Place-names in Finnish are quite literal, most often constructed with a suffix that is also a noun, describing exactly what sort of terrain feature is involved. The following place-suffixes are common in this book, and a quick glance at them may help the reader visualize what some of these strange names actually stand for.
-järvi: lake
-joki: river
-lahti: bay
-niemi: cape
-ranta: beach
-saari: island
-suo: marsh
-vaara: ridge
The Finnish ä is pronounced like the a in apple.
The abbreviation JR stands for the Finnish term jalkaväki rykmentti, which means “infantry regiment”; 2/JR-16 is the designation for the Second Battalion, Sixteenth Regiment.