Fighter Squadron 21 history, Page 3

3. Turkinsaari 1927 - 1939

The memorandum of the British specialist committee formed the basis when the Finnish Air Force squadrons were designed. Due to shortage of funds only two of the squadrons were formed. They were stationed 12 km south of the city of Viipuri (Vyborg) on the shores of the bay of Viipuri at Turkinsaari. One of the squadrons received its aircraft during late 1931.

The mission of the squadrons based at Turkinsaari was bombing and the surveillance of the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland (Suomenlahti). Even though the 3rd Separate Maritime Squadron at Turkinsaari was enlarged to a Maritime Squadron (Eskaaderi) with two squadrons it had to operate in practice as a single squadron due to the shortage of aircraft. In times of crisis the mission of the squadron at Turkinsaari was reconnaissance at the Gulf of Finland. In wartime the reconnaissance was to be targeted at Kronstad and the bay of Luga with other flight units under the command of the maritime defence in order to track the ships entering the Gulf of Finland. In addition to reconnaissance the targets were to be bombed.

In the early 1930's the Finnish Air Force wartime operational plans were vague. They were not based on the real number of aircraft. Instead they were anticipating the numbers that the service planned to have after all the acquisitions. The Maritime Squadron was to form the bomber force under the command of the General Headquarters with 26 Ripon II aircraft.

Already in 1930 the General Headquarters was critical about the peacetime location of the Turkinsaari squadrons because they were thought to be in a too forward location along with the city of Viipuri and they would form a good divert bombing target for the Russians in the war. The problem was finally solved in the late 1930's when Turkinsaari-based Squadron 14 received land planes and was moved to Suur-Merijoki. In the new air force operational plans from 1933 there was only one Squadron located at Turkinsaari and its mission was land reconnaissance, not maritime.

During construction the Turkinsaari air station was under the command of the 1st Separate Maritime Squadron based at Viipuri. Even though a two-squadron unit was planned to be based at the air station the operations had to be started with a single squadron unit because of aircraft and manpower shortages. The squadron was named the 3rd Separate Maritime Squadron and it started operations as an independent unit in May 1927 at the air station. The other squadron wasn't formed until April 1928 when the name of the whole unit changed to Maritime Squadron (Merilentoeskaaderi). Once again due to sea plane and manpower shortages no aircraft could be handed to the new squadron. In practice I Squadron formed the 1st Flight and II Squadron the 2nd flight. Only in 1932 when the Maritime Squadron received more aircraft could flight operations commence in two squadrons.

The other squadron was decommissioned already in May 1933. In the June 1933 Finnish Air Force reorganization the Maritime Squadron was renamed to Air Station 4. The squadron that was left in the air station was renamed Squadron 34 which consisted of three flights. The decommissioned squadron became the Maritime Aviator School also called the Water Pilot Flight.

The last big change in the Turkinsaari air station organization happened in January 1938 when the Finnish Air Force changed from the air station organization to the regiment organization. Squadron 34 at Turkinsaari became Squadron 14 and became a part of Flight Regiment 1 headquartered at Suur-Merijoki. When the Finnish Air Force changed into land-based aircraft there were plans to close the air station at Turkinsaari and move all the operations to Suur-Merijoki. The movement wasn't totally done when World War II (Winter War) started.

De Havilland Moth (13107 bytes)

A beauty from Turkinsaari: De Havilland Moth MO-97 in August 1929. Technical information: British, two-seat wooden trainer. Wingspan 9,15 m, length 7,3 m, weight 790 kg, Max speed 160 km/h, endurance 5 hours.

The air station used mainly the I.V.L. A22 Hansas during the 1920's. In may 1927 the Commander of the Finnish Air Force ordered 13 aircraft for the air station. Most of the aircraft were not received until September 1927. Because the winter operations were prohibited with the Hansas two Caudron C.59 aircraft were received in January 1928 and later in the spring one Caudron more. It took a year more to spring 1929 to get the first two De Havilland Moth trainers.

In the early 1930's the squadron aircraft situation was bad. There were less than half of the planned aircraft amount. In summer 1930 two new VL (VL = Valtion Lentokonetehdas = State Aircraft Factory) Sääskis (Mosquitoes). Only in spring 1931 did the squadron receive new combat aircraft. Two new VL Kotkas (Eagles) were received and also two more Sääskis. In August 1931 could the Maritime Squadron (Merilentoeskaaderi) start operations with two squadrons.

Bringing the Kotka and the Junkers aircraft to the inventory was only a temporary solution in the wait of the delayed Blackburn Ripons long range aircraft. In October 1931 the Maritime Squadron got its first new Ripon. By February 1932 all 12 Ripons ordered to Turkinsaari had been received.

From right: Ripon, Hansa and Moth (20575 bytes)

Aircraft inspection at Turkinsaari 27 March 1933. The planes from the right: Blackburn Ripon II, I.V.L. A22 Hansa and Moth. The readiness is reported to the commander of the squadron, Lt Col Y. Opas. Opas became the commander in December 1931 from the position of the commander of the Aviation Academy. In the early 1930's he was one of the most competent officers in the Finnish Air Force. Opas was also trained abroad; he had trained in the aviation academies of Poland and Checkoslovakia in 1927. Lt Col Opas was transferred from Turkinsaari to Suur-Merijoki in March 1934 when he became the commander of Air Station 5.

The main force until converting to land-based aircraft was the Ripons and the Sääskis. Decommissioning the other squadron in 1934 didn't lower the number of Ripons at Turkinsaari. First new Tuiskus (Blizzards) Air Station 4 received in 1936. When the wartime missions of the squadron based at Turkinsaari focused more and more into co-operation with the army after 1933 the unsuitability of the Ripon became a problem.

In January 1937 the Commander of the Finnish Air Force, Colonel Lundqvist assessed that Sqn.34 based at Turkinsaari couldn't any more accomplish the wartime missions planned for it because of the aircraft. The solution was to transfer the Fokker C V land liaison aircraft from the Suur-Merijoki-based Sqn.12 to Turkinsaari for Sqn.14. Squadron 14 received its first Fokkers in summer 1938. Still in September 1938 the squadron operated 10 Ripons along the seven Fokkers. Ripons were slowly transferred to Sortavala from the beginning of autumn 1938 so that the last aircraft were transferred in summer 1939.

In summer 1939 Sqn.14 had the most aircraft types in the regiment because the squadron operated old aircraft combined from Sqn.10 and Sqn.12. Along with the Fokker C V aircraft the squadron had received two new Fokker C X and an old Jupiter-Aero. With these the unit had two Sääskis and a Focke-Wulf Stieglitz trainer.

Flight operations

Flight operations were active at Turkinsaari from the beginning. During the thirties fuel shortages hit the air station the same way as all other stations. During 1920's the pilot training focused in advanced flight training and formal missions.

Like elsewhere in the Finnish Air Force also Turkinsaari changed the formal flight training into more innovative exercises. The focus during the late thirties was in the single plane wartime mission rehearsal. Evasive maneuvers were introduced as new training items.

The tactical exercises focused in bombing till the early 1930's. From 1932 at Turkinsaari and also other air stations a tactical exercise was held at least once a month. The exercise started with a map exercise for mission preparation and then the mission was flown. The mission was evaluated thoroughly for learning purposes. During 1930's defensive and evasive maneuvers were added to the tactical training at the air station. Studies in general tactics and air tactics were added markedly during 1930's. The developments in the Soviet Air Force became a new topic in the lectures from the mid-1930's.

Until the early 1930's the air station at Turkinsaari didn't practice joint operations with other services much. Finnish Air Force headquarters ordered Turkinsaari and Coastal Artillery Regiment 2 to develop their joint operations in 1932. Joint operations with the army were practiced mainly during the large exercises. In mid-1930's the joint operations for the Turkinsaari-based Sqn.34 focused clearly in the exercises with the army along with the wartime missions of the squadron.

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Revised: tammikuu 01, 2006.