Ali Aaltonen
Ali Aaltonen | |
---|---|
Russian Finland, Russian Empire | |
Died | May 1918 (aged 33) Lahti, Finland |
Allegiance | Russian Empire Red Finland |
Years of service | 1903–1905, 1917–1918 |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Battles/wars |
Aleksi "Ali" Aaltonen (2 August 1884 – May 1918) was a
Life
Early years
Aaltonen was born to a poor land worker's family in
In the Finnish Civil War
In October 1917, Aaltonen was in Helsinki organizing the Workers' Order Guards, which soon became the Red Guards. After the general strike in November, he was elected the commander-in-chief of the Order Guards as Adolf Taimi refused. This was mainly due to his military experience in Russia.[3] In the beginning of January 1918, Aaltonen travelled to Saint Petersburg to purchase weapons for the Red Guards. Aaltonen, however, started drinking and the Finnish Reds had no clue of his whereabouts. On 13 January, the Red Guard general staff decided to fill his empty office as soon as possible. Despite his heavy drinking in Saint Petersburg, Aaltonen managed to buy a large cargo of guns and ammunition from the Bolsheviks. Finally, on 28 January, Aaltonen was replaced by Eero Haapalainen. The Civil War had started a day before.[4]
Aaltonen was then moved to the general staff. Together with the Russian colonel Mikhail Svechnikov, he composed a military operation plan for the Red Guards. It was planned for 30 January, and the major offensive was launched ten days later.[5] Aaltonen was sent to Tampere, where he served in the staff of Häme Front, under the command of Svechnikov, Hugo Salmela and Verner Lehtimäki. In the beginning of March, Aaltonen and Svechnikov composed another operation plan for a Red offensive. After the Häme Front collapsed in the north, he left the town on the last day of the Battle of Tampere. On the night between the 5 and 6 April, Aaltonen led a unit of Reds that managed to break through the enemy siege and flee across the ice of lake Näsijärvi.[6]
After some clashes in the Tampere surroundings, Aaltonen and his men joined the refugee column of tens of thousands of Reds who were on their way to the east. At the end of April, their way was closed by the German troops in the village of Nastola near Lahti. Aaltonen was captured and taken to the Hennala camp, where he was shot by the Estonian colonel Hans Kalm in May 1918. He was buried in a mass grave of more than one thousand Reds.[3]
References
- ISBN 978-1442252806.
- ^ "Aleksi (Ali) Aaltonen". Museo 24 (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-951-20748-6-0.
- ^ Hautamäki, Kirsi (1997). "Mannerheim saa tehtävän". University of Tampere (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ "Kronologia: Tammikuu". Svinhufvud – Suomen itsenäisyyden vaiheet ja tekijät (in Finnish). 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ "Punaisten pakoretki 6.4. Näsijärven kautta". Punainen Pispala (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 April 2017.