Barbed wire obstacles
Barbed wire obstacles were beneath the fortified hills. Army got permission 1915 to cut down trees in 1000 meter range from the defense positions. There is no knowledge how extensively these works were done. If there was blind spots in the front of firing positions, they were fill with stones and camouflaged with turf. Outer edge of the obstacle was in the 30 - 100 meters distance from the firing positions. Machine guns placed so that they could fire effectively along the obstacle.
Single obstacle could be even one kilometer long. Whole land front area was surrounded by single or double, somewhere triple barbed wire obstacles. Openings were ensured probably with moveable obstacles, for example on the roads or counterattack places.
Barbed wire obstacle in the low moat protected by bank.Width of the obstacles were 6 - 10 meters. Outer edges of double obstacles were 20 meters distance from each other. Obstacles located in low moats and they were camouflaged from the enemy direction with 1 - 2 meters high bank which was mild to the enemy direction. Bank protected the obstacle for observation and artillery firing of enemy.
Barbed wire obstacle during the first world war. (Photo: Ivan Timirjasev, Helsinki City Museum)
Bank of the barbed wire obstacle. Pohjois-Haaga. (1998)There is still moats and banks of barbed wire obstacles in the land front. Large entireness could be found in Pohjois-Haaga and Pirkkola district. Länsimäki area has several hundred meters obstacle banks and also remains of obstacle poles.
Foots of the poles in the old barbed wire obstacle. Some poles are rounded for making easier to find them from the picture. Länsimäki, base II. (1999)
© 2000
