Murmansk Legion
The Murmansk Legion, also known as the Finnish Legion, was a
Murmansk Railroad. The Legion, along with British troops, fought off the 1918 Viena expedition of Finnish White Guards and defended the Murmansk Railroad.[1]
Finnish White Guards had started their military campaign in March 1918. Their goal was to annex
British Royal Marines had invaded Murmansk at the same time to prevent the Germans and their Finnish White Guard allies from gaining the White Sea coast and the Murmansk Railroad.[2]
The Murmansk Legion was armed with British equipment and wore British uniforms. The Legion was led by
Bolsheviks.[1]
The Murmansk Legion was disbanded in 1919 as the British troops withdrew. The Finnish government regarded them as traitors but the
Finnish independence conditional on the new government expelling several German agents pardoning the legionnaires. In the autumn of 1919 most of the Murmansk Legion fighters returned to Finland but some 20 highest-ranked officers such as Tokoi, Lehtimäki, Aarne Orjatsalo and Hannes Sula fled to North America.[2] Some legionnaires later joined the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War and a few of the youngest even fought in the Finnish Army during World War II
.
References
- ^ a b Royal Reds – Finns in the British Murmansk Legion 1918–1919 Retrieved 23 November 2013.
- ^ a b c Jussila, Osmo: "From Grand Duchy to Modern State: A Political History of Finland Since 1809", p. 123 Retrieved 23 November 2013.
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