During the early months of 1941 Finland felt again the hard threat of Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa was about to launch and Germany saw Finland as a potential ally. The German idea of a Finnish volunteer unit was felt as an ideal political manoeuvre both in Finland and Germany: it would be the mortgage of the mutual co-operation in the future.  

Before the 6th of December 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of Russia. Volunteer Finns had formed the Royal Prussian Jäger-Battalion No. 27 (Königlich Preussisches Jägerbataillon Nr 27) in Germany between 1916 and 1918 because military training was not given to Finns in Finland by the Russian Army. This battalion was the basis of the Finnish Defence Forces. It was decided to follow the steps of the first Finnish volunteer battalion in German Armed Forces.  
  

The task of recruiting was given to a former high police official, Major Esko Riekki. Although the Government of Finland tried to keep the recruiting as secret as possible a total of 1200 volunteers were recruited in a couple of months in Helsinki in phoney Engineer Bureau "Ratas" (wheel), which acted as a cover company for the secret recruiting operation.  

German SS-officials and doctors selected suitable men for the unit. Military service in Germany was granted as equal to service in Finnish Army and also active army personnel got leave to go to Germany. As a matter of fact there were much too much NCOs and officers among the approved men, which later caused problems. This was due to a German plan to form a whole volunteer Finnish regiment, but it never came true.

Finnish volunteers were transported to Germany in five batches during May and the beginning of June in 1941. First three batches consisted of men with former military training. They were almost totally incorporated in various units of SS-Division "Wiking", which was mobilized for the offensive to the east. The last two batches with men without military training were sent to Vienna, Austria, where the Volunteer Finnish Battalion was formed. 

Disappointments became sooner than thought: Germans had promised that all men will keep their former Finnish ranks and that no-one will be separated from the Finnish unit. Finns also thought they would have had Finnish leaders. The truth was severe: most already trained men were sent directly to "Wiking", NCOs became only SS-Rottenführers (Corporals) and all leaders were Germans.