The Finnish-German Lapland War (15) Sep 1944 - 27 Apr 1945

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Roi
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Jarn Sundqvists observations / bridges

#196

Post by Roi » 19 Jan 2006, 11:10

One detail: Already as a young schoolboy as I read Jarl "Sunkku" Sundqvists account of how he and his friens observed the burning of Rovaniemi from Pöyliövaara and later Ounasvaara (the text was, if I remember it right, published in the loval newspaper Lapin kansa) I wondered how it was possible to see so many details from Pöyliövaara, which is not so very near to the town.

I think the group had only field binoculars (35 or 40 x magnifying power?). Eaven as they moved closer to do their observations from Ounasvaara or maybe the east shore of Kemijoki river, it should have been somewhat difficult to see too much details, but not impossible. Someone living in Rovaniemi today could easily do an small field experiment: what can you observe from where – taking in account that the forest on Pöyliövaara has grown etc.?

I do not intend to say that mr. Sundqvist was lying, far from that. I understand he, as an forestry management leader, was very field worthy and capable fellow, and sure enough he had good capacity to intepret actions eaven seen in dim biocular pictures. But maybe he later, with hindsight knowledge from other sources, added details and told them as the group had seen the actions through their binoculars? He was a developing author as the memories text was published.


Then of the necessity to cross the bridges: Some of the german troops and materials was located on the east side of Rovaniemi proper. Other again where located around the airfield north of the town. The retreat road from the airfield to Muonio went first over to the east shore of Kemijoki river to the Ounasvaara mountain side, then some kilometers south on the east bank of the river, and then back again to the west bank over the combined railroad-road traffic bridge, with its east bridgehead near the district hospital and the church. If there was a Kriegsbücke south of this bridge, it could be used too. Does anybody know why this military bridge was built?

Then I remember to have seen photos of some wooden bridge going north from what is now the town, to Saarenkylä, in the direction of the airfield. Does anybody know when this bridge was built and when it was destroyed or else taken apart? Did it carry a railroad track?

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Juha Tompuri
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#197

Post by Juha Tompuri » 02 Jan 2008, 00:29

At Krieg in der Arktis thread JTV wrote:While revenge most certainly played part as a motivation for destroying privately owned civilian buildings, I would not totally leave out the possibility of Germans just "playing by the book" without bothering to spent time in considering the effects in particular situation. Maybe they just used their basic "burned ground" tactics without bothering to adjust it in the local conditions. As most probably know destroying houses was pretty much useless against Finnish Army simply because Finnish Army at that time was quite well equipped with tents and therefore didn't really need civilian houses for housing its troops.

Sampo Aiho's "Aseveljet vastakkain" covers quite well the reasons why Finnish troops had such problems reaching the Germans. The Germans typically used motorized unit(s) as their rear guard while Finnish troops moved on foot. The Germans mined all roads heavily and their rear-guard delayed Finnish advance by taking earlier prepared positions and fighting them a while every now and then before heading back to road again. Against enemy acting like this Finnish tactics simply didn't really work that well. Finnish standard tactics after running to entrenched enemy was doing flanking attack through forests, circle behind the enemy unit(s) and cut its/their road connections and ultimately surround the enemy forces creating a motti. Since the Germans were very much aware of this tactic, once they noticed that the Finns were flanking them they simply hopped to their trucks and put pedal to metal. By the time Finnish flanking attack usually reached the road the Germans were already long gone.

Other rather obvious reason was decreased fighting moral of Finnish troops. Large part of the Finnish soldiers just were not as motivated to fight as before. The Germans were leaving anyway and the war was obviously going to end soon, so why attack like crazy and possibly get killed.

Jarkko
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 0&start=30

JTV wrote:While revenge most certainly played part as a motivation for destroying privately owned civilian buildings, I would not totally leave out the possibility of Germans just "playing by the book" without bothering to spent time in considering the effects in particular situation. Maybe they just used their basic "burned ground" tactics without bothering to adjust it in the local conditions.
The house burning seems to have taken place about as ordered:
Juha wrote:9th oct gen Rendulic gave orders to destroy state buildings.
11th oct gen Wuerst gave orders to destroy all public buildings.
13th oct gen Wuerst gave orders to destroy all buildings suitable for shelter.
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... ght=#85166

JTV wrote:The Germans were leaving anyway and the war was obviously going to end soon, so why attack like crazy and possibly get killed.
Yes, a valid point.


Regards, Juha


Roi
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#198

Post by Roi » 02 Jan 2008, 09:41

The tactic (or rather strategy) of burned earth the germans applied i Lapland was directed foremost against the Red Army adwance over Finland and into Norway the germans feared, as the outshipping of troops from the ports in Norway could not be speeded up over a certain limit. The german propaganda may have portrayed the burning of Rovaniemi or some other place as "für nicht bewiesene Waffenbruderschaft", but it was nit the real, main reason behind the sacking of Rovaniemi.[/u]

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Lars Gyllenhaal
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The Finnish-German Lapland War (15) Sep 1944 - 27 Apr 1945

#199

Post by Lars Gyllenhaal » 22 Jun 2009, 00:09

Hi,

I have here an article in Finnish about the burning of Rovaniemi from the Rovaniemi veterans´ journal Kansa taistelu No 11/1982. The article is entitled "Kohtalokas onnettomuus" and its ilustrated with a "Nord" logo and burning Rovaniemi. A now deceased 6. GD veteran gave it to me some years ago and I sadly just haven´t gotten around to getting it translated. If I understood the veteran right it puts the blame not on "Nord". I am not sure as I cant read it myself. I ll gladly e-mail it to any thread-members willing to give us the gist of what it says...

Cheerio,

Lars

Mikko H.
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Re: The Finnish-German Lapland War (15) Sep 1944 - 27 Apr 1945

#200

Post by Mikko H. » 23 Jun 2009, 08:37

The title translates as "Fateful accident", so the article very probably does support the view that Nord was not to blame.

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Re: The Finnish-German Lapland War (15) Sep 1944 - 27 Apr 1945

#201

Post by Mangrove » 23 Oct 2009, 09:10

According to Mika Kulju the number of deaths at the Battle of Tornio was around 450 men (and civilians?), not +200 as it was previously reported.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tornio

http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Torn ... 5250184598 (in Finnish)

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Hanski
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Re: The Finnish-German Lapland War (15) Sep 1944 - 27 Apr 19

#202

Post by Hanski » 11 Feb 2014, 20:18

I was just browsing the SA-kuvat.fi database and came across these photos of the destruction of Rovaniemi in October 1944.
Attachments
Rovaniemi1.jpg
Finnish troops marching into the burning borough.
Rovaniemi2.jpg
Family house burning
Rovaniemi3.jpg
Destroyed residential area
Rovaniemi4.jpg
Railyard after the explosion of ammo train.

Lotvonen
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Re: The Finnish-German Lapland War (15) Sep 1944 - 27 Apr 1945

#203

Post by Lotvonen » 30 Apr 2016, 08:00

An episode of the Lapland war by an participant follows.

Two big bangs at Suutarinkorva bridge
Olavi M. Venesoja
Jornal "Kansa Taisteli", vol. 6_7, 1958

Lapland war, the campaign against the Germans after the armistice, in Northern Finland was due to special circumstances both mentally and physically very heavy.

The fact alone that most men considered that the war was over for them and return to the civilian life was near, and now they had to fight a “brother in arms” brought a bitter taste to the campaign.

The author, the Company Commander of 1st Company of JP3 (Jaeger Battalion) describes the crossing of Suutarinkotva bridge in Rovaniemi that was blown up by Germans.

The only task of a soldier is to fulfill any orders issued in legal manner, and fufill them to the extreme “as long as I have force and life” which is the backstop in case of any problems in fulfilling orders.

One of the difficult and dangerous missions in the history of JP3 is the crossing of 700m long Suutarinkorva bridge in Rovaniemi after was blown up by Germans.

After the battle of Portimojärvi the Battle Group Hynninen, comprising JP2 and JP3, marched through wilderness carrying their bicycles in difficult circumstances to the valley or Kemijoki river and followed then it upstream in the direction of Rovaniemi. JP2 was leading and just as they were arriving at Suutarinkorva bridge on 12/13 November at 2400hrs, the town of Rovaniemi was in full flames. In the light of flames we had seen men and trucks crossing the bridge. Immediately the bridge was fired at with all available infantry weapons, and the opposite bridgehead was shelled with mortars in order to cut ignition wires to the German demolition charges. JP3, too, arrived at the bridge after a fast bike ride. Just then there was a blinding flash and a huge explosion shook the ground. After the smoke settled the bridge was no more there, any hopes of capturing it intact were lost.

A while later I was summoned by Col.Lt. Jouko Hynninen, a Mannerheim cross holder and the commander of the battle group. He gave me orders with the following content:
“ 1st Coy of JP3 shall cross the Suutarinkorva bridge using its remains, then takes Saarenpää village on the opposite shore, then advances about five kilometers to the crossroads. From there the Company sends out a patrol to catch up with the retreating enemy and to stay in contact with them. Crossing shall be supported by mortar fire. Keep me updated. Any questions?”

“No, Sir”, I responded and repeated the order that was unambiguous. I could have asked lots of questions because crossing the river in total darkness without constructing anything in the ruins appeared to be impossible at first thought. However, I knew my commander since many a year, he was a considerate and unyielding officer: it was useless to waste any time to explain. I also learned that the Germans had destroyed all boats in the vicinity, they were useless for us.

Having returned to my Company my runner relayed orders to the Platoon commanders to arrive for orders. All the Platoon commanders of the 1st Company were educated in the tough school of War, yet I could not help noticing signs of worry in every face. They easily understood how difficult the mission was. But they also knew where the order originated so we did not waste any time in discussion but started preparations. Our task was further hampered by the fact that each Platoon was down to 20 men in strenght and the men were either young inexperienced recruits or plus-forty “daddies”.

After quick preparations, necessary cautions etc. the first platoon of 20 men set out to cross the smashed bridge at several points along the ruins. They were followed by the Company commander with his command squad and then the other platoons. Advancing was slow and laborious. The men had to exert their arms and legs to the extreme. Many a man must have been grateful for their school sports teacher for sweat-drenched gymnastics lessons and the tricks learned to be applied now. We had alternately to creep on meters high girders and alternately wade in the river, clinging to the wreckage of the bridge to avoid getting swept off by the swift black current of Kemijoki river. The farther the men advanced the more their tension increased. If they were detected by the enemy, they would soon be dropped in the river by fire from the opposite shore.

We had been struggling for two hours now and tiredness together with mounting tension made us have a break. We could see that fires were still raging in the town and there were explosions indicating that the Germans kept on with their work of destruction. It was a sad sight indeed and we also thought of the possibility of the Germans torching the village of Saarenpää any moment which would deprive us of the cover offered by the darkness.

Slowly but obstinately we struggled on for the opposite shore and its uncertainty, it stayed silent and dark for some reason. I estimated we had about 100m to go but I may have mistaken because there were no points of reference in the darkness. Our first men should have been near the opposite shore at this hour, so it was a critical moment. Either we shall succeed or we shall get killed, familiar alternatives to any fighting man. The latter alternative we locked out of our minds until we had done everything we could. It is impossible to estimate the passage of time in this kind of situation because minutes go by at an agonizing slowness.

I advanced another twenty meters and was sure that the first men must be on the other side now. I had started hoping that the enemy would have abandoned the village without torching it to hide their withdrawal, as another incident further increased our tension. There was a noise of a train approaching, no doubt about it. The puffing of the locomotive was recognized by everyone. Due to darkness we could not define where it actually was but judging by the noise and sparks it must have been right at the far end of the bridge. Our situation was risky, it did not make sense to engage the enemy right away. Only ten to fifteen men were across and more were still dangling in the structures of the wreckage. I could spot two men near me creeping on a girder at four to five meters.

The situation was developing ever more dangerous. The enemy appeared to be ignorant of us as they were in a good mood, some were singing in quite a loud voice. They were using illumination to do something special. Before we found out what, there was a blinding flash and a tremendous explosion that shook the scene. I happened at the moment to be on the lower end of a piece of a slanting four to five meter long structure. I thought I was gone as the pressure wave ripped me up then dumped back down on the structure, I started sliding down to the water. As I came to I found myself waist down in the water, clinging to the bridge remains. I realised that I was alive, unwounded, and the bridge remains also were still there: it was enough to make me feel grateful. It did not matter that the train was in flames and explosions threw splinters that made their traces in the darkness and hit the river with a nasty howl near and far. So it had been an ammo transport train the Germans had brought to the bridge that had caused the terrible explosion that had shaken the town another time within a few hours. But what had happened to the men even closer the explosion ? Where were the two men I had seen on the high girders? Darkness prevented me from seeing anything farther than a few meters, I had to struggle on. I made a few more meters without seeing anyone, I was almost sure that the explosion had pushed my Jaegers in the river. At one spot I stood up on a girder and suddenly spotted a dark shape approaching, followed by another. Soon I identified them as “friends”. They were recent replacements.elderly men whom I did not know by name. I enquired how they were and why they had changed their direction but their response was some kind of grumbling. I decided it was useless to try to make them continue the advance, to that extent they appeared to be stunned by panic. Their only idea seemed to be to get out of the spot of horror. The second Jaeger was able to tell me something about another explosion to happen any moment. . I tried to reassure them but they appeared to be better informed than I, so I left them alone.

We found ourselves thirty or forty meters from the opposite shore at the moment. I pressed on as fast as I ever could even though my energy was pretty much spent by now. Another pair of men came, they told me they were fetching paramedics. They were able to inform me about the situation at the other end of the bridge, even though their hearing was quite bad. The platoon had made it across except some stragglers and they had taken over the positions dug by the Germans. Then the train came puffing and stopped some 20m from the trench where the I platoon found themselves. There were some tense moments in the trench as the men heard the Germans babble in the immediate vicinity. They could not do anything because the men on the bridge were exposed. Moreover, there was no information about the forces of the enemy. The men in the trench heard how the Germans were moving about around the train, suspecting nothing. They opened and shut waggon doors while the Jaegers feared that the lights the Germans used might reveal their presence to the enemy. Then there was a moment of silence until a terrible explosion struck the scene, the pressure wave knocked out every man. The worst fear now was that the locomotive steam kettle could blow up any moment. It was hissing ominously among the flames. This must have frightened the two men I had encountered.

Yet our task did not allow any procrastination, we had to press on disregarding any dangers as quickly as possible. Maybe we could save the village of Saarenpää from torching if we were able to shift enough force across. The Company appeared to proceed “as planned” after me. When finally on the other bank of the river I felt wonderfully safe to have fast ground under my boots. I went hurriedly to find out how the I Platoon were. To my relief all were alive, some quite badly off, however. Everyone had passed out for a shorter or a longer period, and every one was bleeding, from the nose and ears mostly. A couple of paramedics stayed there to tend the worst cases. As soon as I had rallied enough battle-worthy men we started to advance, carefully. Facing us was Saarenpää village with the houses standing and apparently undamaged. We had to spot not only any eventual enemies but also the mines to avoid treading on them. We were by now used to finding them in all possible and impossible spots. It was strictly forbidden to enter the houses. We were accompanied by wonderfully good luck because none of the Company tread on a mine in Saarenpää although later it was found that they had been liberally sown all over the place. Some men found something even more dangerous: that is “Negrita” rum in fine straw covered bottles. For economic reasons most of us had seen the stuff only in the alcohol store shelves, if even there. Fortunately I spotted the threat potential in time and with tough measures was able to control the situation.

We reached our objective soon after this incident and obviously the enemy delaying units were in a hurry since they declined to resist us. We made a contact with the enemy not until 10 km farther off.

The company was able to report to the Battle Group Commander that we have reached our objective and the orders have been fulfilled. Everyone was feeling pleased having fulfilled a task that initially had been estimated as impossible. Once again the Jaegers had proven their resourcefulness in face of tough tasks. We were also satisfied as the enemy had failed to destroy the village of Saarenpää due to our quick river crossing. The planted bombs and other incendiaries were left unused this time.

Some of us may have left with a permanent reminder in the shape of impaired hearing, but taking in account all the factors involved in the operation of crossing the Suutarinkorva bridge it was performed with quite minimal losses. The men participating the crossing definitely had been in situations that had resulted in heavy losses or had been in some other respect special, but certainly every man who was there shall remember the incident to the end of their lives. So excruciatingly tense and painful were the hours that the 1st Coy of JP3 spent above the streaming Kemijoki river when crossing the remains of the once mighty Suutarinkorva bridge for unknown fate.


( 2233 words)

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