Battle of Suomussalmi and finnish winter medal

[fpicoli]

I have a question:

Does the finnish winter medal "KAINUU" was awarded to the soldiers who fought the russians on the battle of Suomussalmi?

[Alan M]

Hi Fpicoli , the Finnish winter war medal you show was instituted on 2nd August 1940 and would have been issued to those that fought at the Battle of Suomussalmi , However , it would have been issued with a bar to the ribbon , similar to the one on the example you show stating "Suomussalmi " . There were a total of 11 bars that could have been issued with this award ( each representing a particular sector of the front , ie. the one shown was awarded for action at Kainuu ) . The medal is made of blackened iron , and the words to the reverse ( Kunnia Is`a`n maa ) translated stands for Honour Fatherland . Hope this helps
cheers Al