The 2nd Division () was a unit of the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

. It participated in the

Finnish invasion of Ladoga Karelia The Finnish invasion of Ladoga Karelia was a military campaign carried out by Finland in 1941. It was part of what is commonly referred to as the Continuation War. Early in the war, Finnish forces captured the Ladoga Karelia. It had been ceded t ...

at the start of the war and defended against the 1944 Soviet

Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive or Karelian offensive was a strategic operation by the Soviet Leningrad and Karelian Fronts against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia fronts of the Continuation War, on the Eastern Front of Wor ...

on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

where it suffered heavy casualties.

History

Subordinated to the

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

, the division participated in the

on the northwestern shore of

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

under the command of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Aarne Blick Aarne Leopold Blick (3 February 1894 – 15 February 1964) was a Finnish lieutenant general (), Knight of the Mannerheim Cross and a member of the Jäger movement. He participated in the Eastern Front of World War I, the Finnish Civil War, the ...

. During the initial invasion, it took part in an encirclement of Soviet forces along the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, reaching the shore of the lake on 7 August. During a subsequent reorganization of the Finnish forces in the region, it was subordinated to the Finnish I Corps, participating soon after in a pincer movement aimed at the capture of

Sortavala Sortavala (; Finnish language, Finnish and ; ), previously known as Serdobol () until 1918, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finni ...

. While Soviet forces were largely able to escape encirclement, the town was captured by Finnish forces on 15 August. In June and July 1944, the division suffered heavy casualties during the Soviet

under the command of Major General Ilmari Martola, who had taken command in 1942. Part of the

IV Corps 4 Corps, 4th Corps, Fourth Corps, or IV Corps may refer to: France * 4th Army Corps (France) * IV Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * IV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperi ...

, it was located on the western

. It first fell back to the

VT-line The Vammelsuu–Taipale line (; ; ) was a Finnish defensive line on the Karelian Isthmus built in 1942–1944 during the Continuation War and running from Vammelsuu on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland through Kuuterselkä and Kiven ...

, where it held off Soviet attacks for four days before being ordered to retreat from those positions on the evening of 12 June. The division eventually took up positions on the

VKT-line The VKT-line or Viipuri–Kuparsaari–Taipale line (, ) was a Finnish defensive line.Leskinen, Jari; Juutilainen, Antti (ed.): The Little Giant of the Continuation War, pp. 220, 223, 349, 803, 804, 806, 980, 981. Porvoo: WS Bookwell, 2007. ISBN ...

in the

Äyräpää Baryshevo (; ) is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast. It is situated on the southern shore of Vuoksi River. Until the Winter War and Continuation War, it had been the administrative center of the ...

- Vuosalmi sector as part of the

III Corps III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * I ...

. Despite temporal breach of the Finnish line at Vuosalmi, the Finns stabilized the situation and held the VKT Line of defenses. Actions in the sector quieted down, with both sides settling for trench warfare in mid-July. The war came to an end with the signing of the

Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...

on 19 August 1944.

Notes

References

{{Finnish formations WW2 Continuation War Divisions of Finland Military units and formations of Finland in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1944