Petkeljärvi

Petkeljärvi terrain and restored wartime trenches.

Winter War patrol route, fortified ridgelines and area of sporadic skirmishes.

The fortifications were constructed before the Winter War. A general mobilization under the guise of "additional refresher training” was declared in October 1939. In Ilomantsi, reservists, Civil Guard members and active-duty border troops were called to arms beginning on October 6.

Underaged youngsters and older men who were not eligible to take up arms but could be called to compulsory labor service were also ordered to participate in the fortification effort.

Under the direction of active-duty frontier guardsmen, they immediately began to prepare defensive positions along the road leading to the current park area and in the vicinity of the site of the present Outdoor Center.

Food service was provided by members of Lotta Svärd Association, a women’s volunteer auxiliary service that supported the overall national defense effort from its establishment in 1920 until its disbandment at the request of the Allied Control Commission in 1944. Lottas contributed to national defense in several ways, relieving 25,000 men for military duties.

Proper trenches with prepared firing positions, along with dugout shelters and a large underground sauna were built at the tip of Petraniemi promontory. Many of these structures were only completed after the end of the Winter War or later still before the outbreak of fighting in Ilomantsi during the Continuation War in 1944. Some fortifications have been restored.

The Winter War began on November 30, 1939, and enemy forces reached Oinassalmi by mid-December.

The Finns eventually halted the Russian advance on the eastern shore of the narrows after blowing up the road bridge, and the front stabilized for the remainder of the war.

No major engagements were fought within the boundaries of the national park, except for one fierce clash when the Russians attempted to penetrate to the rear of Oinassalmi’s defenders.

Both sides mounted regular patrols within and around the area to obtain information of the situation along the contact line. Finnish troops that had entrenched on the ridgelines provided fire support to the defenders at Oinassalmi and suppressed enemy forces that held the terrain on the other side of the narrows. Sporadic firing continued until the end of hostilities on March 13, 1940.