After some really hard work we can now conclude that we have found the final resting place of thirteen Soviet soldiers killed in July 1941 on the Hanko Front. The evidence of the exact location of the grave site was very scarce indeed and the site could not have been found without the use of methodic conflict archaeology resarch and excavation techniques.
As it now seems the soldiers mortal remains were removed from the site after the war. The only evidence that the soldiers were once buried here are fragments of uniforms, shoes and boots and a few fragments of their bodies that were left behind on the site when the corpses were exhumed (possibly in 1949 0r in the 1950´s).
We will try to retrieve the remaining material and forensic remains of the soldiers in 2021. After that we feel it would be appropriate to mark the place for posterity. I will be contacting "Metsähallitus" about this next week after I have finished the excavation report.
The difficult mission was a success due to the skilled and highly motivated participants in the "Hanko 1941" team. The Hanko 1941 team would like to thank the staff att the Hotel at Fort Örö for providing a very good accomodation for our team during the fieldwork. Please visit the Fort and the Hotel when you have the opportunity!!
