Öykkösenvaara

Öykkösenvaara visitor center.

Restored 1944 battleground where Finns halted enemy’s advance.

In the final phase of the Continuation War in 1944, Möhkö sector saw battles that were crucial to the outcome of the entire conflict. The military heritage site at Öykkösenvaara six kilometers from the village of Möhkö toward the border has several restored fortifications and a year-round visitor center.

In the summer of 1944, war had raged in Europe for five years. Germany was sustaining heavy losses on every front, and the Western Allies had landed in Normandy on June 6. A few days later the Soviet Union unleashed an all-out offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. This was the decisive turning point of the Continuation War and marked the end of the trench warfare phase. The Red Army’s onslaught sent the defenders reeling.

Colonel Torvald Ekman's 21st Brigade kept on fighting around the town of Karhumäki on the northern shore of Lake Onega until June 20, when it began to disengage and withdraw toward the easternmost part of Ilomantsi, with the Russians in pursuit. Several engagements took place before Ekman’s men arrived in the village of Porajärvi, where fighting then continued for five days.

The Finns resumed retreat on July 12, and the following day they reached the old border at Megri and began a two-day delaying action. The distance between Megri and Öykkösenvaara is 55 kilometers.

This deliberate retrograde had two aims. First, it traded space for time, allowing the Finns to construct strong defensive positions at Öykkösenvaara. The enemy forces attempting a drive via Öykkösenvaara toward Ilomantsi parish village could then be pinned down, encircled, and destroyed.

Meanwhile, heavy enemy forces would be allowed to advance on a broad front into the defenders’ depth, which would overstretch the invader’s supply lines and increase their vulnerability to counterattacks.

On July 24, the General Headquarters issued an order for the establishment of a temporary formation to stop, encircle and destroy the enemy forces advancing toward Ilomantsi. The task was assigned to Major General Erkki Raappana, who had commanded the 14th Division in Rukajärvi sector since the outbreak of the war.

Raappana drew up a plan in great haste. He intended to separate the enemy’s 176th Division, which was advancing north of Lake Ilajanjärvi, and the 289th Division pushing forward south of Lake Luovejärvi, from each other. He would then trap both formations with a double envelopment. The task of destroying the retreating enemy forces fell to the 21st Brigade.

Öykkösenvaara was selected as the strongpoint because its geography favored the defenders.

Öykkösenvaara was selected as the strongpoint because its geography favored the defenders. The steep, rocky and in places bare hillside descends toward the terrain below and was therefore an ideal location for field fortifications. It also allowed interlocking fires from several levels.

The road to Möhkö ran along a narrow isthmus right in front of the fortifications and was bordered on either side by bodies of water that the enemy could not skirt undetected. All this combined with steep ridgelines and an almost sheer rock wall would confine enemy advance to the roadway.

Nearly one thousand men took part in the fortification effort, which began during the latter half of July. Among them were skilled explosive handlers and reservists who had received sapper training. They were assisted by convicts ordered to labor service and men relieved from combat duties for a variety of reasons.

Extensive defensive structures were completed at Öykkösenvaara during the time available before the Red Army’s arrival. A part of the plan was to excavate two well-protected gun emplacements near the crest of the ridgeline.

Blasting work was begun, but the structures could not be finished by the time the leading elements of the enemy’s 289th Division appeared in front of the Finnish line in the evening of July 29 and came under intense fire delivered by units of the 21st Brigade from their fortified positions. Additional punch was provided by a 45-millimeter anti-tank gun that fired about one hundred fragmentation grenades against the enemy at a point-blank range, while mortars and two artillery batteries pounded the attacker's follow-on forces.

The combined effect of artillery fire and mines that the Finns had planted in the roadway caused substantial losses to the enemy’s motorized units, some of which were practically destroyed.

Amid all chaos that followed, the Russians’ sole attack and supply route became impassable. They tried repeatedly to resume movement, but all attempts petered out.

The Russians were eventually ordered to withdraw. The leading 1044th Regiment began to disengage during the night of August 3 and 4. However, the Finns cut off to the rear of the enemy force, and because the way to the northwest was blocked by the 6th Jaeger Battalion, the Russians were trapped.

A second pocket was formed at Lutikkavaara only a few kilometers away.

Complete elimination of the encirclements would have required an overwhelming manpower advantage, which the Finns did not have, and as a result several enemy groups managed to break out to the east and beyond the present-day border beginning on August 4, but only by abandoning almost all their heavy equipment.

The battle of Ilomantsi had a tremendous effect on the outcome of the war. It forced the high command of the Red Army to discard its strategic objective of forcing Finland to accept an unconditional surrender.