Major General Erkki Johannes Raappana (June 2, 1893 – September 14, 1962) was the commander of the 14th Division of the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

during the Second World War. Raappana was born in

Oulujoki Oulujoki () is a river in North Ostrobothnia, Finland. Its name in Finnish literally means "Oulu River", originally in old Northern Ostrobothnian dialect literally "Flood River". Its origin is Oulujärvi, and its watershed area covers a signif ...

. From 1916 to 1918, he served in the 27th Jäger Battalion, a

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

unit of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

. In 1918, he took part in the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

as a lieutenant of the White side. Among many of his known accomplishments, General Raappana was chosen to command the Finnish detachment - nicknamed "Group Raappana" ("Ryhmä Raappana" in Finnish) - that was to stop the enemy in the very final Finnish-Soviet battle during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was the

Battle of Ilomantsi Battle of Ilomantsi can refer to two battles: * Battle of Ilomantsi (1939), between Finland and Soviet Union during the Winter War * Battle of Ilomantsi (1944), between Finland and Soviet Union during the Continuation War {{disambiguation ...

, fought during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

(1941–1944). The battle lasted from July 26 to August 13, 1944. It ended with a Finnish victory, as the last major

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

attack against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

was stopped here. Two elite

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

divisions were completely routed after a week and a half of fighting, leaving behind over 3,000 Red Army soldiers dead and approximately 100 artillery pieces destroyed. General Raappana was specialized and experienced particularly in forest warfare. He was awarded the most distinguished military award in Finland, the

Mannerheim Cross The Mannerheim Cross (, ), officially Mannerheim Cross of the Cross of Liberty (, ) is the most distinguished Finnish military honour. A total of 191 people received the cross between 22 July 1941 and 7 May 1945, with six of the recipients receiv ...

. After the wars, he was sentenced to six months in prison for his involvement in the

Weapons Cache Case The Weapons Cache Case (, ) was a Finnish military plan to continue battle after the ceasefire in 1944, if needed. It concerned a secret and officially unsanctioned military operation following the end of combat on the Soviet–Finnish theater of ...

. Raappana died in

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

, aged 69.

References

Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raappana, Erkki 1893 births 1962 deaths People from North Ostrobothnia People from Oulu Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish major generals Finnish military personnel of World War II Finnish prisoners and detainees Jägers of the Jäger Movement Knights of the Mannerheim Cross Prisoners and detainees of Finland