Finns in Sestroretsk 1941?

[JacksonsGhost]

Hello members,
This is my first post on this site after many years of casually reading the excellent information contained here, so I hope someone might assist.
I've been scouring the internet for detailed info on the fighting in the region of Sestroretsk (or Siestarjoki for the Finns I believe) in 1941, in particular to determine if the fighting actually reached the city streets.
Some accounts state quite firmly that the Finns stopped their advance short of Sestroretsk, while others suggest that they may have continued further.

eg. this unedited quote from http://sestroretsk.org/today/developing-traditions:
"The book «Unsubdued boundary» in detail tells about people's feat who have endured 900 days of blockade of Leningrad on the boundary between Sestroretsk and Beloostrov. Then, in autumn of 1941, the fighters of the 120 th destructive battalion consisting of workers of Voskov tool factory, serving enterprises and yesterday's schoolboys, and also frontier guards and marines of the Baltic fleet from Kronstadt, took up the blow of the Finnish army advanced parts and stopped the enemy on northern approaches to Leningrad."

I'm familiar with the actions at Beloostrov, but I'm wondering if anyone here has reliable sources which can confirm or deny whether Finnish troops actually entered the city streets of Sestroretsk, even if just briefly? The lack of internet accounts suggest to me that the answer is probably no, but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong on this.
Thanks

[Mangrove]

The Finnish 12th Division advance towards Siestarjoki and JR 47 had mostly reached the old border on 4 September 1941. An order not to cross the border, patrols not included, was actually given already few days earlier on 1 September. According to the aforementioned diary, the closest point where the main body of the Finnish troops got to the city was the Ruostekanava canal at the border river some kilometers north of the city limits.

http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3474384 (JR 47 - War Diary)
http://www.karjalankartat.fi/ (Map of the Karelian Isthmus)

[JacksonsGhost]

Thanks Martti,
I haven't gone so far as to translate the wording in your War Diary link yet, but it seems to support my initial thoughts. Ruostekanava canal would be the "rusty ditch" or "rusty canal" that I've read about. I understand this was the official stop line in this area. However, I've also read that the Finnish commanders were given freedom to exceed the limits of the old border and did so in many locations. This is why I'm still interested to hear if anyone has any record of such ventures into Sestroretsk. I can't find any other reference to the 120th Destructive Battalion as quoted in my initial post (I've also tried 120th Destruction Battalion). Does anyone know anything about their part in this? I understand that the Voskov tool factory referred to was in the northern limits of Sestroretsk and was evacuated due to the threat of Finnish occupation. I don't see any reference to the factory ever actually being attacked by ground troops though.
Thanks again Martti, I'll attempt some further research on the actions of JR 47 / JR 49,
Best Regards, Mike.

[Mangrove]

I understand that the Voskov tool factory referred to was in the northern limits of Sestroretsk and was evacuated due to the threat of Finnish occupation. I don't see any reference to the factory ever actually being attacked by ground troops though.

The diary mentions that an order was given to target factory pipes at the city and bombard them if any smoke was detected. The artillery also frequently bombarded ships at Kanonerskaya [harbour?].

[Vaeltaja]

Reading from the aforementioned war diary it appears that Finns did not reach - or rather chose not to - the 'rust ditch' along its full length. Meaning the 'Patometsikkö' in the eastern end of the ditch (all coordinates in WGS84 - N: 60.12594; E:29.97623 - map) seem to have remained either contested or in Soviet hands and that nearest actual Finnish positions would have been at both 'Sormenkärki' (N:60.12770; E:29.96011) and at 'Hatsalanmäki' (N:60.13547; E:29.98469).

In a bit strange twist it also appears that Patomäki (levee/dike/dam hill - not sure which would correspond the best) (at Patometsikkö) hill was subject to several skirmishes. Again from war diaries it appears that both sides wanted blow up the levee (blocking Rajajoki from flowing directly to the sea) and fought to allow combat engineers to have an access to the site.

[JacksonsGhost]

Thanks Vaeltaja,
That's interesting. The maps are fantastic too guys! Going by them and what you've said it seems that, in the initial stages at least, the Finns were about 2.5 km short of the built up areas of Sestroretsk. Given that an advance from that position would be on a narrow front (1.5km approx) between water and marsh I can see that this would be an unlikely option for an army wanting to adopt a defensive posture. I'm still happy to hear otherwise though if it did happen.

[kansa2]

As speak at us, in Russia, it is strict in addition - a selection of a photo of our days on a theme - the Sestroretsk boundary
Though probably Finnish companions it already saw...
http://zielenski.narod.ru/photoalbum3-3-4.html
The son-schoolboy had a rest this summer once again in sanatorium in "Children's dunes" In this sector- here and have remembered history
Yours faithfully, best regards !

[JacksonsGhost]

Thanks kansa2,
It's nice to hear from the Russian side also. Your link is excellent, particularly the map of fortification locations. It shows very well how strong the defences were forward of Sestroretsk. If the Finns had pushed an attack through that I'm sure all the historians would know about it! Some good information in the link for those interested in the Beloostrov actions also.

[Vaeltaja]

Something that i failed to see from the documents, Finnish reports mention that water level in the rust ditch continued to rise after the fighting started so i suppose the levee was breached to certain degree at some point during the fight. But by which side as both apparently tried to accomplish the same thing?