VYBORG 1944

◗ Bair Irincheev ◗ Helion (2020) ◗ £29.95 ◗ 294 pages (softback) ◗ ISBN:9781912390274 ◗ helion.co.uk

The Soviet summer 1944 Vyborg offensive against Finland was in marked contrast to the inept 1939-40 campaign. In 1944, the Soviets undertook proper reconnaissance and had well-balanced and experienced forces, supported by air and naval components, and in greatly superior numbers. The Finns had to juggle scarce resources between competing threats, with armour composed of pre-war light tanks plus a single Stug III assault gun battalion. Supplies of German hand-held anti-tank weapons had only recently arrived and little or no training had taken place. Add to this a degree of Finnish complacency, and the absence of troops on agricultural duties, and small wonder that the Soviets won.

However, it was still a hard fight, and the author constructs a good mix of personal accounts and archive material from both sides, supported by high quality photographs and tables of Soviet equipment holdings. Eight full-colour maps suffer from the common Helion failure to provide scales, plus in this case a lack of topographical detail and poor explanation of symbols.

Overall – a good account of an interesting campaign.