Elmholm

- The island of Elmholm is located in south-west from Tammisaari. Distance from Tammisaari to Elmholm is about 29 kilometers and distance from Hanko, which is located south of Elmholm, is about 8 kilometers. The length of the island is about 420 meters. From its widest point, the island is about 370 meters wide. From its most narrowest point, the island is only a bit over 100 meters wide.

- The middle part of the island is dominated by a large rock, which stretches from the east shore to the west shore. In the southern part of the island there is a rather thick forest and the ground is covered with ferns. Otherwise the tree coverage is rather scarce, like is the case in many islands that are the same in size.

- The nearby waters of Elmholm are very rocky, meaning that it is a difficult task to find a good and safe anchoring place. Additionally there is a summer cottage in the southern tip of the island, which limits moving in the island. The summer cottage is also located in the area, where the Russian troops stubbornly defended themselves on 16.08.1941 against the Finnish reconnaissance attack to Elmholm.

- Quite surprisingly, there is a huge number of structure remains in the island. Finding structures from the island is surprising, because according to the map of the Soviet rental area, which was drawn by the Finns in 1943, there hasn't been any Russian fortifications in the island. According to the map, the northern shore has been only mined.

III Platoon

- However most of the structures in Elmholm are constructed by the Russians, because the Finnish troops didn't stay in Elmholm for long after Continuation War had started. The Russian attack on 29.07. - 30.07.1941 pushed the Finnish forces out from the island. After that, Elmholm was occupied by the Russian troops all the way to the evacuation of Hanko in December 1941. Location of the structures also reveals them to be built by the Russians. The most likely attack directions of Finnish troops from west and north, have been strongly fortified. Then again, the south and east shore have been weakly protected.

- If most of the structures would be build by Finns, then the south and east shore would be fortified much more effectively, because those directions were the most likely attack directions of Russian forces from Horsön.

- From the Hanko Front battle areas, Elmholm really isn't special in a sense, that I could engourage anyone to visit the island no matter what. The nearby island of Horsön offers a lot more interesting things to see than Elmholm. Additionally the summer cottage in Elmholm makes the island a rather poor choice to get familiar to military history, as most of the battle in the island, was fought in the area, where the summer cottage now stands.

Reconnaissance attack to Elmholm 16.08.1941

Structures in Elmholm (Blue squares in the map)
Number of the structure in the map	Note
Structure No. 1
Structure No. 2
Structure No. 3
Structure No. 4	Structure remains is in good condition.
Structure No. 5
Structure No. 6
Structure No. 7
Structure No. 8
Structure No. 9
Structure No. 10
Structure No. 11
Structure No. 12	Accommodation dugout remains.
Structure No. 13	Accommodation dugout remains.
Structure No. 14
Structure No. 15
Structure No. 16
Structure No. 17
Structure No. 18
Structure No. 19
Structure No. 20
Structure No. 21
Structure No. 22
Structure No. 23
Structures No. 24	Accommodation area. Several structures next to each others.
Structure No. 25
Structures No. 26
Structure No. 27
Structures No. 28