wwii axis reenactment forum

Finlands Marshal Carl Gustav Mannerheim was born in the Russian provence of Finland in 1867 .He joined the Russian army in 1889 and reached the rank of Lieutenant-general before returning to Finland to take command of her forces in the civil war fighting aganst the reds.Between 1918-19 he was Regent of Finland for seven months . this was not the end of it as in 1931 he came out of retirement to plan Finlands new Defences,During Mannrheim line(like the west wall) During the winter and Continuation wars he was commander of Finlands forces .He was made Marshal in 1942 and President in 1944 he died in Switzerland in 1951

Pirkka may have a Photo as I dont

Here's a good pic of him, taken 1942 I think



And another one:

Both of those photos show Mannerheim in his Civil Guard uniform, as shown by the 'S' in a shield badge on his left arm.
The Civil Guard (Suojeluskunta) were an organisation paralell to the Finnish Army rather than a part of it, but during the wars with the USSR it proved its worth by supplying trained soldiers to the army.
Mannerheim was the SK's commanding officer, and probably its most active advocate.

Happy Birthday sir

And I thought it was that bloody heavy tube you lugg around on
exercise in six troop

Now now sir