REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF KULO SECTION ARTILLERY, PART I

(History of the Hanko Group, T-22005, Military Archives of Finland)

June 1941 to December 1941

- The firing area for the artillery placed in the area of Öby was mainly the area of Krogen and especially the road there, which lead to Hanko. Several times a good results could be observed: direct hits to supply columns, which burst into flames and to horse columns. The artillery also fired to the construction sites, accommodation areas, dugouts, nests and enemy groups in the foreground of Krogens. Direct hits were scored several times to these targets. Ammunition dugouts were also hit, which then exploded making huge damage to the nearby enemies. Machine gun and light machine gun nests were destroyed and enemy direct firing guns were destroyed with accurate fire. Later with the canoe patrols, fire controllers from artillery went behind the enemy lines and at those occasions, enemy equipment and live force were destroyed with an accurate artillery fire, which was aimed and adjusted right next to the enemy. 

Lieutenant L. Heiman

- The map symbols for the structure 239, a & b would indicate a machine gun nest and a accommodation bunker/dugout with a machine gun cupola. However there is no visible structures remaining from such a constructions and it must be assumed, that those were only in a planning stage. Still there are remains from the trenches and dugouts. The above picture shows a dugout remain in a place, where the 239 a, was planned to be.

- The same dugout remains from another direction.

- There is a clear entrance to this one on the left side of the picture. This one might have been the machine gun nest 239 b, although the place where it has been marked to the map deviates 200 to 300 meters in nature it is however firing to a correct direction, to the foreground of the anti-tank obstacle which is visible in the isthmus.

- The entrance into the position is visible on the left side of the picture.

- This structure is located in front of the trench line and anti-tank ditch. Hard to say anymore what it has been, but it could have been an accommodation dugout.

- There don't seem to be anything that would resemble an embrasure, although the other end has collapsed totally.

- View towards the narrow isthmus, which connects the Vimonböle area to the Tronsböleträsket area.

- Firing position for a single man.

- Trench line leading to a fire position.

- Trench line here is not in a good shape. Most of it has collapsed completely.

- Snowy landscape. Looking at the historical photographs from the Hanko Front, suggest that a lot of places where the nature had already shaped the places into a natural defensive and observation positions, were used extensively by the troops.

- Using the cover provided by nature in 1941. (Picture: The Finnish Defence Forces. Published 1942 in a book Hangö Belägras)