STOR-BOCKHOLM AND LILL-BOCKHOLM, PART II

(Teasing the encirclement of Hanko, Adolf Molnár, & History of the Hanko Group, T-22005, Military Archives of Finland)

(If there is differences in the name of the places in 1941 and today, italic text inside the closures has been used to indicate the name of the place today)

28th of September 1941

- The patrol lands to the island and as the day starts breaking, Stor-Bockholm (Bockholmen) remains silent, rising in front of the men alone and looking unkind. Kivinen takes pistol and starts to advance towards the ford between the two islands. This of course is directly against the order from Major. Suddenly a laud BANG is heard and Kivinen feels an impact in his chest and his knees give in and he collapses to the grass. Stor-Bockholm (Bockholmen) is again silent. Not a leaf is moving, the green wall remains as it was. Stor-Bockholm (Bockholmen) is occupied by the Russian troops.

- Kivinen however is lucky this time. As we are engineers, our pockets are full of different metal objects, all taken from the storage. Some are useful and some are not, but there is firing fuses, impact fuses and detonating caps in our pockets. This time the bullet that hit Kivinen, hit first to the impact fuse, which Kivinen had made from a rifle casing and kept in his chest pocket. This strange device changed the direction of the bullet so, that Kivinen survived from the hit. Only a bruise is reminding him about this event.

- The mission is accomplished, Stor-Bockholm (Bockholmen) is occupied by the enemy troops.

- The Lion of Finland, 1940.

- Rotten pieces of wood still hang in the barbed wire obstacle on top of the bunker.

- Embrasure for the 45mm anti-tank gun, with the protective armor plate removed.

- Both embrasures, with the camouflage paint still faintly visible.

- The whole bunker, camouflaged today into the forest very effectively.

- As this particular bunker is a museum bunker, there is a good ladder leading you safely down into the bunker.

- Ventilation shaft in the bunker wall.

- Observation cupola now staring at the overgrown forest.

- Entrance into the bunker.

- Rusted and corroded hook in the wall of the bunker.

- Chimney flue.

- Barrel of the 45mm anti-tank gun.

- Machine gun position seen from the inside.

- As the view from the gunner's position was and is very limited, there's a special chart, which would have enabled the gunner to fire "blind". Different areas in front of the bunkers were mapped and the chart was drawn so, that the gunner could have adjusted the fire to a certain locations in the area, without anyone actually directing the fire.

- A half-mask was essential in the bunker for survival, as firing produced so much toxic gasses.

- The 45mm anti-tank gun.

- The optical aiming device for the 45 mm anti-tank gun. You can still take a look through it to the foreground of the bunker.

- Accommodation areas for a half-platoon.

- Ladders to the observation cupola.

- The whole embrasure for the 45mm anti-tank gun seen from the outside.