Germans in Finland 1918

[Henrik Andersson]

Spring 1918 it was a civil war in Finland.
White against reds.
Germany send soliders to help the white side.
How many germans fight in Finland. And how many soldiers die?

[Schultz]

According to Finnish archive they have a list of 502 German soldiers who died.
I have found reference to number of German soldiers total sent to Finland from 12,000 to 15,000.

here are the links:http://vesta.narc.fi/cgi-bin/db2www/sot ... salaiset_0

http://www.helsinki.fi/~jjeerola/englsjouk.htm


First is list of killed second is German units


Schultz
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[Henrik Andersson]

502 soldiers is much. The war was only a short time.
The germans hade also good experiense and weapon. The red side have litle ore no military education and few weapons.

[Die Blechtrommel]

I think that most of the losses came in the battle of Salmentaka(?). The Reds had no other choice than a desperate breakthroug.
The Germans were surprised and overrun, which explains great losses for both sides.
Invading Helsinki also was not easy for the Germans.
Greets
Juha

[Tapani K.]

I think that most of the losses came in the battle of Salmentaka(?).

Hello,

I believe you mean the battle of Syrjäntaka.

regards,
Tapani K.

[Die Blechtrommel]

Yes, Syrjäntaka it was.
Well, an old man dragging something from memory, not checking... That's the result.
But was my overall assumption right?
Greets
Juha

[Tapani K.]

The Battle of Syrjäntaka was very hard for the Germans; IIRC a German veteran of WWI who fought there later recollected that this was the hardest battle he ever fought. (Have to check my sources; maybe I can find where I read this)

On the other hand, the Battle for Helsinki was not so hard for the Germans as long as they advanced from the direction of Leppävaara and Pasila. Things only got harder when they reached the city proper.

regards,
Tapani K.

[Die Blechtrommel]

Thanks, Tapani!
Wolf H. Halsti was a 13-years old volentary translater (and home-run-away) of then Hauptmann von Falkenhorst (later GFM of AOK Norwegen).
Halsti's mother was German, so he spoke German as his mother language, his father spoke Swedish, and young Hagman (Wolfgang Halsti) spoke fluent Finnish and pretty good Russian, too.

He wrote very well about the Syrjäntaka battle in his memoires, cause he was there. Its fascinating that Väinö Linna wrote very similarly of it, although he wasn't there and descriped the battle from the Red's side - and did not know Halsti.

Greets
Juha