Finnish Unit? or School? Badge

[Rick Research]

This 34 mm diameter badge, made by Sundqvist, Helsinki, came with a Continuation War Medal, 11th Division Cross, and Home Guard Cross. I have no idea if it is for a unit "57" or that is the year of graduation, if this is a military school badge. The swords across the top are exactly as found on combatant Winter War Medal ribbons.

[Rick Research]

The reverse is engraved with the owner's name, "Minkkinen . E" on the top arm:

[VerKuilen Ager]

The blue and silver badges became popular in the 1930s and exist/ed with a variety of numbers and letter combinations (many were for reserve officer training). Some were still in use in the 1970s and may, in fact, still be current.

[Ville Ruokonen]

This is the badge of the (Reserve) Officer School's class nr. 57, which began on July 9th and ended December 21st, 1943. The letters U K stand for Upseerikoulu, which is what the peacetime Reserviupseerikoulu (RUK) was called during the war. The crossed swords are from the RUK emblem.

Now, I'm not sure whether wartime classes were given the normal school badge, i.e. I don't know if this is an official substitute for it or a privately obtained commemorative badge. My grandfather might know; IIRC, he was on class nr. 56.

[Rick Research]

Thanks very much, Ville! There is a large Finnish "colony" at the northern end of my county, and I sometimes find pieces like this. My family, Swedes, went over to "help out" in 1918 and 1939/40, so I have always been interested in Finnish items, but am absolutely baffled by the Finnish language.

Here are Luutnantti Minkkinen's 11th Division and Home Guard crosses (no ribbons, unfortunately). These semi-official Finnish awards are beautiful and far more interesting than the official war medal of 1941-44!

[Dave Danner]

We have more Finns in my home town than you do. Nyah nyah. I grew up in Lake Worth, Florida, which Ville ought to have heard of. We have the largest Finnish population outside of Finland. My high school was 1/4 Cuban, 1/4 Haitian, 1/4 Finnish and 1/4 'other'. My buddy Timo used to get lots of stories and stuff from veterans who would retire there.

I'm still trying to update the Finnish section of my web page, but here are a few pieces:

Headquarters Cross and Cross of the Middle Karelian Isthmus
<img src="http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/FI_HQ_Cross.jpg"> <img src="http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/FI_MKI_Cross.jpg">

An assortment of ribbon bars, including ribbons for the Order of the Lion of Finland and various grades of the Order of the Cross of Liberty:
<img src="http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/FI_ribbon_bars.jpg">

I also went to college with a partyin' dude named Phil, whom we also called "Swede" or "Finn". His dad was consul-general at the UN and his grandfather was Karl-Philip Heinrichs, Chief of the Finnish General Staff under Mannerheim.

Dave

[Rick Research]

Ahhh, nice! I have the ribbon for the 1918 Liberation of Tammerfors/Tampere, but no idea what the medal looks like, hint hint....

I am unable to scan several of my Finnish awards because of color "issues" with my scanner not liking shiny silver (it comes out coal black), so in a few years, maybe, when my 1918 Liberation War Medal with campaign bar and citation heraldic rose tones down enough to make the teeny bar lettering legible....

That is the ONLY one I've got medal/ribbon/document for. All the rest of my Finnish stuff is 1 or 2 out of the 3

[Ville Ruokonen]

It seems that Apali Publishing has a book on Finnish Liberation War medals.

http://www.apali.fi/Books/vsmm_engli...m_english.html

Now, Lake Worth I have actually visited. My father's aunt lived there, and my own aunt inherited a house which she later sold in the early 70s. When I was over there in 1992 we drove through the "Finnish district", where car dealers flew the Finnish flag rather than the US one... Weird, huh? I've never understood why American car dealers have 100+ flags on their lot...

By the way; how much are Finnish awards worth in the States? Just curious, because I saw a U.S. DFC sold at $100 over here.
Ridiculously overpriced, I'd say. It seems that crossing the pond costs quite a bit.

[VerKuilen Ager]

Rick,
My Finnish is nil, but if I'm reading Wrede's Finlands Utmarkelse-Tecken correctly, this is probably the Tammerfors.

[Ville Ruokonen]

Yep, that's the Tampere medal. But Wrede writes in Swedish, methinks...

To the point, anyway. The original badge Rick showed us is an official badge, and indeed all pre-1948 badges are similar. In peacetime badges the crossed swords (or knives, whatever) in the top are replaced by the letter R.

After the war, the training of reserve officers was banned until 1948. At that point, the RUK adopted a badge that is essentially the same, but with a gilded lion from the Finnish coat of arms superimposed over the heraldic rose. Post-war badges don't have the class number or the letters RUK on them.

Here's a list of the dates and names of the classes of the (R)UK from 1920 to the present.

http://www.mil.fi/joukot/ruk/kaikkikurssit.html

[Rick Research]

Thanks very much to you both! Rick

[mott5ranch]

Ditto what Rick said. Thanks for sharing this.