Sikrenvaara and Kiukoinen

The battle of Hattuvaara began early in the morning of July 30, 1944. The first engagement occurred at Sikrenvaara, followed a couple of hours later by a second clash at Kiukoinen 1.5 kilometers away.

A rock-mounted memorial plaque at Sikrenvaara commemorates the battle and is flanked by a captured 45-millimeter anti-tank gun.

Where battle of Hattuvaara was fought on July 30, 1944.

Late in the previous evening, two squadrons less than 200 men strong of Häme Cavalry Regiment had begun a cross-country march from Hovattala toward the road that led to Polvikoski. The road now ends at the easternmost point of continental European Union. An enemy force had been observed in the area, apparently preparing for an assault on the village of Hattuvaara.

Elements of the 1st Squadron reached Sikrenvaara at 0200 hours on July 30. When the men ascended from boggy terrain toward a farm field that spread in front of them on higher ground, they spotted Russian horse-drawn vehicles on the road, but otherwise everything appeared quiet.

Suddenly they became under a torrent of fire that took them completely by surprise. The origin of the fire was at first difficult to determine, but things cleared up soon when the men noticed that the enemy had occupied positions along the edge of the field with the apparent intent of moving on toward Hattuvaara. The Finns were peppered by volleys from small arms and machine guns, accompanied by anti-tank gun shells from the direction of the road.

They returned fire, silencing an enemy team that had entrenched in a nearby house by hurling hand grenades through windows and knocking out a machine gun at the entry to the potato cellar with submachine gun fire. The anti-tank gun was also put out of action.

The Finns soon noticed that the enemy was commencing a hasty retreat to its direction of arrival, with teams of horses hauling guns and other pieces of equipment. They quickly wheeled around to chase the retreating Russians.

Two hours later at Kiukoinen, the 2nd Squadron hit the flank of an enemy force heading for Hattuvaara. Later, the unit also engaged the troops that were retreating from Sikrenvaara.

Although the retreating Russians attempted to follow the general direction of the road, intense fighting forced them to spread out to the area north of the road, where forested terrain was bordered by a bog. The fight was practically over by 0600 hours when the pursuing Finns found that the enemy had retreated toward the Polvikoski rapids.

The Russians had intended to start a drive toward Hattuvaara early in the morning. However, they were ambushed during final attack preparations, and commanders apparently judged that the danger of becoming encircled was considerable and ordered an immediate retreat. The enemy sustained significant casualties and lost almost all its equipment during the retreat.