Petsamo expeditions
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The Petsamo expeditions (Finnish: Petsamon retket, Swedish: Petsamoexpeditionerna) were two military expeditions in May 1918 and in April 1920 by Finnish civilian volunteers, to annex Petsamo (Russian: Pechenga) from Bolshevist Russia. It was one of the many "kinship wars" (Heimosodat) fought by the newly independent Finland during the Russian Civil War. Although both expeditions were unsuccessful, Petsamo was handed over by Russia to Finland in the 1920 Treaty of Tartu.
The expeditions
[edit]The goal of these raiders was to take Petsamo for Finland, which had previously been promised to Finland by Tsar Alexander II in 1864, in exchange for land around the Sestra River on the Karelian Isthmus transferred to Russia to build a weapon factory. The Bolsheviks were opposed to fulfill the Russian Tsar's earlier promises, which contributed to a deterioration in relations between the newly independent Finland and the recently formed Soviet Union.
The 1918-expedition, still during the First World War, was composed of about 100 men and was led by doctors Thorsten Renvall and Onni Laitinen. They were confronted by the British Royal Navy, who wanted to prevent the German Army from following in the wake. The British sent cruiser HMS Cochrane with sailors, Royal Marines and 40 Red Army soldiers, who took positions around the Pechenga Monastery.[1]
The first clash between the opposing forces happened in early May, when a party of White Finns ski troops beat off a patrol led by Royal Marines and sailors from HMS Cochrane.[2] A major battle followed on 10 May at Tunturimaja. The Finnish raiding troops, divided in three, encountered a group made up of of 20 Russian White sailors from the cruiser Askold, two White Russian militiamen and ten Finnish Red Guards, all of them commanded by eight British officers and ratings.[1] British sources claim that the action took place on 8 May and that it involved 15 local skiers and at least 30 Royal Marines commanded by Captain Vincent Brown.[2] The Allied squad met a Finnish recce platoon and chased them, only to be ambushed by two rear companies in charge of Renvall himself. The battle lasted for two hours. According to Finnish sources, a Russian sailor was killed and two members of the Finnish expedition were wounded. Despite of this initial success, the Finnish party was hit by illness, desertions, and disputes between Renvall and Laitinen over leadership and communications with the Finnish government.[1]
In the earlier hours of 11 May, the expedition reached a position near Petsamo fiord. Although the party spotted HMS Cochrane, Laitinen took for granted that no enemy troops were deployed in the area, and decided not to send recoinassaince platoons to the villages surrounding Petsamo. The plan was to occupy the villages of Trifona, Parkinna and Näsykkä, which were already controlled by the Allies. South of Näsykkä lays the Pechenga Monastery, were British and White Russian troops were trenched. a two-prongued assault was launched, but it was met with fierce resistance. The northern wing was attacked from three different directions, while the southern group was outnumbered by a column of Russian sailors who launched a counterattack from the monastery, supported by gunfire from HMS Cochrane. A hasty Finnish retreat followed, in which several ammunition wagons and reeinder were left behind. The volunteers were killed in action, while the Allies lost a British and a local boy seriously injured.[1] The British acknowledge a few casualties, among them Captain Brown, who was severely wounded by machine gun fire.[2] A Royal Marines' ambush on one of the retrating expeditionary columns was thwarted on 13 May.[3] The expedition fell back 60 km in a day, and on 15 May, after reaching the border post of Virtaniem, they sent a telegram to the Finnish Senate reporting their failure at Petsamo.[1]
The 1920-expedition, some 60 men headed first by General Kurt Martti Wallenius and then by Major Gustaf Taucher, met with resistance from Soviet troops, and also returned without accomplishing its goals.
Aftermath
[edit]In the Treaty of Tartu, signed on 14 October 1920, Petsamo was handed over by Russia to Finland and became the Petsamo Province.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Paasilinna, Erno (1980). Kaukana maailmasta : historiaa ja muistoja Petsamosta [Far from the world: history and memories of Petsamo .] (in Suomi). Helsinki: Otava. pp. 185–90. ISBN 951-10604-2-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b c Wright (2017), p.24
- ^ Wright (2017), p. 25