Special bulletins from the 1939-1940 active campaign in Europe

2 Corps (1 to 5 divisions) on the Karelian Isthmus; 2 Corps (3 divisions) north of Lake Ladoga Lapland.:

12 battalions of Civic and Frontier Guards. Seaooast:

" "T gFdupiaent of 70,000 men. Interior:

T . groupments (divisions?) of Civic Guards.

7 tlT Ariiiy (E chemical detachments
• "Lake Ladoga to Uurmansk. (from south to north); 8th, 9th and lljth Armies (total 8 divisions).

The Reds began the irar in the Arctic by the capture of the Finnish part of Fisherman s (Rybachi) Peninsula on the first day (iTdvember 30), i.iiich ivas folloi/ed by the capture of the important tpim of Petsamo the next.. The Finns claimed to have recaptured Petsamo, but later admitted that it -was in the hands of the Reds The Reds started their march to the south Y.dth the apparent object of reaching the Norwegian frontier and cutting off Finland from contact uith the Arctic. They seized the important nickel mines at Salmi jarvi (December 15 )
• By the 18th of December they had reached Pitkajarvi (85 km« south of Petsamo), and by the 23rd they claimed to have reached a point 130 km. south of the Arctic coast Since about the 20th of December the Finns and Reds have been in contact near Hoyhenjarvi, and operations have almost been reduced to patrolling and reconnaissance, possibly on account of the extremely cold Treather . On January 6 a minor Red attack in this sector vras repulsed

On December 1 . the Reds captured the village of Kuolajarvi (35 miles from the border);; later they seized Salla; and by the l th they had advanced as far as R&rkajarvi; tiro days later they irere at Kursu. - Later, under Finnish pressure, the Reds retreated to the vicinity of Salla, uhere fighting took place on January 3 &nd 5 - 9 n the 6th the Reds vrere repulsed v;ith the loss of 300 killed.

Dr Koht, the Norwegian Foreign Ilinister, on December 1;., 1939 stated that he believed that the Reds might extend their military operations to ITorthern.. IJorcmy £ otherwise they vrould not have gone into northern Finland, -which is of no/ earthly use to them /" excent for the nickel mines at Salmi jar vi and the ice-free port of LTTnahamari, near Petsamo/T He added that the Norwegian Army /really a militia/ could do nothing. It has been reported that the Reefs had from 3 to 6 divisions on these two fronts, but apparently only a small part of this force hasbeen employed on account of the difficulty of supply and communications
• ■ The size of the Finnish force, probably principally ski troops,- has not been reported .

The weather so far in the north has greatly favored the Finns, who are better skiers than the Reds and better trained and equipped for winter warfare The winter ij t he be sjb seaspn for operations, especially for an army with good ski tro'ops Very soon the snow will be so hard and. frozen that ski troops can easily maneuver over it and will not be handicapped by the lack of roads V.hen the snow begins to melt in the late, s prin g, the north will be almost a morass which will be very.d ifficult to pass ' over, e xcept o n the northsouth Arctic Highway,, which is open the whole year This condition continues until fall when the ground freezes again.

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