Sikrenvaara – Kiukoinen battlefield memorial

Late in the evening of 29 July 1944, two squadrons less than 200 men strong of the Finnish Häme Cavalry Regiment had begun a cross-country march from Hovattala toward the road that led to Polvikoski. An enemy force had been observed in the area, apparently preparing for an assault on the village of Hattuvaara. Nowadays, the road to Polvikoski ends at the easternmost point of the continental European Union.

Elements of the 1st Squadron reached Sikrenvaara at 02:00 on 30 July 1944. When the men ascended from boggy terrain toward a farm field that spread in front of them on higher ground, they spotted Russian horse-drawn vehicles on the road, but otherwise everything appeared quiet.

Suddenly they came under a torrent of fire. Russian forces had occupied positions along the edge of the field with the apparent intent of moving on toward Hattuvaara.

The Finnish troops returned fire, silencing an enemy team that had entrenched in a nearby house by hurling hand grenades through the windows and knocking out a machine gun at the entry to the potato cellar with submachine gun fire. The anti-tank gun was also put out of action.

The Finnish forces soon noticed that the enemy was commencing a hasty retreat back the way it had come, with teams of horses hauling guns and other pieces of equipment. They quickly turned to pursue the retreating Russian forces.

Two hours later at Kiukoinen, the 2nd Squadron hit the flank of an enemy force heading for Hattuvaara. Later, the unit also engaged the troops that were retreating from Sikrenvaara.

Although the retreating Russian troops attempted to follow the general direction of the road, intense fighting forced them to spread out to the area north of the road, where forested terrain was bordered by a bog. The fight was practically over by 06:00, when the pursuing Finnish troops found that the enemy had retreated toward the Polvikoski rapids.

A second plaque and an 82-millimetre Russian mortar can be seen at Kiukoinen, the other battlefield site. The monument was erected by the Cavalry Guild in 1989.