About 2,500 people worked at Mikkeli Headquarters in 1939–1945. Operations were located both in public buildings across the city and the surrounding rural manors. Units were better protected against bombing raids in the countryside.
During the Winter War, horses were gathered at Landhaus Kekkola (Kekkola Manor). Horses that were either requisitioned by the Defence Forces or captured in battle were brought to Kekkola. There were often more than a hundred horses at the manor. During the Continuation War, the manor housed the commander of Bomber Squadron 44 and his staff, and later the artillery inspector, General V.P. Nenonen, and his staff. The artillery inspector was the most important and influential weapons inspector appointed by the Commander-in-Chief.
Pilots studying for their mission in the main hall of Landhaus Kekkola on 30 July 1941. Photo: Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive
Mikkeli was bombed for the first time during the Winter War in January 1940. People fled the burning city, and eighty refugees were accommodated at Tertti Manor that evening. The artillery commander, Major General Väinö Svanström, moved to Tertti Manor with his staff after the bombing. The Intendant General and his staff, who were responsible for Headquarters' financial management, were housed there during the Continuation War.
Headquarters staff on the stairs of Tertti Manor. Photo: Tertti Manor Collection
Kyyhkylä Manor had previously served as a rehabilitation home for invalids of the Finnish Civil War. During the Second World War, in 1939–1945, it was home to the Headquarters administrative and coordination departments, as well as the military police commander and his staff. More than 2,000 Karelian evacuees were temporarily relocated to Kyyhkylä Manor during the summer of 1944.
Coffee in the manor gardens. Photo: Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive
