Vintage Military - Part 21

World War II - Finland 1943

Finland continued to fight the invasion by the Soviet Union.  All these photos are from the amazing Finnish World War II photo archive SA-Kuva.

We start at the military academy in Santahamina, Helsinki, where a naked cadet is diving into the indoor pool in March, 1943 while some officers look on.

Two soldiers on a dock in Anttonala in June, 1943.  Finland is the land of lakes – over 180,000 of them.

A soldier with a telephone.  The way the phone is lying there makes me wonder whether he's waiting for an operator, perhaps to connect long-distance, which in those days was a manual process that could take a long time, or whether the strange, boxy phone simply has no way to hang up.

Cavalry recruits training at Ihala in July, 1943.  No sense wearing clothes if you and the horse are going to get wet.

Another cavalry recruit at Ihala.  I've cropped the photo, which I've posted previously, for a better view.

A whole bunch of recruits on the dock at Ihala.

Some soldiers relaxing and swimming at Mökerikkö in September, 1943.

Weighing in for an Army boxing and wrestling match at Viipuri in February, 1943.

A soldier in the sauna at the Army boxing and wrestling match at Viipuri.  This may be my favorite photo from the entire SA-Kuva archive of 160,000 photos.  The original was a bit overexposed, so I adjusted the brightness and contrast.  This guy is so hot, he is literally steaming!

It wouldn't be Finland without the sauna.  We end where we began, at the military academy in Santahamina, in October, 1943.  These guys look too old to be cadets, so they must be teachers, with the possible exception of the third guy who has arranged his legs to give us a better view.