KADUNUD LANGEVARJURID: EESTI KAUGLUURE SIHTÜKSUS 46/1 KARJALAS

THE LOST PARATROOPERS: THE ESTONIAN LONG-RANGE SURVEILLANCE TASK UNIT 46/1 IN KARELIA)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to restore the operations of the Estonian long-range surveillance task unit in 1942 in the Karelia area of operations. It was, more specifically, a joint intelligence operation of the German military intelligence service Abwehr and the Finnish military intelligence, implemented by Estonians. The Finns were celebrating operation kaukopartio 46/1 where 46 referred to the sequence number of the reconnaissance patrol and 1 referred to the Vehniäinen unit that operated on the Karelian Isthmus. Finland claims that the assignment of the intelligence group was to move to the Konosha locality by the railroad in order to monitor the transport of warfare materials sent by allies to the Soviet Union, and to study the airports and aerial activities in the area. Therefore, the Estonian unit 46/1 was an operation suitable for special forces. It was one of the most unique battle assignments in Estonian military history that caught the attention of the leaders of the Soviet Union: the counteroperation was under the heightened attention of Lavrentiy Beria, the People’s Commissar of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union, a member of the State Defence Committee, and deputy premier under Joseph Stalin, the chief of the Council of People’s Commissars; Beria also ordered to inform the leaders of the Soviet union, including Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov, the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, about the end of the operation. The operation of the task unit of 13 men began on the night of 30 August 1942 at the Nurmolitsy Air Base. Already in the beginning of the operation, they lost the element of surprise.The objective of this article is to restore the operations of the Estonian long-range surveillance task unit in 1942 in the Karelia area of operations. It was, more specifically, a joint intelligence operation of the German military intelligence service Abwehr and the Finnish military intelligence, implemented by Estonians. The Finns were celebrating operation kaukopartio 46/1 where 46 referred to the sequence number of the reconnaissance patrol and 1 referred to the Vehniäinen unit that operated on the Karelian Isthmus. Finland claims that the assignment of the intelligence group was to move to the Konosha locality by the railroad in order to monitor the transport of warfare materials sent by allies to the Soviet Union, and to study the airports and aerial activities in the area. Therefore, the Estonian unit 46/1 was an operation suitable for special forces. It was one of the most unique battle assignments in Estonian military history that caught the attention of the leaders of the Soviet Union: the counteroperation was under the heightened attention of Lavrentiy Beria, the People’s Commissar of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union, a member of the State Defence Committee, and deputy premier under Joseph Stalin, the chief of the Council of People’s Commissars; Beria also ordered to inform the leaders of the Soviet union, including Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov, the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, about the end of the operation. The operation of the task unit of 13 men began on the night of 30 August 1942 at the Nurmolitsy Air Base. Already in the beginning of the operation, they lost the element of surprise.