Finding the Fallen and Second World War Conflict Archaeology of the Hanko Front (1941)

Between May 8th and 12th 2023 our multidisciplinary research team made a series of excavations and surveys of the Battlefields on the Hanko Front. The work included pedgogic community archaeology excavations of the frontlines on the mainland with schoolchildren from schools in Raseborg, Hanko and Lohja as well as repatriation of fallen soldiers in the northern archipelago off Cape Hanko. The work was funded by Thure Galléns stiftelse and a local benificiary.

Our first mission was to resarch the remains of one of the larger shelters called "Royal" that was built  by Swedish volunteers from Svenska Frivilligbataljonen during the late summeer and autumn of 1941. The trial excavation revealed interesting well preserved structural remains  and we will excavate this shelter in full in the spring of 2024.

After this it was time to head for the archipelago to map one of the more ferocius battles between Soviet and Finnish troops in 1941. Several fallen soldiers from both sides are still missing after the bitter fighting that took place here and it is time to bring the war to a close for these guys. We also made a first attempt to find the remains åf Swedish volunteer Åke Löfstedt who is till missing after a recoinnasance raid in August 1941.

No fallen soldiers were discovered this time but we will continue ur work here in the spring and summer of 2024. The battlefield in the archipalago will be surveyed in detail later this summer.