Here is an account of mutiny in 1941.
The writer, in my opinion, makes some very valid psychological points.
I believe his outfit must have been Kev.Os.15, but which Regiment refused before them?
The date is incertain, too.
I do not have enough documentation at hand.
Crossing Svir
K.O.J. Raivio
Journal "Kansa taisteli" vol.9, 1959
(The author was a Platoon Leader, most likely in KevOs.15. Date probably 8/9 September 1941)
I
Äänislinna (Petrozavodsk) had been taken. This we heard when we were in Petäjäselkä, 40km south from the town. We had to advance up to there until we caught the sight of the wide, majestic lake Onega with its famous waves.
From Petäjäselkä we headed for Svir by marching on foot. That march was the heaviest journey of all during the entire war. Although the road followed the coastline of lake Onega we did not have much energy to admire it, because warfare taxed our strength to the extreme.
The distance from Petäjäselkä to Svir is about 120 km, and we covered it in four days. The feat, I think, is in the extreme limit of human endurance taking into account that it was all marching on foot without any motor vehicles at all. Moreover, every man carried his personal equipment and his weapons alone. The transport column had no capacity for any of them. Another fact is that we were not fed in abundance, rather the contrary. Finally we had been advancing and fighting through wilderness, forests and marshes, with meager rations and little rest which had consumed our physical condition. I want to point out that our outfit was not made up of top ranking sportsmen or any tough marathon runners but just ordinary country boys.
For example the gear of a LMG gunner tipped the scales at 50 kg: this gives you an idea of how hard it was to march 30 km daily, then at dusk set up the tents and finally turn in at midnight, just to hear the reveille at 0600 hrs.
I still vividly remember the morning of the second day of marching. Everyone's legs were stiff as timber and the soles of feet covered by blisters, in fact one big blister from toe to heel. It was a sight as the lads clenching their teeth tottered taking the first steps. Guts were definitely needed then. The first kilometers were the most painful but then our legs went numb, and marching became easier.
This went on for four days. I can tell you that most of us began to think of their mother.
(...)
II
At last our hard slog ended, our Battalion set up tents and was allowed to rest about 3km from the big Svir river, about 400m wide at places. We the officers, led by our Company Commander reconnoitred two or three times. for a spot for crossing some 2 km from the neck of the river opposite to Vosnesenja village. Later it became the command post of our Division.
While our outfit rested and tended their sore feet one Regiment of our Division tried to cross the river. But it turned out to be just and attempt, and that was a bad precedent for our lads.
Now I must present facts that may dim the halo of heroism placed on the brow of the Finnish wilderness warrior. A Finnish soldier, too, is but a human with imperfections and wish to live. The said Regiment of our Division had indeed made an aborted attempt and openly refused to cross. It was a Regiment made up of older Reservists and it is easy to understand the weaknesses of family fathers.
Now us, mainly conscripts, young and singles, were ordered to rectify the situation. But the rumours about the said incident began to do their insidious effect among our lads. An opinion came to life: it is impossible to cross the river because the other outfit did not dare to do it. Frankly, fear arose secretly in the mind of every man.
I want to point out that crossing was all the more risky now that one outfit had prepared the point of departure and the Sappers had brought their boats which gave the enemy clear indication of our intents. Our mood was definitely a carnival one, rather a funeral one as our outfit prepared to cross the Svir.
III
At dusk (9 Sept 1941?) the troops moved to the shore bank in the cover of trees. The terrain sloped steeply and the river was half a kilometer off beyond a wet marsh overgrown with bush. The flat marsh extended to the river shore, where the brave Sappers were waiting to start this demanding operation. No one knew how strong defence the enemy had on his side.
The H hour was set at midnight. The atmosphere, tense and mysterious, was depressing Everyone was pondering what was going to happen. Was it my last minutes of life now? Would this be the end, then? My young , beautiful bride would be crying. What are my dad and mum doing now, sleeping of course at this hour. How are they going to take the blow if I...
Well, the first Platoon set off for the shoreline. They disappeared in a file in the bushes. The night was totally silent, a hard and tense moment. Some minutes passed and the squad returned - in a file, quiet. The second Platoon left, but they, too, returned. Now it was my Platoon. What would they do, would they step in the boats and cross the river? Could I force them in the boats would I be responsible for my superiors , what should I do, how to fulfil the orders?
There are moments when all insane and blind robotic obedience is forgotten, you can see but men around you, humans made up of flesh and blood, instead of soldiers. Then, at such a moment, you do feel you are a human among humans. Am I their commander, sending them to - death? Let everybody decide themselves for their fate, this is about what flashed in my mind then. If I had been leading the first Platoon in this attempt I might have had different ideas: my duty. But the example provided may have made me wiser and removed the "samurai" spirit that sometimes takes over a man...
IV
Each man of my Platoon went to the boats, no one uttered one word and as if by agreement they turned back and walked off without talking anything. Should I have embarked as the first man? Would my men have imitated me and joined me? It was very difficult to confess to myself that I was not any more willing to do that than any other. But my honour as officer and my duty?. In that situation I was not able to force myself to do it. The situation was as if under a spell. A man is so much of an herd animal and ape that he takes his cues from others, even in negative matters. Truly I never have found myself in a more bizarre and sombre yet human situation. Everyone had forgotten the Finnish Military Law (of 1919) and its draconic paragraphs. It was neither able to sway the men's unanimous action, nor to scare them. They could as well be sentenced to death according to the Military Law. Why they dared to defy the law, I am not able to explain.
V
The matter found another course of action. The Battalion Commander ordered every Company Commander to ask every man of his company personally a question: "-Are you going to cross or are you not?" The answer had to be simply yes or no. No evasions, no explanations were allowed. The situation was creepy. This odd inquiry took place deep in the forest on the shores of Svir, in autumnal midnight under open sky. Man by man, standing in a file, each one had to face the question by his Company Commander and answer.
Being next to our Company Commander in seniority I had to assist him and at his orders to write up the name of every man who refused. Almost every one wanted to explain himself - if the others, so he, too, - but no explanations were allowed, just simple yes or no. The list of refusers was then taken from each Company to the Battalion Commander who ordered them to brought to him. The men were disarmed and separated under armed guard.
Now volunteers were called for. Many men of that kind were found. They were ordered to cross the river in the first boat led by the Jaeger Platoon Leader, Lieut. V. I also reported as volunteer, considering it my duty. For unknown reason I was not included. We spent the rest of the night in the forest, feeling cold and hungry, waiting for morning.
VI
Next morning the operation was restarted. The crossing was scheduled at 1000 hrs. First the bunkers on the opposite shore were to be softened up by artillery and the crossing was to happen under smoke screen.
The artillery put up an imposing barrage and smoke flares were ready upwind. At the H hour the smoke flares were lit and machine guns on the flank began rattling to suppress the enemy in their positions on the other side, or at least to harass them.
It was my Platoon's turn to embark the boats rowed by Sappers. The current was strong so it pushed our boat downstream inevitably. There were about one squad of us in each boat, maybe even fewer. We landlubbers felt exposed when on water. Since that day my respect for the Navy has considerably increased. It was only then that I understood how exposed a man is on the sea. More heroism is demanded from them than men on the mainland.
We were shot at from the opposite shore. LMGs fired and sprayed their bullets, and rattle of SMG s did not bide any good. There were whines and whistles around us, bursts of bullets hit the water just next to us, some metal hit the sides of the boat, too. I was prone and flat on the bottom of the boat just like the others. The smokescreen covered us just enough to prevent the enemy from sighting accurately. They fired just approximately.
The Sappers who were doing their military task earn my sincere respect. Each of them did more than one man's job. I am not able to estimate how long the crossing took for one boat since the current pushed us downstream. As we approached the opposite shore we felt how a reassuring feeling of safety filled us. Some of us could not wait anymore but jumped overboard so far from the shoreline that they had to swim the rest of the way. I got wet, too when disembarking but what a feeling of relief it was to feel solid ground under my boots.
VII
The situation developed fast. More and more troops crossed to the other side in continuous traffic. We the first to land pushed for more space and rolled up the enemy positions. The enemy did not after all have such a strong force here as one could have expected. We took the shoreline bunkers and positions, the enemy had left in a hurry. In one bunker we found uneaten soup, still warm.
I led my Platoon in a village a couple of kilometers from the river. Normal daily life was going on there. Women and children were at home, the men had been mobilized, of course. These civilians were not so much afraid of us, and of course we did not do what our ancestors had done: killed people and torched their villages
(...)
In the evening we rallied our forces to take Vosnesenskaja village. A fireworks display ensued since the enemy had enough time to torch half of the village. It was a grand sight to see some sixty houses in flames in the darkening autumn night. This was the only time for us to be involved in street fighting and advancing street by street. But it was another story.
Crossing Svir river did not cost many dead men, less than ten were killed and some wounded. The forty men who were disarmed for disobedience in crossing were pardoned afterwards, if I remember correctly.
(2019 words)
Finnish Regiment mutiny?
Re: Finnish Regiment mutiny?
Liquour shop plunder in Kajaani during the Continuation War
This is a famous much rumoured mutinous episode Involving the I Battalion of JR54 .
Finnish 6th D led by Gen. Maj Vihma had fought hard battles in the Salla front, subjected to the Wehrmacht, from summer 1941 to the early winter of 1942. Then the 6.D, including JR54, was relieved and transferred to Kajaani for reorganization.
The distance from Salla to Kajaani is 450 km. Material was transported on lorries but the men marched the distance on skis.
I/JR 54 ski March began 18.Jan.1942 and ended 11.Feb.1942. The march took 24 days.
The March was carried out in skiing about 450 km in subzero weather (from time to time by up to -30 - -35 degrees Celsius). Once a week was a day of rest.
The reveille was usually at 6.30 while it was still dark and skiing ended in the afternoon, when the target for the day ( about 20km) was reached and the men were accommodated, in tents or in barracks if available.
I/JR 54, that we are interested in, skied through wilderness from Vermanjoki to Kuusamo, then they mostly set up tents, which they were hauling in ahkio sleds, for the night.
It was a heavy strain on the men but there was a rumour in circulation: Germans had promised to give every man one centiliter of brandy for each kilometre of skiing. Every man was now dreaming of a four-and-a-half lighter alcohol ration. Finnish soldiers subjected to German units had been supplied with German rations which included some alcohol – Finnish Army was in practice “dry”. That fact lent credibility to the rumour.
In Kajaani the I Btn was accommodated in a schoolhouse on the 11.Feb. The daily routine was normal barracks life, first setting up the accommodation and the stables and gear maintenance. Weapons were cleaned and inspected. There were lessons, weapons handling training and training in terrain to keep the men busy.
The oldest men were demobilized and the remaining younger men were merged in one Battalion that was to be the IV/12.Pr.
But the yearned brandy failed to materialize. The Government monopoly alcohol shop had been closed and the local restaurants refused to serve the soldiers. But there was an Officer Mess with a bar for the officers. This greatly irritated the rank and file who considered themselves being treated as second class people. Since there were no legal means to get drunk the men were supplied with drink by bootleggers and paid by stolen army gear.
On 28.Feb the gear of the Btn was loaded in a train. At 16.45hrs Gen. Maj. Einar Vihma inspected the Battalion on the school yard and made a speech. He told the men that the next day the Btn. Shall be shifted to the Maaselkä Isthmus and there would be hard battles and not all the men would be coming home.
The men were agitated and they developed a burning passion to get drunk at any cost by any means.
At midnight the officer on duty found that the situation was getting worse, the men returning to their lodgings in the schoolhouse were making noise. He did not consider that any help to restore the order was needed, however.
Some lucky men were supplied by bootleggers operating from the town of Iisalmi, had got rowdy and the police had put them in the jail. The men decided to free their pals, and they did it violently. Then the crowd of soldiers, feeling thirsty, marched to the alcohol shop and broke in. It was past midnight now.
The police reported that a large window had been broken. There were broken bottles and liquor on the shop floor. The shop manager, alerted to the scene, found that 184 bottles of alcohol were missing, value 12244FIM (=2700 Eur)
Later when interrogated the men told that two men broke in the shop, and hauled “several bottles” to the lodgings where they treated other men. Soon ten men went to get more liquor. Drinking in the schoolhouse went on, there was a great disorder, the men fired in the ceiling and at the walls. Some were erring about on the streets, firing their weapons in the air.
Battalion CO Maj. Salomies tried to calm down the situation, he turned off the lights but in the darkness he was immediately beaten up by his men. The Major got angry and called for “drastic action” but his Company CO s managed to talk sense in him. There was nothing to do but to wait until the men would sober up.
The Battalion war diary 28. Feb states:
“ In the small hours drunks in the battalion.
At 3.30hrs the disorder increased and at 0400hrs the Battalion CO Maj. Salomies was clobbered by drunken men.
At 7.00hrs Pvt Miettinen shot Pvt Kivimäki in the eye with a pistol”
MPs and police rounded up drunken men on the streets and put them in jail. The ten men caught in the act were arrested for interrogation and trial.
Drunken soldiers roving in the streets were caught and put in jail. The men caught in the act and men suspected of robbery were arrested for interrogation and court martial.
March 1, 1942 the Battalion embarked a train in Kajaani for transport to Lieksa. The material had been loaded the day before.
The Battalion war diary 1 March:
“ 08.00hrs Companies started their march to the railway statin. More than 30 drunken men were left behind.
09.37hrs The train started moving whereby the Divisional CO was present. Some shooting from the wagons. The journey was peaceful, only in the beginning at times some shooting from the wagons.”
Ge. Maj. Vihma, the Div. CO had arrived at the station to see that the troops embarked the train in schedule. He, too, had to take cover as someone from the moving train took a shot at the officers with a LMG.
The train arrived at Kylänlahti ( a train stop next to Lieksa; the Battalion CO apparently wanted to make sure that his men did not make any contact with civilians.) at 00.45hrs on 2 March where lorries were waiting for them. By 03.05 hrs the Battalion had boarded the lorries and at 09.30hrs they arrived at Ontrosenvaara in Rukajärvi where tents were set up. The material was unloaded in Lieksa.
The Divisional Court Martial sentenced on 6. April 1942 two soldiers for planning the robbery and eight more for participating in robbery.
The men appealed. The Supreme Court martial decided on 6 June 1942 to reduce the sentences.
The reason was that the next week after the robbery 51 bottles of stolen alcohol had been confiscated from civilians, and the compensation to be paid by the defendants was halved. Nevertheless six of the men, whose names have been withheld ever since, were sentenced to jail.
The man who had hit his Battalion CO got eight years ten months, another who was considered as the instigator got six years, six more men got 1 to 2 year and two were acquitted. The harshest sentence was due to assaulting a commanding officer. The men appealed for presidential pardon but were rejected.
The men were jailed at first but their sentences were commuted to probation by autumn 1942 and the men were returned to their outfits.
Sources: Heikki Tiilikainen in “Päin mäntyä”, Gummerus 2004
Vesa Rinkinen
http://www.tampereensuomalainenklubi.fi ... nkinen.pdf
(1207 words)
This is a famous much rumoured mutinous episode Involving the I Battalion of JR54 .
Finnish 6th D led by Gen. Maj Vihma had fought hard battles in the Salla front, subjected to the Wehrmacht, from summer 1941 to the early winter of 1942. Then the 6.D, including JR54, was relieved and transferred to Kajaani for reorganization.
The distance from Salla to Kajaani is 450 km. Material was transported on lorries but the men marched the distance on skis.
I/JR 54 ski March began 18.Jan.1942 and ended 11.Feb.1942. The march took 24 days.
The March was carried out in skiing about 450 km in subzero weather (from time to time by up to -30 - -35 degrees Celsius). Once a week was a day of rest.
The reveille was usually at 6.30 while it was still dark and skiing ended in the afternoon, when the target for the day ( about 20km) was reached and the men were accommodated, in tents or in barracks if available.
I/JR 54, that we are interested in, skied through wilderness from Vermanjoki to Kuusamo, then they mostly set up tents, which they were hauling in ahkio sleds, for the night.
It was a heavy strain on the men but there was a rumour in circulation: Germans had promised to give every man one centiliter of brandy for each kilometre of skiing. Every man was now dreaming of a four-and-a-half lighter alcohol ration. Finnish soldiers subjected to German units had been supplied with German rations which included some alcohol – Finnish Army was in practice “dry”. That fact lent credibility to the rumour.
In Kajaani the I Btn was accommodated in a schoolhouse on the 11.Feb. The daily routine was normal barracks life, first setting up the accommodation and the stables and gear maintenance. Weapons were cleaned and inspected. There were lessons, weapons handling training and training in terrain to keep the men busy.
The oldest men were demobilized and the remaining younger men were merged in one Battalion that was to be the IV/12.Pr.
But the yearned brandy failed to materialize. The Government monopoly alcohol shop had been closed and the local restaurants refused to serve the soldiers. But there was an Officer Mess with a bar for the officers. This greatly irritated the rank and file who considered themselves being treated as second class people. Since there were no legal means to get drunk the men were supplied with drink by bootleggers and paid by stolen army gear.
On 28.Feb the gear of the Btn was loaded in a train. At 16.45hrs Gen. Maj. Einar Vihma inspected the Battalion on the school yard and made a speech. He told the men that the next day the Btn. Shall be shifted to the Maaselkä Isthmus and there would be hard battles and not all the men would be coming home.
The men were agitated and they developed a burning passion to get drunk at any cost by any means.
At midnight the officer on duty found that the situation was getting worse, the men returning to their lodgings in the schoolhouse were making noise. He did not consider that any help to restore the order was needed, however.
Some lucky men were supplied by bootleggers operating from the town of Iisalmi, had got rowdy and the police had put them in the jail. The men decided to free their pals, and they did it violently. Then the crowd of soldiers, feeling thirsty, marched to the alcohol shop and broke in. It was past midnight now.
The police reported that a large window had been broken. There were broken bottles and liquor on the shop floor. The shop manager, alerted to the scene, found that 184 bottles of alcohol were missing, value 12244FIM (=2700 Eur)
Later when interrogated the men told that two men broke in the shop, and hauled “several bottles” to the lodgings where they treated other men. Soon ten men went to get more liquor. Drinking in the schoolhouse went on, there was a great disorder, the men fired in the ceiling and at the walls. Some were erring about on the streets, firing their weapons in the air.
Battalion CO Maj. Salomies tried to calm down the situation, he turned off the lights but in the darkness he was immediately beaten up by his men. The Major got angry and called for “drastic action” but his Company CO s managed to talk sense in him. There was nothing to do but to wait until the men would sober up.
The Battalion war diary 28. Feb states:
“ In the small hours drunks in the battalion.
At 3.30hrs the disorder increased and at 0400hrs the Battalion CO Maj. Salomies was clobbered by drunken men.
At 7.00hrs Pvt Miettinen shot Pvt Kivimäki in the eye with a pistol”
MPs and police rounded up drunken men on the streets and put them in jail. The ten men caught in the act were arrested for interrogation and trial.
Drunken soldiers roving in the streets were caught and put in jail. The men caught in the act and men suspected of robbery were arrested for interrogation and court martial.
March 1, 1942 the Battalion embarked a train in Kajaani for transport to Lieksa. The material had been loaded the day before.
The Battalion war diary 1 March:
“ 08.00hrs Companies started their march to the railway statin. More than 30 drunken men were left behind.
09.37hrs The train started moving whereby the Divisional CO was present. Some shooting from the wagons. The journey was peaceful, only in the beginning at times some shooting from the wagons.”
Ge. Maj. Vihma, the Div. CO had arrived at the station to see that the troops embarked the train in schedule. He, too, had to take cover as someone from the moving train took a shot at the officers with a LMG.
The train arrived at Kylänlahti ( a train stop next to Lieksa; the Battalion CO apparently wanted to make sure that his men did not make any contact with civilians.) at 00.45hrs on 2 March where lorries were waiting for them. By 03.05 hrs the Battalion had boarded the lorries and at 09.30hrs they arrived at Ontrosenvaara in Rukajärvi where tents were set up. The material was unloaded in Lieksa.
The Divisional Court Martial sentenced on 6. April 1942 two soldiers for planning the robbery and eight more for participating in robbery.
The men appealed. The Supreme Court martial decided on 6 June 1942 to reduce the sentences.
The reason was that the next week after the robbery 51 bottles of stolen alcohol had been confiscated from civilians, and the compensation to be paid by the defendants was halved. Nevertheless six of the men, whose names have been withheld ever since, were sentenced to jail.
The man who had hit his Battalion CO got eight years ten months, another who was considered as the instigator got six years, six more men got 1 to 2 year and two were acquitted. The harshest sentence was due to assaulting a commanding officer. The men appealed for presidential pardon but were rejected.
The men were jailed at first but their sentences were commuted to probation by autumn 1942 and the men were returned to their outfits.
Sources: Heikki Tiilikainen in “Päin mäntyä”, Gummerus 2004
Vesa Rinkinen
http://www.tampereensuomalainenklubi.fi ... nkinen.pdf
(1207 words)