The Lapland Group (''Lapin Ryhmä'') was a formation 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

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 ...

between

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The group was formed on 13 December 1939 from troops of the North Finland Group. The group was placed under the command of Major General Kurt Martti Wallenius and had its headquarters at

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

. The forces took part in the Battle of Salla and the Battle of Petsamo.

Order of battle

Osasto Roininen (Detachment Roininen) was located at Salla and consisted of the following forces: *Separate Battalion 26 (''Erillinen Pataljoona 26'', ''Er.P 26'') *Separate Battalion 17 (''Erillinen Pataljoona 17'', ''Er.P 17'') *Infantry Regiment 40 (''Jalkaväkirykmentti 40'', ''JR 40'') *Two battalions of the "Replacement Brigade" ''VII/KT-Pr'' and ''IX/KT-Pr'' *One

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

battery At the end of February 1940, the troops around Salla were replaced by the Swedish volunteers of the Stridsgruppen SFK Osasto Pennanen (Detachment Pennanen) which was located in Petsamo consisted of the following forces: *10th Separate Company (''10. Erillinen Komppania'', ''10.Er.K'') *11th Separate Company (''11. Erillinen Komppania'', ''11.Er.K'') *3rd Company *5th Separate Battery (''5. Erillinen Patteri'', ''5.Er.Ptri'') *Reconnaissance Detachment 11 (''Tiedusteluosasto 11'')

References

Rovaniemi Military units and formations of Finland in the Winter War Military units and formations of Finland in World War II {{mil-unit-stub