Battle of Honkaniemi

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Battle of Honkaniemi (Lebedevka)
Part of Winter War
A Vickers tank wreck
Date 25–27 February 1940 Location Karelian Isthmus, Finland 60°39′N 28°47′E / 60.650°N 28.783°E / 60.650; 28.783 Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
Finland Foreign Volunteers	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Col. Voldemar Oinonen Capt. I. Kunnas Lt. O. Heinonen	Col. V. Kashuba Capt. V. S. Arkhipov Capt. A. Makarov
Strength
23rd Division Jaeger Battalion 3 4th Armoured Company 4th Infantry Battalion 2nd Artillery Battalion	84th Division 35th Light Tank Brigade 112th Separate Tank Battalion
Casualties and losses
33 casualties 6 tanks	3 tanks
class=notpageimage| Location within Leningrad Oblast Show map of Leningrad Oblast Battle of Honkaniemi (Finland) Show map of Finland

The Battle of Honkaniemi was fought between Finnish and Soviet forces on 26 February 1940. This battle was notable for being fought by tanks, the only time they were used en masse in combat by Finnish forces in the Winter War.^[1]

The commander of the Finnish II Corps, General Harald Öhquist, had attached the Jaeger Battalion 3 and the 4th company of the Armoured Battalion to the 23rd Division.

The 23rd was responsible for the area around Lake Näykkijärvi, just to the southeast of Viipuri, the second largest town in Finland. Also, the 3rd Battalion of the 67th Infantry Regiment that was on loan to the 5th division arrived as well, giving the reinforcement that the commander of the 23rd Division, Colonel Voldemar Oinonen, needed to launch an attack against the Soviets. At 10:15 pm, the commander of the Jaeger Battalion 3, Captain I. Kunnas and Lieutenant O. Heinonen of the 4th Armoured Company received orders to attack.