The Winter War began with the Soviet invasion of Finland
on November 30th 1939 three months after the outbreak of World War II
and ended only three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on March 13 1940; but why
was the war over so quickly what happened to the Soviet Army that had them so shaken?
When legends and folklore connect in a historical context the story becomes even more bizarre. One
of these theories of the war is steeped in pagan folklore and is as of yet unproven through research
and documentation; although the little evidence that was available makes for a compelling case.
What really killed over 100 Russian soldiers in the depths of a January winter
in 1940? If the Finns killed them in battle why did they not take credit to bolster home morale,
to impress the Germans whom they wanted as an ally and demoralize their enemies? How could so
many Soviet soldiers have been killed in a battle without any Finnish casualties?
Hello, i'm Colin Heaton former soldier, Marine Corps scout sniper, history professor, historian and
book author, and we'll answer these questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten History.
Finland is still a predominantly Lutheran nation with other Christian and a few Jewish groups.
However there are many Finns especially among the Sami people in Lapland and in Karelia
who were and are still polytheistic pagans, believing in shamanism,
superstition, and mythology. They worshiped a God called "Ukko" and they were a small minority
as well as a rather isolated group. Many of the Finnish soldiers still had their superstitions
and some places were deemed mysterious and were to be avoided. Such locations were Vottovaara Mountain
and the Khibiny Mountains which were sacred to the Sami people. The mountains were known
for their pagan populations complete with their own language, religion, superstitions
and folklore. It was one of these superstitions that would take root during the Winter War.
The Soviets invaded Finland on November 30th, 1939 and the war ended three and a half months later
but there was something that happened during that war that has never been explained.
Part of that short war was the Battle of the Kola which lasted from December 7th 1939 to
March 13 1940 which extended into both the Kola Peninsula
and the Karelian Isthmus. The only direct avenue of approach for the Soviets into Finland was through
the Karelian Isthmus, a narrow strip of land bordered by mountains and dotted with lakes and rivers; or
they could come across the White Sea into the Kola Peninsula with Red Army units based in Murmansk
driving in from the north. The Finnish army of 160 000 men faced an invading Soviet Army consisting
of about 450 000 soldiers and 2 000 tanks. The Finns planned on making Karelia a choke point,
a bottleneck from which they could block, starve, and kill the communists.
As the war started the Finns faced the onslaught of the Soviet Eighth Red Army commanded by ivan
Nikitich Khabarov and they stopped the massive force inflicting heavy casualties on several
occasions. However some small units managed to get through specific areas successfully
but they also took heavy losses. The Battle of Tolvajärvi on December 12th 1939 was part
of a larger Battle of Kola. It was the first major Finnish victory of the war and came at a crucial
time for the morale of the entire Finnish military and the nation at large. Its importance to not only
the fighting on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga forced the Soviets to also launch a mass attack
into the Kola Peninsula as a flanking maneuver. As a result of these setbacks Khabarov was
removed from his post on December 13th 1939 and replaced by Spanish Civil War and Russo-Japanese
War of 1938 veteran Colonel General Gregory Mikhailovich Shtern. The Finnish 12th Division
commanded by Colonel Lauri Taavetti Tiainen until January 31st 1940 was quite successful
and then he was succeeded in command by Antero Svensson. The 12th Division was part of IV Corps
commended by Major General Johan Woldemar Hägglund a World War I veteran and a seasoned commander.
Tiainen was responsible for placing his 8 000 men along a 70-mile front as he had limited resources
and few men. His plan was to defend key points in strength and set ambushes along the forest trails.
The Finns had very few artillery pieces while the Soviets had several hundred guns of varying
calibers. The fight would be one of hit-and-run guerrilla warfare and the Finns would leave one
area open for the Soviets to occupy. This small forested mountain would have been advantageous
for either side especially for artillery but the deep snow and thick woods made transporting
the heavy guns impossible. The Finns had several advantages: they were bred and properly prepared,
trained and clothed for the brutal winter. They knew the terrain they controlled the few unimproved
roads. They had excellent snipers such as Simo Hayha and commandos such as Lauri Allan Törni. They
also had highly mobile arctic ski commandos units used as the reconnaissance and harassing force.
Also the Finnish soldiers knew how to live off the land growing up as stealth hunters and farmers.
They could stalk and track game which is far more difficult than tracking men. Tiainen decided to control
these open avenues of approach,, run commando units to hit and run behind the Soviet lines inflicting
whatever damage they could and constantly harass the enemy. The Soviets had planned a two-prong
attack up through Karelia and also from the east by pushing through Kola from the north.
One of the objectives was the Khibiny Mountains which rise over 3000 feet and dominate the
forested region and valleys below. If the Soviets wanted the mountain they could have it, for a while.
The only way up and down the mountain was by a series of narrow pathways that were controlled
by Finns in the valley below. However as the story goes the Soviets were warned not to
go to the mountain by the local Sami people. They claimed that bad spirits demons such as the "Otso"
or bear man and the "Vironsusi" a type of werewolf lived there. Understandably the Soviets laughed at such
suggestions believing that the locals were either rubes or trying to dissuade them. Seeing that the
approach to the Khibiny Mountains was not covered by Finns, a reconnaissance company was sent. Every
commander wants to control the high ground. When Finnish scouts saw Soviet patrols scouting around
the mountain they did not molest them, they just watched and counted how many men were in the unit.
A company of Soviet infantry of 100 men passed right by a platoon of Finns in perfect winter
camouflage never seeing them as they walked up to the mountain just passing the Finns hiding away
a few yards from their sight. The Soviets took up their positions as an observation unit and waited
for their main force to arrive. This is where things took a strange turn according to the story.
An alternative reason why the Finns did not occupy the mountain and let their enemy have it
was superstition. The exact date of this event is not recorded but possibly during
the second week of January 1940 the Finnish forces relaxed in their defensive positions
the closest being one mile away from the mountain. This gave the Finns perfect visibility to monitor
any daylight movement by the Soviets should they come down the mountain
and push through the forest and into the valley. Finnish commando teams from the 12th Division
consisted of four men each and they were scattered along the forest each able to fall back if they
saw the enemy advance. Eventually if the Soviets came each of the several dozen teams would then
engage, fall back past the group behind them like a collapsing bag. This was to lure more of the enemy
into the final kill zone while reducing their numbers as they advanced. Wolves and bears were a
constant threat to farmers and soldiers especially in winter, so when the soldiers on both sides heard
the mournful howling they posted lookouts as a precaution. After several nights of minus 20 to
40 below zero without any activity the quiet of the night was shattered. The sounds of howling,
screaming and gunfire echoed across the valley and the Finns wondered which of their units
were engaging the enemy. Through two nights they heard battle clearly, rifle, machine gun fire and
explosions such as grenades. As dawn came on the third day a Finnish patrol went forward slowly
and after a full two days came back with a report. What they claimed to have seen was unbelievable.
They reported that every Soviet soldier was dead. Men were torn apart, torsos hanging in trees minus
arms, heads, and legs. Limbs and heads lay everywhere; the bodies all contorted on the ground with some
seeming to have been disemboweled. Bodies in a similar condition were buried head first into the
iron hard frozen ground far beneath the meter deep snow. Spent ammunition casings litttered to the ground.
Frozen blood was everywhere painting the snow red. Their conclusion was that the firefight must
have been furious but what about the state of the bodies? Weapons did not do that type of damage yet
the most puzzling thing was if the enemy fought against a Finnish unit where were the dead Finns?
Why were there no wounded on both sides? Why did this attack or this battle come as a complete
surprise to the Finns? This disconcerting situation from what very little was known
was probably sent to Stalin, hence his removing of several officers for incompetence. Major General
Hägglund's response was supposedly quote; "They met their fate however it arrived and I would decorate the men involved if I knew who they were." The most recent list of the number of Finnish soldiers
killed related to the Winter War between november 30th 1939 and December 31 1939 where 16 725 killed
in action with another 3671 who were badly wounded who died in hospital. During that short time period,
one month the Soviets lost over 200 000 soldiers in battle and most due to the weather and the cold.
Yet the Soviets would come back to invade Finland again in 1941 and Finland would join Germany as an
ally in a massive struggle on the Eastern Front. But these questions still lingered; so who or what
killed the Soviet soldiers on that mountain? if it was wolves or bears with the amount of ammunition
expended where were the dead animals? Was there an evil presence at least for the soviets
that attacked them perhaps defending the Finnish people? Did werewolves or werebears exist and
kill the soldiers? As crazy as that may sound this is all supposition but it does make for an
interesting discussion regarding the paranormal. Perhaps we will know the answer one day. We hope
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