Finnish Jäger lieutenant general who destroyed two Soviet divisions at Suomussalmi with motti tactics
The division was not yet fully formed: Siilasvuo destroyed the Soviet 163rd Division before year's end with an incomplete 9th Division, then encircled the 44th on the Raate Road and cut it into motti, cordwood stacks.
A Jäger officer born in Helsinki, he went to Germany during the First World War for military training in the Prussian Jäger Battalion and fought in the Finnish Civil War as a White company commander. During the Winter War, as a colonel commanding the 9th Division, he encircled and destroyed the Soviet 163rd and 44th Rifle Divisions at Suomussalmi and Raate Road using motti tactics, halting the Soviet drive to cut Finland in half at Oulu. His success earned him promotion to major general and a best-selling book, Suomussalmen taistelut, though he was criticized for claiming all the credit. He commanded III Corps in the Continuation War and led the expulsion of German forces in the Lapland War, receiving the Mannerheim Cross in December 1944; he died at 54.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1915–1918Trained with 27th Prussian Jäger Battalion; fought on Eastern Front
- 1918White company commander, Finnish Civil War; fought at Tampere and Viipuri
- 1934–1939Commander, Pohjanmaa Military District; Oulu city councillor
- 1939–1940Commander, 9th Division; destroyed two Soviet divisions at Suomussalmi and Raate Road
- 1941–1942Commander, III Corps; northern Finnish-Soviet front
- 1944Commander, III Corps, Karelian Isthmus; Vuoksi defensive battles
- 1944–1945Overall commander, Lapland War; expelled German forces from Finland
- 1944–1947Commander, 1st Division; died 1947
Related historical events
The northern offensive and expulsion of German forces
In June 1941, Siilasvuo’s III Corps was subordinated to the German Army of Norway and assigned the southern flank of the German-led Operation Silver Fox. The corps was ordered to advance through the Ukhta–Kestenga line toward the Murmansk railway near Loukhi. It made significant progress and received German reinforcements, but failed to reach Loukhi. When Finland’s high command ordered the renewed offensive halted for political reasons, Siilasvuo issued a written stop order on 17 November 1941. The front then settled into static warfare. Promoted to lieutenant general in 1942, he was transferred to inspect the military schools.
In March 1944, Siilasvuo returned as commander of III Corps on the eastern sector of the Karelian Isthmus. Forced back by the Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive in July, the corps took up defensive positions along the Vuoksi and held them until the war ended. Under the Moscow Armistice, Finland had to remove German forces still in the country. Siilasvuo’s corps was moved north and given overall command of Finnish forces in the Lapland War. Over the following months Finnish forces pushed the Germans out of Lapland; the last German troops left Finland on 27 April 1945.