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Finnish Air Force Brewster BW-372 Story:
The last dive through fire and water
By Risto Lindsted © Suomen Kuvalehti 11 Dec 1998
Lt. Lauri Pekuri was over the Rukajärvi line on the 25th of June 1942 chasing a Soviet bomber with a four-ship of Brewsters. They didn't catch the bomber.
At the same time Ilmari Juutilainen was returning with his four-ship from a recce flight and had gotten into a fight close to the Segeza airfield. Juutilainen radioed to Pekuri' group that "there are enough targets for everyone".
When Pekuri's four-ship arrived on the scene at 5.000 m altitude the air combat was already on the way. "I gave orders for our other two-ship to attack the enemy aircraft below us, but I stayed as top cover with my wingman Sgt. Anttila".
When Juutilainen informed that he tried to disengage from the fight Pekuri noticed at least five Huricanes above him. Pekuri and Anttila, who was for the first time in real air combat, tied the enemy Hurricanes into combat and Juutilainen's group succeeded to disengage.
Soviet Lend-Lease Hawker Hurricane
"There was no point in staying in the fight with only two aircraft so I told Anttila to disengage. I rolled my aircraft into dive and when I looked back I saw Anttila diving with a Hurricane behind him".
Pekuri succeeded in forcing the Hurricane off Anttila's tail. But his Brewster was hit; black smoke came from the engine. Now there was another enemy fighter behind Anttila. "I got behind its tail and shot a short burst. I got close and shot another short burst. The pilot didn't even try to pull the aircraft from the dive or parachute. He must have been dead since the aircraft rolled inverted into a dive. I saw Anttila glide to a forced landing".
Pekuri disengaged successfully from the pursuing Hurricanes and flew low just over the treetops "towards west with full throttle". He flew some forty kilometers and already got relaxed. "Only Anttila's destiny worried".
"There was a lonely wolf"
"I thought that I was alert and I flew shallow turns to check my six, but there must have been a lonely wolf".
The fuselage started to take hits and flames came out of the engine bay, the wing tank caught fire and the engine stopped. "The attacker broke to the same direction and couldn't hold his speed after a shot from such a close range. Suddenly his plane was in front of me and the fuselage filled my gunsights. I pulled the trigger immediately. His plane destroyed totally in a blink of an eye".
Pekuri was too low to escape with parachute. He opened the canopy and decided to try to crash land the aircraft into the lake ahead. The speed was too high for the aircraft speeding only ten meters over the water. The flames from the fuel tank reached the cockpit area. Landing in the woods would have meant instant death.
Pekuri forced the nose down and when the Brewster hit the water it turned immediately upside down. When Pekuri got back to to surface he burned his eyelashes and eyebrows. The fuel was burning on the surface around the aircraft.
"I dived back and saw the borders of the continuously expanding burning area. I got water in my lungs. I didn't want to get drowned below burning water".
When Pekuri got back to surface the burning flames approached. "The twenty meters that I had to swim with the parachute were the hardest moments in my life".
It was still two hundred meters to the shore. Pekuri managed to get rid of his parachute and kicked off his flying boots. The rest he swam on his back. "I woke up when my head hit the rocks".
"I talked to the wood grouse like to people"
When Pekuri regained his strength he estimated the direction to the closest guard. The map was in the aircraft but he had a clear picture of the landscape as a result of tens of flights over the area.
"I walked and jogged with only socks. If I met enemy patrols I had to be able to run fast".
Pekuri saw a wood grouse who tried to lure the intruder away from its nest by pretending having a broken wing. "So we walked, the wood grouse a few meters ahead of me. I followed and talked to it like I would talk to living people. This made me more calm".
When Pekuri saw three fresh huts made from pine branches he started to run and stumbled into a wire. It was a booby trap but the field of explosives had been dismantled. "I was lucky once again".
Pekuri thought that the booby trap was a sign that he was getting close to the own guards. The stumbling had made Pekuri more cautious and little later he found a new fully armed trap.
"There was some desperation in my decision to cross the minefield but the tension was so high on my nerves that I had to do it". Touching every step with his hand before laying his foot he crossed the field in half an hour.
"I wanted to fly before my leave"
Pekuri crawled the rest of the journey. He ended up to a lakeshore and heard how two soldiers were coming up the path and the other one was singing one of the wartime "hits". "Trouble was how to get them to believe that I was a Finnish pilot".
Staying in cover Pekuri shouted so that he wouldn't be shot at. After a short negotiation the soldiers believed Pekuri's story. After six hours of walking he had ended up meeting the guards at the southern tip of Jolmajärvi lake.
When Pekuri returned to his base they offered leave for two weeks. He didn't want to leave and stayed with the original schedule where he was to be married on the 12th of July.
"I had seen men who had survived the hardships to lose their confidence in further survival in combat after they had left for leave. I wanted to fly before my leave in order to regain my confidence as a survivor and my capabilities as a fighter pilot".
Pekuri flew six additional flight prior to his leave for engagement to be married.
P.S. Sgt. Anttila was thrown out of the cockpit when his Brewster hit ground. He returned to the own side of the border after two and a half days and a hundred kilometer walk.
In the fights over Sekehe the Soviets lost seven aircraft.
The description of the air combat and the dive into the lake is based on interviews with Col (FAF ret) Pekuri and his unpublished memoirs. In June 1944 Pekuri was shot down again and he remained POW for half a year. In the 50's Pekuri became famous as the first Finnish pilot to fly supersonic (in Folland Gnat). Lauri Pekuri passed away in August 1999.
By Risto Lindsted © Suomen Kuvalehti 11 Dec 1998
Lt Pekuri's Combat report:
2./LeLv.24 Brewster, BW-372 (Pekuri's fighter) at Tiiksjärvi, Feb 1942
Official Finnish Air Force combat report 8523/2:
Date: 25 June 1942 13.35 - 14.00 hrs local time
Location: Sekehe airfield - Seesjärvi 6500 - 10 m (22.000 - 30 ft) altitude
Victories: Two Hurricanes destroyed. The first dove vertically from 3.000 m (10.000 ft) to a swamp 15 km (9 mi) west of the Southern end of Lake Akanjärvi. The second was burning in the woods 10 km (6 mi) north of the island of Kalitsin.
"I was performing an alert flight with four fighters (section tainumbers 1/2 and 5/1, south of Rukajärvi). We met air master sergeant Juutilainen west of Sekehe attacking a Hurricane which took off from the field. I stayed behind with sergeant Anttila as top cover at 5.500 m (18.000 ft) altitude. When the combat moved southeast I followed at 3.000 m (10.000 ft). Suddenly we were attacked by a MiG and four Hurricanes. I noticed the Hurricane firing at Anttila and getting hits before I could help him. I shot the Hurricane at close range and it dove vertically to the swamp below. I got the remaining four enemies against me when Anttila was disengagin peacefully to the west. After a short fight I managed to disengage. 12 km (7 mi) north of the island of Kalitsin two Hurricanes managed to surprise me. At 100 m (300 ft) altitude the other one shot and hit the engine, back armour and the left wing tank caught fire. During evasive maneuvers I managed to shoot the the attacking aircraft and it caught fire and dissappeared south while leaving a smoke trail. My engine stopped and while trying to land the aircraft at a small lake 25 km (15 mi) north of the island of Kalitsin the other Hurricane shot my right wing tank into fire and immediately the whole aircraft was in flames. I pushed the aircraft to the lake from 10 m (30 ft) altitude at 250 km/h (135 kts) and the aircraft turned over during landing. I dove away from the aircraft and swam to the shore. The aircraf sank in 1/2 min. After a 20 km (12 mi) walk I reached our guard post at the southern tip of Jolmajärvi. The guard reported that a Hurricane had crashed and caused a forest fire. 15 Hurricanes and MiGs took part in the combat."
Witness report: "During afternoon patrol I saw a forest fire at the mentioned location, set off by the crashed aircraft", ensign M.J. Salovaara.
Observations: "The Hurricanes seemed to be significantly faster than the Brewsters at medium altitude and reasonably maneuverable. Own aircraft totally destroyed."
Aircraft and Pilot: BW-372, Lt. L. Ohukainen (later Pekuri)
The report courtesy of the Finnish ILMAILU-magazine (The Aviation), Kyösti Partonen.
Col Pekuri achieved 18,5 victories in WWII. After the war Pekuri was a test pilot and a squadron commander in the Finnish Air Force and test flew the Mirage in France and the Saab Draken in Sweden to evaluate these aircraft for a probable Finnish purchase. He passed away in August 1999.
A Finnish-built Valmet Humu, which was a Brewster with a wooden wing and a different engine. This aircraft is now at the Central Finland Aviation Museum.
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