Osprey's examination of Finland's involvement in World War II (1939-1945). Finland's fight to defend her independence earned this tiny nation of just 3 million people a distinct place in history. Invaded by Stalin before World War II, Finland held out for months and inflicted huge losses on the invaders, but she was eventually crushed by the weight of Soviet numbers. When Germany invaded the USSR in 1941 the Finns fought alongside the Wehrmacht on the northern Russian Front, with great skill and courage in an attempt to regain their lost territories. When the German armies were forced to retreat in 1944, Finland managed to conclude a separate peace with the USSR - uniquely, without being forced to accept renewed Russian occupation. This book details the organisation, uniforms and equipment of this remarkable force.
Author Biography
Philip Jowett was born in Leeds in 1961, and has been interested in military history for as long as he can remember. His first Osprey book was the ground-breaking Men-at-Arms 306: 'Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49'. He has since published a three-part sequence on the Italian Army 1940-45 (Men-at-Arms 340, 349 & 353). A rugby league enthusiast and amateur genealogist, he is married and lives in Lincolnshire.
