Finnish Forces

Destruction patrol

This special patrol of 100 men was led by Lt. Ilmari Honkanen and it consisted of 7 officers, 37 NCO's and 56 privates. 52 of them were from long range patrol detachments (Kuismanen & Marttina) and 48 were jaegers and combat engineers from Detachment Lagus. The raid to Petrovskij Jam took place on the night of February 13, 1942.(00:45-02:50) 35 cars and trucks were destroyed and 50 disabled. 300 horses were killed, 5000 kilos of hay and 6000 liters of fuel was burned. 70 buildings were destroyed including all food and ammunition storages and a storage full of winter clothing, tents etc. During the raid the patrol also freed prisoners from local labor camp. Finnish casualties were 5 dead and 6 wounded. The Soviet casualties were estimated atleast 500 KIA and 5 POW. After the raid the Soviet troops in the whole region barely had any supply for 2 weeks, in the middle of cold winter, forcing them to cancel a planned offensive.