The Murmansk Legion, also known as the Finnish Legion, was a

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

organized military unit during the 1918–1919 Allied

North Russia Intervention The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought a ...

. It was composed of Finnish

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

who had fled after 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 ...

from the White-dominated Northern Finland to

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and of some Finns working on the

Murmansk Railroad Railway between Murmansk on the Arctic Ocean and Saint Petersburg on the Baltic Sea The Kirov Railway (; until 1935 ''Murman Railway'') is a Russian gauge">broad gauge Russian railway network that links the Murman Coast and Murmansk city (in ...

. The Legion, along with British troops, fought off the 1918

Viena expedition The Viena expedition (, ) was the military expedition in March 1918 by Finnish volunteer forces in order to annex White Karelia (''Vienan Karjala'') from Russia. It was one of the many "kinship wars" (''Heimosodat'') fought near the newly indepe ...

of Finnish White Guards and defended the Murmansk Railroad.Royal Reds – Finns in the British Murmansk Legion 1918–1919
Retrieved 23 November 2013. Finnish White Guards had started their military campaign in March 1918. Their goal was to annex

White Karelia White Karelia (; North Karelian and or simply ''Viena''; ) is a historical region in Northern Europe, comprising the northernmost part of Karelia, and of the Republic of Karelia in Russia. It is bordered by the White Sea to the east, Murmansk O ...

from Bolshevist Russia.

British Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a company strength sub-unit to the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG), landing craft cr ...

had invaded

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

at the same time to prevent the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

and their Finnish White Guard allies from gaining the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

coast and the Murmansk Railroad. The Murmansk Legion was armed with British equipment and wore British uniforms. The Legion was led by

Oskari Tokoi Antti Oskari Tokoi (15 April 1873 – 4 April 1963) was a Finnish socialist politician who served as a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. Tokoi became Chairman of the Senate of Finland in 1917, and thus, he was the world's first so ...

and

Verner Lehtimäki Verner Lehtimäki (8 June 1890 – 5 April 1938) was a Finnish socialist, soldier, pilot, aerospace engineer and revolutionary who fought for the Reds during the Finnish Civil War. Early life Lehtimäki was born as a peasant's son in Vahto ...

, who were both promoted to

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 ...

by the British Navy. Strength of the Legion peaked in February 1919 and was about 1,200 men.Jussila, Osmo: "From Grand Duchy to Modern State: A Political History of Finland Since 1809", p. 123
Retrieved 23 November 2013. The Murmansk Legion was initially approved by

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, but he later condemned it, as did the communists left behind in Finland, since the British were on the side of the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

. However, the Finns in the Legion refused to fight the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s. Following the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

surrender, the status of the Murmansk Legion changed as the Allies and Soviet Russia became enemies. The Finnish commander of the Murmansk Legion,

, stayed loyal to the Bolshevik government, but

August Wesley August Anselm Wesley ( Wesslin; born 3 August 1887; last rumoured to be alive 1942) was a Finnish journalist, trade unionist, and revolutionary who was the chief of the Red Guards general staff in the Finnish Civil War. He later served as a l ...

, and Karl Emil Primus-Nyman supported the Allies. They urged the Finnish working cass to reject communism and join them in pursuit of a democratic socialist Finland. The exiled

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland (, SKP; ) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned by the state from its founding and did not participate in any elec ...

declared the three to be traitors. Shortly after, Wesley exposed a plan by Lehtimäki to mutiny and attack Finland. As a result, Lehtimäki and a number of others, including

Iivo Ahava Iivo Ahava (born Afanasev; 19 February 1896 – 16 April 1919) was a Karelian-born Finland, Finnish [ ilitary officer and nationalist who supported the idea of an independent East Karelia. In the 1918 Finnish Civil War, Ahava led a Red Guard unit ...

, were dismissed from the Legion and joined the Bolsheviks. The Murmansk Legion was disbanded in 1919 as the British troops withdrew. The Finnish government regarded them as traitors but the United Kingdom and the United States made their recognition of Finnish independence conditional on the new government expelling several German agents and pardoning the legionnaires. In the autumn of 1919 most of the Murmansk Legion fighters returned to Finland but some 20 highest-ranked officers such as Tokoi, Lehtimäki, Aarne Orjatsalo and

Hannes Sula Hannes Einari Sula (29 June 1894 – 21 November 1955) was a Finnish-Canadian revolutionary who fought in the Finnish Civil War. During the Allied North Russia Intervention he was one of the leading Finns of the British organized Murmansk Legion. ...

fled to North America. Some legionnaires later joined the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and a few of the youngest even fought in 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

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

Royal Navy ad hoc formations Finland in the Russian Civil War 1918 establishments in Russia Finland–United Kingdom relations Finnish expatriates in Russia Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Military units and formations established in 1918 History of Murmansk Oblast People of the Finnish Civil War (Red side) Foreign regiments in British Service {{UK-mil-stub Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Russian Civil War North Russia intervention