A Finnish junior sergeant (Alikersantti) inspecting ammunition. The shells seem to be for 152 H/37 heavy howitzer (Soviet 152 mm Gaubitsa-Pushka obr. 1937 g. aka ML-20). The artillery shell under this NCO's hand is captured Soviet OF-540, better known by Finnish Army as "152 p tkr 36/40-RG" (152-mm long TNT-filled high explosive shell with 36/40 fuse slot type -RG). At least one of the shells in the pile seems to have Finnish markings painted into it, so the shells are not recently captured. During the Interim Peace the artillery had been significantly improved. When the war restarted in 1941, it now numbered 1,829 pieces with nearly 1,500 shells in place for each gun. Additionally, antitank weapons were finally plentiful. This was a completely different situation to that of the Winter War (1939-40), where most weapons were obsolete and lacked enough ammunition to complete even a week’s fire missions!
Source :
Book "Finland at War: The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941-45 by Vesa Nenye
http://www.ww2incolor.com/finnish_forces/254.html
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