‘And what did you do in the War Daddy?’ In the years immediately following the Crimean War, a child asking this age-old question might have received the answer: ‘I was involved in the Royal Naval bombardment of Sveaborg.’ Where?
Sveaborg, subsequently Suomenlinna ‘Fortress of Finland’, was first colonised in 1748, a time when Finland was still a part of the Swedish empire. In 1808 it was surrendered to the Russians who held it until Finland achieved its independence in 1918. The cluster of islands on which it is built lie a 15 minute ferry ride into the bay from Helsinki, the capital city. Once completed, the military and civilian buildings here, most still standing to this day, were one of the most populated places in all of Finland, second only to Turku, with some 7,000 to 8,000 inhabitants. Helsinki itself had a population of only 1500 at the time, which has since grown to 620,000.
Today Iso-Mustasaari, the most-populated and built-up island of the group, is a haven of peace, its cobbled streets and courtyards lying between yellow stucco-fronted two storey barrack blocks. Brick storage buildings, since converted to museum or shop, still have a distinctly military look about them. The island’s church, built in 1854 for the mainly Orthodox garrison was originally topped with five onion domes. In the 1920s it was converted to a Lutheran church and nowadays doubles as a lighthouse, four strong beams of light sweeping towards the mainland every 13 seconds. Around the perimeter of the island the massive stone battlements still stand, mostly intact. Cannons still stand high above the sea, carefully preserved, as if to defend the islands for all time.
Two ferries travel from the waterfront in the city out to the islands; carrying around 100 passengers respectively. There is room on either boat for one or two medium-sized cars or vans. On each of the trips we made to and from the island (where we stayed for one night) a single white van boarded the ferry along with the mix of tourists and the island’s residents. Although it is in part a museum, a World Heritage Centre, there is a mixed community living on the island who must travel daily to the city for work, education or shopping.
During the coldest of the winter months the whole bay freezes over, and photographs taken at the time show tracks where vehicles and pedestrians can cross to the mainland. With warmer weather come the towering white ferries of the Silja (Seal) Line and the smaller red hulled Viking Line boats. Any remaining sheets of ice are smashed into small pieces, and our own small ferries to and from Suomenlinna clattered noisily through these.
In Helsinki, summer temperatures soar into the mid 80s. The cobbled Market Place in front of the cathedral and parliament buildings, criss-crossed by tramlines, is ablaze with the colours of the mountains of fresh berries and vegetables on the stalls. The air is full of the earthy smells of potatoes and carrots and the scent of fennel. There are the sounds of trams and the bustle of stalls selling everything from reindeer skins to fresh landed fish, taken straight from old fishing boats tied to the quay.
During the bombardment itself, the Russian-held fortress was attacked by a joint English and French fleet between the 7–8th August 1855. In all, 77 ships, 15,000 soldiers and 1500 cannons were employed. The ships stood off the Islands at a distance of 3 km. to avoid the Russian guns. Firing from such a distance onto the massive stone battlements, the would-be invaders made little impact. Most of the defenders of the islands found safety behind the thick defences and their fortress and weapons remained largely unscathed. A stalemate. Once the French and English had ceased firing, ending the 47 hour attack, the Russians feared landing parties, but no landings took place and eventually the ships all withdrew. Whilst the attack on Sveaborg fell in the middle of the Crimean Campaign (1854–56) there were not immense casualties (260 dead or wounded) and no great victory. Hence, perhaps, there is no clasp on the Crimea Medal and the battle is all but forgotten?