Veterans' Day
I noticed it was flag day today. I had to look it up. It is Veterans' Day. April 27 1945 was the last day the country has been at war. On that day, the last of the German forces retreated across the border to Norway from the far northwestern locality of Kilpisjärvi.
Kilpisjärvi is at the end of Finland's "arm" in the northwestern corner of Lapland. The fell in the photo is Saanatunturi, the tallest one in the country. It's part of the Scandinavian mountain range and not too far from the North Atlantic.
April 27 1945 saw the end of the Lapland War. That war started when Finland and the Soviet Union had reached an interim peace agreement (see: Moscow Armstice) on September 19 1944, the conditions of which included that Finland drive away the German forces still inside of its territory. There were a couple of German infantry divisions and logistical centers in the south of the country. They left peacefully. Pressured by the Soviet Union, Finland had to start a real shooting war against the 20th Mountain Army that had been responsible for much of the northern front against the Soviet Union. The Lapland War involved a Finnish invasion of a peninsula near the town of Tornio and a number of skirmishes and attempts at encirclement. The Germans retreated with most of their supplies and equipment. There were some losses on both side but there was little in the way of heavy fighting. The Germans did not harm the civilians in Lapland but they did almost completely destroy all the infrastructure and building stock in the towns and a lot of private property. Exactly 76 years ago, the letter of the interim peace agreement was fulfilled.
The interim peace agreement also stipulated that Finland had to demobilize its field army, which is why the Lapland War was mostly fought by young conscripts. Neither of my grandfathers took part in it but they fought in the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941-1944). My paternal grandfather died before I was born and my maternal grandfather talked very little about his time in the military. The only story I remember is him telling about how he once tripped over a branch and fell very shortly before an artillery shell fragment hit the tree he had been walking past and one of whose branches he had tripped over. He did say general things like war is the worst thing that can happen.
