Krepost Sveaborg - Troops and Organization

Troops and Organization

At the start of the First World War Krepost Sveaborg was subordinated to the Russian 6th Army. In summer 1916 Krepost Sveaborg was subordinated to Baltic Fleet. At the start of the war Krepost Sveaborg was divided into three defensive areas, with the sea front forming one defensive area and the land front divided to Pasila and Laajasalo-Herttoniemi areas. The sea front was further divided into six sectors, with sectors 1-4 at the old fortress, sector 5 at Melkki and sector 6 at Isosaari. The sea front was divided into main line of defence from Melkki to Isosaari and second line of defence from Lauttasaari to Santahamina at the end of 1914. As the new batteries were constructed Melkki was relegated to second line of defence and Lauttasaari to land front in spring 1915. At the land front new defensive lines were constructed from 1915 onward further away from the city center. The new land front was divided into three sectors: eastern, northern and western. Krepost Sveaborg was also responsible for a larger fortification district that included coast line west of the fortress until Hanko.

At the start of the war the fortification artillery units manning the fortress were organized into nine artillery companies and a machine gun detachment. In April 1915 the fortification artillery units were reorganized into a single fortification artillery regiment with three battalions and a machine gun company. Four companies manned the coastal forts at sea front. In June 1916 the regiment was divided in two, with 1st regiment responsible for the seaward defence and the 2nd for the landward defence. Both regiments had ten companies in three battalions. The 1st regiment was divided into three defence detachments, with south-western and south-eastern detachments responsible for the main line of defence on the outlying islands with the newest guns, while the third detachment manned the second line on the old fortress. The artillery regiments had a common supply unit responsible for the weapons, ammunition, transportation between islands etc. A signals company built and maintained the communication lines. The minefields around the fortress were built by the Krepost Sveaborg mine company, from 1915 a mine battalion. In 1916 the fortress was reinforced by the mine battalion from Vladivostok fortress. Construction and engineering department of the fortress headquarters organized the construction works of the fortress with engineering and sapper units as well as the civilian workers.

Infantry units at the fortress manned the landward defences and provided detachments on the coastal forts for anti-landing and close defence duties. The peacetime Krepost Sveaborg fortress infantry regiment was reinforced by conscript units, which in 1915 were organized as the 427th and 428th infantry regiments to a new 107th infantry division which was sent to front line after a training period. In spring 1916 regiments from the new 116th division manned the fortress. At the autumn of 1916 units from different fortresses were brought to Krepost Sveaborg and organized into the 128th infantry division. In July 1917 the fortress was manned by the fortress infantry regiment and the 428th Lodeynoye Pole infantry regiment of the 128th division. In October 1917 the 128th was replaced by the 29th infantry division, badly mauled at the front and brought to Krepost Sveaborg for rest. At January-February 1918, when Finland gained its independence, Krepost Sveaborg had six infantry regiments: the 696th revolutionary regiment, the fortress infantry regiment and 113th, 114th, 115th and 116th regiments of the 29th infantry division.

Construction workers included Russian soldiers but also Finnish civilian workers and forced labour using prisoners transported from far east. Finns were exempt from conscription, and thus there was available manpower for fortification works. The payment for fortification works was slightly above average for manual labour, and made it an attractive option particularly for many rural workers. In 1915 when large scale construction of fortifications around Finland began Russians instituted a work responsibility for Finns based on wartime emergency law to obtain the necessary labour force. To ease the manpower shortage Russians brought convicted prisoners from far east to Finland in summer 1916 as forced labour. Approximately 2000-3000 men, including Chinese, Kyrgyz and Tatars, were employed as lumberjacks around Espoo and Sipoo. Kyrgyz were mainly guards. Asian workers were transported back to Russia already in 1917 however, citing the workers to be unaccustomed to the northern climate and possible threat of rebellion. The total number of workers in not known, but an estimated 10 000 to 15 000 men were used in construction works around Helsinki and up to 100 000 total in Finland. Complicated bureaucracy delayed the construction works, and the supervision of the works was also poor leading to a wide spread graft.