WWII History
|
Bengtskär
|
|
|
|
WWII History
|
|
|
|
Bengtskär: The attack on Morgonland
Morgonland is a small, flat island with a pond in the middle, lying a few hundred metres east of the agreed boundary between the Finnish and Russian sea areas. In 1941, the island belonged to the Hiitinen military sector which was defended by 3rd Linnakkeisto (Fortification Battalion) of 4.RPr, the 4th Coastal Brigade, under the command of Maj. K-J Moring. Early in the Russian occupation, it was equipped with an undersea telephone line to the battery on Örö and to HQ in Rosala, 50 km away, and a small observation party was stationed there. At that time, the island had a concrete surveying tower which the Finns used for observation, allowing them to monitor not only naval movement but, to some extent, activity in Hanko itself. The island, however, was far from defensible and on June 16th, anticipating Barbarossa, the Finns withdrew their troops and mined the surrounding waters. The Russians had long suspected that the Finns were using the island as an observation post and when Finnish destroyers shelled the Hanko water tower, airfield and the railway batteries with great accuracy their suspicions were confirmed: both Morgonland and Bengtskär were vital parts of the Finnish coastal battery system. On June 25th, they shelled Morgonland, destroying the concrete survey tower with their third salvo -- to the annoyance of the Hanko base commander who had had his eye on it for his own purposes. At the same time, the Russians shelled many Finnish positions, causing many forest and scrub fires. Once the fires were well established, Russian aircraft arrived to strafe the fire-fighters. After June 25, artillery duels between the two sides – and consequent fires – became an almost daily occurrence; these fires – or the smoke from them – were to play an important part in the subsequent battles.
On July 2nd, when the Russians were occupied with more important things, the Finnish commander in Örö, Maj. Moring, decided to re-occupy Morgonland and on July 6th, 1st Lt. Fred Luther (of whom, more later) was landed – alone – apparently to reassess the situation. Luther's report must have been favourable for on July 4th, it was decided to replace the garrison on July 7th. However, Moring, concerned for his men's safety, stipulated that the party should have their own boat with which to escape to Örö should the need arise. In the event, only one boat was forthcoming and on July 8th, the lonely – and lucky – Lt. Luther was withdrawn and replaced by 1st Lt. Per-Erik Ahlblad, together with his second-in-command Cpl. Nils Ranta and privates Albin Törnqvist, Ernst Pihl, Torvald Samuelsson and Arvi Nyman, the latter being in charge of communications. They were equipped with one machine gun, one machine pistol, four rifles and a radio – though they were expected to maintain radio silence and use the underwater line. They lived in a tent in the middle of the island and had rations for a week. Their task was to direct artillery fire from Örö and they had a plotting table with direction and crude range measurement.
Towards the end of that week, the Russians realised that Morgonland was again being used to direct artillery from Örö and began intermittently shelling the island. The promised relief boat from Örö did not arrive on time and Ahlblad and his men began to be concerned. Nyman contacted Maj. Moring who assured him that they would be relieved and asked the men to be patient.
Meanwhile, in Hanko, the Russians, encouraged by the ease with which they had driven the Finns from some of the inshore islands, decided to settle the problem of Morgonland and the other outer islands once and for all by an assault. For this mission, they selected Lt Shaikin of the Border Guards and, preparatory to the assault, which was scheduled for the night of July 15/16, subjected the island to a sustained bombardment which caused the sparse vegetation to catch fire.
At about 23:00 on the night of July 15th, Pihl spotted two Russian MO boats leave Hanko on a direct course for Morgonland. News of the boats' approach was signalled to Örö, where it was received by Cpl Koskinen in the message centre; in response, Örö asked Ahlblad if he wanted artillery support. Apparently confident of the protection offered by the Örö battery, Ahlblad asked for fire to be held while the director was properly set up. Once this was done, Ahlblad gave the co-ordinates and called for fire. Nothing happened.
On Örö, the battery commander, Capt. Lanramo, was not answering his telephone and without him, no permission to fire could be given. In desperation, Nyman insisted to his colleagues in the message centre that they go to Lanramo's quarters and wake him by force. This they did, but Lanramo was not there.
At 00:10 (now, July 16th) Nyman reported that the Russians were approaching the island and that they – the Finns – were preparing to fight. The sixty Russian marines came ashore by rowing boats on two sides of the island. At 00:18, Nyman reported that the enemy had landed and shots were heard over the telephone before the connection was severed. Shortly after, observers on Örö saw several starshells fired from Morgonland, though what these signified is not known.
Now the situation on Örö degenerated into black farce: Maj. Moring, Capt. Lanramo's commander, refused to fire because the telephone connection to Morgonland had been lost. However, at about 00:50, he apparently asked for a naval vessel, the minesweeper Muikku, to be sent to the island to assess the situation and, if necessary, evacuate Ahlblad and his men. It was already too late.
The Finns, facing odds of ten-to-one, resisted for less than an hour. Some accounts say that the battle ended when Ahlblad and Nyman were wounded. Nyman – ultimately, the only one to return to Finland with the full story – was wounded, though not during the battle, and he makes no mention of this in his account. This story may have resulted from later Russian propaganda. What seems to have happened is that Ahlblad tore off his officer's insignia, hid them with his personal possessions under a rock, and ordered his men into the pond in the middle of the island, where they would at least have some protection from small-arms fire. Some of the men began to discuss the possibility of suicide but Ahlblad quashed the idea, promising his men that he would look after them. Evidently the Russians noticed that the reeds at the edge of the pond had been disturbed, suspected that the Finns were hiding therein, and began discussing whether or not to grenade the area. Hearing this, Ahlblad rose from the waters and surrendered.
The prisoners were apparently treated quite roughly by the Russians and Nyman was injured in the neck by a rifle butt when he tried to help the Russian who was disarming him release the bayonet scabbard from his belt. At first the Russians refused to believe that there were only six Finns on the island and conducted an extensive search, forcing the prisoners to march ahead of them in case of mines.
Eventually, the prisoners were blindfolded and, at about 01:50, according to witnesses in Örö, taken by boat to Hanko. Thirty minutes later, the remaining boats also left. Once in Hanko, the prisoners were treated fairly well and at one stage were tricked into posing for a group photograph with their captors. The Russians exploited this opportunity to the full and used it to produce propaganda leaflets which were dropped in abundance over Finnish territory. It may be from here that some of the more fanciful accounts of the action originate.
The ultimate fate of Ahlblad and four of his men is not known. Nyman was taken to a work camp, Karaganda in Kazakstan, together with 320 other Finnish prisoners. Of the Morgonland six, only Nyman returned on 22nd November, 1944. Of the other 320 Finns, only 28 returned.
The minesweeper Muikku, dispatched at the request of Maj. Moring could, only report that the island was deserted. No new garrison was installed.
1. Of those parts of Finland that are not covered by water, 90% is covered by forest. At this season, forest fires are taken very seriously and the Russians appear to have taken advantage of the fact.
2. I.e. an Army boat. Much of the subsequent confusion stems from lack of communication between Army and Navy – the latter generally having more and better boats.
3. MO = Malyi Ochotnik - Small Hunter. Originally a small anti-submarine vessel, it was a 52t wooden boat, fitted with an 870hp aircraft engine and capable of 27kt. Equipped with two 45mm semi-automatic cannon and AAA defences. They had a crew of about 20 and, on this occasion, each carried thirty marines. For this operation, they flew flags with a 'PK' (Pogranitsnyi Kater -- Border Cutter) designation, rather than the more usual 'MO'.
4. This seems slightly at odds with the removal of his insignia.
5. There is no evidence as to whether or not Ahlblad or any of his men understood Russian.
Unless otherwise attributed, all text and images on these pages are copyright © of Rose & Laurel as a subsidiary of ility Engineering.
|
Bengtskär
|