5. Division was a Finnish Army

Finnish Army

The Finnish Army is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces.Today's Army is divided into six branches: the infantry , field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, signals, and materiel troops.-History of the Finnish Army:Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of...

 division

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

 in the Continuation War

Continuation War

The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...

. The division was formed by Etelä-Häme (South Tavastia) military province from the men in Kanta-Häme (Tavastia proper) and Lounais-Häme (South-western Tavastia) civil guard

White Guard (Finland)

The White Guard was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918...

 districts.

Formation

After formation the division consisted of the following sub-units:

• Infantry Regiment 2 (JR2)
• Infantry Regiment 22 (JR22)
• Infantry Regiment 23 (JR23)
• Infantry Regiment 44 (JR44)
• Field Artillery Regiment 3 (KTR3)
• Heavy Artillery Battalion 24 (RaskPsto 24)
• Light Detachment 4 (KevOs 4)
• Engineer Battalion 21 (PionP 21)
• Signals Battalion 23 (VP23)
• Sissi Detachment (SissiOs./5.D
  Sissiosasto/5.D
  Sissiosasto/5.D was a Finnish Army special sissiunit during the Continuation War. The Detachment was founded in August 20 1941 under the Lynx Division...
  
  )

5. Division was mostly equipped according to division generic organization, but because of material shortage it lacked the anti-aircraft machine gun company and some material quantities did not reach the intended amounts.

Commanders

• jäger colonel Eino Koskimies 18th June 1941 – 11th July 1941
• jäger colonel Ruben Lagus
  Ruben Lagus
  Ernst Ruben Lagus was a Finnish Major General.Lagus was one of the Finnish Jaeger troops trained in the volunteer Royal Prussian 27th Jäger Battalion...
  
   11th July 1941 – 25th July 1941
• colonel Ilmari Karhu 25th July 1941 – 16th June 1942
• major general
  Major General
  Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
  
   Kustaa Tapola 16th June 1942 –

Losses

Based on the periodic reports made by units to Finnish General Headquarters the total losses suffered by the 5. Division in killed, wounded and missing during the Continuation War were 10 608 men.

See also

• List of Finnish divisions in the Winter War
• List of Finnish divisions in the Continuation War