Battlefield tourism by Hanna & Adam

In case you notice errors, inaccuracies or can fill in missing information, email hanna.vehkamaki_at_helsinki.fi

Visited

Battlefield

Where

War

Battle date/year

Who fought whom

Commanders

Strength (+casualties)

Result
of the battle

Remarks of the battle/site

1992 (H)

Jämärä/Lätäseno
(Sturmbock-Stellung)
German constructions and trenches,
the Lapland war

Western Finnish Lapland, near Karesuvanto
(in "käsivarsi" =arm of Finland)

II World War

1.10.1944-25.4.1945

Germany vs.
Finland

Lothar Rendulic, Matthias Krautler, August Krakau vs.
Hjalmar Siilasvuo, Aaro Pajari,Tuben Lagus

214000 (4300-4500 dead, 2300 wounded, 1300 captured)
vs.
75000 (2872 dead or missing, 3000 wounded)

German retreat

numbers and commanders related to the whole Lapland war

2000 (H)

Raate road

Eastern Finland, near Suomussalmi

II World War

4.1.-7.1.1940

Finland vs.
Soviet Union

Hjalmar Siilasvuo vs.
Alexay Vinogradov

3600(250 killed) vs.
25000(17500 killed or missing, 1300 captured)

Decisive Finnish victory


2001 (H)

Lützen

Germany near Leipzig

Thirty Years' War

16.11.1632

Sweden+Protestant German States
vs.
Holy Roman Empire+ Catholic League

Gustaf II Adolf of Sweden, Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, Dodo Knyphausen vs.
Albrecht von Wallenstein, Gottfried zu Pappenheim, Heinrich Holck

12800 infantry, 6200 cavalry, 60 guns (3400 dead, 1600 wounded/
missing)
vs.
10000+3000 infantry, 7000+2000 cavalry, 24 guns
(uncertain, likely to exceed casualties of the opponent)

Swedish+ protestant victory,Gustaf II Adolf and Pappenheim
killed


2001 (H)

Breitenfeld

Germany near Leipzig

Thirty Years' War

I 17.9.1631
II 23.10. 1642
(also know as the first battle of Leipzig)

I Sweden+Saxony
vs.
Holy Roman Empire+Catholic League+Hungary+Croatia
II Sweden vs.
Holy Roma Empire

I Gustaf II Adolf of Sweden, Gustaf Horn, John George I, Robert Munro, Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg, Johan Baner
vs.
Johann Tserclaes(Count of Tilly), Gottfried zu Pappenheim, Friedrich von Fürstenburg, Egon VII (count of Fürstenberg)

II Lennart Torsteson vs.    Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Ottavio Piccolomini

I 23500Swedes+18000Saxons(deserted)
(3500 Swedes+2000 Saxons dead of wounded)
vs.
7600 dead, 6000+3000 captured, 12400 deserted
II 15000(4000 killed and wounded)
vs. 25000, 46 guns (15000 killed and wounded, 5000 prisoners)

I Decisive Protestant victory
II Decisive Swedish vistory

II General Torsten Stålhandske, who led the Finnish Hakkapeliitta Cavalry,  seriously wounded

2001 (H)

Battle of Nations

Germany near Leipzig

Napoleonic
wars

16-19.10.1813

French Empire (Italy, Naples,Duchy of Warsaw, Saxony) vs. Sixth Coalition (Russia, Austria,Prussia,Sweden, Saxony)

Napoleon I, Jozef Antoni Poniatowski, Frederick Augustus
vs.
Prince of Schwarzenberg, Swedish crown prince Charles John, Gebhard von Blücher, Barclay de Tolly, Count Benningsen

195000 men+700 guns
(38000 dead or wounded, 20000 captured)
vs.
430000 men+1500 guns
(54000 dead or wounded)

Decisive sixth coalition victory, Poniatowski killed


2002 (A&H)

Leningrad siege

St. Petersburg, Russian

World War II

8.9.1941-27.1.1944

Germany, Italy, Spanish Volunteers
vs.
Soviet Union

Wilhelm von Leeb, Georg von Küchler, Emilio Esteban Infantes
vs.
Kliment Voroshilov, Georgy Zhukov, Leonid Govorov

725000(125000) vs
930000(332059 dead, 24324 non-combat dead, 111142 missing, civilians: 16470 combat deaths, 649000 deaths in siege, 360000 evacuations)

Soviet victory


2003 (A&H)

Hastings

England, East Sussex


14.10.1066

Normans, Bretons, Flemings, French
vs.
Anglo Saxons, "Thingmen"

William of Normandy, Odo of Bayeux vs.
Harold Godwinson

8400(3000) vs. 7500 (5000)

Norman victory, conquest of England, Harold Godwinson killed


2003 (A&H)

Somme

France

World War I

1.7.-18.11.1916

United Kingdom, France,Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa vs. German Empire

Douglas Haig, Ferdinand Foch vs.
Max von Gallwitz, Fritz von Below

(Britain 420000, France 195000 dead wounded, missing&captured, 100 tanks, 782 aircraft)
(650000 dead, wounded, missing&captured)
***

Indecisive

First tanks used in  war 15.9.1916 near Pozières

2003(A&H)

Ypres/Ieper, Passchendaele/
Passendale

Belgium

World War I

I 19.10-22.11.1914
II 22.4-15.5.1915
III 31.7-10.11.1917 (Passchendaele)
IV 9.4-29.4.1918 (Lys,Estaires)
V 28.9-2.10.1918

United Kingdom(I, II,III, IV,V), France(I, II,III,V),French colonial forces(II) Belgium(I, II,V), Canada(II,III),  India(I, II,III) , Australia(III, IV), New Zealand(III), South Africa(III) , Portugal(IV), United States(V) vs. German Empire

John French(I), Ferdinand Foch(I)
Horace Smith-Dorrien(II)
Henri Gabriel Putz(II)
A-L-T de Ceuninck(II)
Douglas Haig(III)
Hubert Gough(III)
Herbert Plumer (III)
John Monash (III)
 François Anthoine (III)

Arthur Currie(III)
Julian Byng(IV)
Comes da Costa(IV)
Philippe Pétain(IV)

King Albert I (V)
Jean Degoutte(V)
Herbert Plumer(V)
 vs.
Erich von Falkenhayn(I)
Albrect of Württemberg(II)
Max von Gallwitz(III)
Erich Ludendorff(III)
Ludwig von Falkenhausen(IV)

(I Britain 58000, France 50000)
(II Britain 60000, France 10000)
(III Britain 300000, France 8500)
vs
(I 130000)
(II 35000)
(III 260000)
**

I Decisive allied victory
II Indecisive
III Indecisive or Pyrrhic allied victory
IV Indecisive
V  Decisive Allied victory

II Gas attack on Gravenstafel
III Adolf Hitler fought as a private in this battle

2003 (A&H)

Waterloo

Belgium, south of Brussels

Napoleonic wars

18.6.1815

French Empire vs. Seventh Coalition (Prussia, Britain, Netherlands,Hanover, Nassau, Brunswick)

Napoleon I, Michel Ney vs.
The Duke of Wellington, Gebhard von Blücher

72000 (25000 killed or wounded, 7000 captured, 15000 missing) vs.
68000+50000 Prussians (22000  killed  or wounded)

Decisive Coalition victory


2003 (A&H)

Agincourt

France, Azincourt

Hundred Years' War

25.10.1415

England vs. France 

Henry V of England vs.
Charles d´Albret

5900 [or 7000-9000?] (at least112 dead) vs.
20000-30000 [or 12000] (7000-10000 mostly killed, about 1500 noblemen captured)

Decisive English victory, d´Albret killed


2003 (A&H)

Operation Market- Garden

Netherlands,
Nijmegen and Arnhem area

World War II

1944

United kingdom, United States, Poland, Dutch resistance, Canada vs. Germany

Bernard Montgomery, Lewis H. Brereton, Miles Dempsey, Frederick Browning vs.
Gerd von Rundstedt, Walter Model,  Kurst Student,Wilhem Bittrich, Gustav-Adolf von Zangen

(15130-17200) vs. (7500-10000)

German victory, allied operational failure


2003 (A&H)

Dunkirk

France

World War II

26.5-4.6.1940

Britain, France, Belgium, Poland vs.
Germany

Lord Gort, MaximeWeygand
vs.
Gerd von Rundstedt, Ewald von Kleist

400000 (338226 evacuated,30000 killed or wounded, 34000 missing or captured)
vs.
800000
(52252 killed or wounded, 8467 missing or captured)

German victory, allied evacuation


2004
(A&H)

Normandy landing beaches

France

World War II

6.6.1944

Britain, USA, Canada, Free France, Poland, Norway
vs Germany

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bernard Montgomery,
Omar Bradley, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Arthur Tedder, Miles Dempsey, Bertram Ramsay vs.
Gerd von Rundstedt,
Erwin Rommel,
Friedrich Dollmann,
Hans von Salmuth,
Wilhelm Falley 

156000(10000 killed, wounded or missing) vs.
380000 (4000-9000 dead, wounded or captured)

Allied victory, allied beachhead gained


2004 (H)

West wall

near Aachen, Germany

World War II

Constructed
1938-1940
Reactivated 1944

United Kingdom,  USA vs. Germany





2004 (H)

Hürtgen Forest

near Aachen, Germany

World War II

19.9.1944-10.2.1945

USA vs. Germany

Courtney Hodges, Leonard T. Gerow, Joseph Lawton Collins vs. Walter Model

120000(33000) vs.80000(12000)

First phase inconclusive,
second phase American victory


2004 (H)

Aachen

Aachen, Germany

World War II

2.-21.10.1944

USA
vs. Germany

Leland Hobbs, Courtney Hodges
vs.
Gerhard Wilck

unknown(estimated 5000) vs.
estimated 44000(estimated 5000, 5600 prisoners)

Americsn victory


2005 (A&H)

Berlin

Germany

World War II

16.4.1945-2.5.1945

Soviet Union, Poland vs, Germany

Georgy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Ivan Konev vs.
Gotthard Heinrici, Kurt von Tippelskirch, Ferdinand Schöner, Helmuth Reyman, HelmuthWeidling

2500000 (81116 dead or missing, 280251 sick or wounded) vs.
766750 (458080 killed or wounded,
479298 captured, 22000 civilian dead, 22000 military dead in Berlin area)

Decisive Soviet Victory. German surrender


2008 (A&H)

Oravainen/Oravais

Finland, Ostrobotnia, near Vaasa

Finnish War

14.9.1808

Sweden vs. Russia

Carl Johan Adlercreutz vs.
Nikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky

5000(740 dead,200 wounded,100 captured) vs,
6000-7000(1400 dead, 600 wounded)

Russian victory, as  result of the war that Sweden lost Finland(earlier part of Sweden) became part of Russia


2009 (A&H)

Troy

Turkey,
near
Çannakkale

Trojan war

sometime between 1135 BC and 1334 BC, lasted 9 years

Greeks vs. Trojans



Greek victory


2009 (A&H)

Gallipoli

Turkey, near
Çannakkale

World war I

25.4.1915-6.1.1916

United Kingdom, Australia,British India, Newfoundland, New Zealand,France, French West Africa vs. Ottoman Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary

Sir Ian Hamilton, Lord Kitchener, John de Robeck vs.
Otto Liman von Sanders, Mustafa Kemal  Atatürk, Esat Paşa

410000 British+commonwealth,79000 French(Australia tot 26094/killed 7594, New Zealand tot 7571/killed 2431, Rest of British Empire tot 171335/killed 119696,French tot 47000/killed 27000) vs.
(tot 251309) *

Decisive Ottoman victory, allied evacuation


2009 (A&H)

Bomarsund

Åland, Finland

Crimean War

13.-16.8.1854

United Kingdom, French Empire vs Russian Empire (Finland as a part of it)

Sir Charles Napier,
Parceval-Deschenes, Baraguay d'Hillier
 vs. Jakob Bodisco
****

12000 (unknown) vs.
3000 (1700 dead wounded and captured)

French/British victory, destruction of the fortress

Acting Mate Charles Lucas received the first ever Victoria cross for picking up a live shell on board Steam sloop Hecla and dropping it overboard

2009 (A&H)

Siege of San Sebastian

Donostia/San Sebastian, Basque country, Spain

Peninsular war

7.7.-8.9 1813

United Kingdom, Portugal vs. French Empire

Marquess of Wellington  vs.   Brig-Gen Louis Rey

5300 (1200 killed, 3800 wounded, 300 missing) vs.
1900 dead and wounded, 1200 captured

First stage French victory,
second stage Anglo-Portuguese victory

British troops burned and pillaged the City of San Sebastian (31st of August)

2009 (H)

Bombing of Gernika/Guernica

Gernika/Guernica,Basque country, Spain

Spanish Civil War

26.4.1937

German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion" and the Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria in support for the Spanish Nationalists led by Franco vs. Republican Forces, Basque Army, civilians

Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, Corrado Ricci

1654 civilians killed, 889 wounded -or- 200-400 killed,

3/4 of Gernika's buildings completely destroyed, most other damaged. Nationalist forces overrun Gernika

"Dres rehearsal”for terror bombings of Second World War,
subject of Picasso's famous anti-war painting "Guernica"

2012(H)

Lockstedter Lager

Hohenlocstedt north of  Hamburg, Germany

 

Used 1870-1927

 

 

 

 

German army training  area,  where also  Finnsh volunteers  in Jägerbataillon Nr. 27

Trained 1915-1918

2015

Hadrian’s wall

 North England, close to Scottish border

 

Building started AD122, aboandoned by AD410

Roman empire vs Picts

 

 

 

 

2016, 2020

 Suomen Salpa (Bolt of Finland)

Virolahti, Miehikkälä, Finland

Second word war 1941-1944

Never seen battle

Finland vs Soviet Union

 

 

 

55km Salpapolku 2020 (H)

2022

Underground tunnels & Drop redoubt & Fan bay sound mirrors

 

Dover, England

Napoleonic war, First world war, Second world war

Barracks 1781-,

Zeppelin listening posts in first world war,

headquarters for  Dunkirk evacuation in second world war

Great Britain vs  France  /Germany

 

 

 

 

 

Information gathered mostly from Wikipedia, other web pages  and the following  books:
* Major&Mrs Holt's Battlefield guide: Gallipoli, by Tonie and Valmai Holt, Leo Cooper, 2000
** Major&Mrs Holt's Concise Battlefield Guide to the Ypres salient, Tonie and Valmai Holt, Second edition 1996.
*** Major&Mrs Holt's Battlefield guide to the Somme, by Tonie and Valmai Holt, Leo Cooper,  Revised edition 2003.
**** Bomarsund The Russian Empire's Outpost in the West, by Graham Robins, Håkan Skogsjö, Jerker Örjans, Skogsjömedia, 2006.