The Erna Raid (Estonian: Erna retk) is an annual international military exercise and competition, one of the longest and most difficult in the world, held every August since 1995 in Estonia. It is organised by the Erna Society and commemorates the actions of the long-range recce group Erna in the summer of 1941.[1]
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The traditional parts of the competition are:
Foreign teams have always been welcome to partake in the competition. In 2007, 28 teams from 9 different countries participated: Estonia (18 teams), Czech Republic (1), Denmark (1), Finland (2), Germany (1), Norway (2), Portugal (1), Sweden (1) and USA (1), of which Portugal and Czech Republic are newcomers. Teams from United Kingdom have participated in earlier years (most recently, a British Territorial Army team in 2006) but only be observed in 2007. A team from Cyprus also be observed. Teams from People's Republic of China have been traditionally successful in the competition and took 1st and 2nd place in 2002. Other successful teams have come from Finland and Norway.
Due to the home field advantage attributed to the intimate knowledge of the terrain by the local teams, the venue for the competition may be changed next year.[2]
The competition is named after the Erna long-range recce group (Estonian: Erna luuregrupp) and themed after its activities in the summer of 1941.
In 1993, a group of enthusiasts followed the historical route of the Erna group of 1941, and came up with the idea of organizing a commemorative competition. A first try with only Estonian participants was held in 1994. In the autumn of 1994, the Erna society was founded, and in 1995, the first international competition was held, and has been so annually since then, growing in extent and number of participants over time.
The table below records the final results for the year's competition. It does not include retired and disqualified teams. DL is the acronym for the Defence League.
| Position | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | |
| 1st | Scouts Battalion | DL Põlva | DL Tartu 1 | DL Tartu 2 | Reserve Officers | Reserve Officers | Scouts Bat. 1 | Scouts Bat. 2 | Finland 2 | China 2 | DL Järva | Border Guard | Border Guard | |
| 2nd | Kirde KRK | Scouts Battalion | DL Tartu 2 | Reserve Officers / DL Tallinn | DL Tartu | Scouts Bat. 1 | Recce Bat. | Reserve Officers | Scouts Bat. | China 1 | Finland 2 | Norway | Kalev Inf. Bat. | |
| 3rd | DL Harju 1 | DL Tartu 2 | Military Academy 2 | Kuperjanovi Single Infantry Bn | Finland 2 | Military Academy | Military Academy | Scouts Bat. 1 | DL Järva | DL Harju | Border Guard | DL Harju | DL Pärnu | |
| 4th | Military Academy | Military Academy 1 | Kuperjanovi Single Inf Bn | Border Guard | Police | DL Järva | Finland 1 | Military School | Recce Bat. | Security Police | Logistics Bat. | AA Battery | China 2 | |
| 5th | Border Guard | DL Järva 1 | DL Tallinn 2 | DL Tallinn 1 | DL Järva | Scouts Bat. 2 | China 2 | DL Pärnu | China 2 | Military Academy | China 2 | Logistics Bat. | Finland 1 | |
| 6th | DL Järva 2 | DL Järva 2 | DL Järva 1 | Military Academy | Border Guard | DL Tartu | China 1 | DL Järva | Military Academy | DL Järva | Reserve Officers | Finland 1 | Guard Bat. | |
| 7th | DL Põlva | Border Guard | Military Academy 1 | EDF Logistics Centre | Viru Bat. | Police | Air Defence Div. | Denmark 1 | Border Guard | DL Tallinn | AA Battery | Reserve Officers | DL Võru | |
| 8th | DL Pärnu 2 | DL Tartu 1 | DL Põlva | DL Tartu 1 | DL Tallinn / Reserve Officers | DL Tallinn | Sweden | Finland 2 | China 1 | Lithuania | China 1 | Kalev Inf. Bat. | Denmark | |
| 9th | Finland 3 | NE Territorial Defence District | DL Harju | DL Valga | Pärnu Bat. | Germany | Germany | Lithuania | Denmark | Reserve Officers | Guard Bat. | EDF HQ | DL Järva | |
| 10th | DL Pärnu 1 | Kuperjanovi Inf Bn | Finland 2 | Germany | Finland 1 | Border Guard | Reserve Officers | Recce Bat. | DL Harju 2 | Scout Bat. | Security Police | Security Police | Norway 1 | |
| 11th | Nth. Guard Bat. | DL Tallinn Nõmme | DL Järva 2 | DL Järva | Germany | EDF HQ | DL Järva | Logistic Bat. | DL Tallinn 2 | Border Guard | Rescue Service | Finland 2 | Military Academy | |
| 12th | Finland 2 | DL Harju 1 | EDF Log Centre CS Training Centre | Viru Single Infantry Bn | DL Harju | Canada | Guard Bat. | China 2 | DL Tallinn 1 | Finland | DL Tallinn | Military Academy | Reserve Officers | |
| 13th | Denmark 2 | DL Tallinn 2 | Finland 1 | Reserve Officers 2 | Scouts Bat. | Guard Bat. | DL Tartu | Air Defence Bat. | DL Võrumaa | Military School | Norway 1 | Sweden | DL Põlva | |
| 14th | DL Tartu | DL Harju 2 | Border Guard | DL Pärnu | Guard Bat. | Finland 1 | Denmark 2 | Military Academy | DL Pärnumaa | DL Võrumaa | Norway 2 | Norway 2 | China 1 | |
| 15th | DL Tallinn 2 | Lithuania | DL Women’s Corps Saaremaa | Lithuania | USA | Viru Bat. | DL Tallinn | Denmark 2 | DL Harju 1 | Norway 1 | Signal Bat. | DL Võru | Sweden | |
| 16th | DL Järva | Belgium | DL Võru | DL Alutaguse Women’s Team | Denmark | Finland 2 | Finland 2 | China 1 | Reserve Officers | Norway 2 | Military Academy | Germany | Scotland | |
| 17th | DL Tallinn Nõmme | DL Pärnu | Denmark 1 | Denmark 1 | Military Academy | DL Valgamaa | Scouts Bat. | DL Võru | Austria | Romania | DL Põlva | DL Tallinn | Norway 2 | |
| 18th | DL Pärnu 3 | Military Academy 2 | Denmark 2 | DL Tallinn 2 (Toompea subunit) | Norway 1 | USA | DL Võru | Finland 1 | Engineering School | AA Battalion | Finland 1 | Denmark 1 | Italy 2 | |
| 19th | Lithuania | Sweden 1 | DL Tallinn 1 | Denmark 3 | Sweden | Denmark 1 | Denmark 1 | Sweden | Military School | Denmark 1 | Sweden | China 1 | Women's DL | |
| 20th | DL Harju Männiku | DL Harju 3 | DL Women’s Corps Võru | Single Guard Bn | Women's DL | Great Britain | Pärnu Bat. | Germany | Finland 1 | Finland 2 | DL Harju | DL Järva | UK | |
| 21st | DL Tallinn Kalevi | DL Alutaguse Women's Team | DL Tallinn 3 | Denmark 2 | DL Võru | Belgium | USA | Guard Bat. | Lithuania | Sweden | EDF HQ | China 2 | ||
| 22nd | DL Harju 2 | Sweden 2 | USA | Norway 2 | Artillery Group | DL Pärnu | Belgium | Police | text | Denmark | Rescue Service | |||
| 23rd | Belgium | Finland 2 | Belgium | Portugal | Women's DL Võru | Belgium | DL Tallinn | Rescue Service | Italy | USA Maryland | Italy 1 | |||
| 24th | Finland 4 | Denmark | DL Women’s Corps Rapla | Denmark 3 | Women's DL Võru | Romania | Sweden | EDF HQ | Scotland | United Kingdom | ||||
| 25th | Denmark 1 | Norway 1 | Latvia | Italy | Turkey | Guard Bat. | Rescue Service | Women's DL | Women's DL | |||||
| 26th | Prison Service | Denmark 2 | Women's DL | United Kingdom | Women's DL | Lithuania | Italy 1 | |||||||
| 27th | Finland 1 | USA | Poland | Scotland | Recce Battalion | |||||||||
| 28th | 1.Infantry Bde Logistics Bat | United Kingdom | United Kingdom | |||||||||||
| 29th | Georgia |
Since the era of Stalin, Soviet propagandists have been making counterfactual assertions of the original Erna team having participated in mass murder of Soviet political activists. Sometimes, the myths also claim that the letter 'E' was cut onto the backs of the victims.
These claims were reinvigorated in the 1980s as a way of distracting historians analysing the Kautla massacre, and have been repeated in Russian media in 2000s.[3]
Since the competition's initiation, sectors of the Russian media claimed the competition's namesake was an attempt to glorify collaboration with the Nazi Germany.[4][5][6][7] In 2007, high-ranking government officials sharply criticized the competition, generally calling it "glamorization of Nazism" and expressing outrage over NATO members participating in the competition.[8][9][10] Estonian officials attribute this recent development to the ongoing campaign for Russian presidential election, 2008.[11] Russian officials claim that commemoration of the Erna group today is part of alleged efforts by the Estonian authorities to glorify Nazi past (other parts of it being relocation of a memorial to Red Army invaders and an official greeting from the Minister of Defence to veterans of a unit of Estonians conscripted to a division organized within the Waffen SS to defend Estonia).[8]
Analyst of the US based think tank Jamestown Foundation believes this view follows Soviet and post-Soviet Russia's official logic on two counts: first, that resistance to the Red Army was inherently illegitimate and conflatable with "fascism" in an occupied country or one targeted for occupation; second, that Estonia should be criticized for remembering an act of national resistance and its casualties.[12]
Estonia's Minister of Defence, Jaak Aaviksoo called the accusations "regrettable" and recalled that the Erna group saved the lives of many civilians from the vengeful Soviet paramilitary units, and specifically pointed out cases of burning farmers alive along with their farms in Kautla.[13][14]