Tuukka
06-21-2010, 16:38
On the evening of the 14th of March 1943, a raiding party over 600 strong, led by Major Jukka Puustinen set of to the ice of lake Ontajärvi for a raid to destroy a Russian supply and maintenance center in Jeljärvi, over 50 kilometres behind enemy lines.
On the morning of the 16th, Major Puustinen gives the order to attack.
They successfully completed their mission and destroyed 30 warehouses and other buildings, two ammo dumps, two grain storages, nine stables, a fuel dump and and a garage.
They also destroyed two road bridges, two smaller railway bridges, railway switches, five trucks, a tractor and 20 horses. Over 200 enemy were KIA and and an estimated equal number were wounded.
Friendly casualties were 30 KIA and 6 WIA.
During the withdrawal back to friendly lines, a number of small patrols and individual soldiers were separated in the firefights with the skichase with the Russians.
One of these was Private Elias Meriläinen, who just narrowly missed a Russian attack that killed a number of his fellow soldiers. He jumped into a hole in the ground and was smothered by the surrounding snow. Once he was able to get back to the surface, the Russians were gone but they had broken all the skis.
He found himself alone 30 KMs behind enemy lines.
He started his long solo treck back to the own lines, with his rifle and compass. He slept out in the freezing night on conifer tree branches.
The continued his march, wet, freezing and out of food. Incoherent, he fell asleep for a second night out in the open.
He struggled forward and on the 18th, found himself in an abandoned Russian bunker area.
He opened one of the doors and triggered a booby trap left by one of the Russians, he survived that with minor injuries.
Almost delirious at this point, he walked of the bunker area and triggered a another booby trap in the snow that severely wounded him in his leg.
He bandaged his shattered leg and tried to move, crawl forward. He also contemplated suicide to end the misery.
Meanwhile, a another lost patrol, lead by a Sergeant Tikkanen was retreating back to the own lines. A soldier skiing in the patrol, a man called Bear Jaska, stopped to fix his ski bindings.
However, whilst he was in the wood, a Russian patrol came along, tracking his patrol. He disarmed the mine they left on the ski track and continued after his patrol.
However, the next day he found that he had gone around in a circle and was back at the area he had fixed his skis.
He struggled forward and eventually came a along a set of foot prints, which were wondering all over the place. He tracked them and came along a Finnish rifle and compass. He found the Russian bunker area and the evidence of the two charges going off.
He located Elias and recogniced him as one of their better poker players, in fact Elias had just won 10 packs of smokes from Jaska in the last hand before the raid.
He convinced Elias to stay coherent and got him atop his shoulders and they started to trudge forward.
The inched forward a small bit at a time. While circling a large hill, Jaska suggested he'd go shoot a bird to feed them.
While he was gone, Elias was almost about to kill himself with his knife, but Jaska came along with a bird just in time, to grab the knife and gut the bird. They ate it raw.
Pretty soon, their travel went from streches of a few hundred meters to a couple of dozen meters.
Along the way, they broke through ice and got soaked up to their wastes.
Several times Jaska had to curse and punch Elias in the jaw, to get him to come along.
Finally, they came to the shore of lake Ontajärvi, their last strech before safety.
As Jaska had no more energy to carry Elias, he made crude crutches out of the trees in the shoreline.
After a grueling trek over the ice, they finally trudged up the shoreline on the opposite side when a shot rang out from a sentrys rifle.
They yelled "Dont shoot, were friendly"
At this point the enemy joined in with machinegun fire from their side. The two men, without an ounce of strenght were caught in between the opposing forces.
The platoon manning the friendly position, had just been transfered there and although they roughly knew the location of their own mines, had not the exact locations of them.
The platoon leader called up the base 10 KM away, where they knew that sappers who had built the mine field, were located.
It took a half hour, hour and nothing happened. A party of four men bet their luck and went forward to get the men, but one of them triggered a mine and was killed.
Finally the sapper Lieutenant arrived and they were able to extract the men.
They both survived, Jaska recovered from his frost bites but Elias had gangrene in his leg and had to have part of this foot amputated.
The story was first told in Onni Palaste's book Rukajärven Sissit in 1967.
The book does not list any citation for Jaska, but I would presume that would most likely warrant an MOH in the U.S?
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/FinnishSkiPatrolDuringContinuationWar.jpg
On the morning of the 16th, Major Puustinen gives the order to attack.
They successfully completed their mission and destroyed 30 warehouses and other buildings, two ammo dumps, two grain storages, nine stables, a fuel dump and and a garage.
They also destroyed two road bridges, two smaller railway bridges, railway switches, five trucks, a tractor and 20 horses. Over 200 enemy were KIA and and an estimated equal number were wounded.
Friendly casualties were 30 KIA and 6 WIA.
During the withdrawal back to friendly lines, a number of small patrols and individual soldiers were separated in the firefights with the skichase with the Russians.
One of these was Private Elias Meriläinen, who just narrowly missed a Russian attack that killed a number of his fellow soldiers. He jumped into a hole in the ground and was smothered by the surrounding snow. Once he was able to get back to the surface, the Russians were gone but they had broken all the skis.
He found himself alone 30 KMs behind enemy lines.
He started his long solo treck back to the own lines, with his rifle and compass. He slept out in the freezing night on conifer tree branches.
The continued his march, wet, freezing and out of food. Incoherent, he fell asleep for a second night out in the open.
He struggled forward and on the 18th, found himself in an abandoned Russian bunker area.
He opened one of the doors and triggered a booby trap left by one of the Russians, he survived that with minor injuries.
Almost delirious at this point, he walked of the bunker area and triggered a another booby trap in the snow that severely wounded him in his leg.
He bandaged his shattered leg and tried to move, crawl forward. He also contemplated suicide to end the misery.
Meanwhile, a another lost patrol, lead by a Sergeant Tikkanen was retreating back to the own lines. A soldier skiing in the patrol, a man called Bear Jaska, stopped to fix his ski bindings.
However, whilst he was in the wood, a Russian patrol came along, tracking his patrol. He disarmed the mine they left on the ski track and continued after his patrol.
However, the next day he found that he had gone around in a circle and was back at the area he had fixed his skis.
He struggled forward and eventually came a along a set of foot prints, which were wondering all over the place. He tracked them and came along a Finnish rifle and compass. He found the Russian bunker area and the evidence of the two charges going off.
He located Elias and recogniced him as one of their better poker players, in fact Elias had just won 10 packs of smokes from Jaska in the last hand before the raid.
He convinced Elias to stay coherent and got him atop his shoulders and they started to trudge forward.
The inched forward a small bit at a time. While circling a large hill, Jaska suggested he'd go shoot a bird to feed them.
While he was gone, Elias was almost about to kill himself with his knife, but Jaska came along with a bird just in time, to grab the knife and gut the bird. They ate it raw.
Pretty soon, their travel went from streches of a few hundred meters to a couple of dozen meters.
Along the way, they broke through ice and got soaked up to their wastes.
Several times Jaska had to curse and punch Elias in the jaw, to get him to come along.
Finally, they came to the shore of lake Ontajärvi, their last strech before safety.
As Jaska had no more energy to carry Elias, he made crude crutches out of the trees in the shoreline.
After a grueling trek over the ice, they finally trudged up the shoreline on the opposite side when a shot rang out from a sentrys rifle.
They yelled "Dont shoot, were friendly"
At this point the enemy joined in with machinegun fire from their side. The two men, without an ounce of strenght were caught in between the opposing forces.
The platoon manning the friendly position, had just been transfered there and although they roughly knew the location of their own mines, had not the exact locations of them.
The platoon leader called up the base 10 KM away, where they knew that sappers who had built the mine field, were located.
It took a half hour, hour and nothing happened. A party of four men bet their luck and went forward to get the men, but one of them triggered a mine and was killed.
Finally the sapper Lieutenant arrived and they were able to extract the men.
They both survived, Jaska recovered from his frost bites but Elias had gangrene in his leg and had to have part of this foot amputated.
The story was first told in Onni Palaste's book Rukajärven Sissit in 1967.
The book does not list any citation for Jaska, but I would presume that would most likely warrant an MOH in the U.S?
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/FinnishSkiPatrolDuringContinuationWar.jpg