This year marks the passing of a hundred years since the coup attempt in Estonia by the communists, which caused the death of over 200 people. The coup failed completely. The insurrection was limited to Tallinn alone, perpetrated by only 250 poorly armed, poorly prepared rebels with even worse fighting morale. They were not even able to capture half of the targets that they attacked, and the insurgents were quickly driven out of the rest of the target locations.

The only military unit that the rebels took control of for a significant length of time (over five hours) was the Air Force Wing’s Ground Attack Squadron. Its base was at the Lasnamäe airfield. The success of the insurgents was due in part to the military unit’s isolated location (it was far from the city centre) and its distinctive internal features (the fragmented nature of the team, weak discipline, and poor training), but also partially to the treachery of one individual – an aeromechanic who was part of the assault group.

In order to better understand the nature, causes, and background of the events that took place at the Lasnamäe military airfield on 1 December 1924, the report of Lieutenant Colonel August Steinberg, the commander of the Air Force Wing at that time, is published. The report dated 19 December and addressed to Major General Johan Unt, the commander of coastal defence, air defence, and internal defence, is published in full and in unaltered form for the first time.

The report was drafted based on fresh evidence of the events yet with a brief temporal interval allowing time to gather and analyse information and to draw conclusions. Even so, as Colonel Steinberg himself repeatedly emphasises, much of what happened remains unclear, imprecise, and sometimes even contradictory. Such vagueness was probably inevitable after an unexpected shock. Regardless of that, the explanations, justifications, and opinions of direct participants in these events – albeit that they are sometimes palpably subjective – could also interest readers today.