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{{Short description|Finnish Army unit of Estonian volunteers during World War II}}

The '''Erna long-range reconnaissance group''' ({{langx|et|Erna luuregrupp}}) was a [[Finnish Army]] unit of Estonian volunteers that fulfilled reconnaissance duties in Estonia behind [[Red Army]] lines during [[World War II]]. The unit was formed by Finnish military intelligence with the assistance of German military intelligence for reconnaissance operations.<ref name="okupatsioon">[http://www.okupatsioon.ee/english/overviews/ylev/ylev-RESISTAN.html Estonian Citizens in the German Armed Forces. Volunteers, Conscripts and Commandeered Troops] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523025306/http://www.okupatsioon.ee/english/overviews/ylev/ylev-RESISTAN.html |date=May 23, 2010 }}</ref>

[[Image:Erna memorial plaque.jpg|thumb|Reconnaissance group Erna memorial plaque in [[Espoo]], Finland]]

==Formation of the Erna platoon==
After the [[Soviet occupation of Estonia]] in 1940 hundreds of Estonian men went to Finland rather than accept Soviet rule. The Estonian [[military attaché]] in Finland, Major Aksel Kristian, in the spring of 1941 compiled a list of Estonians in Finland who wanted to liberate their homeland. Finnish intelligence subsequently recruited 15 volunteers and began training them on the island of Staffan in [[Soukka]], [[Espoo]].

On 22 June 1941 [[Nazi Germany]] invaded the Soviet Union in [[Operation Barbarossa]].<ref name="erna"/> Finland re-entered the war in alliance with Germany in the [[Continuation War]]. Estonians living in Finland were assembled in [[Helsinki]] to establish a voluntary unit to go to Estonia.<ref name="erna"/> The platoon commander was Colonel [[Henn-Ants Kurg]]<ref name="erna"/> of the Estonian Army, who had been the last Estonian military attaché to France.

The Germans gave the group the name "Erna".<ref name="erna"/> Two German liaison officers, Oberleutnant Reinhardt and [[Sonderführer]] Schwarze, also joined the group.<ref name="erna"/> Erna was armed by and wore the uniform of the Finnish Army.<ref>C. Jurando, N Thomas PhD: ''Germany's Eastern Front Allies(2): Baltic Force'', page 5. Osprey Publishing, 2002, {{ISBN|1-84176-193-1}}</ref> The two Germans in charge wanted Erna to pledge allegiance to the [[Führer]]. However, Colonel Kurg strongly opposed this;<ref name="erna">{{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}}</ref> he insisted that they were not Germans but Estonian volunteers, ready to co-operate, but without any commitments to [[Hitler]].<ref name="erna"/> An agreement was reached that being in the service of the Finnish Army, Erna should give the oath of loyalty to Finland. Accordingly, on 24 July 1941, the 15 specially trained men and 52 volunteers took an oath of allegiance to Finland.<ref name="erna"/>

==Action==
{{see also|Battle of Kautla}}
On the night of 10 July 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 28 July. The group's task was to perform [[reconnaissance]] deep behind Red Army lines for the [[Finnish 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 [[Soviet destruction battalion 1941|NKVD Destruction Battalion]]s in a fierce battle on 31 July to 1 August 1941.<ref>p16, Mart Laar: ''War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1953''. Howells House, 1991, {{ISBN|0-929590-08-2}}</ref> On 4 August, 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.<ref>pp. 170-172, Formation of the Erna Platoon, ''Estonian State and People in World War 2'', Volume 5, Stockholm, 1957</ref>

==Aftermath==
A battalion attached to the [[311th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|German 311th Infantry]] was formed from the remnants of the original Erna platoon, with an additional 400 men, and dubbed "Erna II", but it was disbanded on 10 October 1941.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} With the end of the war a number of the original members of Erna continued [[guerrilla]] activities against Soviet forces, becoming [[Forest Brothers]].<ref>p147, Mart Laar: ''War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1953''. Howells House, 1991, {{ISBN|0-929590-08-2}}</ref> The [[Erna Raid]] (Estonian: ''Erna retk'') was an annual international military exercise and competition, commemorating the action of 1941 and held from 1995.<ref name='uk-emb-2006'>[[United Kingdom|British]] Embassy in Tallinn; August 5, 2006: [http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1046181016323&a=KArticle&aid=1156398966204 ERNA RAID 2006 1–5 August] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927002455/http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1046181016323&a=KArticle&aid=1156398966204 |date=2007-09-27 }}</ref>

Soviet propagandists{{according to who|date=October 2023}} claimed the original Erna team participated in the mass murder of Soviet political activists.{{fact|date=October 2023}} These claims were revived in the 1980s as a way of distracting historians analysing the [[Kautla massacre]], and have been repeated in [[Russian media]] in the 2000s.<ref>[[Mart Laar]]: [http://www.postimees.ee/160807/esileht/arvamus/277366.php Tavaline stalinism] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827075510/http://www.postimees.ee/160807/esileht/arvamus/277366.php |date=2009-08-27 }}, printed in [[Postimees]] 16 August 2007</ref> Russian authorities regard the commemorative Erna Raid as "heroizing [[fascism]]".<ref>[http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/D360F33352C74989C3257329002CD2E9 Russian MFA Information and Press Department Commentary Regarding New Facts of Heroization of Nazism in Estonia] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, July 30, 2007</ref>

==See also==
* [[Detached Battalion 4]]
* [[Finnish Infantry Regiment 200]]
* [[Ülo Jõgi]]
* [[Erna Raid]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erna Long-Range Reconnaissance Group}}
[[Category:Military units and formations of Finland in World War II]]
[[Category:Military history of Finland during World War II]]
[[Category:Military history of Estonia during World War II]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1941]]
[[Category:Special forces]]

Erna long-range reconnaissance group - Revision history

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