seaclimate.com - Cooling Europe 1939 (2)

On 30.November1939, the Soviet Red Army invaded Finland. The first month turned out to be a nightmare for the Red Army. They were taken by surprise by extreme weather conditions occurring totally unexpected in the high north of Europe. Some of the weather conditions reported from the front lines (see below: e.g. Chronicle, December 24) were totally unusual for the time of the year and deviated so much from the average that it was hard to believe that such a condition could have happened ‘out of the blue’. Like the excessive rainfall in Central Europe from September to November 1939, precipitation in the Arctic Circle might have been caused by earlier military activities as well, (Rain-Making, 2_31).

Actually, the first month of fighting, in a region roughly 500 kilometres north and south of the Polar Circle, took place in almost permanent night conditions. Finland, separated from the Atlantic by the Scandinavian mountain ridge, and situated between the Barents Sea and the Baltic Sea is a climatologically sensitive region during the final weeks of the year. Drier air above Finland or colder water of the adjacent seas, would make the weather more continental. If military activities in Finland forced increased precipitation, the less humid air could flow further east into Russia. If the Russian continent west of the Ural lacks moisture, the area will support development of high pressure and flow of cold air to West Europe. When naval and coastal defence activities forced a quick release of stored summer heat out of the Northern Baltic Sea, the influence of low-pressure conditions diminished. Once that happened, the Baltic Sea area is an easy target to icy air from the Arctic or Siberia.

The extraordinary war winter of 1939/40 originated in the North Sea (2_12) and the Baltic Sea (2_17), with its centre in the coastal zones of Germany (Hamburg). While the foundation for this winter had been laid long before December, as explained in other papers, (Lost West Drift,2_12), the war in Finland should certainly not be ignored for the overall outcome of meteorological conditions during the first war winter. For this reason a fairly comprehensive picture of the main military activities and weather situations observed in and around this Nordic Country shall be taken into account

In the first place, this will demonstrate the quick succession of unusual weather events, which show that the common atmospheric processes over Europe at this time of the year were influenced by something uncommon, resulting in aggressive, extreme and erratic reaction. This was particularly intensive in the high north and Europe’s Mediterranean coast. The latter region with its extraordinary weather events around New Years Day 1939/40 will be covered in a separate paper, (Violent weather, 2_52).

It can hardly be overruled, that major military activities went ‘hand in hand’ with hectic weather appearances and deadly low temperatures, for example:

This is hardly a matter of mere coincidence. Following chronicle, which covers the time from 30th November 1939, to the end of February 1940, makes one wonder whether all these vagaries of weather were caused by course of nature. Although the extremely harsh winter of 1939/40 clearly originated further south in the North and Baltic Sea, the fighting around the Arctic Circle also might have contributed to it in one way or the other.

To provide an example of average temperatures under the Arctic Circle in Finland, the following table shows relevant figures(www.weather.yahoo.com) from the fairly close Russian city of Murmansk, which is less than 50 km away from Petsamo, the most northern point of Finnish defence:

In comparison (see Chronicle, below), temperatures were measured in Finland, e.g. on 24^th December (-34°C); 30^th December (-40°C); 2^nd January (-40°C); 17^th January 1940 (-48°C).

Background of Conflict

In 1936, Finland was already warned by Russia that it could adopt a “forward strategy” and occupy the country if it would intervene in a war between Russia and Germany. The German-Soviet non-aggression pact and secret protocols of 24August 1939, assured the Russians that they could pursue their interests in Eastern Europe from Finland to Poland. Stalin lost no time to increase Russian influence and presence along these lines. When Stalin did not get from a Finnish delegation the concession he was looking for, a war plan was prepared in late October, assuming that a military offensive would last no longer than 15 days. The Germans persuaded Finland not to give in and diplomacy ended, when the last Finnish delegation returned from Moscow on 13^th November 1939. Stalin ordered mobilisation of the Red Army along the entire Soviet-Finnish boarder, while the Red Naval Commissariat prepared for operations in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. More than a dozen submarines patrolled the coastal waters and the first sea mines were laid.

22. September, 1939: “It is also reported here that Russia has mined part of the White Sea (Barents Sea) as if expecting attacks in Arctic waters”, (NYT, 22 September 1939).

10. October 1939: “Finland’s fleet was mobilizing tonight at the port of Abo in readiness to transport troops and war material to the near-by Aland Islands if they are threatened by Russia.” (NYT, 11 October 1939).

20. November, 1939: Due to the early onset of winter and sub- zero (Celsius) temperatures on 20^th November only one of three battleships from the Baltic Fleet was able to reach the Lake Ladoga via the Stalin Canal to Schusselburg (Lit.: Van Dyke, p.46)[1]. The weather charts of the ‘Deutsche Seewarte’ indicate snowfall since 18^th/19^th November, but not any serious minus zero temperatures (Lit.: Seewarte)[2].

30. November, 1939: In the Barents Sea from the North Cape to the city of Murmansk naval activities were increased. The Northern Fleet was ordered to provide artillery support to the Red Army. On November 30^th the Russians had four armies with 450,000 men stationed along the 1,000 kilometre-long front, 2,000 tanks and 1,000 aircrafts, all-in-all about one quarter of the total strength of the Red Army at that time. When the Red Army began systematic shelling and bombing of Finland at 06-50 hours on the morning of the 30^th November, the Soviet-Finnish winter war had started. (Lit.: Van Dyke, p.39)[3].

In the north of neighbouring country Sweden, the city of Harnosand at the Gulf of Bothnia, the average temperature deviated from the normal average in December by -3° to -5° C follows:

In Stockholm, about 400 km south of Harnosand , December temperatures remained fairly close to the average, except during the days December 24 - 28, with 5° to 11° degrees below average temperatures. (Lit.: Statens) [4].

Temperatures in Sweden in December 1939 do not necessarily indicate that in the fairly close neighbourhood conditions have been very different, as illustrated in the chronicle below. Actually, the mean temperature for Sweden in December 1939 was -2.5° C. This is a deviation of only -1.2° C from the average means of -1.3° C, based on 30 years (1901-30) of temperature recordings.

Weather data from Finland in December 1939

This investigation relies primarily on information provided by daily newspapers concerning the war and weather situation in Finland. It seems clear that some exaggerations may have occurred. During wartime’s propaganda, misinformation and even plump lies war parties regard as legitimate. Even the weather is not excluded. The following information indicate some extraordinary weather conditions prevailing many military operations. Some reports indicate extreme deviations from previous December conditions. The investigation presents them without comment and verification. Insofar the reader is advised to use other sources as well for obtaining a complete picture on Finland’s weather conditions in December 1939.

Of particular help in this respect could be the website: www.warwinter.com, concerning the Russian-Finnish War, indicating that the December weather 1939 was widely within common range, if not even mild, until the fourth week. Only since the 20^th of December temperatures dropped sharply and remained extreme low until year-end. The average temperatures in December 1939 were: Helsinki (-4,4°C), Sortavala (-8°C), Kajaani (-8,5°C), and Sodankyla (-18°C). The situation at Finland’s northern outlet to the Barents Sea, Patsumo, is not particularly mentioned.

Naval activities in the Gulf of Bothnia

Gulf of Bothnia has the deepest sea bottom in the Baltic Sea. In hydrodynamic terms this semi enclosed bay stores considerable heat at a very sensitive climatic site thus far up north. Any activities in these waters during the winter season are particularly crucial. There had certainly been a lot of transportation of minerals from Sweden and Finland to Germany going on until the ports had been closed by ice. Presumably Sweden and Finland also took a lot of preventive measures along their coastlines, e.g. patrolling, mining and naval exercises. But the Gulf of Bothnia did not become a serious naval battlefield. Nevertheless, the few known activities, some of which are listed in the following, might also have contributed to the development of temperature, snow and ice-conditions in the far North.

It is a well known fact in navigation, that one can delay the icing of a water way by moving a ship through the water that pushes the icy-surface water down to make warmer water surface. This will work only for a short period and the averted icing will return more severely. The assumption that such techniques had been used too keep Haparanda (see previous section) and other ports at times of war open as long as possible, is not too far fetched.

3.– 20. December 1939: at least five Russian submarines operated in the Gulf of Bothnia sinking the Bolheim, a German steamer of 3,324 tons off Rauma, on 10 December, 1939. (Lit.: Rohwer, Chronik)

15. December, 1939: Swedish navy was laying mines in Aaland’s South Kvarken Straits, in an attempt to prevent submarine activity in the Gulf of Bothnia, (Lit..: Van Dyke, p. 64)

25. December 1939 to 19 January 1940: two more submarines enter the Gulf of Bothnia, a third boat is lost on a Finnish mine barrage in the passage to the Gulf. The others sink the Wilpas (775 tons) off Vasa on 28^th December, the Fenris (484 tons) on 5^th January about fifty miles south of Umea; while one submarine attacks a convoy in Aaland waters on 13^th January. (Lit.: Rohwer, Chronik).

5.. January 1940: Russian submarine shelled the Fenris of 484 tons, in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia today. The attack revealed that Russian submarines have penetrated deep into the gulf, by passing through heavily mined waters of the Aland Islands (NYT, 6 January 1940).

13. January 1940: Gulf of Bothnia. A mine sweeper and two patrol boats dropped depth bombs, in an attempt to cripple a Russian submarine which had trailed the small Finnish steamer Bore 1, through the international waters of the Gulf of Bothnia. (NYT, 14 January 1940)

The Russian-Finnish naval activities in the Gulf of Finland are included in the following chronicle.

Naval activities in the Barents Sea

Any extensive naval activities in the Barents Sea near the Finnish port of Petsamo or on the route to Murmansk or in the White Sea (see above, NYT, 22 September 1939), may have had an impact on the weather conditions in the region. However, it is difficult to get a clear picture in this respect. From the little information that has been available for preparing the chronicle, the dates of December 2; December 11; and January 3, are mentioned.

The Russian Offensive - A Chronicle

The list below does not attempt at being complete, but tries to give an overview of military and meteorological events. Their obvious concurrence causes considerable astonishment. The listed quotations, however, are a loose collection of information to indicate the possible interdependence of events.

30. November 1939: The Finnish army’s strength along the entire 750-miles north-to-south front is said to be 250,000 regular troops and 100,000 men of the volunteer corps. (NYT, 4 December 1939). About the southern Karelian front it was said that a force of about 40,000 Finnish troops is pitted against 70,000 or 80,000 Red Army troops. (NYT, ditto). “All in all, the Leningrad Military District command (Red Army) enjoyed a material superiority over the Finnish army by 3:1 in manpower, 80:1 in tanks, 5:1 in artillery of all types and 5.5:1 in aircraft”, (Lit.: Van Dyke)

30. November 1939: “Military observers believe the Russian forces in the Leningrad district and the Lake Ladoga region to total at least 5,000,000 men. The number of available tanks is given as 1,000 and the number of fighting planes as 500.” (NYT, 7 December 1939).

30. November 1939: Gulf of Finland „The (Russian) commanders of transport ships and torpedo boats were so afraid of being attacked by Finnish submarines, that they set off depth charges every 15 minutes, or whenever an unconfirmed sighting of a periscope was made, resulting in a total of 400 depth charges being dropped by the end of the operation that day”, (Lit.: Van Dyke, p.54).

30. November 1939: “ …the troops, tanks, warships and bombing planes of the Russian war machine had:

Bombed the 3,900-ton Finnish warship Ilmarinen…..” (NYT, 1. December 1939)

30. November - 1 December 1939: The Baltic Fleet cruiser Kirov and two destroyers shell the Finnish island of Russaro, which returns the shelling, (Lit.: Rohwer, Chronik).

30. November 1939: On the first day of invasion, Baltic Fleet bombers spotted the two Finnish battleships anchored off the island of Russaro. Within two hours the Baltic Fleet command sent eight long-range bombers. As the ships had meanwhile disappeared, the squadron dropped their 600 bombs on Helsinki; two additional squadrons were sent out to destroy naval air fields around Helsinki; they managed to destroy 12 airplanes and several hangars while losing two bombers of their own by Finnish anti air craft fire (Lit.: Van Dyke, p.55).

1. – 7. December 1939: The Swedish weather service summarises the first week (1-7December) in the high north as follows: “it is moderately cold and quite dry”, (Lit.: Statens).

1. December 1939: NYT-Headlines: Russia seizes port and islands; 200 are killed; Soviet blow heavy; Invaders seize Arctic area and Isles in the Gulf of Finland; Shell, Bomb Town; Claim penetration up to 10 miles – Halted, Finns declare; ‘New air raid ‘ in Helsinki. (NYT, 1 December 1939)

1. December 1939: “Bombs dropped on Helsinki, civilians were hastily leaving in the mist and rain in the northern winter”. (NYT, ‘The Week in Review’, 3December, 1939).

2. December, 1939: “Snow began falling on Helsinki, where relief workers sought to extinguish fires and to clear away rubbles before Russian bombers returned again with a rain of death”, (NYT, ‘The Week in Review’, 3 December 1939).

2. December, 1939: “For the second successive day, fleets of Soviet planes roamed the narrow Finnish corridor to the Arctic Ocean, bombing towns….. Petsamo and the whole town of Liinahamari were in flames from repeated air raids….”, (NYT, 2 December 1939). The entire population of Salmijaervi fled this afternoon and began tramping in the snow through darkness and bitter cold towards the safety of Norway”, (NYT, ditto). The Soviet Northern Fleet attacks Finnish harbours in Petsamo Fjord. Cover for the fjord’s approaches is provided by two destroyers and two submarines of the Soviet Fleet (Lit.: Rohwer, Chronik).

2. December, 1939: “Poor weather kept Russian air activities at a minimum”;
“Unconfirmed reports reaching here said British warships had been sighted in the Arctic Ocean near Petsamo”;
“Finnish and Russian troops were reportedly fighting in sub-zero weather (-17° C) tonight for the Arctic coast of Finland…..The temperature was 14 degrees below zero (-27° C) in the mountains. (NYT, 3 December 1939)

4. December, 1939: “Finnish troops, aided by a blinding snowstorm, reported new victories over the Red Army yesterday along a 750-miles front” (north-south front), (NYT, 4 December 1939). “The heavy snow storm extending all along the Gulf of Finland, prevented Russia’s bombing planes from carrying out further air raids…” (NYT, ditto). “Soviet warships were reported moving closer to Finland’s gulf coast on the south under cover of heavy snow storms”. (NYT, ditto).

4. December, 1939: “In the north, the Russians tried to land troops near the Arctic port of Petsamo…. Five or six (Finnish) divisions are guarding civil population against attack in Northern Finland….It is reported that twelve Russian planes have been drowned at Imatara during repeated attacks on power plants there”. (NYT, 4 December 1939).
“Out of about 600 Finnish refugees who crossed the Norwegian frontiers last night, many were taken to hospital to be treated for exposure after their flight through bitter cold and a wild snowstorm”, (NYT, ditto).

4. December 1939: “The Finnish government’s war bulletin said: Owing to heavy snowfall there was not much activity on the fronts today except for those parts in the region north of Lake Ladoga, where our troops have been very active”. (NYT, 4 December 1939).
“The enemy had heavy losses north of Ladoga (lake), partly because their advances were made on frozen lakes where they can easily be seen and where the ice still is thin and breaks often”, (NYT, 4 December 1939).
“In the principal theatre of war, the Karelian Isthmus, Red Army units again were held back by ingeniously devised land mines and tank traps, which have been made additionally treacherous by the heavy snow”, (NYT, 5 December 1939; also: 4. December 1939). “Whole companies of invaders have fallen victim to these devices”, (NYT, 5 December 1939).

4. December 1939: “The snow that is falling over Southern Finland came to the aid of this city (Helsinki) in the nick of time….Of Helsinki’s normal population of more than 350,000 only 70,000 remained in the city and many of these are expected to leave overnight”, (NYT, 5 December 1939)

4. December 1939: Order was given to destroy coastal batteries on four Finnish islands and to place 254-mm gun on Saarenpää, followed by an amphibious assault by an entire rifle division, but bad weather conditions and other problems defeat the operation (Lit.: Van Dyke, p. 64).

5. December 1939; “The Finnish Army Command is taking advantage of the early setting in of winter conditions…”, (NYT, 5 December 1939)

5. December 1939: “Only in the extreme north of Finland was the weather good enough to allow any really violent fighting today”.
“Twenty-thousand first-line Finnish troops with first-class equipment are holding firm against newly landed Russian troops on the Arctic front”, (NYT, 5 December 1939).

5. December 1939: “Finnish planes bombed the country between Petsamo and Murmansk, pushing Russian troops there. In the same area large Russian air bases were bombed and about sixty bombers destroyed, it is asserted.” (NYT, 6 December 1939)

6. December 1939: “The Soviet Air Force today resumed its aerial bombing of Finnish towns in the far north and along the eastern frontier, but was driven off after Finnish anti-aircraft guns shot down two of the enemy planes, it was announced”. (NYT, 7 December 1939).

7. December 1939: The Soviet Government declared that Finland will be blocked and the blockade enforced by mine fields. It was reported that Soviet submarines and other warships had closed the Gulf of Finland in a tight blockade. (NYT, 8 December 1939).

7. December 1939: “Despite the bad weather the Red Fleet bombarded undisclosed points along the southern coast”, (NYT, 8 December 1939).

8. December 1939: The clearing weather after days of swirling snowstorm and mist increases the threat of more Russian air attacks.

8.-9. December 1939: The Finnish coastal batteries on Koivisto carry out gun duel with Baltic Fleet shelling forces, consisting of the battleship Minsk, two destroyers and three gunboats. (Lit.: Rohwer, Chronik).

10. December 1939: “Violent fighting in knee-deep snow on Finland’s eastern frontiers at the Arctic Circle was reported today”, (NYT, 11 December 1939).
“Hostilities in the northern sector were said to be proceeding in weather 4 degrees below zero (-20° C)”, (NYT, ditto).
“In addition to the Red Army troops killed in battle, many others were reported to be dying of cold and exposure after being isolated from their supply trains and bases in the snow-piled wastes”. (NYT, ditto).

11. December 1939: “Bitter fighting spread along the 800-mile, snow-piled battlefront from Lake Ladoga to the Arctic Ocean. According to the communiqué, Russian troops were held at a standstill in front of the Finnish Mannerheim Line of fortifications on Karelian Isthmus”. (NYT, 12 December 1939).
“A Finnish communiqué at 11 December noon, reported –inter alia-: At Sea – Our batteries at Kovisto engaged a detachment of enemy fleet. There was fog at sea and the enemy fired heavy guns for a couple of hours. Judging from the sound of explosions, damage was inflicted on the enemy…”, (NYT, 12 December 1939)

11. December 1939: Russians claim that they have cleared the Finnish port Petsamo from Finnish mines (Hamburger Anzeiger, 11 December 1939)

12. December 1939: “Reports from Finnish and Russian sources indicated that heavy fighting has shifted from Karelian Isthmus north of Leningrad to the central front (about 400-miles to the north), where the Russians were attempting to drive a wedge through Finland, and split the country in two.” (NYT, 13 December 1939).

14. December 1939: Heavily reinforced Finnish troops were reported to be laying siege early today to the strategic town of Salla, just above the Arctic Circle, where the Russians were said to have lost 7,000 men”. (NYT, 14 December 1939)

14. December 1939: “There was little aerial activity because of continued poor weather,” (NYT, 15 December 1939).

Summary: The battle continued along full front line during the third week. Weather reports were rare and those given indicate that the conditions were not favourable for aerial attacks. Weather conditions in the Gulf of Finland ranged between moderate or poor quite often. The Russians can make some progress in the far north and at mid-front by employing more and better equipment. But according to Finnish military experts, Soviet power seems overrated (NYT, 17 December 1939). During the week the Finns welcomed a change in weather with lowered temperature at the northern front (NYT, 20 December 1939). They also are hoping for heavier snowfall as, since last week it had been abnormally light (ditto).

17. December 1939: “Last week’s fighting took place on days, that saw the thermometer in Central Finland go no lower than 4 degrees below zero (-20° C), while in Karelia temperatures ranged from 5-14 degrees above (-15 to -10° C) , (NYT, The Week in Review, 17 December 1939).
It was evident last week that Russian effort, which started, in line with the tradition of ponderous Soviet Russian forces, slowly and at climatically wrong time of the year, was reinforced by more and more men, the main strength of the Soviets”, (NYT, ditto).

17. December 1939: Finns report 20,000 Russians trapped on the Salla and Petsamo fronts (NYT, 18 December 1939).

In this region about forty-five miles north of Lake Ladoga fierce fighting has been reported for days (NYT, ditto).

Destruction of three ‘land-battleships’ –thirty-ton tanks- and thirty Russian tanks had been sent to the scrap heap in the last two days, it was reported. (NYT, ditto).

18. December 1939. The German weather service observed that cyclone activities in the high North have become strongly active again, at the same time; the extreme cold had been continuing in that area. At Spitsbergen, in a strong northerly air current -15° C has been measured, providing the European arctic sector with very cold air mass. (Lit.: Seewarte)

18. December 1939: “Russian Red Army today completed its conquest of Finland’s narrow corridor to the Arctic Ocean with a furious drive, supported by bombing planes and big guns, that smashed the Finnish lines eleven miles south of Samlijaevi”, (NYT, 19 December 1939). In the first real air activities in southern Finland since early this month, Russian war planes today bombed two suburbs of Viborg, (NYT, ditto).

18 . December 1939: A squadron of the Soviet Baltic Fleet (one battle ship Oktjabrskaja Revolutsija, five destroyers and further support vessels) shelled the 254mm Finnish coastal battery at Saarenpaa on Koivisto, with the arrival of a further battle ship Marat on the 19^th. Also planes bombed the island. (Lit.: Rohwer).
„The Finnish coastal batteries have been in lively combat for the last few days. Time and again they have been attacked by Russian planes or bombed. The coastal batteries around Koivisto have been especially exposed to bombardments”, (NYT, 20. December 1939)

18. December 1939: West of Murmansk the Russians have started a huge offensive (Hamburger Anzeiger, 19 December 1939).

19. December 1939: „Clear skies over Finland for the first time in two weeks provided ideal conditions for air attacks today, ...two squadrons of bombers came thundering under an icy blue sky and bombs were rained on the vicinities of Helsinki, Abo, Borga, Viborg, Hangoe and other vital points.“
“A fierce air battle was fought over Borga between Finnish pursuit planes and the Russian bombers, in which the bombers were forced to remain at an altitude of 15,000 feet.” “The Finns said the anti-aircraft fire against the Russian planes was so intense that most of the bombs, although aimed at military targets, fell wide off their mark”, (NYT, 20 December 1939).

19. December 1939: “The Finns are using improvised tank bombs like those devised in the Spanish civil war, a combination of hand grenades and small gasoline cans. (NYT, 20 December 1939).

20. December 1939: A highly spectacular weather event took place in the longest night north of the Polar Circle off the Roest (Lofoten), near the Norwegian port of Narvik. On the 20^th December a cyclone developed suddenly, pushing air pressure down by 54.6 mb in 24 hours; See in detail, (Cyclone and shells, 2_21).

20. December 1939: On Wednesday, 20^th, Russians were still pursuing their major offensive in the Petsamo area (NZZ, 21 December 1939) for which they had transported troops and material by trains to Murmansk (Hamburg Anzeiger). The Finns shall have started a big counter offensive on Thursday, 21 December evening (NZZ, 22 December 1939); Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

20. December 1939: “Russian drive was stalled in the far north by blizzards and temperatures 25 degrees below zero (-31° C). (NYT, 21 December 1939)

20. December 1939: “Fierce fighting surged across the Karelish Isthmus in sub-zero temperatures (below -17.8° C) today, as Russians lost hundreds of tanks in a savage drive, they deployed 200 Red Air Force planes in widespread bombing attacks on the rest of Finland. The roar of artillery could be heard from one side of the 65-mile-wide Isthmus to the other. Finnish aviators rose to meet Red Army aviators in fierce dogfights and fought in the winter sky. ‘Much of the time I was unable to distinguish one plane from another. In zero cold the exhausts of the planes left comet-like streams, smoke lying behind them sometimes for as long as ten to fifteen miles’”, (NYT, 21 December 1939).

21. December 1939: “Russians retreat from Finland, in Arctic cold and snow”;
“By mid-afternoon the Finns were reportedly fighting in heavy snowstorm and subzero cold” (NYT, 22 December 1939).

21. December 1939: At the Arctic front the Russians retreat in less than minus 30° C (NZZ, 22 Dec.39). North Finland temperatures down to -30 ° /-36° C (Hamburger Anzeiger, 22 Dec.39)

23. December 1939: Heavy snowstorm reported from Latvia. (Hamburger Anzeiger, 27. December 1939)

23. December 1939: During the third week of war Russians launched several major offensives against the Mannerheim-Line positions. They employed a huge number of flaks of medium and large calibre up to 20-cm and showered countless number of shells continuously on Finnish positions, lasting for 48 hours. They further attacked Finns with 200 tanks and several hundred airplanes followed by a large number of infantry. (NZZ, 24 Deember 1939)

24. December 1939: Report by James Aldridge (extract from NYT, 25 December 1939): “The cold numbs the brain in this Arctic hell, snow sweeps over the darkened wastes, the winds howl and the temperature is 30 degrees below zero (minus 34.4 ° C). Here the Russians and Finns are battling in blinding snowstorms for possession of ice-covered forests. …I reached the spot just after the battle ended. It was the most horrible sight I had ever seen. As if the men had been suddenly turned to wax, there were two or three thousand Russians and a few Finns, all frozen in fighting attitudes. Some were locked together, their bayonets within each other’s bodies; some were frozen in half-standing positions; some were crouching with their arms crooked, holding the hand grenades they were throwing; some were lying with their rifles shouldered, their legs apart….(T)heir fear was registered on the frozen faces. Their bodies were like statues of men throwing all their muscles and strength into some work, but their faces recorded something between bewilderment and horror.” (NYT, 25 Decmber 1939).

25. December1939: Extract from a journalist’s report: “Today was even colder than yesterday, the mercury hovering around 15(F) below zero at midday (Viborg region)… (w)e saw six Soviet bombers plunging over the edge of the city, leaving trails with smoke, the result of their exhausts freezing in the intense cold. Some minutes later more groups appeared from all directions until thirty planes were wheeling over the city and its environs. …(t)he bombs ranged in size from 30 to 200 pounds..(T)here were bomb craters up to thirty feet in diameter and fifteen feet deep….(T)hese explosions were as freakish as tornadoes”. (NYT, 26 December 1939).

26. December 1939: Finland carried the war to Soviet soil yesterday with a drive across the border seventy-five miles from Russia’s vital railway to Murmansk, Helsinki reported. But Russia claimed a victory in the Suomussalmi region, continued the bombardment of Viborg and bombed many other southern towns. (NYT, 26 December 1939)

27. December 1939: Joseph Stalin has amassed 300,000 of his best soldiers on the eastern and northern fronts… (T)he Finns estimate that the Red Army has lost 4,000 men in fighting in the extreme north alone in the last three days…(T)he Finns said they had identified sixteen Russian divisions confronting them (each about 18,000 men), (NYT, 27 December 1939).

27. December 1939: Viborg: The weather last night and today aided the Finns. Low clouds prevented Soviet air observation and a resumption of intense bombing activities of the last few bright days. Lower temperatures are prompting snow, which the Finns are hoping for.
Finnish artillery is blasting huge holes in the ice of frozen lakes… (T)he Russians, forced for three weeks to conduct their campaign along canalised lines because of the chain of interlocking lakes, today took advantage of several days of 10 to 15 degrees below zero weather (-23/26° C) and directed a massive attack against the Finnish left wing across the ice. (NYT, 29 December 1939).

28. December 1939: “For two days the writer (James Aldridge) has been at the front with an advance post of the Finnish Arctic Army. From a hut somewhere between Kemijaervi and Salla, I have been watching the Finns conducting a remarkable war successfully against overwhelming Russian forces in Winter cold, 30 degrees below zero, and amid blinding storm. …(in) the bitterest weather conditions of any war ever fought” (NYT, 29 December 1939)

There seems to have been quite a distinctive weather line between northern and southern Finland by the end of December 1939.

29. December 1939: At the Petsamo Front heavy snowstorms are continuing (NZZ, 29 December 1939)

30. December 1939: According to reports from Kirkeness in North Norway mighty snowstorms blew over North Finland. Horrible cold prevailed in the Finnish north front area. Temperatures have fallen to 40° C below zero, a cold of such magnitude is seldom seen in this area in December. Due to this weather experts consider it impossible that larger military actions can be waged. (Hamburger Anzeiger, 30/31 December 1939)

31. December 1939: According to a review of the first month of the war, the Russians now are attacking on seven fronts with 700,000 men. Russian losses are estimated at 35,000 killed, 100,000 wounded, 332 tanks destroyed or captured.
Besides, the weather so far had been on the side of the Russians, rather that of the Finns. The severe cold, freezing soil, lakes and rivers, came unusually early this winter. But there has been comparatively little snow on such a strategic point as the Karelian Isthmus. Snow is valuable to the Finns, both because it increases mobility of the army that knows every hill. Deep snow will be an effective obstacle to the Russian tanks. (NYT, 31 December 1939)

Early 1940 – January and February.

Only the most relevant or interesting events are compiled here, without any claim about its completeness.

As the Gulf of Finland was not frozen until mid January, presumably due to the ‘stir and mix’ of the seawater, naval activities remained relevant for at least another two weeks.

By mid January a ‘cold air pooplugl’ established itself over the coastal area of Germany bringing the coldest winter of one century that lasted for the rest of the season to Southwest England, Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden and, presumably to Finland and Baltic countries as well. The ‘making’ of the winter of 1939/40 had therefore been ‘completed’ by now. Hereafter, the chronicle lists only the most interesting events.

1. – 1.7. January 1940: German Navy continues its mercantile warfare in the eastern Baltic with a number of ships, intercepting ships and sending some of them as prizes into German ports (Lit.: Rohwer, Chronik).

2. January 1940: Soviet aviators bombed Abo heavily, which is Finland’s most important western seaport in the Gulf of Bothnia. Many buildings were burning in Abo, where Finns have been receiving war material.(NYT, 2.. January 1940).

2. January 1940: Russian battleship bombarded Koivisto Fort on the Gulf of Finland. “Except for lively enemy air activity, the day was quiet elsewhere along the coast”. (NYT, 3. January 1940)

2. January 1940: Soviets lost 12,000 men in battle on lake. Finnish patrols on ski are hunting down the bewildered remnants of the 163^rd Red Army Division, which was surrounded and shattered last Friday and Saturday. A blizzard is raging. The main battle took place on the ice of Lake Kianta in a temperature of 40 degrees below zero (-40° C).
Petsamo Front (North Finland); Title: “Cold rivals Finns as Russians’ foe; Weather kills as many as bullets”, Report from James Aldridge –Extract-: “With the temperatures outside at 41 degrees below zero, your correspondent is crouching before a fire in the headquarter hut… 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle. …(A)s a fierce blizzard threatens….the cold is killing as many Russians in the terrible night as the Finn patrols kill in a daytime….(I)t is so cold that your breath freeze before it has time to rise and your nose ices up inside. When you venture outside, your feet seem to become blocks of ice, every movement in the wind burns your face, and your hands become numb in the thickest mittens”.(NYT, 3. January 1940)

2. January 1940: (South Finland); A heavy snowstorm originated over Finland…90 bombs dropped on Abo; 230 heavy bombs dropped on Vasa; 40 degrees below zero on polar front; 26,000 Russians cut off their bases on two battle fronts above the Arctic Circle, 16,000 at Salla, and a further 10,000 far north; (NYT, 3. January 1940). 4.. January 1940; According to tonight’s communiqué, no loss of life and little material damage resulted from yesterday’s Soviet air raids on Abo, Hangoe and other targets, while one Soviet plane was shot down. (NYT, 5. January 1940)

3. January 1940: A United Press dispatch from the Norwegian frontier declared that the Finnish Air Force, using what observers believed to be British or Italian type bombers, made a strong attack on Russian Army’s main Arctic supply base at Liinahamari, at the port of Petsamo. Heavy explosions were heard along the frontier. Some observers believed the planes had come from ships in the Arctic Ocean (NYT, 4. January 1940).
“There have been rumours, never denied but lacking confirmation, that British naval craft had been sighted outside Petsamo Fjord in the Arctic Ocean” (ditto).
“British Warships near Petsamo, Report says, providing aid to Finns – the newspaper Avvenire of Rome reported tonight”, (NYT, 21. February 1940). “British in the Arctic, Norway confirms”, (NYT, 23. February 1940); An unconfirmed number of British warships are lying off Finland’s Petsamo district…It was believed that the ships were stationed in the area to prevent German vessels from using Norwegian territorial waters in trade with Russia. (ditto). Later rumours suggest that German Navy had also been present near Petsamo (NYT, 27. February 1940).

3. January 1940: Finnish patrols have devastated the Russian communication and supply lines in the east, particularly on the branch rail line between Murmansk Railway and Russian town of Uhtus. Several trains have derailed on this line due to damage done by the raiders. Two gasoline trains were burnt on Monday and several troop trains have been wrecked (NYT, 4 January 1940); see also the later report (NYT, 9. January 1940).

4. January 1940: NYT Commentary comments on the reports of James Aldridge (see above: 24December 1939, and 2January 1940): “If reports are true, someone in Moscow blundered. The Russians were not ready for such cold weather”. (NYT, 4. January 1940)

4. January1940: Danish radio reported that Finnish planes had bombed Murmansk, the Soviet Arctic port; damaged the Leningrad-Murmansk railroad and “completely destroyed” Russian air bases on the Estonian Island of Dagoe and Oesel, the United Press said. In Moscow the Soviet military communiqué only said: “Nothing of importance took place on the front today.” (NYT, 5. January 1940). Although Russian artillery is still wasting thousands of shells against the Mannheim Line, there was scarcely any other activity yesterday and today in Karelia,..(ditto)

5. January 1940: Russian submarine shelled the Fenris (484 tons) in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia today. The attack revealed that Russian submarines have penetrated deep into the gulf, by passing the heavily mined waters of the Aland Islands (NYT, 6. January 1940).

5. January 1940: Scandinavia dispatches report…that the Red Army….was ready to throw 1,200,000 more troops into the thirty-seven-day-old war in Finland. (NYT, 6. January 1940).

5. January 1940: The Politiken’s newspaper correspondent, Antoine Moller, reported from the Northern Finland today that she has witnessed the strangest evacuation she had ever seen – not women and children, but animals, in 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Reindeer by the thousands were driven from the area of Petsamo towards Central Finland to provide meat, fur caps and boots for the Finnish Army. There are more than 200,000 reindeer in Northern Finland (NYT, 6. January 1940).

6. January 1940: headlines: Soviet gain small in 38 days of war. Only 5,000 square miles won at a heavy loss in men, planes and material. ‘Blitzkrieg’ plan fails. Terrain and winter wreck it. Air raids at 60 places have killed 300. 22 Russian planes reported downed. (NYT, 7. January 1940).

7. January 1940: Report by K.J. Eskelund from Karelian Isthmus (extract): A wave of arctic weather stopped all Russian attacks on the Karelian Isthmus today. However, the Soviet artillery began a strong bombardment late in the afternoon. …(I)n spite of several layers of wool and fur coat I myself nearly froze this afternoon when, with the temperatures 25 degree below zero (-32° C), I accompanied a group of foreign journalists on a visit to a Finnish company several kilometres behind the front lines. (NYT, 8 January 1940).
The weather has proven an unexpected ally to the Finns, who usually look for the coldest temperatures not until February and March. In Helsinki in Southern Finland it was 15 below (-26° C). Ice forming in the Gulf of Finland has severely crippled the Red Fleet. The Soviet air force continues to operate despite the cold, but not on earlier scale, when 350 planes were reported over Finland in one day. (NYT, 8. January 1940)

8. January 1940: Soumussalmi sector: The Russian 44^th Division was surrounded near the town of Raate (ca. Central Finland); main enemy forces have been destroyed. The war booty was large. It included 102 guns, 43 tanks, 10 armoured cars, 1 air plane, 20 tractors, 278 automobiles, 16 anti-tank guns, 4 anti air-craft guns, ….1,170 horses… (NYT, 9 January 1940). Two entire divisions - 163^rd and 44^th, with 15,000 - 18,000 men each – and at least one regiment of the 164^th Division, were crushed or destroyed in the fighting since 24December, a Finnish communiques said. (NYT, 11. January 1940).

8 . January 1940: A record frost today covered Northern and Central Russia, with the thermometer at 31 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-35° C), and impeded normal activity. (NYT, 9 January 1940).

10. January 1940: Russia now has 400,000 men and more than 2,000 large guns on the Karelian Isthmus, a high Finnish office declared today. (NYT, 11 January 1940).

13. January 1940: Yesterday, 400 Sovietplanes flew over Finland, the greatest number so far, exceeding even the Christmas Day raid, in which 350 Soviet planes were said to have participated. In all, some 500 bombs were dropped. At Helsinki the Soviet planes dodged in and out of rain clouds… (NYT, 14 January 1940).

13. January 1940: Riga/Latvia; The bitterest cold wave of years, which sent temperatures in the Baltic countries to as low as 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, ended abruptly today. The mercury rose rapidly to a few degrees below zero (F.). Parts of the Baltic Sea have frozen over, and floating and pack ice are likely to interfere with shipping for some time. (NYT, 14 January 1940)

13. January 1940: Gulf of Bothnia: A mine sweeper and two patrol boats dropped depth bombs in an attempt to cripple a Russian submarine, which had trailed the small Finnish steamer Bore 1, through the international water of the Gulf of Bothnia. (NYT, 14 January 1940)

14. January 1940: Large-scale Russian offensive in the air continued ever since the hazy weather cleared (NYT, 15 January 1940); with daily raids by 300 to 400 Russian planes (NYT, 16 January 1940).

15. January 1940: Finland Far North: A rise in temperature last week, after a month-long subzero weather, brought a sudden attack against the Finnish northern flank.. (NYT, 16 January 1939)

17. January 1940: Alleged interception of the Estonian steamer Vega and sinking of the 396-ton Kassari by Russian submarine in the Gulf of Finland (NYT, 17 January 1940)

18. January 1940; Helsinki: “Pitiless, deathly cold laid a glacial cover on Russian’s war machinery tonight… near Salla, above the Arctic Circle. Phenomenal 54-degrees-below-zero temperature (-48°C) restrained the Russian air forces, …and apparently immobilised Russian ground forces, which have been attacking on the Karelian Isthmus. (NYT, 18 January 1940).

18. January 1940: Temperatures of more than 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit were reported from several points. At Nickby, northeast of Helsinki, a temperature of 58 degrees below zero was recorded – the coldest since 1878. It was 11 degrees below zero in Helsinki (NYT, 19 January 1940).

19. January 1940: Unofficial Finnish reports estimated that 204 Soviet planes had been downed in the first seven weeks of war. The Soviets also lost 434 tanks and armoured cars, 189 cannons, 282 machine guns and 522 trucks. (NYT, 20 January 1940).

20 . January 1940; “Thus they are able…to relieve men exhausted by a week of fighting in temperatures plunging to 60 degrees below zero” (NYT, 21 January 1940, p.23, left 1^st column).

21. January 1940: “The cold polar air remained stagnant over vast areas of Europe and North America. Result: Some of the coldest weather in half a century. In Moscow the temperature on 17.^th January dropped to 49 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-45° C) and in parts of Finland to 58 degrees below zero. Such temperatures can be measured only on alcohol thermometers, because mercury freezes solid at 38 degrees below zero (NYT, 21. January 1940, Weekend in Review, Title: War in the Cold)

22. January 1940: “Fog, snow and high winds have affected Russian’s aerial campaign..”.
“6,667 bombs, …, were dropped on Finnish targets outside the war zone (in the week January 14-20)”.
“..most of those missiles fell, according to this report, into the sea or in rivers or harmlessly in the countryside”. (NYT, 23. January 1940)

23. January 1940: Two warships reportedly damaged at Kronstadt in Finnish bombing raid. (NYT, 24. January 1940).

25 January 1940: Soviet bombers, swarming over Finland again, sank a Finnish ship yesterday with a shower of bombs in the Aaland archipelago, tried to bomb a German vessel and machine-gunned a third. (NYT, 25 January 1940)

27. January 1940: Helsinki. “Victims in the coldest Winter in sixty years…” (NYT, 27. January 1940).

29. January 1940: Soviet rains bombs on Finland. 53^rd attack targets Abo. Russian fliers violently bombed many Finnish cities. More than 1,000 bombs were dropped. (NYT, 30. January 1940).

1. February 1940: Thousands of shells burst in an incessant roar….It was the heaviest shelling that correspondents had heard since the World War I, heavier than anything they had encountered in Spain, Ethiopia or on the Western Front of the present European war. (NYT, 2. February 1940). ()..while artillery was roaring , spitting hundreds of shells every minute against Finnish lines, fleets of large Russian planes flew low, dropping down parachute forces behind the Finnish lines. (NYT, 3. February 1940).

6. February 1940: A Russian plane today bombed and sank the 701-ton Swedish steamer Wirgo, while en rout to Stockholm with a convoy of five ships near Aaland. (NYT, 7. February 1940).

21. February 1940: Russian claim Koivisto. 800 planes attack Finns. Bombing continues at night. (NYT, 21. February 1940).

21. February 1940: A violent snowstorm today providentially relieved the Finnish troops valiantly holding the Karelian Isthmus..(NYT, 22. February 1940)

Conclusion of war

“On 20 March, 1940, a final meeting of representatives from the Soviet and Finnish governments was convened at Kremlin to formally conclude a war, which had never been formally declared.” (Lit.: Van Dyke, p. 189)

LITERATURE:

NYT; The New York Times; All NYT temperature data are in Fahrenheit. In some cases a conversion in Celsius is given in brackets.

Rohwer, Juergen and Huemmelchen, Gerhard; ‚Chronik des Seekrieges 1939-1945’ Oldenburg/Hamburg, 1968. The material is also available in German under: www.wlb-stuttgart.de (Marine), Wuerttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. In English: Rohwer, Juergen and Huemmelchen, Gerhard; ‚Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939-1945’ London, 1992.

Seewarte: refers to the daily weather charts of the “Deutsche Seewarte, Abteilung: Wetterdienst” , with detailed weather observation and weather forecast and weather analysis, section “Witterungsübersicht”.

Statens Meteorologisk-Hydrografiska Anstalt, ‘ Månadsöversikt över Vänderlek och Vattentillgång – December 1939’, Stockholm 1940,

[1] Van Dyke, Carl; ‚The Soviet Invasion of Finland 1939-40’, London, 1997.

[2]Seewarte: refers to the daily weather charts of the “Deutsche Seewarte, Abteilung: Wetterdienst” , with detailed weather observation and weather forecast and weather analysis, section “Witterungsübersicht”.

[3]Van Dyke, FN 1

[4]Statens Meteorologisk-Hydrografiska Anstalt, ‘ Månadsöversikt över Vänderlek och Vattentillgång – December 1939’, Stockholm 1940,

Finland Invaded
by Russia

December 1939 – March 1940 (2_41)

Weather and War in the Arctic Circle

Background of Conflict

Weather data from Finland in December 1939

Naval activities in the Gulf of Bothnia

Naval activities in the Barents Sea

The Russian Offensive - A Chronicle

Early 1940 – January and February.

Conclusion of war

LITERATURE:

Finland Invaded by Russia

December 1939 – March 1940 (2_41)

Weather and War in the Arctic Circle

Background of Conflict

Weather data from Finland in December 1939

Naval activities in the Gulf of Bothnia

Naval activities in the Barents Sea

The Russian Offensive - A Chronicle

Early 1940 – January and February.

Conclusion of war

LITERATURE:

Finland Invaded
by Russia