Finnish Expeditionary Force

During the Winter War France and Britain planned to send an expeditionary force to help the Fins by going through Norway and Sweden. In reality the expeditionary force was just a way to seize control of the Swedish iron mines to prevent Sweden from selling the iron ore to the Germans. Sweden and Norway refused to grant the allies military access and Finland lost the war.

So what would happen if Sweden and Norway allowed military access and the British and French seize control of the iron mines and the expeditionary force also assists Finland before the end of the Winter War. How would that change the rest of WW2?
 
Before you consider what would happen after the fact, I think you should first explain why the Norwegians and especially the Swedes would allow Anglo-French military access in the first place. While the Norwegians might be easier to convince of the need for the intervention, the Swedish government was quite adamant IOTL to not allow the Allies into its territory. Stockholm rightly thought that by allowing access it would commit Sweden into the unfolding European war as a side, and would furthermore risk being considered having de facto joined the Allies, especially by the Nazi government. The Swedes were not fools, and understood that the control of the iron mines was one major reason for the intervention. Given that staying out of the war was the overriding concern of the Swedes, and that independent control of Swedish iron was one of the foremost guarantees Sweden could maintain a non-aligned position between the combatant sides (like in WWI), I personally find it hard to square this particular circle.

Note that Finland's refusal to send an official plea for help to the Allies in early 1940 was partly based on Helsinki's wish not to commit to deliberately drawing Sweden into the war as well (apart from the fact that by then the Finnish leadership understood that all help that would arrive, as per the information received from London and Paris, would be both too little and too late). Finland's decision to seek peace with Stalin instead, even with heavy terms, can then partly be seen as something of a self-sacrifice for Sweden's benefit - a matter that might not be appreciated as well in Sweden as it is in Finland.

Quite clearly some POD(s) before December 1939 or even before the beginning of the Winter War would be needed so that Stockholm could be convinced to take this very risky path.
 
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I do not understand why the British and the French needed to cross Sweden.
If I look at the map (Google Earth) then if they landed at Skibotn (east of Tromso) that is one of the shortest ways through Norway to Finland without crossing Sweden. And it is far away from Russia,
A closer location to Finland seems to be the area of Laksefjord and Tanafjord. But that is much closer to Russia.
Of course there is Kirkennes but that is much too close to Russia.


And not to forget. That is BEFORE WWII, so the sea lanes into the Baltic were open and a transport fleet could have sailed to Finland. And the only way to stop them would have been by attacking them.
Yes, it needs a naval commander with guts to scream "Come on, try to stop me!" but as far as I remember the british Navy had enough of those guys (Captain Algernon Heneage always removed his coat before praying because it would be unthinkable for a naval officer of her Majesty`s navy in uniform to be on his knees. And then there was William Packenham, who told hhis Interpreter when surrounded by a mob of angry asiatic brigands "Tell these ugly b.... that I am not going to tolerate any more of their b... habits. (Quted from GDW Space 1889 Rulebook page 31, verified by using Google. Look for the Book: "The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command" for Captain Heneage and "The Power at Sea" for Captain Packenham. Yes, they are very old or dead at that time, but what about the Captain of the COSSACK?)
 
Yes, it needs a naval commander with guts to scream "Come on, try to stop me!" but as far as I remember the british Navy had enough of those guys (Captain Algernon Heneage always removed his coat before praying because it would be unthinkable for a naval officer of her Majesty`s navy in uniform to be on his knees. And then there was William Packenham, who told hhis Interpreter when surrounded by a mob of angry asiatic brigands "Tell these ugly b.... that I am not going to tolerate any more of their b... habits. (Quted from GDW Space 1889 Rulebook page 31, verified by using Google. Look for the Book: "The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command" for Captain Heneage and "The Power at Sea" for Captain Packenham. Yes, they are very old or dead at that time, but what about the Captain of the COSSACK?)
Great post...just one of the reasons I get such a kick out of the ZeeLowe enthusiasts!
 
I do not understand why the British and the French needed to cross Sweden.
If I look at the map (Google Earth) then if they landed at Skibotn (east of Tromso) that is one of the shortest ways through Norway to Finland without crossing Sweden. And it is far away from Russia,
A closer location to Finland seems to be the area of Laksefjord and Tanafjord. But that is much closer to Russia.
Of course there is Kirkennes but that is much too close to Russia.

The logistics of the effort would be pretty demanding in winter time. What you are looking at is c. 500 km from the coast to the closest Finnish railhead (Rovaniemi) with only frozen, snowed-in gravel roads to use to get across Arctic wilderness in temperatures north of -20 degrees Celsius. With practically no daylight, either, just a few hours of twilight between the long dark nights.

And of course not getting to occupy the Swedish iron mines would remove one of the main reasons for the whole exercise.


And not to forget. That is BEFORE WWII, so the sea lanes into the Baltic were open and a transport fleet could have sailed to Finland. And the only way to stop them would have been by attacking them.
Yes, it needs a naval commander with guts to scream "Come on, try to stop me!" but as far as I remember the british Navy had enough of those guys (Captain Algernon Heneage always removed his coat before praying because it would be unthinkable for a naval officer of her Majesty`s navy in uniform to be on his knees. And then there was William Packenham, who told hhis Interpreter when surrounded by a mob of angry asiatic brigands "Tell these ugly b.... that I am not going to tolerate any more of their b... habits. (Quted from GDW Space 1889 Rulebook page 31, verified by using Google. Look for the Book: "The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command" for Captain Heneage and "The Power at Sea" for Captain Packenham. Yes, they are very old or dead at that time, but what about the Captain of the COSSACK?)

This is during WWII. The German and Soviet navies have been on a war footing on the Baltic Sea for months. Several nations have been laying mine barrages in parts of the sea since early Autumn 1939. And then of course this would happen in the middle of one of the coldest winters in recent history. The Baltic Sea would be iced up since December 1939. It would not exactly be a walk in the park to get a fleet to Finland through the Danish straits and the Baltic Sea under the circumstances, even with icebreaker assistance.
 
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