Aarne Juutilainen

Aarne Edward Juutilainen, nicknamed "The Terror of Morocco", (October 18 1904 in Sortavala - October 28 1976 in Helsinki), was a Finnish army captain, who served from 1930 until 1935 in the French Foreign Legion, participating in the Moroccon colonial war. After returning to Finland he served in the Finnish army, and became a national hero in the Battle of Kollaa.

His brother was Fighter Ace Ilmari Juutilainen.

French Foreign Legion

In 1930, Juutilainen travelled to France and signed up with the French Foreign Legion. He was transferred to Fort St. Nicolas in Southern France near Marseille, and from there to Oran in Algeria. He was in the town of Sidi Bel Abbès in a Foreign Legion training camp. From there he was transferred to Fez and fought in many battles against the Arab rebels in the Atlas Mountains. While in Morocco he got the nickname The Terror of Morocco.

The war in the Atlas Mountains was long and in 1931 the strong Arab offensive surrendered. In 1935, when Juutilainen returned to Finland, the whole of Morocco was under French control.

The Winter War

In November 1939 Soviet Union attacked Finland. The war was to be known as the Winter War, and Juutilainen served in the Finnish army. He is chiefly remembered for his exploits in the Battle of Kollaa. The Battle of Kollaa in the Winter War is remembered from the Major General Hägglund's sentence "Will Kollaa hold? (Kestääkö Kollaa?)" which Lieutenant Aarne Juutilainen answered: "Yes it will hold unless we are told to run."

In fact, during his command at Kollaa in December 1939 he negotiated with Woldemar Hägglund about the strategy of the Kollaa Front, which was extremely important in The Winter War. The Battle of Kollaa was one of main battles in the Winter War. "Unless we are told to run" means exactly that, because a week ago he was received regiment-order by the regiment messenger office, cadet Ahti Vuorensola, to withdraw. And he didn't.

Afterwards lieutenant-colonel and regiment commander Wilhelm Teittinen, who commanded the JR/34 at the Kollaa Front gave all honor "He created the Kollaa Spirit" just to captain Aarne Edward Juutilainen, why Kollaa held.

Of course, this was all teamwork and people such as Carl von Haartman and Simo Häyhä were important with other soldiers at the Kollaa Front during the Winter War.

Literature

* Der Winterfeldzug. Krieg in Finnlands Wäldern 1939/40. Berlin 1941, Metzher - Erkki Palolampi
* Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia as [http://www.wfyi.org/fireandice/people_places/leaders_finnish.htm Video/DVD]