Fighter Squadron 21 history, Page 6

6. Temporary Peace 1940 - 1941

After Winter War the air force units were relocated to suit the situation in the garrisons. Training units were located in western Finland, bomber regiment in central Finland and most of the fighter and liaison squadron in eastern and southeastern Finland. The bases for the liaison squadrons were Utti for Squadrons 12 and 14 and Rissala for Squadron 16. The fourth Winter War era liaison squadron, Squadron 10, was decommissioned in April 1940 and the personnel formed the initial cadre for the new Squadron 30.

Between Winter and Continuation Wars there were no significant changes in the aircraft inventory of the land-based liaison squadrons. New additions were the British Westland Lysander I and war booty Russian I-153. The performance of the inventory didn't improve with the new aircraft especially because the I-153 aircraft were transferred to other squadrons already prior to Continuation War. The Commander of the Finnish Air Force saw the value of the Lysander as minor in his memorandum dated in September 1940.

Chart: Warplanes 1 April 1940 - 1 June 1941

	1 Apr 1940		1 Sept 1940		1 Jan 1941		1 Jun 1941
Squadron	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
Sqn.10	5	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
Type		FK-5	-	-	-		-
	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
Sqn.12	8	2	12	4	11	4	12	1
Type	GL-6, FK-3, LY-1		LY-10,GL-4, FK-2		FK-6, GL-5, LY-4		FK-7, GL-5, LY-1
	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
Sqn.14	9	0	12	2	13	2	14	2
Type	GL-5, FK-4		FK-9, GL-5		FK-10,GL-4, LY-4		FK-9, GL-5, LY-2
	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
Sqn.16	9	0	9	3	7	4	15	0
Type	FK-3, FO-3, RI-3		FK-8, GL-4		FK-5, GL-4		GL-6, FK-5, LY-4
K = mission capable				E = not mission capable

An organization consisting of mainly fighter units could not be developed during the Temporary Peace. Two-seat liaison aircraft dominated the inventory of the liaison squadrons.

Westland Lysander I, LY-118 (28477 bytes)

Westland Lysander I. The aircraft was used for reconnaissance and dropping leaflets. Technical information: wingspan 15,2 m, length 9,3 m, height 4,4 m, Max speed 370 km/h, range 950 km. Bomb racks attached to landing gear and under the fuselage. Mainly used by 2./Sqn.16. Callsign: "Äly". LY-118 was destroyed at Hirvas during the Continuation war when the engine stopped during climb. Finnish Air Force used 12 aircraft during 1940 - 46, numbers LY-114 - 125.

The peace treaty in Moscow changed the air base situation. The bases of Flight Regiment 1 were left to the wrong side of the old border so the peacetime basing had to be rearranged from a new basis. As already mentioned Sqn.12 and 14 were located at Utti and Sqn.16 at Rissala. The squadrons flew wide area photographic missions during spring and summer 1940 for the I, II, III and IV Army Corps. Main defensive lines were photographed during spring 1941 by Squadron 12 in the III AC area.

The land-based liaison squadrons started training immediately after the Winter War. During spring 1940 the training focused in training the reserves and converting the regular force personnel to Gladiators. Squadron 16 couldn't finish the reserve training because the three FK planes received late in the Winter War suffered from maintenance problems. Sqn.12 and 14 had a better situation in winter and springtime and so they could train the reserve pilots and navigators with the FK and GL aircraft. The training included a lot of aerial gunnery mainly against surface targets. During the summer months and also after summer fuel shortages hampered the training.

The poor weather during spring 1941 affected the flight training. In addition to improving the individual capabilities in exercises the squadrons participated in army exercises in order to develop the co-operation between services. Maintenance personnel training was given during e.g. March 1941 when a course for assistant mechanics was arranged.

Into war again

The March 1940 peace treaty in Moscow didn't produce trustworthy relations between Finland and the Soviet Union. There were differences in interpreting the treaty and the Soviet Union conducted until spring 1941 policy where it tried to keep Finland in its sphere of influence. In Finland this was felt threatening and it was felt that Finland was conducting a foreign political defensive battle against the Soviet Union.

When connections to the west were cut in summer 1940 it seemed that Germany was the only counterforce against the Soviet Union in the Baltic area and so the Finnish foreign policy leadership searched for closer ties with Germany from June 1940 on. There were difficulties in the beginning, but when the Germans began to plan for their eastern offensive Finland became interesting. War material became available for Finland when the German troops were allowed to transit to northern Norway via Finland.

The co-operation between Finnish and German military officials began in late January 1941 when Lieutenant General Erich Heinrichs visited Germany and gave lectures about the lessons in the Winter War. During his visit he learned that the German high command was planning for an eastern offensive. The contacts between the Finns and the Germans continued during spring 1941.

Finnish army was mobilized on the 10th of June 1941 when defensive forces were armed. Full mobilization started on the 18th of June 1941. Germany started their offensive on the 22th of June. The situation of Finland was extremely difficult after operation Barbarossa started because even though Finland remained neutral it had forces from the both war waging countries on its soil and a part of the Finnish army was under German command up north. After the Soviet air force bombed several Finnish cities on the 25th of June prime minister Rangell said in his radio speech that Finland was once again in a state of war - the Continuation War had begun.

Fokker D XXI at Tiiksjärvi (20167 bytes)

Fokker D XXI had to be used for reconnaissance in addition to intercept missions. In the photo FR plane is under maintenance at Tiiksjärvi.

The Finnish Air Force that was mobilized had more and better equipment than during the Winter War. Especially the fighter force was larger and new high performance fighters had been introduced into service. On the other hand there were only a few bombers and the number of land-based liaison squadrons was smaller in June 1941 than during autumn 1939. In June 1941 two fighter regiments (Fl.R 2 and 3), one bomber regiment (Fl.R 4), three land-based liaison squadrons (Sqn.12, 14 and 16), one maritime liaison squadron (Sqn.6) and one separate flight (flight-x, later Sqn.15) were formed.

The orders for the first missions in the war were given on the 22nd of September 1941. The orders prepared for offensive and defensive warfare by giving both mission types to the squadrons. In the case of offensive warfare the command structure would be: Squadron 12 would be under the command of the II Army Corps (AC), Squadron 14 under IV AC and Squadron 16 under VII AC. A few days later when Finland already participated in the war the Commander in Chief gave orders to the Commander of the Finnish Air Force to change the 22 June orders. In the new orders the Karelian Army would get two liaison squadrons (Sqn.12 and Sqn.16) and IV AC one (Sqn.14). When the offensive phase of the Continuation War commenced in July 1941 the missions for the squadrons were according to the later 29 June orders.

The new organization for the liaison squadrons consisted of two fighter flights with nine aircraft in each and one flight with six two-seat liaison aircraft. This plan wasn't carried through by the beginning of the Continuation War and the numbers were a lot less than planned especially in fighter aircraft. The meaning of fighter aircraft was emphasized during the Continuation War and in the end of the war Sqn.12 and 16 were in the conversion process to become fighter squadrons, but the war ended first.

Squadrons 12, 14 and 16 operated in the beginning of the Continuation War as separate squadrons. The squadrons became under the command of the Air Commander of the Karelian Army and he led the squadrons until March 1942. After that the squadrons became under the command of the Aunus and Maasekä Groups until in May 1942 during the Finnish Air Force reorganization Squadron 12 became part of the newly formed Flight Regiment 1 and Squadron 16 part of the Flight Regiment 2. When the air force returned to regimental organization the army was no longer in command of the squadrons. Squadron 14 operated as a separate squadron throughout the Continuation War. It was under the command of different army units until July 1942, when it was taken out of army command into direct control of the Commander of the Finnish Air Force.

In spring 1944 the Finnish Air Force changed the organization once again and the squadrons were renamed after their missions into fighter, bomber and reconnaissance squadrons. During this change Squadrons 12, 14 and 16 became reconnaissance squadrons (RSqn) and Squadron 32 a fighter squadron (FSqn). When the Continuation War ended in autumn 1944 also the squadrons 12, 14 and 16 were renamed fighter squadrons.

Fokker C X, "Frans-Kalle" (21056 bytes)

Fokker C X, "Frans-Kalle" was a real workhorse in the liaison squadrons during Winter War and Continuation War. Technical information: two-seat reconnaissance and dive bomber aircraft, wingspan 12 m, length 9 m, height 3,3 m, Max speed 350 km/h, weapons: two 7,7 mm machine guns for the pilot and one 7,62 mm machine gun for the navigator. Bomb racks under the wings: 200 - 400 kg of bombs. Finnish Air Force used 39 aircraft during 1936 - 58, numbers FK-78 - 115.

The Flight Regiment 1 that operated between the wars was disbanded during mobilization in June 1941, when the squadrons became under the command of army units. During the May 1942 air force reorganization the regiment was re-established and squadrons 12 and 32 became units in the regiment.

On the 23rd of June 1941, two days before Finland joined the war against the Soviet Union, Squadron 12 had four Gladiators (GL) and six Fokkers (FK). Squadron 14 had eight FKs and 4 GLs. Squadron 16 had three FKs, four Lysanders (LY) and five GLs. Shortly after the war broke the Gladiators were moved to Squadron 16 and squadrons 12 and 14 started to receive new aircraft.

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Revised: tammikuu 01, 2006.