FI23 INF The Harparskog line, the bunker Irma and the tank obstacle

After the museum of the war, students had the chance to visit the place were the Finnish defensive buildings against the Russians were built. We went 5 kilometres far to visit these positions where 3 lines were created: first with barbed wire obstacles, a second with rocks and the last one with the bunker Irma. So the guide explained the situation 80 years ago and we enter in bunker. Irma. The Harparskog bunker line was built during the Interim Peace 1940-1941 as a defence line against a possible attack from the Soviet military base in Hanko. The building drawings were finished on the 5th of May 1940 and the building of the line started immediately. The total length of the line is approximately 40 km and it reaches from the archipelago in Bromarv to Snappertuna. The Harparskog Line was built simultaneously with the Salpa Line on the eastern border. Approximately 20 000 soldiers and local civilians took part in the construction work. The line consisted of barbed wire obstacles, anti-tank obstacles, minefields and bunkers. The construction work was interrupted on the 25th of June 1941 when the war continued. At that moment the following constructions had been finished. In Irma, we have discovered how soldiers lived with the original beds, room, little kitchen, fireplace and weapons. The bunkers along the Harparskog line were built entirely of concrete on bare ground or in the bedrock. There are three different types of bunkers: the 200 series was equipped with a machine gun, the 300-series with a machine gun and an anti-tank gun and the 400-series was used for accommodation. The bunkers used crossfire and the weapons were protected by a wall against heavy artillery fire from the base in Hanko. The bunkers were built to take a direct hit by an aerial bomb or a shell from the 12-inch railway artillery gun. The roof is approximately 2,5 meters thick. There is an armoured observation dome on the roof. The bunkers were well camouflaged during the war. Irma n 302 is in original condition and was able to accommodate 20 soldiers, but during the war 16 soldiers were placed in the bunker. The bunker has three rooms: one for the machine gun, one for the anti-tank gun and one for accommodation. The bunker was selfsustained and equipped with a manual ventilation system, a stove and a well.The experience to live a moment of battle with lights down, noise of explosions was a real stressful moment as real.After the moment inside the building, we went outside 500 meters far. The tank obstacle reaches across the Hanko Peninsula from the shore in Gennarbyviken to Skogby and has a total length of 6 km. Most of the rocks were taken from a mine north of the Mannerheim memorial stone. On soft ground the stones were dug one meter into the ground and on solid ground they were attached with steel bars in the bedrock. When possible, the rocks were transported with a steam locomotive and in difficult terrain with trucks or pulled by horse carriages. The rocks were placed in three lines and their average weight is 3500 kg. The obstacle consists of more than 10 000 rocks. We have never seen a line of defence like that.

The experience of visiting a military base from 1940 which didn’t change was really an amazing experience. The link with Ukraine was of course in every spirits. Conditions of life were really difficult for all these soldiers.