Larry Thorne, originally Lauri Törni, was one of the greatest war heroes. He fought in three different uniforms (Finnish, German and US) and rose to captain in all of them. His journey ended in 1965 at Vietnam, serving in US special forces. After his death he was promoted to major. He also has a highest Finnish honorary medal, the Mannerheim cross and was nominated to honorary member of United States Army Special Forces 1. regiment.
His legend started in Finnish army and is remembered by the unit that was carrying his name, Törni Squadron.
Jaeger company, Detachment Törni, was established officially 3rd Dec 1943. 154 men accommodated in Salkovaara, all had jaeger Olavi Mannonen´s design logo on their sleeve. Logo was blue triangle, red letter T with yellow lightning striking threw.
Due the activity of the enemy, Detachment Törni was released late to their planned base Jouhivaara, on the last day of the year. Törni´s group got a reputation as a tough group of men which can be sent to hardest battles. Very hard training program was designed by Törni himself and operational department of the division.
Head of the division, general major Fagernäs thought the first version was even too hard and asked to make a lighter version of it. On 13th of January 1944, when general Fagernäs and major Lars Rönnqvist came to follow their training exercise, group used real explosives in training.
There was also other group based in Jouhivaara, led by major Eino Malmivaara and mission to defend the coast of lake Seesjärvi. These two groups arranged skiing competitions and practiced movement between the bases over the ice during the night. They also practiced counterstrikes.
In the end of January there was some changes in the company´s layout, some men were ordered back to their original units and some was hospitalized. 12th of February Mauno Koivisto joined Detachment Törni, he later became the president of Finland.
Törni´s men had their first real battle in the mid of March when Russians made hard attack against Kuusiniemi base and surrounded it. Detachment Törni was sent for help, and they beat the enemy. 83 soviet soldiers were killed and 32 prisoners captured. General Fagernäs presented to highest command that the highest award, the Mannerheim cross, should be given to Lauri Törni. It was not accepted.
Whenever the situation got worse, Detachment Törni was called to help. In June 1944 base Lion had a dangerous situation because company that was supposed to defend it was constructed from prisoners who escaped immediately when the Russian artillery started. The enemy captured the base, part of lost areas was recovered by their counterstrike.
In Ravanmäki fights they saved their own troops from getting into a moot by five soviet battalions. Company had huge losses, almost fifth of total force. General Fagernäs renewed his presentation for Mannerheim cross to Lauri Törni in 7th of July. General Fagernäs´s wish was that Lauri Törni could carry the Mannerheim cross while he was still alive, because his luck could not last forever.
Two days later the Mannerheim cross was awarded. 4th of September, the headquarters informed company that armistice will be in force at 7:00 next morning. Lauri Törni kept a speech to his troops, gave his last honorary medals and promotions. War of Törni jaegers was over.
Total composition of Detachment Törni was 239 men, three female auxiliary and two dogs. This group of voluntaries was everything from working men to Master of Arts, farmers to hobos.
When Detachment Törni was founded in September 1943, the knife factory established by Iisakki Järvenpää and carrying his name, had been operating for 64 years. It had been in cooperation with Finnish armed forces for decades, since it has been established. First order was a Bayonet knife in 1919. It was designed by famous artist and marshal Mannerheim’s adjutant Akseli Gallen-Kallela, for officers’ uniform for those who could not carry a sword in parades. Course knives for reserve officers had been made few years, since 1940.
During the war most of the knife makers were in arms, production was running by women and older men. Production line was reduced, and it was also restricted due to materials available. Most of the knives produced was a model called the Erikoisvuolu, meaning special whittle or wood carving. It had 10 cm (4”) polished carbon steel blade with a groove. The handle was birch bark with curly birch pommel, under a varnish a decal, Finnish coat of Arms. The fitting was made from zinc buckets, and despite the situation it still had hand engraved traditional decorations. The sheath was made of cardboard instead of leather. It also had a decal, tip of the pine and Finnish flag and leather tassels as a decoration.
Today the legacy and heritage of Detachment Törni and his men is kept by the Lauri Törni heritage guild, which has a great cooperation with Iisakki Järvenpää knife factory. Spring 2025 was 80 years anniversary for the end of the second world war. To celebrate the peace, we made a special knife, the Detacment Törni knife. The knife which could have been made in 1943, but back then had no time nor resources. This model is a war time model Erikoisvuolu, the fitting is nickel silver instead of zinc, the sheath is leather instead of cardboard. Under the varnish is decal, Detachment Törni logo, made from original patch.
The idea was to make a knife that Detachment Törni fighters would have, if there had been time and possibility to make one in 1943.
Detachment Törni logo is registered and protected. It is also used very rarely. The heritage guild is using their own logo which is based to this, but decal from this knife is from original patch from Törni´s troops uniform sleeve.
For each sold Detachment Törni knife, Iisakki Järvenpää knife factory will forward 10€ operating aid to Törni heritage guild.
A double sided copy will be provided with each knife, other side has a supreme commanders order no 137 written in Finnish and signed by marshal Mannerheim and the other side has a picture of Lauri Törni, painted by artist Markku Waulakorpi for the heritage guild.
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