Erna long-range recce group

The Erna long-range reconnaissance group ( _et. Erna luuregrupp) was a Finnish Army formation, of Estonian volunteers, that fulfilled reconnaissance duties in Estonia behind the Red Army lines during World War II. The unit was formed to work in cooperation with Finnish and German military intelligence for reconnaissance operations [http://www.okupatsioon.ee/english/overviews/ylev/ylev-RESISTAN.html Estonian Citizens in the German Armed Forces. Volunteers, Conscripts and Commandeered Troops] ] .

Formation of the Erna platoon

During the spring of 1941, the nucleus of the group began formation with the training of 15 people on the island of Staffani in the region of Espoo.

On June 22, 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Finland’s entering the war on the German side was only a matter of days, and all Estonians, living in Finland were being assembled in Helsinki in order to establish a voluntary unit for going to Estonia. The platoon commander was colonel Henn Ants Kurg of the Estonian Army, who had been the last Estonian Military Attaché to France.

Germans gave the group its name “Erna", and two German liaison officers - oberleutnant Reinhardt and Sonderführer Schwarze - had also joined the group. Erna was armed by and wearing the uniform of the Finnish army [C. Jurando, N Thomas PhD: "Germany's Eastern Front Allies(2): Baltic Force", page 5. Osprey Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1841761931] . The two Germans in charge wanted ERNA to pledge allegiance to the Führer. However, colonel Henn Ants Kurg strongly opposed this.cite web |url=http://www.erna.ee/en/?Erna_History/Birth_of_the_ERNA-organization |title=Birth of the ERNA-organization and its operations in 1941 |first=Ülo |last=Jõgi |publisher=ERNA Society |accessdate=2007-08-10] He insisted that they were not Germans but Estonian volunteers, ready to co-operate, but without any commitments to Hitler. After lots of disputes an agreement was reached that being in the service of the Finnish army, ERNA shall give the oath of loyalty to Finland. Accordingly, on July 24, 1941, the 15 specially trained men and 52 volunteers took an oath of allegiance to Finland.

Action

On the night of July 10th the platoon made a seaborne landing on the northern coast of Estonia with 42 men arriving onshore and hiding in the Kautla Marshes 60 km south east of Tallinn. Another 17 team members were parachuted in on July 28th. The group's task was to perform reconnaissance deep behind Red Army lines for the Finnish Army (co-belligerent with German Army) but it turned to saving around 2,000 civilians hiding in the Kautla woods by allowing them to escape while the outnumbered Erna force engaged Soviet NKVD Destruction Battalions in a fierce battle on July 31st to August 1st, 1941 [p16, Mart Laar: "War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1953". Howells House, 1991, ISBN 0929590082] . On August 4th, the platoon was ordered to cross the frontline and terminate their activities. A total of 32 men were lost, either killed or missing in action [pp. 170-172, Formation of the Erna Platoon, "Estonian State and People in World War 2", Volume 5, Stockholm, 1957] .

Aftermath

A battalion (attached to 311 Infantry regiment of German army) was formed from the remnants of the original Erna platoon, with an additional 400 men, and dubbed "Erna II", but was subsequently disbanded on October 10, 1941. With the end of the war a number of the original members of Erna continued guerrilla activities, becoming Forest Brothers (Baltic partisans). [p147, Mart Laar: "War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1953". Howells House, 1991, ISBN 0929590082] (In interests of clarity, it should be pointed out that veterans of the Erna group were only a small fraction of the whole Forest Brothers resistance movement.)

oviet historiography

Soviet historiography denounced the group as Nazi collaborators, just like all other forces that fought on the side of Axis powers. The Russian Federation has continued on this line [see e.g. "Russian MFA Information and Press Department Commentary Regarding New Facts of Heroization of Nazism in Estonia" ( [http://www.ln.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/d360f33352c74989c3257329002cd2e9?OpenDocument link] )] . Russian authorities regard the commemorative Erna retk as a “Nazi orgy” (ibid.).

ee also

* Erna Raid, a yearly international military competition that commemorates the group's activities

References