Finnish 6th Division (Winter War)
The
6th Division (6.Divisioona) was a unit of the
Finnish Army during the
Winter War; its name was later changed to the
3rd Division (3.Divisioona).
During the
mobilization prior to the Winter War, the 6th Division was placed in the reserve of the
Commander-in-Chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The division consisted of reservists mainly from
Satakunta. On
19 December it was attached to the
II Corps. The 6th and
1st Divisions were to attack the advancing
Soviet forces near
Summa. The attack began on
23 December but was a failure.
In the beginning of January
1940 the division's name was changed to the
3rd Division. The reason for this was to confuse the enemy, but it is uncertain if this had any effect.
In January
1940 the division replaced the
5th Division at the Summa front.
In February the Soviet forces began bombarding the front lines at Summa with artillery fire. On the morning of
February 11th the attack began along the whole front of the exhausted 3rd Division. The Soviets had concentrated nine divisions and five armoured brigades of the
7th Army at Summa. The Finnish lines broke on the
January 13th and the forces retreated to the Intermediate Line (
Väliasema).
* Colonel Paavo Paalu
*Infantry Regiment 16 (JR 16), from January 1940 JR 6
*Infantry Regiment 17 (JR 17), from January 1940 JR 7
*Infantry Regiment 18 (JR 18), from January 1940 JR 8
*Artillery Regiment 6 (KTR 6), from January 1940 KTR 3
*Light Detachment 6 (Kev.Os 6), from January 1940 Kev.Os 3
*
Finnish Infantry Division Generic Organisation
