Aarne Juutilainen

On 20 June 1930, Juutilainen travelled to France and joined the French Foreign Legion. He was transferred to Fort St. Nicolas in Southern France, near Marseille, and from there to Oran in Algeria. He spent time in a Foreign Legion training camp in the town of Sidi Bel Abbès.[5] From there he was transferred to Fez and fought in several battles against the Berber rebels in the Atlas Mountains.[5] Because of his service in Morocco, he was called "The Terror of Morocco" by Finnish troops.[5]

The war in the Atlas Mountains was long, and in 1931 the Berber offensive surrendered. Juutilainen served in the Foreign Legion for a full five years and was rewarded with the Legion Cross and French citizenship.[5] He returned to Finland on 20 June 1935, by which that time the southern part of Morocco was under French protectorate.

Captain Juutilainen at the front at Kollaa during the Winter War.

In November 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, starting the Winter War. Juutilainen served in the Finnish army during this war, notably during the Battle of Kollaa.[1]

Major General Woldemar Hägglund's question "Will Kollaa hold?" ("Kestääkö Kollaa?") was famously answered by Lieutenant Juutilainen: "Kollaa will hold, unless the orders are to run." ("Kyllä kestää, ellei käsketä karkuun juoksemaan.")

During his command at Kollaa in December 1939, Juutilainen negotiated with Hägglund about the strategy for the Kollaa Front. The Battle of Kollaa was strategically important. "Unless we are told to run" meant exactly that; a week earlier, he had received a regimental order to withdraw, which he disregarded.

Afterwards, Lieutenant-Colonel and regiment commander Wilhelm Teittinen, who commanded the JR/34 at the Kollaa Front, honored Juutilainen: "He created the Kollaa Spirit". ("Hän loi Kollaan hengen")[1]

By 1940, he was a captain commanding the "Moroccan company", a unit of "good shots and good skiers" who had all been decorated for bravery. A contemporary news report described the unit as having achieved "startling victories in this sector" during the war. Juutilainen's men called him "papa". He used the guerilla warfare skills he learned with the French Foreign Legion to train his men. By this time, Juutilainen had lost one finger of his right hand as a result of Russian shrapnel.[6]

During the offensive phase of the Continuation War, Juutilainen served as company commander and battalion commander in the Infantry Regiment 9.[4][1] He had the reputation of the Winter War on his shoulders and his actions were closely monitored. Juutilainen was at his best in the front line, in the middle of a fight. In Svir, he served as commander of the Battle Division of the Infantry Regiment 3.[1] The future Commander of the Defense Forces, Yrjö Keinonen, also served as one of the company's commanders in the Combat Department.[7]

After the fiercest battles of the Continuation War in Gora in 1942, Juutilainen was transferred to the command of the JR 9 garrison, a position he served in during the station wars. As a regimental commandant, he had more than a year to be promoted to 7th Division Commandant.[1] He served as the division's commandant for a year. After that, before returning to the field army, Juutilainen served from May 1944 as commander of the 31st Prisoner of War Company. The transfer to the platoon was due to "continued drunkenness and the beating of the commander in April 1944", according to the Punishment Diary of 7th Division officers; as he served as commandant of the division's headquarters, action and excitement were replaced by alcohol that was consumed in considerable quantities.[1] He was known as a nervous and ferocious man, and didn't bow to anyone, he was even known to have shot at the foot of a subordinate when he gave impetus to his orders; but in the front line, he took care of his men, was fair and respected by his subordinates.[1]

In the summer of 1944, Juutilainen once again took part in the fighting in the direction of the company in the direction of Loimola, and he was also there when the armistice was concluded and came into force at the beginning of September 1944.[8]

As the captain of the Lapland War, Aarne Juutilainen took part in the early stages of monitoring the retreat of the German XX Mountain Army together with his regiment, from which the reservists had already been repatriated.[9][8] Juutilainen's battalion followed the fighting retreating Germans to Karesuvanto and still to Lätäseno until Captain Aarne Juutilainen received a notice that he would have to formally apply for resignation from the Finnish Defense Forces in December 1944.[1][8]