Passing of last Mannerheim Cross recipient
Wanted to post this here in case someone hasn't heard the news yet.
Tuomas Gerdt (born 1922), the last surviving recipient of Finland's Mannerheim Cross of Liberty 2nd Class, passed away this morning at the age of 98.
A member of the Civil Guard, Gerdt entered service as a volunteer in December 1939 at the age of 17 and was assigned to evacuation duties on the home front for the rest of the Winter War. At the outbreak of Barbarossa and the Continuation War in 1941, Gerdt fought with Infantry Regiment 28 and was promoted to corporal on July 15. He received the 95th Mannerheim Cross for his actions during an assault on a Soviet base in late July 1942 when he volunteered to lead the attack and later recovered a wounded captain from the battlefield while under constant fire.
Tuomas Gerdt had been the last of the 191 "Marshal's knights" since the death of Heikki Nykänen in 2011.
.
Bookmarks