of war experience which in turn meant heavy losses. Three White battalions had at least 200 men killed, the total casualties were more than 50% of their strength in dead or wounded. Also the voluntary Swedish Brigade and the German-trained Jäger troops suffered hard losses. The Swedes were dressed in white snow-camouflage battledresses, making them an easy target as there was hardly snow at all. The Jägers wore green uniforms which easily stood out of the grey-suited privates. As a result, the 400-man Swedish Brigade lost 20 and the Jäger troops lost 27 officers. During the day, the Reds had 50–70 fighters killed. The Red leader Hugo Salmela died after a hand grenade accidentally exploded in his headquarters. He was succeeded by Verner Lehtimäki. According to the French journalist Henry Laporte, Lehtimäki drove in his car back and forth through the Red lines to encourage his men. Laporte was a retired officer returning from an official mission to Russia. He later described his experiences of the Tampere Battle in the 1929 book Le Premier Échec des Rouges. After the failed attack, the Whites halted their offensive for the next five days. Only the artillery was pounding the town. The artillery fire killed at least 20 civilians, some of them neutral or White supporters, and destroyed the working-class neighbourhoods of Tammela and Kyttälä almost completely. During this five-day period, the fighting continued in Lempäälä, where the Reds still were desperately trying to breakthrough. Battle in the town The Whites launched their decisive offensive on 3 April at 2:30 am. During the first day, they managed to take the eastern working-class districts of Tammela and Kyttälä despite the heavy resistance. The fighting went on block by block and house by house. The Whites finally reached the Tammerkoski river which divided the town in two. During the day, the Whites had 207 killed and the Reds 115–170. Also, nearly 20 civilians were killed. As leaving the town was impossible, people from the suburbs fled into the centre. Churches and other public buildings were crowded with refugees, the local residents hid in their basements. 1,700 people took shelter in the Tampere Cathedral. One of the most famous operations of the battle was conducted on the same day. A White unit led by jäger Gunnar Melin took the Näsilinna Palace on the Näsinkallio hill along Hallituskatu, only to lose it again in the evening, as