G.E. Magnusson - the father of Finnish fighter tactics, Page 4 Towards 500 victories 1943 The Brewsters were getting old by early 1943. 12 aircraft had been lost during the war in combat or during forced landings. Seven aircraft were in the factory under repairs so there were only 23 combat ready Brewsters at Suulajärvi. Enemy was getting better and better equipment all the time. Ratas and Chaikas were being pulled out from the front. Now also American lend-lease fighters used by the Red Air Force were flying in the Leningrad area in addition to the British ones. Finns had to do with the old Brewsters. Lines had to be pulled together and tactics refined - that was Magnusson's medicine for the disease. There were talks of getting Messerschmitts for Finland in order to protect Kotka and Helsinki. Eino Luukkanen was being promoted to major and got a transfer on the 10th of November 1942 to LeLv 30 (a recce squadron) from the squadron. Magnusson selected young Lt Hans "Hasse" Wind to succeed Luukkanen as the commander of the 1st Flight. Capt Jorma Sarvanto took command of the flight on the 16th of January 1943. LeLv 24 situation 11 Feb 1943: Commander, Lt Col G.E. Magnusson, Suulajärvi 1st Flight, Capt Jorma Sarvanto, Suulajärvi (8 BW) 2nd Flight, Lt Iikka Törrönen, Suulajärvi (8 BW) 3rd Flight, Capt Jorma Karhunen, Suulajärvi (8 BW) In late 1942 Germany agreed to sell Finland 30 Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2s to equip one squadron. The contract for the Messerschmitts was signed on 1 Feb 1943. With Messerschmitts coming to Finland in spring 1943 a new fighter squadron, LeLv 34 was being formed at Immola on 23 January 1943 to protect the capital Helsinki and the southern coastline. The plan was to get all the highest scoring aces to the same squadron flying the latest fighter. After the first commander, Maj Ernrooth was killed during an aerobatics flight, Maj Eino Luukkanen became the commander of the new "Ace Squadron". Also Ilmari Juutilainen was being transferred to the new squadron. The enemy was now getting American Tomahawks and producing their own La-5s. Both fighters possessed a great firepower and in addition to that they were agile, fast and had a very good climb rate. All old fighters were now dedicated only for training. The Brewster pilots knew that they were in for some hard times.. The centralized command post for the Karelian Isthmus fighter command at Suulajärvi. LeLv 24 commander G.E. Magnusson and his most valuable aide - fighter controller "Kippari" Kauppinen. The 1943 air combat season opened on 14 April; a four-ship of Brewsters suddenly found themselves engaged with 30 Red Spitfires and La-5s. The Spitfires were covering a bomber formation and attacked the Finns immediately. The Brewsters succeeded in shooting down five fighters and disengaging from the fight. Hasse Wind had led the four-ship of Finnish Brewsters in the fight against the Red Spitfires. He scored two Spitfires in his BW-393 before disengaging from the fight after having lost one aileron when an Airacobra got a hit in his Brewster with the 30 mm cannon. More fights took place two days later over the same area. This time two La-5s dove to the waves. After a two-day break a  large fighter combat took place west of Kronstadt when 14 Brewsters fought against eight Il-2 bombers and 50 fighters scoring 2 Il-2s and 18 fighters. On 21 April the Brewsters surprised a mixed formation of 35 Yak-1, LaGG-3 and La-5 fighters over Seiskari. Karhunen, Törrönen and Sarvanto led the Finns to the fight. Fierce fights commenced and the enemy threw in additional forces from the Leningrad area. Brewsters shot down 11 enemy aircraft, but the victory was diminished by the loss of Eero Kinnunen and Tauno Heinonen. Brewsters were now outdated and had a hard time against the La-5s which were now using their yo-yo tactics against the Finns. The eclipse of the downturn in relative performance was the loss of Iikka Törrönen 2 May 1943. 21 April 1943 - Joppe Karhunen (left) debriefs the last mission of  Eero Kinnunen. To his right Magnusson, Wind, Sarvanto and Pyötsiä. Karhunen had led 17 Brewsters from Suulajärvi to a fight at Seiskari lighthouse over the Gulf of Finland. The Brewsters ended up in combat against 35 enemy fighters. Kinnunen was flying top cover in the 3rd flight. Kinnunen shot down a Jak-1 while the fight moved over Oranienbaum. Kinnunen's Brewster was hit by AAA and crashed on ice 10 - 15 km south of Ino. By May the obsolete Brewsters had scored 81 victories in six weeks with the loss of three aircraft. Altitude spacing between Brewster flights and concentrated attacks were the key to success. There weren't many Winter War veterans now left in Magnusson's squadron; only Jorma Karhunen, Jorma Sarvanto, Vikki Pyötsiä and Asmus Alho. Lauri Nissinen was returning to the squadron from Cadet School. Eka Magnusson trusted his young men who now commanded most of the flights. With the old Brewsters the situation was getting worse and once again it was time for the human to decide the outcome of the fight. Lt Col Magnusson meets his alert duty pilots at Suulajärvi after a victorious combat day in 1943. From the left Sgt Kauppinen, Lt Wind, Magnusson, Capt Karhunen, SSgt Katajainen and Ahokas. On the right "Kippari" Kauppinen from the fighter control post. Magnusson had a lot of talent in his squadron and the broad talent base was the secret to the success of the squadron. Magnusson was pretty harsh on the new pilots that the found lacking the needed fighter pilot capabilities. He arranged fast transfers for those pilots. Lt Col Magnusson reports LeLv 24 to Marshall Mannerheim on the 27th of May 1943. Mannerheim came to the Suulajärvi remote base to congratulate the squadron for scoring a total of over 500 victories (!) in the Winter War and the Continuation War. The 500th victory was achieved on the 9th of May 1943. On the 28th of August 1943 Finnish Air Force passed 1000 victories during WWII. There were five reasons why Magnusson could keep on the successful fight with the outdated Brewsters: The air surveillance and fighter control system created by Magnusson allowed the Brewsters to get into good attack positions over the returning enemy bomber formations during moments when the enemy was under attack from Maj Luukkanen's new Messerschmitt squadron The Brewsters were stacked in altitude so two attacking flights were supported by one more flying top cover which blocked the enemy from using its supporting fighters The Finns were stubborn enough to stay close to Oranienbaum where fierce fighter combat took place time after time Young Finnish fighter pilots had the proper tactical training and accurate shooting capabilities Magnusson's experience, skill and professionalism in leading air combat: using the proper amount of force every time Lt Col Magnusson, the commander of a fighter squadron with more than 500 victories. Go to G.E. Magnusson, page 5 Home Latest Topic | Air Warfare | Conferences/Air Shows | Fighter Tactics | Fighter Aircraft | Missiles | Fighter Aviation Topic | Fighter History | Warbirds | Magazines | Current News | Links | Physiology | Photo Gallery | Bibliography | SIIVET - Wings | What's New J Lindberg. Copyright © 1997-2006 Fighter Tactics Academy. All rights reserved. Revised: tammikuu 01, 2006.