My Greatgrandfathers picture - What is his rank?

[Finnlander]

I think he was Second Lieutenant. The sword and colours clearly indicates that he was, as Kevin said, Armoured forces Technician (Special officer), and there is no other ''objects'' besides the sword, so the round ''ruusuke'' indicates that he was Second Lieutenant.

So the answer is:

Armoured forces Technician Second Lieutenant.

And in Finnish:

Panssarijoukkojen Teknikko Vänrikki

Gosh, that's one long and unusual rank

I sent email to Kevos and see if they think it's something else, but Im quite confident about this one.

Edit: Could the colour be purple instead of black? That would make more sense, since he was a building contractor and pioneers (engineers) are under the purple colour.

[rene385273]

Moi Finnlander!

Have you tried to contact the arkisto for his military record cards? (National Archives)
They only need his name and date of birth, usually. They have helped me out a lot during the past few years, with my relatives in the finnish army. You can contact them in both finnish, swedish and english writing.

Arkistolaitos - Etusivu

With regards,

[Finnlander]

Moro Rene.

Yeah I just contacted them yesterday and it seems I have to register there with my bank account, so I'll do it later. I found a old page about him and there reads that the highest rank he attained was Staff Sergeant, but that cannot be true, because he has the ''commanders belt'', which wasnt used by Staff Sergeants (NCO's), but by officers. And even if the picture I linked is post-war (unlikely), I still have seen pictures of him in the front with the commanders belt :O

This is really confusing. Also in Puolustusvoima's site reads that Special officers' (which he was) ranks vary from Second Lieutenant to General Lieutenant or some other high rank.

[rene385273]

Moi Finnlander.
Okay, cause they will probably could help you out with his "Sotilaskantakortti".
According to the picture you posted it is hard for me to see his branch on his shoulderboards.
The colartabs indicate for me that he was a military official - finnish; Sotilasvirkamies with the rank of second lieutenant (junior officer).
The M/27 belt was also used by Senior NCO's and officer canidates, as far as I know.
But if you are interested you can email me the picture you got and I maybe, just maybe, can help you out some more.

[Finnlander]

Hey.

We're talking about different belts. M27 belt is the standard soldier's belt. The belt im referring to, is the one which goes over his right shoulder.

In Finnish, it's Komentovyö, Command belt.

''Suomen puolustusvoimissa päällystövyötä käyttivät toisessa maailmansodassa vain upseerit.''

''In Finnish Defence Forces command belt was used in ww2 by only officers''. Wiki

The pictures are quite small, so you cant see details from them well, but I can send them if you want. PM me your email if interested.

[rene385273]

Terve.

No, we are talking about the same belt, also known as Rähinäremmi or simply the Sam Brown Belt M/27 - used in a lot other countries as well. In the book asepuku m/36 on page 56 a Staff Sergeant-major is using this belt. Thats was my source.

I'll do.

[Finnlander]

Sergeant-Major? Those arent NCO's, but officers?

[rene385273]

Sergeant-Major? Those arent NCO's, but officers?

No diffently not. Also called Sotilasmestari. But you can for sure call him officer but Non-Commisioned! (NCO).

[Finnlander]

Hmm might be so. I dont have the book :/

I have to dig it deeper..

[rene385273]

Hmm might be so. I dont have the book :/

I have to dig it deeper..

Well you don't need to use the book, this was just about the belt. Nothing to do with your great grandfather since he had the rank of second lieutenant (junior officer). Only to tell you that a senior NCO also seemed to carry the belt.
So don't know if you have to dig deeper into that matter. But be my guest.

But Sotilasvirkamies should be his rank. Maybe some finnish experts can correct me if I'm wrong.

Do you have a link or a copy-scan of the old page you have found where he should be mentioned?
And do you have these pictures you have seen of him from the frontline?

With regards,