DIRECTING FIRE FROM KARENSHOLM, PART I

(Teasing the encirclement of Hanko, Adolf Molnár & History of the Hanko Group, T-22005, Military Archives of Finland)

24th of September 1941 

- Johnny, Sundquist and Senior Sergeant Tuominen from the 8-inch artillery battery lie in Karensholm. Three field glasses keep observing the dugout village, but it is still too early. The artillery is ready to fire, but the Russians are still sleeping. 

- The distance to the dugout village is only three hundred meters and as the distance is so short, the three men can even observe the faces of the enemy. Tuominen checks once more that everything is ready in the artillery battery, as now more and more Russians are moving from one dugout to another. The only thing that is missing now is the command to open fire. Test shot orders Tuominen and soon after that, the familiar whistling sound is heard above the three men and finally the artillery shell lands on the other side of the sound. 

- First battery, open fire, orders Tuominen. As the first shells starts to land to the Russian dugout village, the enemy starts to run quickly to their dugouts to take shelter. Few however stand in the trenches. Second battery, fire, third battery, fire! Soon all hell is loose as three batteries fire the dugouts and only a short correction from Tuominen interrupts this horrible scene. The whole dugout village has turned into abyss, where orange flashes and smoke is covering everything. Even the small island from where the three men are directing the fire of the Finnish artillery, is shaking from the weight of the bombardment.

- The only bunker in the area with embrasure. This one was equipped only with the 45mm anti-tank gun and is firing towards the sea. I guess it really wasn't necessary to equip this one with a machine gun even when one was at least planned according to the fortification map of Major Kuumola, as most of the targets would have been ships and boats and perhaps tanks during the winter, when the sea would have been frozen.

- The embrasure seen closer.

- The protective armor plate for the embrasure is lying in the ground, buried under the autumn.

- Strangely there is a cave located below the bunker, but what makes it strange is that the door is facing towards the same direction, as the bunker is firing. Although this bunker is firing to the left flank of the line, where no imminent danger would have been approaching, I still think that this door might have been build after the war. This entrance would have been way too exposed, if any Russian ships had appeared to the sea in front of this place. The actual bunker is located on top of this entrance.

- Barbed wire remains are still around the embrasure.

- Second entrance in the area to the bunker complex and another strange structure, a chimney. The entrance to the complex is located right next to the chimney, on the right side. The interiors contain a huge accommodation area for four platoons of men.

- Reaching to the sky.

- The ladders have remained intact all these years, although the chimney doesn't look too stable anymore. 

- The entrance to the position, which was never completed, has been covered with vegetation and you really have to know what you are looking for, to notice this one. The whole position has been mined into the rock.

- Near the entrance old remains from the fence can be found.

- The entrance to the position seen from the bottom of the construction.

- At the bottom of the construction there is some sort of a base. This position is a rather strange construction in the defensive line. This is the only position in the whole defensive line in Harparskog area, which was planned to be firing directly towards the enemy lines.

- The place where the parapet or embrasure was planned is still visible. The ground level still contains brick remains from the construction, but otherwise it has collapsed and vegetation now grows on top of it unhindered. The position is located very close to the sea and most likely it could have fired also approaching ships and boats. In this sense, this position could have also protected the approaches to Tammisaari.

- Picture taken from the unfinished embrasure or parapet and showing nearly the whole construction. The entrance is located on the left side of the picture.