INSPECTING THE 18th SEPARATE FIELD BATTERY

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

17th of June 1941

- I completed the inspection in my own battery with 2nd Lieutenant Sundman. The battery was located in previously completed fire position in Gullö. The battery contained four 90mm De Bange cannons. It was pretty much combat ready and I must especially mention, that half of the gunners were conscripts, which had received training for field artillery.

- Rest of the men were a ragtag group assembled from different military branches. 2nd Lieutenant Sundman had already started the training of the men and the results looked promising. The picture I got from my battery didn’t seem gloomy at all. After I had given instructions for 2nd Lieutenant Sundman and Gun Master Isaksson about the next day training and instructions for Sergeant Raunio about developing the internal order in the battery, I moved with Lieutenant Astala to the 19th and 21st Battery accommodation area.

Captain T. Louhivuori

- Just like the fortification map indicates an observation and fire control nest can be found near of the structure 404.

- From the backside the position is much more recognizable.

- The entrance into the structure 404, which was well under way of turning into a machine gun bunker. The mining job has been finished. This partly constructed site is located right in the yard of a summer cottage, so in a summer time when the occupants might be around, please ask permission first before walking to their yard.

- The mined structure despite of the fact that it is located right next to a summer cottage is in a very good condition. Normally people have filled places like this, but the bottom of the structure here has been kept quite clean from debris.

- The section to which the embrasure would have been built.