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The Battle of Honkaniemi was fought between Finnish and Soviet forces on 26 February 1940. This extreme battle was fought only by tanks, the only kind fought in the Winter War.[1]
The commander of the Finnish II Corps General Harald Öhquist had attached Jaeger Battalion 3 and the 4th company of the Armoured Battalion to the 23rd Division.
The 23rd was responsible for the area around the lake Näykkijärvi, just to the southeast of Viipuri, the second largest town in Finland. Also, the 3rd Battalion of the 67th Infantry Regiment that was on loan to the 5th division arrived as well, giving the reinforcement that the commander of the 23rd Division, Col. Voldemar Oinonen to launch an attack against the Soviets. At 10:15 pm, the commander of the Jaeger Battalion 3, Captain I. Kunnas and Lieutenant O. Heinonen of the 4th Armoured Company received orders to attack.
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The original plan had involved 6 Infantry Battalions, four artillery battalions and the 4th Armoured Company. However, due to the haste to get the plan up and running, the planners missed important aspects of the battle, therefore reducing the overall amount of units to four Infantry Battalions, two artillery battalions and the all important 4th Tank Company.
On the nights of February 25 and 26, members of the Jaeger Battalion 3 were carried by trucks to Heponotko, which was about 3 km away from a depot in Honkaniemi (now Lebedevka) then they skied to the starting point at 4:00 am. The tank company arrived around 30 minutes later from a 50 km march. That march, however, cost them more than they would have liked. Since the conditions of the weather and road were extremely bad, the tank company lost 5 of their 13 Vickers 6-Ton tanks mostly due to engine failures.
Seeing this as a major blow to their offensive capabilities, Captain Kunnas split his remaining tanks between the 2nd and 3rd Jaegers Companies and the 1st Jaegers Company. Six tanks will support the Jaegers while two will help the 1st secure the left flank. It was chosen that the attack would commence at 5:00 am, but the communication with the artillery battalions failed so it was decided that they would try again at 6:15 am.
When communications with the artillery battalions were up and running, the time had come to attack. However another setback had occurred. During the preliminary artillery barrage, some of the shells landed at the starting point, resulting in the 30 Finns being killed or injured. The attack had to be postponed by another hour.
After the initial artillery bombardment by the two artillery battalions (the 1st Battalions of the 21st and 5th Artillery Regiments) the attack commenced. However, the Finns had had another set-back, another two tanks had been lost to technical failures thereby reducing the total Finnish Tanks to only six for the entire battle. Even after all those set-backs, there was more to come. The 1st Jaegers Battalion had advanced some 200 meters before having to halt under the tremendous firing powers of the Red Army. The 1st Jaegers Company which was covering the left flank, advanced foreword towards the railroad only to be unable to cross it. The 2nd and 3rd Jaegers Companies, which were the main attack forces, had advanced to 200 meters SW from the rail road, but had to be stopped.
The 4th Armoured Company had one of the worst days ever. One of its Vickers tanks got stuck in a ditch; the turret was damaged in the process and it had to retreat back to the starting point. The remaining five tanks were lost in a more honourable way, "being targeted by T-26s, T-28s and the 45 mm AT guns".[2]
The platoon commander's tank, Lt.V. Mikkola's, advanced the farthest, almost 500 meters, almost into Soviet areas. Only two Finnish tanks were able to destroy other Soviet tanks, the tank of Corporal E. Seppälä, which had kept on fighting after being immobilized, had taken out two Soviet tanks before the crew had to abandon their vehicle. The other tank was commanded by 2nd Lt. J. Virniö, which had destroyed one tank before being damaged.[2]
Captain Kunnas received orders at 10:00 pm that he was to abort the attack and retreat. The Finns' first tank battle met with an unsuccessful end. The entire tank battle had been fought with inexperienced crews and almost no radio communication, since the tanks had been bought from the UK without guns, optics and radios, and some even without the driver's seat, in order to save money. Due to the lack of vital equipment, communication between tanks was impossible and the tanks would act upon their own judgement.
The entire battle brought the deaths of one NCO while injuring two officers and two NCOs, and three privates were reported missing in action. Even though the Soviets had a huge advantage over the Finns such as numbers and weapons, the Finnish troopers still mounted their tanks and went on with the attack.
On February 27, 1940, the remaining eight tanks of 4th Tank Company were ordered to move to the Rautalampi area for AT-duties.[2]
According to the Russian sources during the day of 26 February 6 Finnish tanks were destroyed in 2 separate engagements. No losses in own tanks were recorded. The journal of 35-th Armored Brigade states: "Two Vickers tanks with infantry back up advanced to the right flank of 245-th Infantry Regiment. Both enemy tanks were destroyed in the following battle. Four Vickers tanks moved to their help, but were destroyed by 3 T-26 tanks of companies commanders on recon mission."[3]