Axel Erik Heinrichs (21 July 1890 – 16 November 1965) was a Finnish military

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

. He was Finland's Chief of the General Staff during the Interim Peace and Continuation War (1940–1941 and 1942–1944) and

Chief of Defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national ...

for a short time after the war (1945).

Biography

Heinrichs went to the Swedish co-educational school Nya svenska samskolan. He was one of the Finnish Jaeger troops trained in the volunteer Royal Prussian 27th Jäger Battalion between 1915 and 1918. During the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

he served as a battalion commander in the battles of

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

and Viipuri. He commanded the III Corps in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, and from 19 February 1940 the Army of the Isthmus. He was made Chief of the General Staff in June 1940 and promoted to General of Infantry in 1941. During the Continuation War he commanded the Army of Karelia until January 1942, after which he was again appointed the Chief of the General Staff. After the war he served as the Army's commander-in-chief but was forced to resign because of the Weapons Cache Case. In 1944 Heinrichs became the second person to receive the Mannerheim Cross, First Class. He was also a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

. Heinrichs was one of the military experts of the delegation sent by president Paasikivi to Moscow for the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance in 1948. Heinrichs was also a praised author of which his book on Gustaf Mannerheim is considered his best. He was made an honorary doctor at

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

References

Literature

* * Tapola, Päivi: ''Kenraalien kirjeet'', Tammi, 2007. . * Mann, Chris & Christer Jorgensen: ''Hitler’s Arctic War: The German Campaigns in Norway, Finland and the U.S.S.R. 1940–1945.'' 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrichs, Erik 1890 births 1965 deaths Military personnel from Helsinki Military personnel from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish generals Finnish military personnel of World War II Knights of the Mannerheim Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Chiefs of staff (Finnish Defence Forces) Jägers of the Jäger Movement