My 4th Trip To Finland

[RGRWJB]

My trip to Finland was a very interesting one this time. This was the 4th trip I made there for my study of the Finnish Military weapons, ammunition, tactics and the people.

 

As usual I have a group of very close friends there, that I stay with. This keeps the trip expenses down when you don’t have to pay for a hotel or meals. Hotel and meals can be very costly in Finland. I must extend my gratitude to this core group of people that come from a very interesting background. One is a the equivalency to our Police ATF agent, another is a very well known and respected knife maker and the two more are very successful engineers. Thanks again to this group of friends.

 

The first thing we did was to absorb some of the culture of the country. You really don’t get an understanding of what went on there during WWII, until you understand the people and their history. Very few historical studies of Finland understand that concept.

We went to a few Castles and as well as to other historical sites. The study of the Finns and the people is always fun. Living with Finns, while you are there help a lot.

 

I then got the opportunity to go to some very nice collections. One was a very nice uniform collection that included a full WWII aviator’s uniform. This uniform was complete. When I say complete, it had the history of the pilot’s performance to include his (what we call a 201 file in the Army) and his shoulder stocked browning Hi- Power. Also in this collections were many examples of Finnish uniforms to include a Jaeger uniform and the original 27 Jaeger unit badge.

 

I then went and spent all day at another very large collection. In this collection there were things that I have never heard of before in the collecting of Finnish rifles. I also got to hold about every type of Finnish used sniper rifle ever made or used by the Finn’s.

 

Next came a very large Lugar collection with Artillery, Navy and the Finnish guns to include the story behind the SAKO barreled Lugar’s. I was quite impressed. In this Lugar collection, was a very nice Finnish Lahti with an extended barrel, extended sites and an interesting shoulder stock. The Finns made the Tikka barrels for their Lugars. They were a much better grade of barrel than the standard German ones. But they were not as good as the Finns wanted them to be. So SAKO made custom barrels for people to buy and attach to their guns. These SAKO barrels were extremely accurate match grade barrels that could be used for target practice or combat.

 

Then came my trip to Estonia. I have read about some people’s experiences about their trips to Estonia as well as some versions of the Estonian part in the Finnish WWII conflict. As with everything on the net you must do your own research and make your own judgments. The first thing I did was to read the book “For Freedom Only” by Evald Uustalu. This is a good book and reflects other historical records of the Estonian involvement. During the Finnish WWII conflict approx. 2300 Estonians went to the Finnish Army service. Another 400 served in the Navy. It was a good thing that they volunteered for Finnish service. But all of the Finns to include vets of the conflict that I have had contact with did not have a high opinion of the Estonians for several reasons.

 

1) The Finns gave a large amount arms and ammunition to the Estonians to “slow” the Soviets down so the Finns could better prepare for the Soviet juggernaut. This did not happen and they gave up with a very brief fight. All of those weapons and ammo was lost. As most know the Finns were very short on guns and ammo during the Winter War.

 

2) The Soviets in turn did massive bombing of Helsinki from the now captured airfields in Talliman, Estonia. As I was there in Finland, the President of Estonia publicly apologized to the Finnish people for this during a trade speech.

 

3) When the Germans ran the Russians out of Estonia the Estonian volunteers in Finland wanted to quit the Finnish armed forces and return to Estonia and fight with the Germans. Finally frustrated with their complaining Mannerheim released them to fight with the Germans

 

While in Estonia and wanted to absorb the culture. One of the locals told me that approx 1/3 of there population is Russian. They are easy to I.D. as there were a lot of them drunk wandering the streets. My stomach that is very accurately attuned to trouble, was going off all the time there. Another thing we observed too was elderly women in the streets with tins cups begging for money. I knew I was in Eastern Europe.

 

We also visited several antique stores while there in Talliman. I observed a large amount of religious icons. Some fake, some real. Almost all mil surp stuff there was fakes. This is the land of the fake Finn m/39 bayonets as well as many more military items. Buying anything real or good deals is impossible. We left Estonia and I was glad to leave.

 

I also attended the Turkku Gun Show. The group of friends I went with, do 90% of all the gun shows in Finland to include all of the big ones. This is the show that they think is the best. Tampere is a close second. I met a lot of old friends there and I talked most of the time. I did find some good buys to include 1920s Civil Guard shooting badges, Civil Guard arm bands, cleaning rods for the m/27RV along with nose caps, m/91 rods/ hand guards and some misc. parts. One of the strangest things I found was a SK.Y marked brown leather blasting cap holder that looked like a long ammo pouch. The demolition teams used this for securing blasting caps. What I enjoy the most about the gun show was contacting old friends and having coffee with them.

 

As usual I met Markku Palokangas and had the afternoon with him. Marrku is a great guy and he had recently found a very rare find for the museum. It was a 1920s Mauser pistol the looks like the model 1934 in 9mm Lugar. This belonged to a Finnish Officer. He also has some amazing things in the basement of his museum as well as some new displays.

 

I then went to the national museum and saw the puukko knife display. While there we met another very famous puukko knife maker. He presented me with a very interesting puukko knife he made for me as a gift. I am not able to talk much about the knife, as it has not gone into production yet.

 

I guess I have bored you long enough. In short it was a good trip and I enjoyed myself. Who could ask for anything more?

 

 

 

 

 

[AzRednek]

You sure didn’t bore me, I rather enjoyed it. When I was a union officer in one of the postal unions I had to help an employee write a letter of apology to a Finnish family. He met to be polite and asked “are you folks from Russia”. Somehow something was lost in the translation of the word folks and to add insult to the injury asking if they were Russian was the ultimate slant. Once the air was clear the family invited him and his wife for a meal at their home.

 

[Horsefly]

That's a great trip report,and thanks for it.I'd give my right nut to go to Finland,Norway,or Sweden. Do any of your friends do any hunting or fishing in Finland? I'm really surprised that hotels and meals are expensive there.Az's story about harelipping the folks asking if they're Russian reminds me of the time I went to South Africa for work,and a guy that works for Peterbilt couldn't wait to show me his cowboy boots he got on his trip to Texas.I told him they were nice and made him look like a natural born redneck.He got a blank look on his face,looked like he was going to start balling,then started grinning like a mule eating briars.He said I obviously didn't know that redneck was the ultimate insult to call an Affrikaaner that's of British decent.It meant they were common fieldhands lower than the blacks,whose neck was red from working outside.Funny how different cultures words change.A womans fanny isn't her butt,it's the part around front that men don't have.They don't have kakki pants,'cause it means do-do.The hood on your car is a bonnet,the trunk a boot,windshield is a windscreen,they don't have auto part stores,they're auto spares,mufflers are silencers,air conditioner is air con,and diesel is dieseleen.Oh ya,a traffic light is a robot.All very British,and the Boer,well,really all other's of non-British decent use the term British like we do Yankee here in Texas.Not a slam or cutdown,just a way to catagorize.Sorry to get carried away.RGRWJB stirred up some good memories. Jerry a couple other things I learned on my trip was a Cresent wrench is an ajustable spanner and ground wires are earth wires.

[karlunity]

Thank you.

 

I learned a lot.

 

karl

[AzRednek]

I learned on my trip was a Cresent wrench is an ajustable spanner and ground wires are earth wires.

 

I used to have two Brit medical students come visit every year and go target shooting. In a conversation about being drunk I mentioned somebody getting little shitfaced. One of the Brits literally fell out of the chair laughing loudly on the floor and repeating shitfaced shitfaced ha ha ha.

 

[usmc0332]

RGRWJB are you of Finnish decent, or is this an interest you developed? My sister and I are the last to have only lineage to Finland. My family has been here since the early 1900's, but there are still remnants of Finland to be found. My aging Grandfather, and Aunts and Uncles still speak Finn. Northern Minnesota is filled with this heritage. I have relatives in Finland, but have only passed a few letters years ago. Our family records are in the basement of a church in Kestila. I know enough of the language to know what I am listening to, but only a few speak a few words. My wife is also quite interested in this Finn heritage, which is kind of funny as her lineage is 1/2 Russian, and only Finn by marriage. One of my Great Grandfathers left Finland ahead of the law. He had been involved in a knife fight(very common around the turn of the century). Both sides were sharecroppers and it was common for sharecroppers to come to America. They figured that they would rather starve to death on their own land than starve on someone elses. That was how my 90 year old Grandfather explained it. The Marine Corps has a correspondence course program for enlisted that works towards promotions. They have an interesting course on Winter War. I find it all interesting. I enjoy the study of people and culture. Wish I had been with you on your tour. I hope to go myself some day.

 

In the 1930's Whitetailed deer were captured in N. Mn and exported to Finland. I have heard that they now have a healthy population of them there.

[FC]

I have to admit that I'm surprised at your good relationship with Finns, because our experience with the exchange student and her family, from Rauma, near Turku, was the opposite. All the pictures of the boys showed them to be effeminate. The girl nearly was sent home, and should have been. She now is with a family in Austin, last I heard. She is almost 18, but is a female Peter Pan. The mental age is about 12-13. She's never had to face the real world, never suffered criticism of her conduct. She is a chronic liar, and her dad is her enabler. Anytime I ever said we had a problem he either blew it off, stopping the response, or denying the problem. She dressed like a boy, and rarely washed her clothes. Rarely combed her hair, didn't bathe frequently, even in hot Texas. She never adapted to life in America, was never interested in any places we took her. "It's okay" was the typical response. On the flip side, the Dutch and Turk-German boys are a hoot, and inquisitive about everything. Two Kazahkstan (yup, Borat country) girls have adapted well. Maybe this is just one screwed up family in an otherwise okay nation? Heck, I don't know.

 

What are the gun laws like over there? Are pistols illegal?

[RGRWJB]

Tony

 

I had the same experience with a Spanish Foreign exchange student who thought his ###### was ice cream and everyone should grab for a spoon. He had to go back home to mommy.

 

The people I visit with in Finland are all well respected business, medical, Law Enforcement and military types. I am not of Finnish decent ( I come from a Scottish background. My ancestors fought in dresses!). But this group if Finns have observed me on the net, as well as talked to Finnish Americans that have met me personally.

They checked me out closely on my first visit and found that I was an all right guy after all, that has enthusiasm for fact based truth about Finnish history and their weapons. From that trip on a lot of doors opened up for me in Finalnd. Every trip I make, I am presented with some type of gift from this Finn group.

 

The last trip, before this one, was a presentation Puukko knife that are hand made and issued to Military Officers. They are serial numbered too.

 

This last trip they gave me a rare Finnish Civil Guard marked Russian Berdan II rifle.

 

I am always welcome back for more trips. It seems I'm always getting to see more new items every time I go. They are a great group of guys!

[FC]

Sounds good.

Did you know those Puuko knives are sold by Garret Wade? I imagine they're pretty sharp jobs.

[Horsefly]

RGR,is English used there much,and is it somewhere we could go without having to be in a tour group?What I'm getting at is,could we jump on a plane,get there and find a hotel away from the big cities and feel comfortable?Would driving be a scary thing there?My brother went to Sweden several times for his work,and he had no worries about being an outsider.Everyone speaks English and wore him out trying it out on him to see how they're doing.He and a dude that goes with him drive all over the country with no problems.They get out on the back roads and see the real country.I have no desire to hang around big cities and would love to go somewhere like Finnland to see the real people.My wife wants to go to Norway.She had a penpal there when she was a kid and always thought she'd like to visit there.Jerry