Battalion's official German name was Finnisches Freiwilligen SS-Bataillon "Nordost". It consisted of headquarters, three infantry companies and a heavy infantry company with light mortars, infanry guns and heavy MGs. Total strength was about 800 men.   

After the initial training in Vienna Finnish Battalion was transferred to Stralsund in June 1941 and at the beginning of August finally to Gross-Born, Pomerania.   
   
   

Finnish officers had been promoted to their promised ranks, but NCOs had to wait their promotions. Most Finnish NCOs and officers had got battle experience in the Finnish-Russo Winter War, but they had no posts in the battalion and just followed training at the training ground doing nothing!    

To the surprise of the German instructors the Finnish Volunteer Battalion shot much better results than ordinary German battalion. When the training continued and linguistic abilities improved mutually, the trust between Germans and Finns grew.     

Let the Finnish SS-Kriegsbericter (war correspondent) SS-Obercharführer Jukka Tyrkkö tell us about the training at Gross-Born:  
  

September the first:   "A whole day on the training ground shooting live cartridges. Only sausage and a piece of bread interrupted the training, which was for the first time carried out with camouflage suits on...   We shot MG-pictures of the enemy to rags so that Hauptscharführer Eggers couldn't be bothered to count the hits!"      An unknown Finnish machine gunner wearing"Tarnüberzug" (helmet cover) and "Tarnjacke" (camouflage smock). September the second:   "An especially heavy and long day on the groung training attack of a squad and a platoon. A whole body is inscrupulous and I'm terribly tired."   September the fifth:   "Training attack, shooting - also with "Suomi" SMGs (Germans opinion on these changed at first) - and throwing of live hand grenades on the ground."   (Excerpts from the book "Suomalaisia suursodassa" by Jukka Tyrkkö.)

Despite of a heavy battle training, men had some free time too. The battalion band was formed and conducted by SS-Untersturmführer (2nd Lieutenant) Tauno Pajunen. Also many romances between young ladies and Finnish "close-fighters" prove that Finns didn't waste any leisure they probably had!

From left to right: 
SS-Untersturmführer Tauno Pohjanlehto, SS-Obersturmführer Eric Hannus, SS-Obersturmführer Erkki Lautia and SS-Untersturmführer Toivo Vaaramo.

In the middle of September Finnish Volunteer Battalion got the majority of its about 100 lorries, cars and motorcycles. In paper battalion was very well equipped because every infantry section had its own vehicle. Most of the lorries (Matfords, Renaults, Citroëns and Peugeots) were made in France and they tend to wear out soon. 

Text written on the photo: 
Gross-Born 1941, our squad.

On the 13th of September the official name of the battalion was changed. It was thereafter Finnisches Freiwilligen Bataillon der Waffen-SS. About a month later battalion took the military oath and got its own flag.

The battalion flag was blue and white with Finnish coat of arms. SS-motif, Iron Cross, Finnish Cross of Liberty and the emblem of the Royal Prussian Jäger-Battalion No. 27 were placed on the white squares.