Memorial of the Alassalmi Battles

Having attacked at Juntusranta Red Army forces quickly succeeded in reaching the Ensilä road fork on the Suomussalmi-Kuusamo road. A part of the invadingforces headed northwards towards Kuusamo while the remainder turned south towards Suomussalmi. At Alassalmi at a narrowing in the waterways of Lake Piispajärvi the Finns succeeded in repelling the progress of the aggressor during a battle which lasted 6th – 16th December 1939. Finnish forces included the 16th Special Battalion from Kuusamo and the 65th Infantry Regiment which arrived in the area around Christmas. This monument was designed by a veteran of the Suomussalmi campaigns, Toivo Rossi.

The inscription on the stone reads:
“Enemy progress northwards during the Winter War was halted at this spot”.

The monument was erected in 1981.