Sukho

an island in the southeastern part of Lake Ladoga. On Oct. 22, 1942, during the Great Patriotic War (1941–45), the island was the scene of a battle between a Soviet garrison and an enemy landing force. The battle was fought for the possession of the nearby Road of Life, the only water route from Novaia Ladoga to Mor’e linking Leningrad with the Mainland. The Soviet garrison, under the command of Senior Lieutenant I. K. Gusev, comprised 90 men and a shore battery consisting of three 100-mm guns.

On October 21, an Italian-Finnish-German flotilla consisting of 16 Siebel landing ferryboats and seven small landing boats and carrying a landing detachment left Keksgol’m in order to capture Sukho. At dawn on October 22, the flotilla was spotted on the approaches to the island by a Soviet minesweeper and a Soviet launch, which gave battle. The enemy had more than 90 guns, including 21 88-mm guns. The enemy opened fire on the island at 7:15 A.M. and began a landing at 8:08. The island’s garrison put up a heroic resistance and, with air support, drove the enemy away from the island at 9:20.

The enemy lost four ferryboats and three landing boats and, while proceeding to withdraw, was struck by ships of the Ladoga Military Flotilla and by Soviet aviation. The enemy lost 17 of its 23 vessels, as well as 15 planes; the flotilla was inactive for the rest of the war.