page_title: Finnish Infantry Regiment 200
section_title: Service in the Finnish armed forces
hierarchical_section_title: Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 / Service in the Finnish armed forces
caption_attribution_description: English: Mannerheim's farewell to the Estonian regiment
context_page_description: Infantry Regiment 200 or soomepoisid was a unit in the Finnish army during World War II made up mostly of Estonian volunteers, who preferred to fight against the Soviet Union in the ranks of the Finnish army instead of the armed forces of Germany.
context_section_description: While there had been many Estonian volunteers in the Finnish Army already during the Winter War, the first men of JR 200 crossed the Gulf of Finland in early spring of 1943. It was a dangerous journey to make, as the gulf was ablaze with war and ravaged by storms, and the German authorities did not allow Estonians to cross over to Finland, which also put the Finnish authorities in an awkward position. The first batch of volunteers formed the third battalion of Infantry Regiment 47. In the autumn of the same year, when the German authorities called into service those born in 1925, more volunteers arrived from Estonia. The volunteers made their way over the Gulf independently, or with the help of the "hawks" (Finnish: haukat). The Hawks were Estonian volunteers working for the  S-office which was part of the secret service of the Finnish headquarters. The hawks were equipped with speed boats and many of them had served in the reconnaissance unit Erna, also made up of Estonian volunteers, in the early days of Operation Barbarossa.
  On February 8, 1944, Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim ordered the formation of the Estonian volunteer regiment, Infantry Regiment 200. The regiment consisted of two four-company infantry battalions (Companies 1–8 ), the 13th Mortar Company and the 14th Anti-Tank Company. On May 4, 1944, there were 1,973 Estonians and 361 Finns in Infantry Regiment 200, including 67 officers and 165 non-commissioned officers. The regiment took part in the defensive battles of summer 1944 on the Finnish front. They were sent to the front, on June 10, 1944, as part of the Finnish 10th Division, and they took up positions around the Bay of Viipuri. The regiment became known as "The sons of Finland" (Finnish: Suomen-pojat, Estonian: soomepoisid).
caption: Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim farewell to the Estonian regiment JR 200. 17.VII.1944.
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