Casualties in the
Winter War
figures of Finnish and Soviet losses
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FINNISH LOSSES
Finland was one of the few European countries, which
made relatively great efforts to bring the bodies of fallen soldiers
back, to be buried in their home county. Besides being ordered in the
field regulations, it has been said, that to the Finnish soldier, "the
idea of leaving the body of a comrade behind was disgusting". Therefore
many bodies were recovered from no-man's-land even with high personal
risk. The number of evacuated bodies was over 17 000, while some 2300
were left behind (some 12 % of the total number). From the dead, nearly
96 % were identified. 93 % of the fallen soldiers (officers and privates
alike), that were evacuated and identified, were buried in the graveyards
of their local churches.
In the 'Order of the day', on 1 December, Marshal
Mannerheim declared that Finland fought for "Home, Religion
and Fatherland". This declaration reflected quite accurately
the general feelings of the nation back then.
During Winter War, nearly all classes adopted an
extraordinarily positive attitude towards the Church and religion
in general. The army chaplains marked a definite rise in the number
of men participating in different religious ceremonies on the fronts.
In many units, the front religiousness was a definite part of the
"Spirit of the Winter War", which kept the men fighting
against hopeless odds.
After the war Mannerheim ordered a study to be made
about the religiousness of the combat troops. 86 % of the interviewees
(chaplains, platoon - and company leaders) confirmed an unusually
high degree of religiousness in the troops on the front, although
on some occasions the religiousness was only shallow, all confirmed
it's positive effects on the fighting spirit.
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a Lutheran funeral ceremony
Picture source: "Talvisodan Historia
4", p.222
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an Orthodox funeral ceremony
Picture source: "Talvisodan Historia
4", p.222
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The burial of a fallen soldier in the Finnish Home Front
Picture source:"
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The following abbreviations
are used in the text:
KIA = Killed In Action
MIA = Missing In Action
WIA = Wounded In Action
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The total losses
of the Finnish Armed Forces
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
Killed in Action
|
1 032
|
3 682
|
14 862
|
19 576
|
Missing in Action
|
75
|
937
|
2 801
|
3 273
|
Badly wounded
|
510
|
2 891
|
13 036
|
16 437
|
Slightly wounded
|
977
|
4 494
|
21 649
|
27 120
|
Total
|
2 594
|
11 464
|
52 348
|
66 406
|
(Table source: "Talvisodan Historia 4", p.406)
The figures in the above table were based
mostly on reports from the Finnish General HQ's Supply department
(Huolto-osasto) and the calculation was done shortly after the war
had ended. As time passed, more information became available.
E.g. the return of 847 Finnish soldiers
from captivity in USSR decreased the number of MIAs.
Some of the badly wounded died in hospitals
(by 30 May 1940, the Finnish GHQ reported that 1 437 soldiers had
died) this figure rising later to 3 671. All in all, the most accurate
figure of the death toll of the war on the Finnish Armed forces is
the figure below.
The most
recent data
The most recent list of the number of Finnish
soldiers killed, relating to the Winter War,
between 30 November 1939 and 31 December 1940
-
16 725 KIA, body evacuated
and buried
-
3 671 badly wounded,
died in hospital
-
3 433 KIA, body left
in the field
-
1 727 MIA, declared
dead*
-
28 died in captivity
-
715 died by accidents
or disease
-
363 unknown
cause of death
Total 26 662 men
* = Those who were listed as MIA,
and not returned in the exchange of POW's. This was made
in September 14th 1940 (6 months after the war ended),
according to the decision of a court of law.
(Source: "Talvisodan Pikkujättiläinen",
p.825)
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Monthly losses
The total monthly losses of the Finnish
armed forces were:
December
1939
|
January
1940
|
February
1940
|
March
1940
|
13
239
|
7
691
|
17
163
|
28
925
|
(Source: "Talvisodan Historia 4", p.406)
Note: the figures of March incorporate a large number of losses from
February. This is because the Soviet major offensive was underway
and it was nearly impossible to keep track of the time when losses
occurred. But the figures give some notion of the Soviet monthly activity
and reflect the increase of Finnish losses once they abandoned the
main defense line (The Mannerheim Line) and had to fight mostly from
unprepared positions.
Additional
information: numbers of Finnish Daily Deaths
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Losses suffered by individual
Corps' / Groups
(only losses sustained in land fronts)
(Note: due to the high number of separate units, that were traded between
Cops' and Groups, the figures below don't match 100 % with the figures
given above)
|
|
KIA
|
MIA
|
WIA
|
TOTAL
|
I Corps
|
2 851
|
440
|
7 537
|
10 828
|
II Corps
|
4 106
|
1 589
|
11 312
|
17 007
|
III Corps
|
2 526
|
759
|
7 029
|
10 350
|
IV Corps + RT
|
4 496
|
514
|
10 072
|
15 082
|
P-SR
|
2 006
|
294
|
4 341
|
6 641
|
LR
|
697
|
131
|
1 401
|
2 229
|
SFK
|
33
|
-
|
185*
|
218
|
Table source:"Talvisodan Historia 4",
p.407
RT = (Ryhmä Talvela) Group Talvela
P-SR = (Pohjois-Suomen Ryhmä) North Finland Group
LR = (Lapin Ryhmä) Lapland Group
SFK= (Svensk Frivilligkåren) Swedish Volunteer Unit
(* = some 140 of these were cases of frostbite)
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In addition to the losses suffered by military personnel, the soviet
bombing raids on the towns, railroad-net, etc. extracted a further
892 dead 540 badly and 1 316 slightly wounded (majority of them
were elderly people, women and children).
65 men lost their lives serving in the merchant fleet.
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The exact number of soviet casualties in the Winter War has been
uncertain for decades.
After the war, in a meeting of the high council, Minister Molotov
represented an estimate of 200 000 dead, wounded and missing Soviet
soldiers. These figures contradicted even the lowest Finnish estimates.
The numbers usually referred to, gives a Soviet death toll of at least
150 000 - 200 000, which would bring the total casualty near 400 000
- 600 000.
(The former leader of the Soviet Union Nikita Kruchev has written
in his memoirs that the Soviet losses were a million men, a great
exaggeration as we now know.)
Soviet losses as
dead or lost without a trace
These are reported to be the most accurate figures available.
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
Unknown rank
|
TOTAL
|
Killed in action or died after a wound in
a battlefield
|
6 000
|
9 611
|
54 215
|
1 388
|
71 214
|
Died in a hospital
|
802
|
1 436
|
12 185
|
1 869
|
16 292
|
Lost without a trace
|
1 010
|
2 998
|
33 827
|
1 534
|
39 369
|
TOTAL
|
7 812
|
14 045
|
100 227
|
4 791
|
126 875
|
Source:The G.F.Krivosheev "The Secret stamp
has removed: casualties of the Soviet Armed Forces in wars and military
conflicts", Moscow, 1993
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The table above was provided by Valeriy Potapov and
is based on the book mentioned below the table.
Total losses:
The above table data gives a total death count
of 126 875. Krivosheev's study came up with the figure of 264 908
wounded (not including the cases of sickness), thus giving the total
number 391
783 Soviet casualties.
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Losses suffered
by individual Armies
Data was provided by M.D.Fox, and is based on
"Soviet casualties and combat losses in the
twentieth century"
edited by Colonel-General Krivosheev, ISBN 1-85367-280-7
Note that the following totals are different
than those in the table above. The reason for the discrepancy is that
the updated roll of losses (in the above table) include air force
losses, men who died in the hospital after 15 March 1940 and border
guards and other military personnel who are not covered in the following
tables
The Armies are not listed in a numerical
order, instead by theater of operation.
1. The Karelian Isthmus
2. The Ladoga Karelia
3. Middle Finland
4. Northern Finland
5. Others
7th Army
operated in the Karelian Isthmus
30 November 1939 - 13 March 1940
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
KIA
|
1 320
|
2 649
|
12 453
|
16 422
|
MIA
|
86
|
189
|
1 762
|
2 037
|
WIA
|
4 021
|
8 240
|
|
60 653
|
Sick
|
119
|
174
|
1 464
|
1 757
|
Frostbite
|
25
|
45
|
653
|
723
|
TOTAL
|
5 571
|
11 297
|
64 724
|
81 592
|
To this figure one must add 18 327 men for whom there was no breakdown
by rank giving a grand loss total of
99 919
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13th ARMY
operated in the Karelian Isthmus
26 December 1939 - 13 March 1940
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
KIA
|
1 239
|
2 430
|
13 209
|
16 878
|
MIA
|
106
|
376
|
3 344
|
3 826
|
WIA
|
3 476
|
7 009
|
46 476
|
56 961
|
Sick
|
80
|
144
|
1 011
|
1 235
|
Frostbite
|
128
|
321
|
2 750
|
3 199
|
TOTAL
|
5 029
|
10 280
|
66 790
|
82 099
|
To this figure one must add 7 061 men for whom there was no breakdown
by rank giving a grand loss total of
89 160
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8th ARMY
operated in Ladoga Karelia
30 November 1939 - 13 March 1940
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
KIA
|
654
|
1 273
|
6 173
|
8 100
|
MIA
|
129
|
446
|
4 396
|
4 971
|
WIA
|
1 524
|
2 582
|
17 222
|
21 328
|
Sick
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
Frostbite
|
45
|
154
|
2 598
|
202
|
TOTAL
|
2 352
|
4 455
|
30 389
|
37 196
|
To this figure one must add 7 296 sick cases and 395 WIA cases for
whom there was no breakdown by rank, giving a grand loss total of
44 887
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15th ARMY
operated in Ladoga Karelia
12 February 1940 -13 March 1940
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
KIA
|
860
|
1 976
|
10 169
|
13 005
|
MIA
|
127
|
339
|
2 523
|
2 989
|
WIA
|
1 350
|
2 977
|
19 984
|
24 311
|
Sick
|
136
|
317
|
3 317
|
3 770
|
Frostbite
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
TOTAL
|
2 473
|
5 609
|
35 993
|
44 075
|
To this figure one must add 2 071 KIAs and MIAs, 3 641 WIAs and sick
cases for whom there was no breakdown by rank, giving a grand loss total
of
49 787
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9th ARMY
operated in middle Finland
30 November 1939 - 13 March 1940
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
KIA
|
634
|
1 214
|
5 770
|
7 618
|
MIA
|
208
|
566
|
3 895
|
4 669
|
WIA
|
1 280
|
2 635
|
13 070
|
16 985
|
Sick
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
Frostbite
|
52
|
177
|
2 107
|
2 336
|
TOTAL
|
2 174
|
4 592
|
24 842
|
31 608
|
To this figure one must add 1 249 KIAs and MIAs, 689 WIAs, 12 250
sick cases and 313 frostbite cases for whom there was no breakdown
by rank, giving a grand loss total of
46 109
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14th ARMY
operated in North Finland
30 November 1939 - 13 March 1940
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
KIA
|
40
|
22
|
119
|
181
|
MIA
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
WIA
|
14
|
36
|
251
|
301
|
Sick
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
Frostbite
|
2
|
24
|
75
|
101
|
TOTAL
|
56
|
82
|
447
|
585
|
The number of sick cases for the 14th Army is unknown, so based on
the available information, the grand total is
585
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RED BANNER
BALTIC FLEET
30 November 1939 - 13 March 1940
|
|
Officers
|
NCOs
|
Privates
|
TOTAL
|
KIA
|
48
|
39
|
67
|
154
|
MIA
|
45
|
33
|
77
|
155
|
WIA
|
54
|
55
|
192
|
301
|
Sick
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
Frostbite
|
5
|
8
|
132
|
145
|
TOTAL
|
152
|
135
|
468
|
755
|
To this figure one must add 845 sick cases for whom there was no breakdown
by rank, giving a grand loss total of
1 600
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Losses for the Red Air Force against Finland have been impossible
to breakdown.
It is stated the the air force lost 785 KIA and 144 WIA, giving
a grand total of 929.
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The question about
Soviet POWs
The number of Soviet POWs in Finland grew steadily to the end of
the war. The Finnish General HQ issued an order on December 3rd,
that the prisoners were to be divided into 6 groups isolated from
each other. They were:
- Political personnel (regardless of rank)
- Officers
- NCO
- Rank and file
- national minorities sympathetic to Finland
- deserters
The reports to the Home Front
HQ, gave the following numbers of POWs in either camps or in hospitals:
|
Date |
Number of POWs |
A count made on April
8th gives the following number of POW's in different groups |
24 December
6 January
20 January
3 February
17 February
2 March
16 March
|
84
1 225
2 583
3 038
3 531
4 173
5 041 |
Political personnel
Officers
NCOs
Privates
minority nationals
in hospitals
TOTAL |
25
215
253
3 826
666
484
5 469 |
(Note that Soviet POWs kept coming from the
combat troops even after the war, that's one reason why the numbers
above don't match)
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The exchange
of prisoners
The exchange of prisoners was made between April 16th and 25th, as
agreed in the Moscow - peace treaty.
The final number of Soviet POWs, that were released and exchanged was
5 572 according to Finnish sources.
(Source: "Talvisodan Pikkujättiläinen"
, p. 815)
According to Colonel General Krivosheev's "Soviet
casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century", ISBN
1-85367-280-7, the figure of POWs is 5 468 which doesn't match the
Finnish number, but is close to it.
The big question is, what happened
to the Soviet POWs
The Soviet Union hadn't signed the Geneva convention in 1929, regarding
the treatment of POWs (alongside with Germany and Japan). The Soviet
POW's were decided to be treated according the Criminal Law of the
Soviet Socialistic Republic of 1926. The section 193. "Leaving
the battlefield without permission" was defined as an act of
treason against the Fatherland, and was to be punished by execution
and the confiscation of property. Also, on June 8th 1934 a law was
passed, in where "... the full aged (adult) members of the family
(of the traitors), who at the time of the crime were living with him
or were supported by him, were to lose their right to vote and be
banished to southern Siberia for five years."
This gave the Soviet soldier only grim options, kill the enemy on
the battlefield and die with honor, or lose your honor and be punished
by the state.
( -The book made by Viktor Stepakov and Dmitri Orehov (Paraatimarssi
Suomeen "Parade march into Finland",1992) clearly states
that they were executed. This is backed up by the information acquired
from several Soviet POW's captured during the "Continuation
War" (1941-1944). They told that they were involved in the
transportation of these prisoners to isolated camps where they were
interrogated and subsequently shot.-)
- Another newer book by Viktor Stepakov (Sodalla on hintansa "The
war has it's price",1995) sheds more light on this issue. Although
many of the POW's of Winter War were executed, many were sentenced
to hard labor in northern Russia. (The sentences were given without
logic. While a guy, who had lost both his legs and was captured
unconscious, got a 8 year sentence, while an unharmed man got only
5 years.)-
According to the newest Finnish source that I have ("Talvisodan
Pikkujättiläinen", p.815) , the POWs were transported
back to the USSR by trains guarded by the NKVD. The released POWs
were sent to one of the camps that had been intended to be filled
by Finnish war prisoners (near Juski Gork). A special detachment of
50-men was sent to investigate if the POWs had surrendered out of
their own will or if they had helped the enemy. After long investigations,
some of the POWs were acquitted and sent home, but some 500 Soviet
POWs were executed, and 4 354 were sentenced to hard labor for 5 -
8 years. Note that the no evidence was found against those who were
sentenced to hard labor.
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