Jyrkänkoski defence positions
At the Jyrkänkoski defence positions, the advance of the Red Army’s 54th Mountain Division was halted in December 1939. After this, the fighting gradually subsided until 29 January 1940, when the Finnish troops initiated a counterattack.
Defensive preparations and fighting at Jyrkänkoski in the Winter War
Fortifying the Kuhmo area started at the end of October 1939. The focus was on the Saunajärvi Isthmus, where the main defence positions were built into favourable terrain. Entrenchments were also dug at other locations, including Jyrkänkoski.
Detached Battalion 14 (Det Bn 14) had to retreat from the fortified main defence positions at Saunajärvi as early as on 5 December 1939. The next Finnish defence positions were at Rasti, about 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) east of Jyrkänkoski, where contact with the enemy was already made on the next day. The defence at Rasti broke down on 11 December around 7.30 p.m., and the Finnish troops withdrew to the Jyrkänkoski area.
Contact was made at Jyrkänkoski on 13 December when the enemy tried to build a bridge to replace the destroyed one. The enemy engineers fell under the machine gun fire of the Finnish strongpoint. Another attempt to attack took place on the night of 18–19 December, when the enemy also attempted to make a flanking manoeuvre to the Särkijärvi area, about 3 kilometres (1.86 miles) west of Jyrkänkoski. Both attacks were repelled, and no major battles were fought at Jyrkänkoski after this.
Strongpoint today
The strongpoint was renovated by the City of Kuhmo in 1995–1997 and 2006–2007, and by the National Defence Training Association of Finland in 2020. A number of anti-tank obstacles, trenches and other structures related to the Jyrkänkoski defence positions were restored.
Kuhmon Reserviläiset ry, a reservist association in Kuhmo, maintains the Jyrkänkoski area, where Winter War Base is open in the summer. There you can see a Soviet T-26 tank, a 37 mm Bofors anti-tank gun used by the Finns, several artillery pieces, mortars and other equipment.
The area was fortified again after the Winter War, and the defence positions are part of the so-called Salpa Line, a fortified line on the eastern border of Finland
Jyrkänkoski memorial
The Jyrkänkoski memorial was erected on the site where Detached Battalion 14 together with the 3rd Battalion of Brigade Vuokko (3rd/Inf Regt 25) stopped the advance of the Red Army’s 54th Mountain Division.
The memorial was designed by teacher Yrjö Vuorio. It was erected by Kuhmon Reserviläiset ry on 7 August 1960. The memorial is a locally sourced stone from an anti-tank obstacle set on a base. The stone has a plaque with text that means the following: ‘This is where the enemy’s advance stopped on 7 December 1939.’
