Fighter Squadron 21 history, Page 7

7. Continuation War 1941 - 1944

The land-based liaison squadrons started the Continuation War mostly with aircraft that had been already used in Winter War and where the the aircraft had more or less proved to be outdated. The only difference was the Curtiss Hawk 75 A (CU) fighter which Sqn.12 and 14 received in the end of June and during early July 1941.

The Curtiss would have suitable for reconnaissance missions because of the long endurance and the speed (435 km/h at 3500 m/11.500 ft) would have been well enough in 1941. But the Curtisses were transferred to Sqn.32 in mid-July 1941 and they formed the basis of that squadron till the end of the Continuation War. Squadrons 12 and 14 received in exchange Fokker D XXI (FRm) planes used by Sqn.32. By doing the exchange one fighter squadron ended up being fully operational, but two liaison squadron had lower reconnaissance capability as a result.

The Fokker (FRm) aircraft that the liaison squadrons received in July 1941 had served already in the Winter War. They were equipped with the British Mercury engine that gave them a maximum speed of 418 km/h at 5000 m/17.000 ft altitude. Squadron 14 received later model Fokkers (FRw) in November 1941 and later Squadron 12 joined the FRw users. The aircraft were built in Finland and they were fitted with the American Pratt&Whitney Twin Wasp Junior engine. Of these two versions the later one proved out to be worse. In addition to a lower climb rate the FRw was also slower than the Mercury-Fokker in level flight except in sea level.

Chart: Sqn.12, 14, 16 and 32 warplanes 2 July 1941, 12 June 1942, 4 June 1943, 1 June 1944 and 1 Sept 1944

Squadron	2.7.1941		12.6.1942		4.6.1943		1.6.1944		1.9.1944
Sqn.12	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
	10	1	9	1	14	3	4	2	16	6
Type	FK-6, GL-3,CU-2		FRm-4, FK-4, RI-2		FRm-7, -5, FK-4, RI-2		FRm-5, FK-1		MY-20, BL-2
Sqn.14	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
	11	-	10	3	14	11	14	4	17*	-
Type	FK-8, GL-3		FRw-6, FRm-4,FO-3		MS-13, FRw-8,FO-3		MS-16, FRw-2		MS-11, FRw-2, LY-2,JU-1,FO-1
Sqn.16	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
	13	4	16	5	11	5	10	2	15	3
Type	GL-8, FK-5, LY-5		GL-11, FK-5, KO-1,LY-3,FE-1		GL-6,FK-5, LY-4,FE-1		GL-5, LY-4, FK-3		IT-7, MY-6, FK-5
Sqn.32	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E	K	E
	30	5	11	6	10	-	16	4	13	4
Type	FRw-20, FRm-15		CU-14, HC-3		CU-10		CU-18, LG-2		CU-14, LG-2, KH-1
K = mission capable				E = not mission capable				* = warplanes 1 Aug 44

Squadron 14 had to give its FK planes to Squadron 16 when Sqn.14 moved to Tiiksjärvi to support 14th Division. In exchange the squadron received FO planes. Squadron 14 began to receive better performing Morane Saulnier 406 (MS) aircraft in autumn 1942 and that became the most important type during the next year. Morane was still a usable fighter in 1941 having a speed of 449 km/h at 5500 m/18.500 ft altitude, but time passed also this type fast. The situation was the same with the Curtisses at Squadron 32. Curtiss was already slower than enemy aircraft during the war of attrition, but it was superior against LaGG-3 in dogfight because of its smaller turn radius.

The Finns developed a more powerful version of the Morane during wartime, called the "Mörkö-Morane" (Monster-Morane) (MSv), which had better weapons, speed (525 km/h at 4000 m/17.000 ft altitude) and climb rate than its predecessor. Unfortunately only two "Mörkös" (Monsters) were modified before the Continuation War ended.

Squadrons 12 and 16 got new aircraft as late as summer 1944. Then Sqn.12 received Bristol Blenheim (BL) and Myrsky (MY) aircraft and Sqn.16 I-153 (IT) and MY aircraft. Even though the Blenheims were old they marked a vast improvement compared to the previous FK planes because of their 80 km/h higher speed (435 km/h). The squadron gave the last FK planes to Sqn.16 in June 1944, whereby Sqn.16 had all the remaining flyable FKs. The I-153s that Squadron 16 received in the end of June were meant to be just temporary aircraft before the squadron could be fitted with the new domestic VL Myrsky (Storm) aircraft. Many war missions were flown with the IT aircraft also against vastly superior enemy Bell P 39 Airacobra fighters, but without losses.

Squadron 12 received the first domestic VL Myrsky (Storm) aircraft in late July 1944 and before the armistice the squadron had 20 aircraft. Squadron 16 received four Myrskys. Myrsky was a product of the Finnish aircraft design and production. A smallish 1065 hp engine - there was no better available - resulted in lower top speeds than the best enemy fighters had, having a maximum speed of 515 km/h at 3300 m/11.000 ft altitude.

In addition to the previously mentioned main aircraft types Squadrons 12, 14, 16 and 32 had several other aircraft types in their use. According to warplane and aircraft reports these squadrons used at least 25 different aircraft types, both warplanes and trainers. Because of the poor aircraft situation in the liaison squadrons fighter squadrons had to perform reconnaissance missions along their other missions.

The offensive begins in July 1941

Squadron 12 moved to a new base at Mikkeli. Because the squadron was about to receive new Curtiss aircraft the squadron organization was changed. The first flight got the Curtisses, second flight Gladiators and the third Fokkers (FK). The squadron began surveillance flights along the border on the 22nd of June 1941. The second and third flights were transferred to Joroinen and Puumala by the 27th of June. GL planes were given to Squadron 14 at Mikkeli. After different moves the squadron ended at Joensuu by the 9th of July.

Squadron 16 remained at Rissala. The first flight used GLs, the second LYs and the third FKs. The second flight moved to Rautavaara on the 22nd of June 1941 and on the same day the squadron received orders to begin surveillance over the border.

Squadron 14 used Padasjoki as the main base and Utti and Selänpää as working bases. The whole squadron moved to ultimately to Utti on the 9th of July 1941. Squadron 14 started to fly operational reconnaissance missions on the 24th of June.

Karelia map

Captain Auvo Maunula preparing for a mission in the Curtiss. Maunula became the 2nd class Knight of the Mannerheim Cross Order on the 9th of September 1942. Maunula led a recce patrol on the 7th of Oct 1941 when AAA shot down the wingman. Ob the 19th of February 1942 enemy AAA got six hits in Maunula's aircraft, one of them to the engine intake line, still Maunula pressed on and finished the mission. He was lost as the commander of Fighter Squadron 28 during a training accident in May 1944.

Squadron 12 had a busy first attack day. Because of the hectic operations the squadron suffered some losses. On the next day the squadron Fokkers (FK) flew two bombing missions against large enemy troop formations on the roads. In the evening of the 11th of July the squadron's FKs bombed enemy heavy batteries. The air commander gave so many bombing missions to Squadron 12 that all of them could not be handled with the few Fokkers that the squadron had. Giving the Curtisses away didn't help the Squadron 12 reconnaissance missions. When the first and second flight were waiting for their Fokker D XXI (FR) aircraft the operations of the whole squadron rested on the two-seaters in the third flight and they were busy; on the 19th of July the flight flew ten war missions. Now also day reconnaissance missions were flown with the FKs and often without fighter cover.

Squadron 12 flew the first reconnaissance mission with the Fokker D XXI (FR) aircraft on the 24th of July 1941. The third and second flights moved to a new base at Värtsilä in the end of July. On the last days of July the second flight moved to Läskelä field. Already on the 6th of August the whole squadron operated from the shore base at Mantsi. Reconnaissance missions were flown normally twice a day during the first part of the month. In addition to those missions the squadron flew bombing, artillery spotting and photographic missions. As a new mission the squadron took responsibility of the surveillance of the northern Lake Ladoga (Laatokka).

Squadron 16 flew during the Karelian Army's first offensive day four recce, one artillery spotting and two bombing and recce missions. 3./Sqn.16 operated from Höytiäinen and 2./Sqn.16 from the shore base at Ylä-Mylly. The next day was especially active since the squadron flew as many as 18 recce and two photographic missions. On the 13th of July FK-91 took off from the shore base at Höytiäinen and didn't return from its mission. In the end of July the first flight moved to Haarajärvi field at Tohmajärvi and the second and third flights moved to Värtsilä working base. Altogether Sqn.16 flew 138 war missions between the 10th and 31st of July 1941. Reconnaissance operations focused in finding out the enemy road traffic. In the southern part of the operating area the recce missions were flown with Gladiators. Normally two aircraft were used during the mission where the other pilot performed the reconnaissance duties and the other one checked the airspace. FK planes were used almost solely for photographic and artillery spotting missions. The squadron used Lysanders up north where there was little danger in countering enemy fighters.

In spite of losses the high operational tempo continued during August 1941. During the month 136 war missions were flown. 127 of these were reconnaissance missions. The Värtsilä base that the squadron used was left too far behind the lines. 1./Sqn.16 moved therefore forward to Uomaa. During the latter part of August poor weather hampered flight operations. When the advance of the Finnish troops halted in the end of August also traffic in the enemy rear areas decreased.

Pommeja Fokkeriin (25480 bytes)

Bombs are being loaded under the wing of a Fokker. The Fokkers turned out to be too slow and vulnerable in the beginning of the Continuation war. This limited their usage in reconnaissance and bombing missions

Squadron 14 operations at the Karelian Isthmus in July 1941 were active and diverse. The squadron flew during July 66 reconnaissance, 44 combined recce/propaganda, 6 troop replenishment, 3 bombing, 3 escort and 2 artillery spotting missions, 156 missions altogether. The main area of operations for Squadron 14 was the front at the Karelian Isthmus. In the area the aircraft had several air combats against the red fighters. On the 20th of July a FK was on an artillery spotting mission and when one of the three-ship FR escort patrols entered dogfight with three I-153s. This time there were no losses even though one FR got some twenty hits. On the next day the squadron wasn't as lucky. In the evening a two-ship FR patrol entered fight with enemy fighters and one of the FR aircraft was shot down.

Squadron 14 was taken under the direct control of the Commander of the Finnish Air Force on the 29th of July 1941. In the same order the squadron was to prepare to operate mainly in the II Army Corps area and with one flight in the IV AC area. The main mission after the II AC offensive had begun was reconnaissance and attacks against surface targets. The squadron was ordered to move to Lappeenranta where also Squadron 32 was based.

The II AC offensive started poorly for Squadron 14. The squadron was tasked in enemy artillery spotting against batteries which hadn't been located by the own artillery or started action only after the attack. The squadron tried to bomb a battery at Ilmee with three FKs on the last day of July. Two aircraft were lost and the probable cause was that the bombs exploded immediately after release.

The squadron continued active operations for the whole August achieving 127 war missions. Low cloud base made flight operations difficult at times.

Autumn 1941

The Karelian Army offensive at Tuulosjoki commenced in the morning of the 4th of September after a particularly heavy artillery barrage by Finnish standards. The Soviet forces could perform only minor resistance in the beginning so the attack advanced well. Jäeger units conquered the Nurmoila area on the 6th of September and on the northern shores of Lake Syväri the Finnish troops arrived at Lotinanpelto on the following day. During the next days the Finnish forces cut the railway connection to Murmansk and formed a large bridgehead south of Syväri where fights continued until the 22nd of September. After this the forces maintained defensive positions at Syväri.

To the north the forces began their attack towards Petroskoi (Petrosawodsk) in mid-September and entered the city on the first of October. After Petroskoi was under Finnish command the army turned towards north. To cover the western flank of the Karelian Army and to reach easily defensible positions the troops advanced to Maaselkä Isthmus between Karhumäki and Seesjärvi. The final offensive started on the 5th of December 1941 when the Karelian Army entered the town of Karhumäki. On the sixth of December Finnish troop entered Poventsa and took defensive positions along the Äänisjärvi - Seesjärvi isthmus waterways and canals.

Squadron 12 participated during August in the preparations for the Tuulosjoki offensive by photographing enemy positions and attack routes for the Karelian Army. An infrared camera was also used during the photographic missions.

On the 6th of September Sqn.12 aircraft spotted a lot of enemy road traffic between Mäkriä and Lotinanpelto. Squadron commander, Capt. Maunula, requested and got a permission to attack the road traffic - only with Fokker D XXI (FR) aircraft. The usage of the more effective bomber FK was allowed only if a road block was to be created. The attack with eight Fokkers turned out to be a success because some 15 - 20 trucks were destroyed. Soviet fighters entered the attack area and in the following air combat a I-153 was shot down. In the evening the FK flight moved to a new working base at Vitele.

In mid-September the squadron aircraft entered air combat against the new enemy MiG-3 fighters for the first time. First a two-ship FR patrol and later on the same day FK-98 entered dogfights against the fast MiGs without damage and losses. Later in September reconnaissance flights to Petroskoi were more difficult in clear weather because the enemy fighters patrolled in the vicinity of the city. The fighter menace forced the unit to convert more to operations during the dark time of the day.

In mid-September the squadron was ordered to move to Vitele and a few days later 1./Sqn.12 moved to Nurmoila, where most of the squadron was based in the end of October and that became the main base for the squadron for the next two and a half years. The front stabilized on the Aunus Isthmus by early October and the war of attrition started.

Topi Vuorinen ja FR-109 (42207 bytes)

Topi Vuorinen (FR-109) has flown 100 war missions and gets the wreath from the maintainers and a female "Lotta".

Squadron 16 flew 58 reconnaissance, 20 combined recce/propaganda, 4 combined recce/photo and four photo missions, altogether 84 war missions. Bad weather affected the flight operations a lot during September. Also poor air base situation and the fact that Värtsilä was too far from the front made missions difficult. The situation eased a bit when the third flight moved to Uomaa in early September and only the second flight remained at Värtsilä.

On the third of September LY-121 countered three I-16 fighters in air combat at Tsakinselkä. Gunner Reino Pesu (pilot master sergeant Eero Pakarinen) shot down one of the attackers, but also the Lysander had to make a forced landing in the woods with the crew surviving with only minor wounds.

The army offensive continued at the Squadron 16 area of responsibility in October. Therefore the squadron saw a lot of operations. It moved to Solomanni field at Petroskoi (Äänislinna) on the 9th of October. It was only 16 km (10 mi.) to the front from the new base so the operational situation improved a lot. During full moon and clear weather in early November Squadron 16 used GL and FK aircraft at night to attack the retreating enemy troops, camps and villages.

Karhumäki operation ended the offensive phase of the Finnish Army. During the offensive Sqn.16 flew in clear moonlight conditions and the enemy began to harass the squadron operations by patrolling over the front with single fighters. Also cold weather affected Squadron 16 operations in early December and only half of the aircraft were flyable. When the front stabilized at Maaselkä Isthmus also Squadron 16 operations decreased. The war of attrition started for all liaison squadrons.

Squadron 14 operations were clearly effected by the quiet ground operations in September 1941. The squadron flew only 83 war missions during the month when the number had been 127 in August. Most of the reconnaissance flight were flown to western Karelian Isthmus and Koivisto. When Finnish troops advance to the old border and beyond in some places was the Lappeenranta base too far back. Flights were moved closer the the front when 1./Sqn.14 was moved to Suur-Merijoki on the 7th of September and week later to Suulajärvi, where 2./Sqn.14 moved on the 2oth. In mid-September the squadron became under the command of Flight Regiment 3.

Business continued as usual in the squadron during October. When the weather permitted the squadron flew two to three reconnaissance missions to the Karelian Isthmus, Koivisto and the sea area. On the 21st of October the squadron received forward warning that it was to move to Tiiksjärvi, where it would work for the 14th Division. During the move the squadron gave its FK planes and personnel to Squadron 16. In exchange the squadron received the FO aircraft from the decommissioned Sqn.10 and also the Fokker D XXIs (FRw) from Sqn.30. Squadron 14 was in effect reborn. The first flights from Tiiksjärvi took place on the first day of November.

The squadron performed the reconnaissance missions during the last two months of 1941 with large formations. Usually a 3 - 4 plane formation was used for recce - at times even six planes were used. Especially during November attacks against ground targets were combined with the reconnaissance mission.