Jäger Batallion 27, Einsatz in Finnland (WWI)

[Klaus O.]

Dear fellow collectors:

I am very interested in getting more detailed info on the above-mentioned German unit who fought with the finns against the russian in WWI. I do know that a special Standarte (regimental flag) with the same insignia of the medal you can see here was created before WWII. Was this unit still fighting on the eastern front in WWII with the finns? In which Division was this unit?

I found also this beauty on the internet:



It's a commemorative medal and to me it must be pretty scarce. Have you already seen it before? Do you see the cross with the letter on it (is it a gothic "A" or "U"): the same cross is to be seen on the special Standarte placed in the 2 opposite corners. I have the pic of the Standarte, but unfortunately I cannot show it here. Can somebody help me to post the image of this Standarte here?

Thank you very much for your time and I am looking forward to viewing your replies.

Ciao,

Claudio

[bhholst]

Hello Claudio:
what is located in the center of the cross is the 'stylized' number 27.
The Jaeger Btl. 27 was formed and trained on a training ground in northern Germany and deployed in Finlands war of independence against Russia in which also strictly German formations participated (Ostsee Division under Gen.v.d.Goltz).
While this Jg.Btl.27 became a part of the Finnish Army tradition, as far as I know it did not continue as a part of the army as such.
Bernhard H. Holst

[Ville Ruokonen]

Yep, that's the Prussian Jaeger Battalion nr. 27 all right. It was composed of young Finns who had decided that in order to properly secede from Russia, one should get some personnel with formal military training. So, they went to Germany, and were trained as light infantry in Lockstedt and deployed on the eastern front. They fought mainly in the Baltic states, e.g. in Riga.

After the Czar was overthrown and Finland declared independence, the Kaiser disbanded Jg.Bt. 27 and allowed them to return to Finland, where they were quickly incorporated in the White Army (which was mostly made up of civil guard men at that time) and subsequently fought in the Civil War. Von der Goltz's Baltic Division intervened later (somewhat uninvited), first to kick the Swedes out of the Aland islands, then to occupy Helsinki, which the White army didn't quite reach in time.

After the Civil War, the men of Jg.Bt 27 (called "Jaegers") were mostly employed in the Finnish Army, and some rose rather quickly to high positions. During WWII, they usually served in the higher echelons of the Finnish Army.

After the Winter War, the Germans gradually began to inquire whether Finland would allow volunteers to enlist into the Waffen-SS. The Finns would have rather had a Wehrmacht battalion like the Jg.Bt. 27, because the SS and NSDAP's racial agenda was almost unanimously disliked in Finland. As this proved to be impossible, the Finnish Volunteer SS-Battalion was instead given the status of succeeding the Jg.Bt. 27. We all know what happened later, and accordingly, when the 2-year enlistment expired in 1943, the SS volunteers were not allowed to re-enlist. Unlike the Jaegers, the SS volunteers were pariahs in Finnish post-war society.

The standard mentioned might be the Finnische Freiwilliger-Batallion's flag. It has the SS runes on the upper left corner, the Cross of Liberty on the upper right, the Iron Cross on the lower left and the Jg.Bt. 27 cross on the lower right. The Finns were incorporated into the Wiking Division.

The medal's inscription on the left picture is an excerpt from "Jääkärimarssi", a song Sibelius wrote for a poem composed by one of the Jaegers. Liberally translated as "Our might can not falter before the Finnish nation is free". Finnish nation, in this case, included the people of eastern Karelia. The other side has "To the Finnish Jaegers from grateful Fatherland" in Finnish and Swedish.

Former members of the Jg.Bt.27 were given a prefix "Jaeger" to their rank. Thus, if you see the rank of "Jääkärimajuri" or "Jaeger Major", it has nothing to do with the service arm; e.g. Jaeger-General Väinö Valve was in charge of Coastal Artillery during the war (he was also the last of the Jaegers; passed away 1995). Nowadays, however, the Finnish army calls its motorized infantry Jaegers (Jääkäri).

Hope I didn't bore you!

[Rich G]

Ville,

fantastic piece of history and thank you for taking the time to post it.

Claudio,

If you need help posting your picture, you can send it to me at:
rj-gordon@excite.com


Richard.

[Klaus O.]

Jäger Bt. 27, Standarte

Thank you so much Ville!

I didn't bore me at all... very interesting indeed! I always had the greatest respect for Finnish soldiers who fought bravely against the soviets for their country's indipendence.

I have got a image of the flag; if you want I can email it to you. I just have two more questions. The flag shown on my book published in Germany is a regimental squared 125x125 cm Standarte. I thought that usually the squared flags were given to regiments and the ones with the cut tail (like the one illustrated in my posting about Gebirgsjäger Standarte) were bestowed on battalion's strength units.

Furthermore the flag I have on this book looks like a normal Army Standarte and not Waffen-SS flag, although Finnish jägers were incorporated into the Finnish Volunteer SS-Battalion, like all the foreign volunteers units after 42-43.

Could you also tell me if they always fought on the eastern front and if they were incorporated in a German Jäger division or just as Waffen-SS unit?

Thank you again for your very interesting input...

Ciao,

Claudio

P.S.: Richard thank you for your assistance... I am going to send you the picture this evening.

[Rich G]

Here are the pictures of the standarte that Claudio sent me :



Regards

Richard

Claudio

The 2 pictures are the same even though they have different names, so I only posted one. Is this intended?

[Klaus O.]

Richard,

That is the flag I intended. Thank you for posting it! Doesn't it look nice?

As you can see this is a typical Army Standarte with the addition of the Finnish national emblem (Lion) and the symbol of the unit (27 on the cross with wreath). However as I understood at the end the Finnish were incorporated into a Waffen-SS freiwilliger Korps (Battalion).

It must cool to have such ultra-rare flag made by someone in Pakistan... I guess that the original would be unpayable, due to the extreme rareness...


Ciao,

Claudio

[Ville Ruokonen]

I must say that I have never, ever seen such a flag. I can't even think of an unit that could legitimately be using this standard. Perhaps, had there been a Wehrmacht successor-unit to the WWI JgBt 27, it could have been something like that. This might well be a design from some OKW desk-dweeb, before Himmler's goons usurped foreign recruitment solely to the Waffen-SS.

However, as the original battalion had been long since disbanded and no official successor emerged... I have serious doubts whether this banner was ever used. The Volunteer W-SS Finnish Battalion had a completely different banner, and there were no official Finnish formations in either the Wehrmacht or the Waffen-SS after July 1943.

I don't know of any good books on either the Jg.Bt. 27 or the Finnische Freiwilligen-Batallion in English. In Finnish there is
Matti Lauerma's "Kuninkaallinen Preussin Jääkäripataljoona 27" and Mauno Jokipii's "Panttipataljoona", respectively.

[Klaus O.]

interesting article on Finnish volonteers on Feldgrau.com

Dear all,

I found a very interesting and quite exhaustive resource of information on this particular topic:

http://www.feldgrau.com/finland.html




Enjoy!

Ciao,

Claudio

[Klaus O.]

some more info on the Special Standarte of Reverve-Jäger-Bataillons 27

Hi Ville,

On the book "Standarten and Flaggen der deutschen Wehrmacht, by Brian L. Davis, Podzun-Pallas" I found some more info on that particular flag pictured in a previous posting by Richard:

The Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) had decided on Nov. 17, 1941, in order to strengthen the bond to the Finnish army, that the 3rd Batallion of the Inf. Rgt. 92 had to be renamed 3rd (Jäger)Battalion and would have to carry on the tradition of the former "Königlich-Preussischen Reserve-Jäger-Battalion 27" (Finnisches Jäger-Bataillon 27).

Does anybody know to which German Division belonged the 92th Infantry Regiment? As you can see, I was wrong when I believed that this flag was of a Finnish volunteers' unit. It is/was clearly an German Army Tradition flag.

I am looking forward to hearing any comments on that and to know were this Wehrmacht Regiment was fighting (very likely on the eastern front, maybe with the Finns fighting against the Russians?).

Thank you again for your immense patience in this particular topic.

Ciao,

Claudio

[bhholst]

Hello Claudio:
Inf.Rgt.(mot.) 92 ,later named Gren.Rgt. (mot.) 92 was a component of the 60. Inf.Div. (mot.) and saw action in the Balkan campaign in 1941, then against the Soviet Union until destroyed in Stalingrad 1942/43. Remnents of the division were used in the formation of the Pz.Gren. Div. "Feldherrnhalle" in 1943.
Source : R. Stove's book about the German armoured and motorized formations 1935-1945.
Bernhard H. Holst

[Klaus O.]

Thank you very much Barnhard for your very much appreciated answer on my question!

Ciao,

Claudio