Mastodawn

Janne M. Korhonen

Once again wondering how on Earth there aren't any movies, not even Finnish ones, about Finnish WW2 long-range patrols. The story of Aimo Koivunen and his week with methamphetamine is probably not even the craziest one. There's plenty to choose from. (A Thread.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimo_Ko...

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

The exploits of the long-range patrols have been VERY attractive to Finnish writers. I'm not a fan of the genre though - too much rah-rah heroism. The official patrol reports and interviews are plenty crazy enough on their own. Take, for example, Patrol 49, in June 1943. www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-...

Kaukopartio 49:ssä moni asia m...

Kaukopartio 49:ssä moni asia meni hirvittävällä tavalla pieleen – näin tiedusteluretki muuttui raastavaksi ihmisjahdiksi linjojen takana

Volgajoen latvoille kesällä 1943 laskeutuneen kaukopartion tiedusteluretki muuttui hermoja raastavaksi ihmisjahdiksi. Yli 500 venäläistä jäljitti soisessa erämaassa kahdeksaa pakenevaa suomalaista.

Ilta-Sanomat

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

Just after midnight on 17 June 1943, a floatplane dropped eight men east of lake Onega, some 120 km (as the crow flies) behind Finnish lines. The primary objective of the three-week mission was to reconnoiter a segment of the Volga-Baltic Waterway that connects Volga with the Baltic Sea (see map).

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

The first 12 days were relatively uneventful, aside from an accidental encounter with two Soviet soldiers that left both of them dead. The patrol was able to do their job - observe traffic, take measurements, find out what the Soviet military was doing in general.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

But on 29th June a Soviet tracking dog got wind of the patrol. The patrol evaded and waited in ambush, but no pursuers appeared. More ominously, the so far continuous radio jamming had ceased: a possible sign that the Soviet special forces hunting them had a good idea of the patrol's location.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

The patrol pressed on with the mission regardless. It encountered a Soviet lieutenant and attempted to take him prisoner, but he tried to run and was shot. The power switch of their only radio had broken, too, but it was fixed with a creative application of a cigarette holder.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

On the evening of 30th June 1943, the patrol was waiting on a swamp for a supply drop. It never came. Someone had made an error transcribing the radio message, and the drop was made to a wrong location. However, the Soviets came. The hunters had found them. A fierce gunfight ensued.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

The patrol escaped from the open swamp without casualties, and managed to shoot a tracking dog (perhaps the most dreaded of their enemies) in the process. But the hunters had their location and were methodically boxing them in.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

Trying to evade, the patrol discovered that roads were now patrolled by Soviet troops. They followed the standard tactic of using the roads to divide the search area into plots they'd search one by one. In all probability, lakes where a floatplane - their ticket home - could land were "hot" too.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

Very fortunately, they came across the tracks left by one of the Soviet search patrols, and decided to sneak behind them, reasoning the Soviets wouldn't have a reason to turn around. The patrol even managed to arrange an airdrop for a partial resupply. Then things started to go seriously wrong.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

On the morning of 2nd July, a Soviet patrol searching them practically stumbled upon their hideout and was detected when it was mere 15 meters away. Two enemy soldiers were seen to fall in the confused exchange, but the patrol leader's map case was left behind. The enemy now had all their notes.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

The enemy now knew their supply caches, pickup locations, and codes. After evading the pursuit by hiding in dense bush for two days, and a rain that washed away their scent trails, the patrol dared to try to reach a promised pickup site. But the Soviets had patiently waited nearby.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

In the ensuing firefight, the patrol leader was shot through his leg. He could only crawl. The other seven men took turns dragging him forward, yet were able to gain a bit on their pursuers. On their last legs, they somehow reached the designated pickup lake and alighted the signal fires.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

They could hear the floatplane approach - and then machine guns. The plane's sound disappeared. The plane had navigated to a wrong lake, one that was watched by the Soviets. Who had lighted fires too. The crew realized their error only after landing, and were captured.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

Worse, that was the only plane capable of picking up the patrol. Which was at this point some 180 kilometers behind enemy lines. As the crow flies. And one man could only crawl to escape their pursuers, at least two platoons of Soviet special anti-partisan forces. Nevertheless, they kept going.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

On 5th July, two men - deputy patrol leader among them - had had enough. They argued that no one would be coming to pick them up, and they'd have to escape on foot, going around the lake Onega from the south. An impossible trip for the wounded leader. The rest said "no."

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

Next night, the two men simply took off to the south, without saying a word. They had very little food and only 150 rounds each for their of submachine guns. Without a radio, supply drops were out, and they were on their own. The six men who stayed behind had a radio, but otherwise had it worse.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

They turned north, trying to find a lake isolated enough that another floatplane, somehow conjured, could pick them all up. The wounded man hobbled along on makeshift crutches. After many tens of kilometers, the crutches had eaten all the skin from his hands. Tendons showed white.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

Meanwhile, the two "splitters" made relatively good progress to south, clocking 19 kilometers the first day. They ran out of food, but were able capture a calf, which they promptly slaughtered. The Soviets were on high alert and they had to spend a lot of time hiding.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

By the morning of 8th July, the Finnish commanders had managed to arrange a loan of an old float-equipped biplane from the Germans. On 08:00, the main patrol radioed home and heard a pick-up could be arranged for the same evening. The designated spot was 8 kilometers away. They marched right away.

Janne M. Korhonen Jun 25

It tells something about the terrain that this 8-km trip took them about 10.5 hours. But the lake seemed clear of the Soviets, and the men were overjoyed. Until the pick-up was delayed to midnight due to bad weather, and then cancelled altogether. Disappointment must've been unimaginable.

Check out @Yarnhub telling the story of Aimo Koivunen with 2 million+ views youtu.be/PfoMvgDY8hk?...

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