Svensson on the Kollaa front
The Kollaa front was one of the most fiercely contested sectors of the Winter War. The (about 9,000 men), under Major-General , 47, held a 35-kilometre line in northern Karelia against the Soviet (about 80,000 men commanded by ) reinforced by the (General Lazarenko). The ratio of forces: 9 to 1.
The sector was crucial: it blocked the Petrozavodsk-Joensuu-Iisalmi road. A Soviet breakthrough would have cut Finland in two. For Mannerheim, Kollaa was a strategic strongpoint that could not be ceded. Svensson received his orders on 7 December: "hold at all costs". The sector was home to and other snipers.
The sector's motto, pronounced by Svensson on 19 December during a visit to the troops: Kollaa kestää ("Kollaa holds"). In February 1940 the Soviets launched massive assault waves. Svensson could stiffen the main line, echelon his defence in depth while accepting local withdrawals, or call for reinforcements at the cost of other fronts. He had to decide how to handle these attacks.
How should Svensson handle the Soviet waves of attacks in February 1940?
Svensson applied A: defence echeloned in depth, accepting tactical withdrawals and counter-attacking in the forests. The 12th Division held Kollaa for 105 days without giving up its main position. Finnish losses: 800 dead, 2,600 wounded. Soviet losses: 8,000 confirmed dead. The ratio (1 to 10) remained one of the most lopsided of the war. On 13 March 1940 (Peace of Moscow) Kollaa was still in Finnish hands — but the zone was ceded to the USSR by the treaty. Svensson was promoted divisional general in January 1940, then general-in-chief in March 1942 under the Continuation War. He survived and died in 1962. The phrase "Kollaa kestää" became one of Finland's national watchwords — engraved on the soldier's monument in Helsinki in 1958.
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Pajari at Tolvajärvi — 12 December, 04:00
Suomussalmi — Siilasvuo against the 163rd
Häyhä — the marksman of Kollaa
Raate — Vinogradov on the frozen road
Brześć — Plisowski faces Guderian
Bulson — Lafontaine and the 02:00 rumour
Calais — Nicholson facing the ultimatum
Eben-Emael — Jottrand under the explosions
Kock — Kleeberg on the morning of 6 October