The
story begins in a far away land called Karelia. The man's name is Antti,
and the young woman's name is Meeri. They wanted to settle down and make
a home in Karelia, but one winter's day in 1939, strangers from a land
not so far away came to take their land and dreams away. Against all odds,
like his forefathers have done for hundreds of years, Antti went to drive
them away. This is their story.
Tarina
alkaa kaukaisessa satumaassa jonka nimi on Karjala. Miehen nimi on Antti
ja naisen nimi Meeri. Heillä oli haaveita tehdä Karjalaan kotinsa.
Mutta eräänä talvipäivänä vuonna 1939 tuli
Karjalaan vieraita miehiä, ei kovin kaukaa, ottamaan heidän maansa
ja haaveensa pois. Ja kuten muinaiset esi-isät satoja vuosia olivat
tehneet, Antti meni ajamaan niitä pois. Tämä on heidän
tarinansa.
No explanation needed: Picture of Antti and Meeri in
Viipuri
Tähän ei tarvita selityksiä:
Antti ja Meeri Viipurissa
Viipuri
- Karjalaisten kaupunki - Vyborg, the Karelian's city.
Viipuri (Vyborg) was a wonderful Karelian city that Meeri and Antti loved dearly. It was like the Paris of the North - not far from Terijoki, the Finnish Riviera. On the left the young couple is out for a stroll. Meeri on the right as a lifeguard (swimming meister).
Viipuri Fortress "Viipurin Linna" can be seen in the background.
But in a few months, their carefree life in Viipuri would be over. The
strangers were coming.
Viipuri oli kaunis laulujen ja satujen maan pääkaupunki jota
äiti ja isä, Meeri ja Antti, rakastivat. Vasemmaisessa kuvassa
on Meeri ja Antti kävelyllä Viipurissa. Toisessa kuvassa on oikealla
uimamaisteri Meeri, Kouvolan Harmonikan (200 km piirin) edustajan,
Viktor Saarnion tytär. Miehen nimi on Jussi Kahlo. Kuva on otettu
kymmenen metrin korkeudessa.
The Soviet Union attacked Finland in 1939 and
after the Winter War, Finland lost most of Karelia, its most beloved province. When the Soviets resumed hostilities against Finland, the Finns continued the Winter War, which was called the Continuation War. By the end of August 1941, all the territory lost in 1940 had been reconquered, but the Finnish offensive was kept up until the beginning of December, by which time the greater part of East
Karelia had been secured. This area was considered to be possibly valuable
as a bargaining counter in peace negotiations. Securing the islands on
lake Laatokka (Ladoga), Europe's largest lake, continued into the fall
of 1941 and was the job of the Laatokka Defence forces and the Laatokka
Navy.
Finland was in a position where it could not, for fear of allied
reprisals, cut the Leningrad supply line south of the river Syväri (Svir). supplies from the United States poured into Leningrad. While this helped save Leningrad, it accelerated Finland's own fate.
In 1941 Antti was back in the army, this time as a sergeant. By September
of 1941 the Finnish army had taken all the territory north of Lake
Laatokka (Ladoga), Europe's largest lake that Finland shared with Russia
prior to 1939. The Army continued into Eastern Karelia ( Äänisen
aallot - a wartime song about Äänisjärvi = Onega).
Antti's unit, which was part of the Laatokka Naval forces, was given the
task of taking back the islands in Lake Laatokka that had been taken over
by the Soviet Union. From the north end of Lake Laatokka, at Lahdenpohja,
they commandeered a number of clinker-built wooden fishing boats and refitted
them with guns. Other boats were brought in from Finland by train. They
were used to remove the Red Army from Laatokka, the ancient Karelian people's
lake which had been shared with the Slavs for a thousand years. The eastern half was ceded to Russia in wars earlier in the second millennium. So badly did the Slavs want this land, that they even moved, "for their own safety" the converted Karelians away to Tver, near Moscow in the 17th century, "to protect them from the Lutherans." But, the Finns are a difficult people to come and take anything from. The tradition continues.
Antti's Laatokka Naval unit "Lähde" which was put
under the authority of the Laatokka Defence Forces, commandeered boats
in Lahdenpohja. These were made into gunboats and transport motorboats,
and some of the smaller rowboats were towed by powered craft as transports
and as mobile gun platforms. The boats were fitted with 3pdr/47mm and similar
naval guns and machineguns.
18.6.1941, Antti joutui takaisin armeijaan
2. Armeijakunnan esikunnassa ja toimi radistina. Hän oli jo 26.6.1940
reservin alikersanntti ja nyt Laatokalla kersantti - vaikka virallisesti
vasta 21.10.1944. Syyskuuhun menneessä Suomi oli jo ottanut takaisin
alueet jotka Venäjä oli ryöstänyt vuonna 1940, ja pojat
jatkoivat matkaa itäkarjalaan. (Kuuntele
Äänisen
aallot) Antin (Laatokan Puolustus) Laatokan Laivastojoukkuelle annettiin
tehtävä poistaa
Ryssä Laatokan saaristosta. Lahdenpohjasta ja Läskelästä
Antin joukkue valitsi veneitä, asetutti 3pdr/47mm tykit niihin, ja
lähtivät Laatokalle, esim. Sortavalaan, Valamoon, Rahmansaareen
jne. Laatokan
kartta Monia saaria venäläiset eivät olleet miehittäneet,
mutta yhtä saarta - Rahmasaarta, (elikä Rahmansaari) venäläiset
halusivat puolustaa erittäin lujasti. Monet veneet, joista Antti otti
kuvia paikanpäällä, ovat myös Suomalaisissa Rahmasaaren
taistelun aikakirjoissa. Kun kirjoittaja luki niistä viime aikoina,
hän meni katsomaan onko Antilla kuvia niistä. Onneksi sielä
näky olevan monta: esim. mv. 14, 1, 37, Kukkapää, tyk.v.
Haapaniemi, tyk.v. Mantsi, ym.
Veneet saapuivat Rahmasaareen aamulla aikaseen,
syyskuun 6/7 päivä. Antti kertoi että hänen "Lähde"
osaston ryhmässä oli kahdeksan venettä joissa oli jokaisessa
yksitoista miestä. Kauempana Laatokalla olevien tykkiveneiden sekä
muissa saareissa olevien patterien esim. Maunun tulituksen jälkeen
veneet alkoi hyökätä saareen eri puolilta. Hyökkäyksessä
oli kaksi porrasta joilla oli puolen tunnin väli, ankarassa saaresta
tulevassa tulituksessa. Korpraali Antin veneessä haavoittui niskaan.
Sen jälkeen, vene hajosi, ja Antti käski kaikki miehet veteen,
vaikka ei ollut paljon vaihtoehtoa. Sen jälkeen, kaksi Antin miestä
pääsi rantaan heittämään muutaman kranaatin, ja
ryssät antautuivat. Kolmen vuorokauden taistelun jälkee 103 Ryssää
oli saanut surmansa ja loput otettiin vangiksi. Taistelu ei ole ihan niin
yksinkertainen kun Antin muisti julkaisee. Olavi Väliahon kirja, Laatokan
Puolustajat Karjalaan, kertoo monesta Laatokan taistelusta, josta oli
mukava lukea Rahmasaaresta. Aikakirjojen
mukaan on hieman erillainen, monimutkaisempi kertomus. Antti kertoi
että hänestä ei ole paljon tietoja valtiolla. Nämä
seloistukset eivät täydellisesti kerro mitä tapahtui; ei
ole esimerkiksi löydetty kun vasta nytten mitään hänen
osallistumisesta Rahmasaaren taisteluun, eikä mitään hänen
haavoittumisesta. Siksi hän ei ole saanut penniäkään
niistä vaivoista.
Siinä taistelussa Antti haavoittui räjähtävästä
luodista. Lisäksi kylmä vesi vahingoitti Antin verisuonia jaloissa
ja hän sai kärsiä loppuelämänsä jalkavaivoista.
Island-Hopping on Lake Laatokka
They went in to Sortavala, and then on to Lahdenpohja. From there
they went out into Lake Laatokka, Rahmasaari (Rahmansaari) and the island
of Valamo (Valaam), and then back to Lahdenpohja. Many of the islands that
they checked off Jaakkima, such as the Kilpisaari group of islands, had
been secured from Russian control by the beginning of September and were
therefore undefended, but for reasons that we do not know, the Soviet Union
chose to strongly defend the small island of Rahmansaari or "Rahmasaari"
An invasion plan was drafted and implemented. They approached the island
at daybreak on September 6/7, 1941. Antti's group was in eight fishing
boats with eleven men to a boat. The assault was preceded by shelling by
heavy guns, and covered by gunboat Kukkapää under Chief Petty
Officer Lauri Tolvanen and several other gunboats. As they approached they
came under heavy machine-gun fire so they backed off and came in from another
direction. His orders were to go straight in (Antti said as his hand made
a slicing motion, showing how he was ordered to go in) dispite the fire.
Once again they came under heavy machine-gun fire and the corporal
manning the forward machine gun in Antti's boat was hit in the neck and
fell back into the boat. The water around the boats boiled with machine
gun fire. Antti's boat started to break up, so he ordered all his men overboard.
The water was not deep and they did not have much trouble making it to
the shore, but they were pinned down at the waters edge. Antti spent several
hours in the cold waters of Lake Laatokka. At one point he came into a
snipers gunsight.
Fortunately, the bullet struck a branch of a tree just in front of
his face. The bullet exploded on impact and sent tiny fragments of shrapnel
into his face and into the backs of his hands. His hands were close to
his face because he was holding his rifle in the "ready" position.
He was in a bad situation. They were pinned down and his corporal
was wounded. He also lost another man to machine-gun fire. Antti's feet
were freezing in the water, and he was bleeding from the face and hands.
Two of his men eventually managed to work their way around to the side
of the Soviet position and threw a couple of hand-grenades. For reasons
that Antti does not understand, his life was saved by a Russian lieutenant
who decided to surrender. To the best of Antti's recollection, this is
how the events folded. The Finnish chronicles on the Rahmasaari battle,
are a lot more definitive. There were several other detachments involved in the battle which lasted three days, with attacks from various sides of the island. Rahmasaari
Battle Chronicles.
It took the Finns several days to dislodge the remainder of the Soviet
troops. They fought very fiercely and many of them died. The Captain looked
after Antti's wounds until they could get him back to the Kyysaari.
The Russians have always wanted more land, that is their nature.
This is not the first time the Finns have had to defend their
land.
War on Lake
Laatokka - Antti Hänninen's Russian Karelian page supplied information about
the Rahmasaari and other Laatokka battles based on Russian journals.
Lottas (Women's Corps, nurses etc.) in Äänisjärvi (Onega). Antti Hänninen
gets a surprise: a Lotta in Australia says she has some pictures for him. See
these amazing new photos. Eastern Karelia
Sotatoimet
Laatokalla - Antti Hännisen Karjala sivu Ä änisjärvellä. Hänellä on tietoja
Rahmansaaren taistelusta. Ä änisjärvi: entinen lotta lähetti Hänniselle kuvia Austraaliasta!
Laatokalla jatkosodan aikana otettuja kuvia. 
The
story begins in a far away land called Karelia. The man's name is Antti,
and the young woman's name is Meeri. They wanted to settle down and make
a home in Karelia, but one winter's day in 1939, strangers from a land
not so far away came to take their land and dreams away. Against all odds,
like his forefathers have done for hundreds of years, Antti went to drive
them away. This is their story.
