Panssaroliivit

Panssaroliivit refer to the armored trains that were used by the Finnish Defence Forces during the Continuation War of 1941-1944. These unique vehicles were designed to provide mobile artillery support to Finnish troops and played an important role in various battles throughout the conflict.

The first armored trains of this type were introduced in 1942, with a total of four trains being in service at the peak of the Finnish operational needs. These armored trains were equipped with 122mm and 76mm guns, as well as various other small arms and anti-tank weaponry. The Finnish designed and manufactured rolling stock had armour plating, allowing for protection against small arms fire and shell splinters.

Each train car was of the db type, designed by the Finnish Rauma shipyard, and had a length of 16 meters and a width of 3 meters. They were temporarily equipped with bogies obtained from merchant trains. On top of the rolling stock, a wedge-shaped armored house was then built, onto which the Soviet-style artillery and additional anti-tank and machine gun armaments were installed. The roof was covered with wooden planking to make them resilient against small-arms fire.

The purpose of the armored trains was to attack strategic points, absorb enemy forces in firefights, to provide fire support to Finnish defending positions, and to take out critical targets, such as command centers, stationary artillery and supply depots. Finnish experience proved that armored train gave valuable support even in World War II.