The Great Battles of Ihantala and Tali The VKT line between Tali and Suomenvedenpohja was defended by the 18th infantry division from the IV army corp. Two Soviet army corps attacked the area, and the defenders at Tali had to retreat for a few kilometers but the frontline held firm.  Soviet troops started a breakthrough […]

Towards  the end of the Continuation War, Finnish troops built a 1,5km long shallow water minefield at the  Western side of Suoniosaari codenamed “Antti”. It contained 115 old anti-submarine net mines and 70 shallow water mines. Each net mine contained 15kg of picric acid explosive filling. The minefield was codenamed after the commanding officer Antti

First Lieutenant Hannu Rahkonen and the Swedish Lieutenant Izabella Jerovsek with locals in eastern Kabul. (Caption) Premiärlöjtnant Hannu Rahkonen och den svenska löjtnanten Izabella Jerovsek med lokalbefolkningen i östra Kabul. (Bildtext)

YKSK 1 left Helsinki in the morning of 10 December 1956 with American transport planes for Egypt. During the night, the journey continued from Naples to Abu Suweir by Canadian aircraft, landing there in the morning of 11 December. YKSK 1 startade från Helsingfors på morgonen den 10 december 1956 med amerikanska transportplan till Egypten.

Martti Ahtisaari, Special Envoy to the UN Secretary General,and Hannu Paronen, Battalion Commander, surrounded by the press. Photo: Martti Tikka Martti Ahtisaari, specialsändebud  till FN:s generalsekreterare och bataljonskommendör Hannu Paronen omringade av pressen. Foto: Martti Tikka

 THE WATER STATION WAS TAKEN OVER Reijo Mäkeläinen I served as the Maintenance Chief of the Lebanon Battalion in 1988-89 and my rank was Lieutenant Colonel. The overall situation was quite difficult, as half of the battalion’s territory was occupied by Israel. The Lebanese were waging a legitimate war against the occupier and the occupier

UNMLOY United Nations Military Liaison Officers in Yugoslavia Matti Heimovaara Croatia and Slovenia declared independence on 25 June 1991. A separate Croatian-Slovenian federation led to a war that lasted until a ceasefire on 3 January 1992. The UN quickly dispatched a force of three military groups of observers to the region. Twenty military observers from

WORKING IN A MULTINATIONAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM Matti Heimovaara Working with many different nationalities is always an enriching experience, whether good or bad, both are available. We Finns are extremely tolerant, polite and even overly kind when working with different nationalities. This behaviour has earned us a good reputation, but there is also another side

WORK EXPERIENCE THAT YOU CANNOT GET AT HOME A particular feature of the deployment was the relatively short rotational training period. Considering the nature of the mission, most of the tasks are clearly intended for professional soldiers. The Defence Forces’ recruitment slogan, ”Work experience you can’t get at home”, is absolutely true, at least in

A typical residential building in the outskirts of Kabul. The backyard is sheltered by high walls and a fruit tree that produces and shades the crops. (Caption) Ett typiskt bostadshus i utkanten av Kabul. Bakgården skyddas av höga murar och ett fruktträd som producerar och skuggar grödorna. (Bildtext)