The Finns had advanced small arms design and manufacturing capabilities for such a small nation. Their secret weapon was the self-taught gun designer Aimo Lahti. His incredible portfolio of successful designs includes more than 50 firearms, highlighted by the Suomi Model 31 SMG, the Lahti-Saloranta Model 26 light machine gun, the Lahti Model 35 semi-automatic pistol and the massive Lahti Model 39 anti-tank rifle.

The Suomi Model 31 9 mm Luger SMG gun saw its combat debut in the Winter War. The Suomi’s innovative 71-drum magazine had a huge impact on Soviet submachine gun designs in World War II. Weighing nearly 11 pounds unloaded, the Suomi is exceptionally heavy for a 9 mm SMG. But stories of its accuracy are legendary, and Finnish troops unleashed a hellstorm of Suomi fire against Soviet troops in the Winter War. Suomi SMGs were in relatively short supply, and it was a badge of distinction among Finnish troops to be a Suomi gunner.

One of Lahti’s other inventions making its combat debut during the Winter War was the air-cooled Lahti-Saloranta Model 26 light machine gun. Chambered in 7.62x54 mm R, and using a 20-round magazine, the Model 26 was one of the first true light machine guns ever designed. While heavy (26 pounds) and rather complicated, it was accurate and reliable. With limited numbers of the Model 26 available, the Finns supplemented their stocks and made good use of captured Soviet DP-28 light machine guns. The Degtyaryova Pekhotny or DP-28 was simple and relatively reliable, and thousands of them fell into Finnish hands.

The Soviets and Finns also shared similar designs in their heavy machine guns. The venerable Maxim gun was the backbone of the Finnish machine gun units. The Finns updated the action in their Maxims (dubbed the Model 32) to accept metallic link belts, increased the rate of fire and improved the sights. Another interesting Finnish innovation was the “snow cap,” a large flip-top opening on top of the water jacket that allowed the gunner’ to easily replenish the water cooling supply with handfuls of snow.

A Costly Soviet Victory
The Winter War ended in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland was forced to cede 11 percent of its territory to the Soviet Union along with 30 percent of its economic assets. The Soviets did not succeed in accomplishing their objective of a complete take-over of Finland. Not that they cared, but in addition to suffering humiliatingly heavy losses and military failure, the Soviets also lost their place among the League of Nations. Finland remained a sovereign nation, albeit with less territory, and certainly enhanced its international reputation. It was cold comfort though, and with the German invasion of France just two months away, the world’s attention would no longer be focused on Finland’s plight.

The Winter War proved a costly victory for the Soviets. The Red Army lost approximately 126,875 dead or missing, 264,908 wounded and approximately 5,600 captured. In addition, they lost about 2,268 armored vehicles. The Finns suffered greatly to preserve their freedom. In the four months of combat, Finnish losses numbered approximately 26,662 dead and more than 39,000 wounded. A tiny nation of riflemen had held off the communist Red giant. The massive battles of World War II quickly obscured Finland’s sacrifice, and by the summer of 1941 the United States and our Allies were forced into an uneasy alliance with the Soviet Union, at least until the day that the Axis was defeated.

National Archives photos; courtesy of armorplatepress.com.