Cavalry Brigade |
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Ratsuväkiprikaati 1939 - 1944 |
Cavalry Brigade |
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Ratsuväkiprikaati 1939 - 1944 |
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Finnish Cavalry 1600 - 1939 "Hackapels" Before the year 1809 when Finland became autonomous part of Russia it belonged to the realm of Sweden. The traditions of the Finnish cavalry derived from the period of The Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) during which lots of Finnish cavalrymen served in Swedish Army. Finnish cavalry was given the nickname "hackapels" [hakkapeliitta] based on their battlecry "Knock 'em downe!" ["Hakkaa päälle!"] which was used occasionally even during the WW II. The first Finnish light cavalry squadron arrived in Germany in 1630 and others followed. They were led by Finnish Colonel (later General) Torsten Stålhandske. Finnish cavalry squadrons were usually initially held in reserve or securing flanks and then used for rapid surprise attacks in decisive occasions during the battles. With the great help of the three Finnish light cavalry squadrons Swedish and Finnish troops bet much stronger enemy at Breitenfeld in 1632. This day was the day of the Finnish cavalry. Their next battle at Lützen was also won although the King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus II had been killed in action. During the period of autonomy cavalry
traditions continued in Finland despite of the short gaps
in training. 1918 - 1939 Three cavalry regiments were formed during the Finnish Civil War in spring 1918 by the White Army. In 1921 all Finnish cavalry troops were moved to Lappeenranta, South-East Finland and a new unit called Cavalry Brigade (Ratsuväkiprikaati, RPr.) was formed with two cavalry regiments: Uusimaa Dragoon Regiment (Uudenmaan rakuunarykmentti, URR) and Häme Mounted Regiment (Hämeen ratsurykmentti, HRR). Before the WW II cavalrymen were popular among the ladies because their new cavalry uniform m/22 was especially fine with dark red "ecstasy trousers" and mouse grey "skeleton jacket". These were later proven totally unsuitable for combat. Cavalry Brigade had a very special position in Finnish Defence Forces because Cavalry General (later Field Marshal) C. G. E. Mannerheim was the Honour Commander of URR and he was always very interested in how "his own unit" succeeds. Finnish
cavalry differed from many foreign cavalries in that they
only moved with horses and fought like ordinary
infantrymen - they were just mounted light infantry (dragoons).
This style was proven correct during the WW II and
cycling jäger troops finally replaced cavalry. Cavalry Brigade in Winter War 1939 - 1940 RPr. was regarded as an elite unit in 1939 because it mainly consisted of young conscripts and it was better equipped than ordinary reserve units. Initially brigade was part of the securing troops in the so called Uusikirkko Group (Uudenkirkon Ryhmä, U Ryhmä) in western Karelian Isthmus between 30.11. - 5.12.1939. After that it was held in reserve of the Supreme HQ and II Army Corps (II AK) until 26.12.1939 when it was subordinated to III Army Corps (III AK) on the eastern Karelian Isthmus. Between 5.2. - 11.2.1940 RPr. was reorganized and both regiments changed their horses to skis. During 11. - 13.2.1940 major part of the brigade was moved north from Lake Ladoga [Laatokka] and subordinated to IV Army Corps (IV AK). Both light ski regiments were independently involved in heavy "motti" fights against encircled Soviet troops while Jäger Battalion 1 (JP 1) stayed in Karelian Isthmus. On 23.1.1940 JP 1 was also moved North from Lake Ladoga to River Kollaa (Kollaanjoki). Since the early days of February it together with URR, HRR and Jäger Battalion 4 (JP 4) attacked encircled dug in Soviet troops around Lemetti but without heavy artillery support such a clearing was very slow and all units suffered relatively heavy losses. On 7.3.1940
HQ / Cavalry Brigade became the HQ of
coastal Hamina Group (Haminan ryhmä, HR) (Commander
Maj.Gen. E. Hanell, Chief of Staff Maj. G.
Palmgren) and almost the whole brigade - except JP
1 - was moved to the Bay of Viborg [Viipurinlahti]
between 4.3. - 9.3.1940 just a few days before the Winter
War ended. Brigade was mainly in reserve and at rest.
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Despite of their names both "regiments"
in RPr. - Uusimaa Dragoon Regiment (Uudenmaan
rakuunarykmentti, URR) and Häme Mounted Regiment
(Hämeen ratsurykmentti, HRR) - were actually reinforced
battalions with four Rifle Squadrons and a MG
Squadron. When the war broke on 30 November 1939
regiments had horses and they were organized as follows:
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. . Jäger Battalion 1 (Jääkäripataljoona 1, JP 1), formerly known as Bicycle Battalion 1, was re-named together with three other similar battalions (JP 2, 3 and 4) in the late 30's. It was not a cavalry unit and it was given to RPr. only for increasing its strength. Marshal Mannerheim was so pleased on the combat performance of JP1 during the Winter War that he personally financed the trade of ten Suomi m/31 SMGs from Tikkakoski and donated these to the battalion. Each weapon had a small plate with a text: "To the Jäger Battalion 1, 1940, Field Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim". At the beginning of the Continuation War these weapons were given to the best soldiers of the battalion. Eight of these SMGs are still in the inventory of the Finnish Military Museum. JP 1
was a light infantry battalion similar to other jäger
battalions:
. . Before the Winter War in 1939 RPr. had had two detached armoured units namely Separate Armoured Squadron (Erillinen panssarieskadroona, Er.Ps.Esk.) and Separate Armoured Company (Erillinen panssarikomppania, Er.Pans.K). The latter one was a newly re-equipped tank unit with brand new British Vickers light tanks of which most were still unarmed because they were bought without weapons. For training a handful of tanks were equipped with French made short-barreled 37 mm Puteaux guns taken from old Renault F.T. 17 tanks. Separate Armoured Company didn't fight with the RPr. during the Winter War and it was enlarged to an independent Armoured Battalion (Panssaripataljoona, Pans.P) on 5.12.1939. Armoured
Detachment established by Cavalry Brigade in
1937 was equipped with Swedish Landsverk 182
armoured car bought for trials. In 1938 unit was expanded
to a Separate Armoured Squadron with a few tanks.
After October 1939 unit was officially called Motorized
Detachment / Cavalry Brigade (Moottoroitu Osasto /
Ratsuväkiprikaati, Moot.Os./RPr.) but it didn't have
tanks anymore. During the Winter War this now platoon-sized
motorized unit consisted only of one mentioned armoured
car, two trucks and about 30 men. It was suspended on 5.1.1940
and became the bulk of the new 6th Armoured Company /
Armoured Battalion. . Riding
Battery (Ratsastava patteri, Rats.Ptri) was a horse
drawn light field artillery battery equipped with four 76
LK/13 short-barreled howitzers. This sole battery
could not offer enough firepower for the whole brigade
but it was not strengthened during the Winter War. [ Cavalry Brigade in Continuation War
1941 - 1944 ] . |
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© 1999 - 31.8.2005 Harri Anttonen
Flags of URR (<) and HRR
(>) . 