Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military
From: jmt@ecsvax.uncecs.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Tanks and Finns (was: Re: Unconventional Warfare)
Message-ID: <7512@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 Jun 89 03:34:06 GMT
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From: jmt@ecsvax.uncecs.edu.UUCP

Timo Kiravuo writes
>However it is known that the poorly equipped Finnish army managed
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>to keep the entire Red Army out of Finland during the World War
>two. The Soviets had planned to take Finland over in a week or

To quote John Weeks (Men Against Tanks, Mason Charter, 1975)

"In Finland there was a departure from the norm, for in this tiny country
and in this one alone had an anti-tank rifle of respectable size
appeared.  This was the Lahti, derived from an aircraft machine-gun of
the same name.  The Lahti was 20mm and could be fired either
semiautomatic or automatic;...How many of these superbly built guns took
part in the 1939 Winter War is not known, but some at least played their
part in holding off the Soviet armoured threat...(p.34)"

In regards to anti-tank rifles the Finnish army seems to have been *well*
equipped.  Still, this does not diminish the courage of the men who were
willing to fire a rifle at a tank. 

-Jerry M. Trott
jmt@ecsvax.uncecs.edu.UUCP

[mod.note: Still, a 20mm ATR is a marginal antitank weapon; bear in mind
that other nations were relying on 37-45mm AT guns for tank defense, and
even these were soon shown inadequate.
Weeks is also in error, as the Swiss had developed the 20mm Solothurn
antitank rifle, which was sold to several nations.  The Japanese,
too, had a 20mm ATR.  - Bill ]