Tykkipatteri matkalla Kuhmon rintamalle, valokuvaaja Veikko Kanninen. Kuva Kuhmon Talvisotamuseo.

Särkijärvi battle site

On the night of 18–19 December 1939, the first artillery battery of the Kuhmo sector grouped at Särkijärvi. Almost immediately, on 20 December, the battery was engaged in battle with the enemy, which had circled around the south side of the Jyrkänkoski defence positions. Fortunately, the battle turned out to be a Finnish victory.

Särkijärvi battle site

Artillery of the North Finland Group in the Winter War

The North Finland Group had only two artillery batteries at its disposal at the beginning of the Winter War. The North Karelia Group was operating with the 4th Detached Battery in the area of Lieksa, the focus sector of the North Finland Group. The 5th Detached Battery was located in the Petsamo sector, equipped with obsolete guns.

At the beginning of the war, the artillery of the 9th Division, acting as reserve under the Finnish Headquarters, was short of materials. Major Georg Ahlholm was the commander of the division’s Field Artillery Regiment 9. The regiment’s 1st Artillery Battalion had been transferred to Turku during the additional reserve exercises, on 4 November 1939, to prepare for the occupation of Åland with other troops, if necessary. However, when the war started, Headquarters gave the order to transfer the artillery battalion to the North Finland Group. The staff of artillery battalion and the 1st and 2nd Battery moved to Suomussalmi on 16–18 December 1939.

The 3rd Battery of the 1st Artillery Battalion (3rd Bty/1st Arty Bn/Fd Arty Regt 9) arrived in Kuhmo on the night of 18–19 December under the command of Lieutenant Seppävuori and was subordinated to Group Ilomäki. All the batteries of the artillery battalion were equipped with 75 mm cannon, model 1902 (4 x 75 K 02), acquired from Sweden. They had a range of about 9.3 kilometres (5.78 miles).

Two batteries of the 3rd Artillery Battalion of Field Artillery Regiment 9 (3rd Arty Bn/Fd Arty Regt 9) were equipped with war booty guns and equipment after the victories in Suomussalmi in January 1940. The 8th and 9th Batteries of the artillery battalion moved to Kuhmo on 21 January.

Tykkipatterin tuliasemat olivat pellon takana, metsässä olevalla kumpareella. Kuva Lassi Piirainen.

Battle of the artillery battery at Särkijärvi

The artillery pieces of Lieutenant Seppävuori’s battery were transferred to Kuhmo on the bed of lorries. The battery grouped into firing positions on a woody knoll on the south side of the fields of Särkijärvi and was almost immediately engaged in battle with the enemy, which had circled around the Jyrkänkoski defence positions from the south.

The battery repulsed the attack of about 200 enemy soldiers with canister shots and in close combat. The enemy lost about 60 men in the attack and another 30 men in the Finnish pursuit. At the same time, an enemy attack supported by artillery took place at Jyrkänkoski, but it was repelled with machine gun fire.