Qualla: Battle of Suursaari https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:35 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Suursaari https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari Battle of Suursaari: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari/ Imagine driving a truck across forty kilometers of sea ice. In the small hours of 27 March 1942, Finnish assault troops did exactly that, riding in convoys across the frozen Gulf of Finland toward an island called Suursaari. Five kilometers from shore the trucks stopped and the men strapped on skis for the final approach, white camouflage smocks blending into the ice. Behind them, on the Finnish coast, artillery batteries waited to fire the first ranging shots. Ahead, on the rocky island the Russians knew as Gogland, a Soviet garrison of about five hundred men was waking up to the worst kind of morning.

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/e/j/battle-of-suursaari-wp/udej-battle-of-suursaari-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Suursaari: An Island Two Countries Wanted https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari/ Suursaari is a long, narrow shard of granite — about eleven kilometers from end to end — sitting almost exactly in the middle of the Gulf of Finland. To Finland, it was a sentinel guarding the southern approaches. To the Soviet Union, it was a threshold to Leningrad, the second c...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/e/j/battle-of-suursaari-wp/udej-battle-of-suursaari-an-island-two-countries-wanted.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Suursaari: An Ice Sea Highway https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari/ When German forces drove on Leningrad in late 1941, the Soviet command pulled back from many of the Gulf of Finland islands to consolidate around the besieged city. Soviet garrisons left Gogland, Sommers, and Bolshoy Tyuters between 7 and 9 December 1941. Finnish coastal troops n...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/e/j/battle-of-suursaari-wp/udej-battle-of-suursaari-an-ice-sea-highway.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Suursaari: Skis and Engines Overhead https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari/ The assault force was built around two task groups: the larger Detachment Sotisaari approaching from the west, the smaller Detachment Miettinen pinning down the east side of the island. Two ice roads were prepared. Trucks rolled into position before dawn on 27 March, then handed ...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/e/j/battle-of-suursaari-wp/udej-battle-of-suursaari-skis-and-engines-overhead.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Suursaari: Bolshoy Tyuters and the Germans https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari/ With Suursaari taken on 28 March, the Finns turned to neighboring Bolshoy Tyuters. A first patrol on 30 March was driven off by a strong Soviet garrison. A larger company-sized force on 1 April found the island suddenly empty — and the next day watched Soviet troops return and di...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/e/j/battle-of-suursaari-wp/udej-battle-of-suursaari-bolshoy-tyuters-and-the-germans.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Suursaari: The Island Today https://qualla.com/battle-of-suursaari/ Suursaari/Gogland remained Soviet after the war and is today part of Russia's Leningrad Oblast, an off-limits military zone that even Russian citizens need permits to visit. The wrecks of warships sunk in the surrounding waters still litter the seabed; the rocky shoreline is dott...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/e/j/battle-of-suursaari-wp/udej-battle-of-suursaari-the-island-today.mp3 0:06 6 full