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STORHOLMEN
- Two numbered structures can be found from the island of Storholmen. The island in question has protected the western flank of Hanko Cape. A similar task has been with the fortifications in the island of Björnholmen on the eastern flank of Hanko Cape. Additionally there is trench line in the island and at least one remains from machine gun position The importance of the structures is visible in the fact, that the structures are quite massive and the whole island has been mined nearly hollow because of this. - The structure 222 when completed would have been a machine gun bunker/nest. Additionally the structure would have contained accommodation area for twenty men. The structure has been nearly completed and apparently it has been armed during the war. The attachments for the machine gun mounting can be still seen in the bunker. This structure could have helped the defence of the Hanko Cape. The firing direction is to the foreground of the structures 218 & 456 and 217 & 457, which are located in the Harparskog area. - The structure 223 is not as ready as the structure 222. Structure 223 when ready, would have been armed with a machine gun and with an anti-tank gun. Any attack through the lake towards Hanko Cape or to the Vimonböle area, would have come under fire from this structure. The whole structure has been mined into a rock and looks very sturdy. Direct hit to the roof of the structure probably would have not caused any grief for the bunker crew. This is one of the few structures in the Harparskog-line, which has been constructed so, that the firing direction is directly against the frontline. - Because of this, the embrasures are constructed near to the ground level and much of the rock has been left as it is. These have been made in order to prevent the front wall growing too high. High front wall would have been easier to observe and extremely exposed to direct fire. However the embrasures are not completely ready, so it is impossible to say completely accurately how those would have looked when ready. - Next to the structure 223 is a trench line. Those fortifications have been built into a very good place, on top of a hill. The view from the hill is excellent and the place would have been easy to defend if there would have been an attack. In practice however these structures were not tested in combat, if you exclude the artillery fire. - The code names for the bunkers are either Finnish man or female names or animals. - My own personal notes below are based on the situation in the defensive line, during the years 2005 and 2006.
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Copyright © 2005, 2006 Kimmo Nummela