Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey in Finland

[Max Boost]

Last weekend Finnish veterans had a veteran meeting in Ihantala, which was a scene for the biggest battle (Tali-Ihantala battle) between Finland and the Soviet Union in June-July 1944. One very important factor there was Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey equipped with Stukas and FW-190's. During the two months that they operated in Finland, they allmost doubled the number of Finnish air force in the skies of Karelian Isthmus, and had a major role in stopping the Red Army attack in the gates of Finland. This fact was silenced to death for allmost 50 years, but during the last ten years they have been honored as well as Finnish veterans, for the fight to keep Finland among the intependent nations. My grandfather told me how releafed they were everytime when they saw Stuka-formation flying over the lines, he said that when Stukas appeared, small-arm fire of the russians allmost totally halted when they seeked cover and that gave a break for the Finns, and gave them hope that Ivan could be won even thought the first three weeks of the Red Army's attack had been quite a disaster for the Finnish army. Main targets for the Stukas were to cut of the spearhead of the troops regroupping for another attack, hit tank formations and artillery bases. Jabos hit the frontline of the russians and gave cover to Stukas against russian fighters. They suffered heavy losses (40 planes out of 70 operational was lost and 26 of 90 pilots got killed during the 2 months), but their sacrifice was to earn them the respect of the Finns who saw them fight. For the majority of the Finnish foot soldiers it was the first time to see Stukas diving down from the heights, and they were impressed. Thought the russian flak was very intense, Stukas formed a ring above the the target, and one by one dived down to drop their bombs.
Now finally, I get to the point Was this battle the last time when Stukas had a big role in the battle or did they had any major succes later in the Eastern front? I know that Stuka was slow and an easy taget for enemy fighters, so they would have needed a strong escort in any case to be able to operate.
If anybody knows one of the Kuhlmeys's vets, tell him my respectfull regards and that they are not forgotten here. ´
"Damn nice to see that there still exists aeroplanes without a red star up there. Have some too, Ivan! " -my grandfather-

[Max Boost]

Few links concerning the previous text.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tali-Ihantala
http://personal.inet.fi/yhdistys/kymenl ... %20Kuhlmey
http://www.informationblast.com/Battle_ ... ntala.html

[greenhorn]

I was wondering if anyone could confirm that the Finns were supplied with Bristol Blenheims at the start of the war...

[Max Boost]

I was wondering if anyone could confirm that the Finns were supplied with Bristol Blenheims at the start of the war...

Hi Greenhorn,
yes, Finnish Airforce did have Blenheims, and they saw action duty all the way through Winter War 1939-1940, Continious war 1941-1944 and Lappland War 1944-1945 (against Germans). First Blenheims (MkI) came to Finland in to in 1938, and later models MkII and MkIV were delivered too. Besides the ones Finland bought from England, Blenheims were also manufactured in Finland under license. Here's few links that might give you more information (the first one includes also information about the Finnish Airforce badge, the blue swastika. Swastika was used in Finland long time before naziparty even existed)
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/ ... nland.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/2072/Finnaf.html

Here is a story of one operation where Blenheim was used

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2His ... mbers.html

Hope this will help you,

Cheers, Max

[greenhorn]

Cheers Max. Interesting stuff. General Mannerheim seemed to be a gentleman of the old school, having given his oath the the Tsar and then not bombing St Petersberg, whilst under fierce Russian assaults. A man of PRINCIPLE.... wouldn't last long nowadays.....

[Max Boost]

Cheers Max. Interesting stuff. General Mannerheim seemed to be a gentleman of the old school, having given his oath the the Tsar and then not bombing St Petersberg, whilst under fierce Russian assaults. A man of PRINCIPLE.... wouldn't last long nowadays.....

Hi Greenhorn,
Mannerheim could see a bit further in the future than few finnish hot headed politicians. He, and most of Finns felt that Finns have a right to take back the area that had to be given to Russia on Winter War Pact. As this goal was achieved, Finnish Army halted the attack on Karelian Isthmus in late 1941. As early as February 1943 Finland and Russia had (secret) negotiations about ceisefire, but Russia demanded the same areas as they got after Winter War, which was unacceptable to Finns, who still held positions a lot further than in 1939. Mannerheim's goal (in my opinion) from the very beginning was to take back Karelian Isthmus, and then try to get a peace with Russia. If Finns had involved in the demolishing Leningrad, that would have been totally impossible. Not only air raids, but finnish artillery could have been used against Leningrad, but for this obvious reason that never happened. So yes, he was a man of principle, an officer of the old school with honour, but also a politician who had a vision of what's Finland position after war will be.
About my question of the Stukas, I found the answer myself. I read a book about Hans Ulrich Rudel, and yes, Stukas were used succesfully all the way until the end of the war. So I'll thank myself

Max