LUFTWAFFE |
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FLYING UNITS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FINLAND 1941 - 1944 |
LUFTWAFFE |
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FLYING UNITS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FINLAND 1941 - 1944 |
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LUFTFLOTTE 1 (Lfl.1) Befehlshaber
. 1941 Kommando Luonetjärvi Germans received their permission to use Finnish airfields Utti, Luonetjärvi and Malmi (in Helsinki) already a few days before The Operation Barbarossa officially began on 22.6.1941. Already in the spring 1941 secret high altitude photography reconnaissance missions had been carried out over Soviet Union by Fernaufklärungsgruppe Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (Aufkl.Gr.(F) Ob.d.L) or more likely its Versuchstelle Höhenflüge using Junkers Ju 86P and Dornier Do 215A long-range high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. These planes flew over Finland several times without any permission from Finnish authorities. On the other hand Soviet planes didn't respect Finnish territory either. Alone Soviet MBR-2 flying boats crossed Finnish border at least 59 times during the first half of the year 1941. On 20.6.1941 two German Dornier Do 215B long-range reconnaissance aircraft and one Heinkel He 111 of Kommando Luonetjärvi i.e. Kette 1.Staffel / Fernaufklärungsgruppe Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (Ke.1./Aufkl.Gr.(F) Ob.d.L) (code T5+) (Hauptmann Bolle) flew to Luonetjärvi airbase in Central Finland. Between 18. - 20.6. three Heinkel He 111P transport planes delivered a German radio station to the base and on 21.6.1941 German personnel arrived in Luonetjärvi. Kette operated from Luonetjärvi on 20.6. and between 22.6. - 20.8.1941 photographing the regions of Leningrad - Murmansk railway and Stalin's Canal in East Karelia. Kommando Luonetjärvi left Finland as late as on 13.9.1941. Another
airfields commonly used by the long-range reconnaissance
planes of Aufkl.Gr.(F) Ob.d.L and long-range
reconnaissance units of Luftflotte 1 were Malmi (Helsinki)
and Utti. During 21.6. - 28.8.1941 Heinkel He 111
recon plane flew a total of 16 missions from Malmi and
between 12. - 18.11.1941 Dornier Do 215B carried
out 6 missions. Fliegerführer Ostsee Between
June 1941 and 27.10.1941 most German planes of Luftflotte
1 operating in Southern Finland were subordinated to Fliegerführer
Ostsee (Fl.Fü.Ostsee) (Oberstleutnant / Oberst (1.8.41) Wolfgang von
Wild) at first in Swinemünde, since June 1941 in
Metgethen and between 8. - 10.1941 in Riga. Its flying
units were initially:
KGr.806 (code M7+) was equipped with about 20 - 25 Junkers Ju 88A-5/A-6 bombers. In July it received its first Junkers Ju 88A-4s. Squadron was redesignated as III/KG 54 on 1.9. and moved to Mediterranean theatre of war in November 1941. Aufkl.Gr.125 (code 7R+) was a short-range maritime reconnaissance squadron. Since July 1941 squadron operated from Ruissalo (island in Turku, Finland) with about 9 Heinkel He 60 (1. Staffel, later renamed as 2. Staffel), 9 Heinkel He 114 (2. Staffel, later 1. Staffel) and 9 Arado Ar 95 (3. Staffel) float planes. Not full 3.Staffel was moved to Santahamina in Helsinki on 26.8. as Kette Schallmeyer until it was moved to the Baltic States on 4.11.1941 for winter. The rest of the Gruppe operated since August from the Baltic States (Pärnu, Haapsalu, Pillau and Riga). Stab / Fl.Fü.Ostsee had Arado Ar 66, Blohm & Voss BV 138 and Fieseler Fi 156 Storch planes in its disposal. These and planes of the other mentioned units may have occasionally been also in Finland. Temporarily
subordinated units of Fl.Fü.Ostsee were I.
Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 77 (I./KG 77) equipped
with Junkers Ju 88A bombers and Staffel
/ Jagdgeschwader 54 (?./JG 54) with about 15
Messerschmitt Bf 109F fighters. On 26.7. II.
Gruppe / Zerstörergeschwader 26 (II./ZG 26) with
Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters was
subordinated to Fl.Fü.Ostsee and yet another unit
Küstenfliegergruppe 506 (Kü.Fl.Gr.506) (became
new III/KG 26 by 31.5.1942) with 14 Junkers Ju
88A-5/A-4 bombers on 21.9. when both I./KG 77
and II./ZG 26 were subordinated directly to Luftflotte
1. Fliegerführer Ostsee was suspended on 27.10.1941. Initial Aerial Operations On 21.6.1941 Finnish airbase Utti was reserved for the Germans. Early on 21.6. German personnel, supplies (bombs/mines and fuel) and a weather reconnaissance plane of Luftflotte 1 arrived in Utti. Early next dawn at 3:05 am on 22.6. 14 Junkers Ju 88A-5 bombers of Kampfgruppe 806 reinforced with four planes of Kette 1. Staffel / Küstenfliegergruppe 506 (Ke.1./Kü.Fl.Gr.506) flew from East Prussia and mined the passages from Kronstadt naval base west from Leningrad using heavy BM 1000 mine-bombs (2 mines / plane). Soviet anti-aircraft guns didn't shoot attacking planes. On 22.6.1941 another German bomber formation (either from KG 1, KG 76 or KG 77) of I. Fliegerkorps (Commander Generalleutnant Helmuth Förster) with Junkers Ju 88A-1/A-5 planes flew through the Finnish airspace and attacked against the Canal of Ladoga and Sea Channel of Leningrad - Kronstadt. The city of Leningrad was not bombed during these initial missions and all targets were military ones. After completing their missions all about 50 German bombers directed to Utti airbase where they were refuelled and continued back to their home bases in East Prussia. In the morning on 22.6. about 20 German bombers attacked also against Soviet naval base at Hanko. Early in the next morning bombers of Luftflotte 1 repeated the mining of Kronstadt harbour losing now several aircraft. Planes were again refuelled at Utti where one plane crashed during landing. German Junkers Ju 88 photography/weather reconnaissance plane missed early on 23.6. and landed to Finnish airbase at Hyvinkää where it was refuelled. During the early days of The Operation Barbarossa 1./KGr.806 operated both from Utti and Malmi airfields against the Soviet naval targets near Leningrad and Hanko naval base on Finnish territory. Hanko was a secondary target for bombers if weather was too bad in their primary target. Hence on 23.6. at first 11 and an hour later 21 German planes bombed Hanko. Next attack took place on 25.6. with six German bombers. On 22. - 23.6. planes at Malmi had been so heavily loaded that Germans urgently asked Finns to lengthen the runway to 1.500 m! Between 24. - 26.6.1941 Finnish engineers pulled down a total of 5 houses and cut down forest from the both ends of the airfield. On 25.6. four Junkers Ju 88A-5 bombers (Kette/KGr.806) operating from Malmi airfield bombed Soviet heavy cruiser Kirov at Kronstadt but all bombs missed the target. Next day the whole KGr. 806 with 11 available Junkers Ju 88A planes was at Malmi (additionally one forced landed in Southern Finland). Early on 28.6. bombers attacked against the lockgates of Stalin's Canal (Lake Ladoga - White Sea) but Gruppenkommandeur Maj. Hans Emig was lost because a prematurely exploded bomb destroyed his plane. One bomber forced landed at Utti after the mission. Eight Junkers
Ju 88A bombers of I. Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader
77 (I./KG 77) operated from Malmi airfield
between 20.8. - 1.9.1941. 1942 Kommando Philipp During the summer and autumn 1942 German Luftwaffe naval detachment Einsatzstab Fähre Ost (Commander Oberstleutnant F. Siebel) equipped with about 20 armed "Siebel artillery barges" and supported by four light German mine layer boats under the command of Luftflotte 1 operated on Lake Ladoga for interfering Soviet supply shipping to Leningrad together with a rather weak Finnish naval detachment and a squadron of four Italian motor MAS torpedo boats. Their bases were at Sortanlahti and near Käkisalmi. To protect
these vessels German flying detachment called Kommando
Philipp or Kommando 1./JG 54 (1.Staffel
/ Jagdgeschwader 54, also planes from III./JG 54) (Staffelkapitän
Oberleutnant Götz) was moved to Petäjärvi
airbase. In September detachment was reinforced with two Heinkel
He 60 and one Heinkel He 59 maritime rescue
planes located at river Vuoksi near Käkisalmi. About 15 Messerschmitt
Bf 109F-4 fighters operated from Petäjärvi and
Mensuvaara airbases between 28.6. - 29.10.1942. 1943 Clearing of Magnetic Sea Mines Since June
1943 two to three German Junkers Ju 52 magnetic
sea mine clearing planes of Minensuchstaffel
Helsinki / Minensuchgruppe 1 (2./MSGr.1) (code 3K+) flew low-level
missions from Malmi, Turku and Utti airbases to the Gulf
of Finland and Turku Archipelago. 1944 On 10.3.1944
all Staffeln of MSGr.1 became independent units. 2.
Minensuchstaffel continued its missions in
Finland during the summer 1944 with up to 15 planes. Ju
52 planes were also used for parachute training
of Finnish long-range patrol soldiers at Utti and Immola.
Staffel left Finland on 22.7.1944. Nachtjagd-Kommando Helsinki-Malmi - In the night on 6. - 7.2.1944 Soviets' Long-Range Strategic Bomber Air Force (ADD) launched a series of three large scale air raids against Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. On 12.2.1944 twelve German Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6/R6 night-fighters of I. Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 302 (I./JG 302 - planes had the red numbers of 2. Staffel) arrived in Malmi airfield at Helsinki from Jüterbog-Waldlager, Germany. Unit was active since 13.2.1944. In a typical German style also this command used several different names: Nachtjagd-Kommando Helsinki-Malmi, Einsatzkommando Helsinki and Nachtjagd-Kommando JG 302 in Helsinki. So far it is unclear who asked German night-fighters to Finland but it seems that their arrival was connected to the night-fighter training of Finnish pilots, not only to Soviet air raids. That is why German flying personnel consisted of the following experienced pilot trainers selected from all flights (Staffel) of I./JG 302 (re-formed I./JG 301):
Einsatzkommando Helsinki had also land personnel which consisted of two officers, twelve NCOs as well as fifteen aircraft and seven weapon mechanics. Total strength was about 50 men. German liaison officer was Hauptmann Kurt Rheindorff who was the assistant of German Luftwaffe Military Attaché and liaison officer in Finland Major (d.Gen.St.) Friedrich-Frans von Nordenskjöld. German night-fighters operating from Malmi airfield were under the guidance of Finnish Air Defence Center of Anti-Aircraft Regiment 1 which was called "Torni" [Tower] (Repulse Chief Capt. A. Pesonen). Operatively Einsatzkommando Helsinki belonged to both Luftflotte 5 and Jagdführer (JaFü) Ostland (fighter command HQ of Jagdabschnitt Reval-Helsinki) which was an interesting arrangement. Planes used the so called "Wilde Sau" method. During the second large air raid against Helsinki on 16. - 17.2. fighters of I./JG 302 shot down two Soviet bombers as did the heavy Junkers Ju 88C night-fighters of 4.Staffel / NJG 100 operating from Ylemist (Laksberg) airfield in Tallinn, Estonia. Third air raid was carried out on 26. - 27.2. and this time fighters shot down another four bombers. Althought the results gained on both sides were not so good efficient Finnish anti-aircraft fire and the presence of night-fighters probably prevented further attacks against Helsinki. In April 1944 I./JG 302 lost three
planes without enemy influence and had only seven working
planes left. Staffel returned back to Germany on 15.5.1944. Jagdabschnitt Reval-Helsinki Because there were no Finnish night-fighters Jagdabschnitt Reval-Helsinki (Night-Fighter District Tallinn-Helsinki) was formed on 15.2.1944. It consisted of two separate areas of which Jagdabschnitt Reval consisted of Estonian territory and Jagdabschnitt Helsinki an area of about 40 x 40 km around Helsinki. Since early 1944 German night-fighters of Jagdabschnitt Reval operated under the guidance of Nachtjagd-Leitschiff [night-fighter conduct ship] Togo (Korvettenkapitän Lück) on the Gulf of Finland mainly somewhere near Tallinn. Ship was armed with three 105 mm and a total of thirty 37 mm and 20 mm AA guns and had Freya and Würzburg-Riese radars equipped with Düppel anti-interference device. Radio contact between Jägerleitoffizier (JLO) [Fighter Conduct Officer] and night-fighters was kept using Telefunken Fu.G 16 radios through Zerhacker encrypting device. Luftwaffe personnel of 75 men belonged to 22.Kompanie / Luftwaffen-Nachrichten-Regiment 222 (22./Ln.Rgt.222) (Chief and JLO: Oberleutnant Rössler). Nachtjagd-Leitschiff
Togo conducted only heavy night-fighters
operating from Estonia. These units were 4.Staffel /
Nacht-Jagdgeschwader 100 in Tallinn and 1.Staffel
/ Nacht-Jagdgeschwader 200 in Riga. Fighters at Turku On 19.6.1944 twelve Focke-Wulf FW 190A
fighters of 1. Staffel / Jadgeschwader 54 (1./JG
54) arrived in Turku to protect German naval forces (including
heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen) on the northern Baltic
Sea. Nachtjagd-Leitschiff Togo was again
in duty providing temporary radar cover. Staffel left
Finland in mid-July 1944. Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey In the
summer 1944 a large temporary aerial battle group called Gefechtsverband
Kuhlmey was formed and sent via Malmi and Utti to
Immola airbase to support Finnish defence in Karelian
Isthmus. The composition of this highly important and
very experienced detachment is described on Gefechtsverband
Kuhlmey page. Units came both from Luftflotte 1
and 5. Jabos at Utti I. Gruppe / Schlachtgeschwader 5
(I./SG 5) (Gr.Kdeur Major Fritz Schröter) visited
at Utti airbase with 17 Focke-Wulf FW 190F-8 Jabos
(fighter-bombers) between 3./4.8. - 13.8.1944. During
that period - due to a severe shortage of fuel I./SG 5
flew only three rather effective sorties against Soviet
naval forces on the Gulf of Finland. . |
© 2001 - 29.8.2006 Harri Anttonen