Military History: Examining the Elite Axis Waffen SS and Finnish Guerrillas
by Nick H. November 3, 2014
[...]
These Ain’t no Sissies
Although the Finnish military was often integrated into German units, including the Waffen SS, they also had an elite unit of their own. In 1939, the Finnish military created a guerrilla battalion known as the Sissi, a name that is ironic in the English language. As Philip Jowett wrote in
Finland at War 1939-1945 “They were intended to act more like insurgents than troops, with freedom to attack Soviet targets of opportunity over a wide area. In reality, they were used to shore up gaps in the Finnish defenses and were obligated to try to perform the role of standard infantry battalions.”
The fact that their purpose was twofold, in that they were designed to be unconventional in nature, but were still used in regular combat roles, made them a diverse force to be reckoned with. They were recruited from within the ranks of the Finnish Army and thus had extensive winter warfare training.
The Finns were known for their ability to fight on skis and were unmatched in the winter environment. They proved themselves in the Winter War where they showed their quality. Sissi battalions were often used in long-range reconnaissance missions designed for intelligence gathering from observation posts that would’ve been inaccessible to larger units. The idea behind a small group deployed behind enemy lines was that they could effectively disrupt supply depots and set up ambushes for supply movements.
After Germany attacked the USSR, Finland formed a fickle alliance with Germany and launched the Continuation War. During this stage in the war, Sissi units pushed deeper into occupied territories and were often required to operate without any hope of support. The purpose was to regain territory lost to the Soviets, but the Germans saw their potential and wanted more. They knew that the Sissi were unlike any other military unit, but the Finns refused to advance into Russia because they didn’t want to assume an aggressive posture. Despite this, perhaps the best soldiers in WWII were the Sissi. Equipped with skis, no soldier showed more self reliance or initiative. In fact, it’s conceivable that if Hitler had had 3,000,000 Sissis, the Russians would’ve been done for, as they would’ve had a two-front war of their own.”
Sources
- Koethe III, Richard D. “The Waffen SS.” Military Review 74, no. 2 (February 1994): 64.
- Jowett, Philip. “Finland at War.” Osprey Publishing (2006): 64.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Nick recently left the Navy after serving for 10 years as a Navy SEAL with multiple deployments, having been awarded the Bronze Star for operations in austere environments. Nick’s been with us since the beginning here at ITS on our Advisory Board.