on the coast of the Barents Sea and borders with Finland in the south and southwest and with Norway in the west, northwest, and north...

consisted of the following forces:
  • 10th Separate Company (10. Erillinen Komppania, 10.Er.K)
  • 11th Separate Company (11. Erillinen Komppania, 11.Er.K)
  • 3rd Company
  • 5th Separate Battery (5. Erillinen Patteri, 5.Er.Ptri)
  • Reconnaissance Group 11 (Tiedusteluosasto 11)
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