Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS

Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS
Members of the battalion in 1943 in Finland
Active	1941 – July 1943
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Waffen SS
Type	Infantry
Size	Battalion 1408 volunteers (in all)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Hans Collani

The Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS (German: Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS) was a motorized infantry battalion of the Nazi German Waffen-SS. It was formed from Finnish volunteers and fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. For most of its existence it was attached to SS-Regiment Nordland of the . The battalion participated in the Battle of the Caucasus in mid-1942 and the subsequent Third Battle of Kharkov in early 1943, after the German defeat during the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942 forced the Germans to evacuate the Caucasus. It was disbanded in mid-1943 as the two-year commitment of the volunteers had expired and the Finnish Government was unwilling to allow more men to volunteer.

The Finnish Government authorized the Germans to recruit men for service with the Waffen-SS for a two-year term in early 1941, although negotiations over the details lasted until the end of April. This delayed their arrival until May and the roughly 400 men who had military experience in the Winter War were sent to in mid-June where they were dispersed throughout the division. The inexperienced volunteers were held back for training and were formed into the SS-Volunteer Batallion Northeast (motorized) German: SS-Freiwilligen-Battalion Nordost (mot.) on 1 June. By the end of the month the battalion had about 1,000 men. It was renamed the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS on 13 September and additional volunteers arrived over the next several months to bring its strength up to around 1,180 men. The unit was sent to the front at the beginning of January 1942 where it was attached to SS-Regiment Nordland of the , serving as its third battalion. While many Finns were already serving with , the battalion differed in that it was staffed with Finnish officers and NCOs ( being commanded by Germans).