Arctic Front:
Finnish Tanks
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
March 2022

Panzer Grenadier: Arctic Front is a special Gold Club downloadable expansion set that introduces Finnish forces to the Panzer Grenadier game series, including this small nation’s very small armored force. We’ll take a look here at the pieces and the vehicles they represent.

When the Winter War broke out in late 1939, Finland had one tank battalion, at least on paper. This unit consisted of three companies with 20 ancient Renault FT-17 tanks, and one with six more modern Vickers-built Six-Ton tanks. The Vickers tanks came without armament, and 20 more were on hand but not ready for combat. Another six vehicles from the order arrived after the war was over. The handful with actual armament took part in the lone Finnish tank attack of the war.

Large numbers of Soviet tanks fell into Finnish hands during the Winter War, and these re-equipped the armored battalion. About 35 T-26 tanks, the Soviet version of the Vickers Six-Ton, now served in the tank companies alongside the surviving Vickers, giving the unit relatively standard equipment. The Vickers vehicles received Soviet-made 45mm guns taken from destroyed tanks, and the Finns now called all of the tanks T-26 regardless of origin. Two T-28 medium tanks were also refurbished and issued to the troops.

More T-26 tanks entered the Finnish inventory during the opening weeks of the Continuation War, begun when Finland attacked the Soviet Union alongside Germany in June 1941. About 430 Soviet tanks fell into Finnish hands or were destroyed, and by early 1942 90 T-26 (including both ex-Soviet and British-made vehicles) were in service, and the armored battalion was upgraded to brigade status.

A BT-42, a museum piece then and now.
Parola Armour Museum, Finland.

Finnish commanders wanted more firepower, and in 1943 the Finnish VTT works began re-building captured BT-7 tanks as BT-42 assault guns. These had an armored box welded together from plates taken from destroyed Soviet tanks. Within it was mounted a British-made 114mm howitzer never intended as tank armament: During the battles of June 1944, BT-42s hit a single T-34/85 eighteen times without any discernable effect.

In the summer of 1942, with little action happening at the front, the armored brigade was combined with one of the elite jäger brigades to form an armored division. Realizing their T-26 tanks could not match Soviet armor, even when rebuilt as assault guns, the Finns cast about for better tanks. Though Finnish soldiers seem to have had a knack for snaring intact enemy tanks, only two T-34/76 and one KV joined the Finnish forces by 1942 through capture.

The Finns greatly respected the fighting power of the T-34, and Germany promised to deliver enough of them to re-equip the armored brigade. The Germans also promised a large amount of other ex-Soviet equipment, but reneged. Only three T-34 tanks came from the Germans, who probably never intended to fulfill these agreements and did not have the vehicles to give. German units usually held onto their captured T-34s, using them until they broke down through lack of maintenance, often with fatal damage.

One of three T-34 tanks delivered by Germany
in 1944. Parola Armour Museum, Finland.

The Finns also purchased the German Sturmgeschutz IIIG assault gun, taking delivery of 30 in 1943. This became known as the Stu-40 in Finland, and the crews liked its excellent optics and powerful anti-tank gun. The Finns wanted more but could not get them from Alkett, the manufacturer. Another 29 finally arrived during the battles of June 1944.

As part of Finland’s desperate requests for modern weaponry during the 1944 battles, they also asked for modern German tanks. The Germans finally delivered 15 PzKw IVJ tanks late in the summer, but the new battalion only became combat-ready in September, just in time for Finland to switch sides. In contrast to the assault guns, the Finns disliked the tank and named it the “Shaker” for its intense vibrations. Even at slow speed, Finnish crews claimed it was almost impossible to aim the 75mm gun, and the tank had to stop dead to fire.

German tank crews had no such complaints, and liked the tank very much. American tank veterans also report no such weaknesses in the vehicles they faced, other than the hand-cranked turret which replaced the electric traverse of previous models. As this was the newest tank in the German inventory (production began in June 1944), it seems likely that Nibelungenwerke used the Finnish shipment as an opportunity to unload 15 vehicles that failed to meet German Army or SS acceptance standards.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published a great many books, games and articles on historical subjects; people are saying that some of them are actually good. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children, and his Iron Dog, Leopold.

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