Tuesday, May 12, 2020

A Finnish soldier with a reindeer in Lapland, 4 May 1944.

I hope he had it saddled and ready to ride into battle.  Can anyone name the machine gun he has slung over the shoulder?


13 comments:

  1. He was better-armed than any American soldier until the adoption of the M-16. The Army still doesn’t understand the assault rifle concept or need and is always plotting how to get back to muzzle-loading muskets. Their favorite M-1 Garand was seriously obsolete in 1944, as was its modified version, the M-14.

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    1. I disagree. Just because the US didn’t buy or copy the AK-47 doesn’t negate the value and performance of both the Garand and M-14. I personally refused to carry the M-16 in favor of the M-14 as long as I was allowed in VN. And I still agree with General Patton when he said the Garand was the reason the infantry was successful in WWII.

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    2. Suomi KP31 with standard M1A1 Reindeer (winter version).

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  2. Suomi KP/-31 with stick magazine?

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  3. I'm gonna say the Suomi kp/31 with a stick mag instead of a drum.

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  4. The Fin's decimated the Russians at their border back in the 40's. Never really reported in the world news at the time.

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  5. Don't think that is just any Finnish soldier, it looks like Simo Häyhä before he was shot in the jaw, just not carrying his sniper gear.

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  6. I don't know about the sub-machine gun type but that reindeer clearly has multiple bayonet lugs making it completely illegal in Maryland.

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  7. About half of Simo's kills were with a Suomi. The other half with his Finnish Nagant. That man was deadly. He racked up quite the body count is just a few short weeks.

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  8. OMG! An ASSAULT REINDEER!!!

    Won't somebody think of the children!!!

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  9. The name of the machine gun he has slung over his shoulder? I believe it was named Bob.

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