Finland: Continuation War Commemorative Medal 1941-1945, clasp Lapin Sota which covers the fighting in Lapland during the German retreat from Finland in 1944-1945.
Condition: some staining to clasp, and with replacement ring suspension which has involved drilling a small hole through the medal at 12 o’clock, Very Fine.
The medal was instituted on 24 May 1957, some 12 years after the end of the war, and awarded to all participants. The Continuation War was so named to encourage the view that it was a continuation of the Winter War of 1939-1940 in which Soviet forces invaded Finland. The Continuation War, however, was an attempt by Finland to regain territory lost at the end of the Winter War and to occupy Russian territory, taking advantage of the German invasion of Russia, as a defensive buffer against future incursions. The defeat of German forces meant that Finland had to come to an accommodation with the Soviet Union and the war, in effect, achieved nothing.
