Sunday, August 31, 2014

StuG III ; Infantry Attacks 1944.08.25

Enso, Näträmälä 1944.08.25
SA-photo

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Destroyed BT-5 : Kyrmaila 1941.08.25

Kyrmaila 1941.08.25
SA-Photo


Kyrmaila 1941.08.25
SA-Photo

The BT tanks, lit. "fast moving tank" or "high-speed tank" were a series of Soviet cavalry tanks produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had the best mobility of all contemporary tanks of the world. The BT tanks were known by the nickname Betka from the acronym, or its diminutive Betushka.

The direct successor of the BT tanks would be the famous T-34 medium tank, introduced in 1940, which would replace all of the Soviet fast tanks, infantry tanks, and medium tanks in service.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Destroyed Soviet Union train

Kiestingin front. 1941.10.02
SA-photo
destroyed soviet train attack by Stuka

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Fokker D.XXI : 1942.04.02

Rukajärvi 1942.04.02
@SA-photo
Successful landing without the other skis

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 : Immola 1944.07.02

Immola 1944.07.02

Last photo for pilot. the plane was destroyed soon after taking the photo. The Soviet Union bombed the airfield.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

junkers F.13 : Joensuu 1942.05.21

Joensuu 1942.05.21
SA-photo
Joensuu 1942.05.21
SA-photo

Junkers F.13


The Junkers F.13 (also known as the F 13) was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. Over 300 were sold. It was in production for thirteen years and in commercial service for almost twenty.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Petlyakov Pe-2 : 1942.09.04

1942.09.04
SA-photo

Petlyakov Pe-2

Finnish Air Force

In 1941, after the outbreak of Continuation War Finland purchased six war booty Pe-2 aircraft from Germany. These arrived at State Aircraft Factory facilities at Härmälä in January 1942, where the airframes were overhauled and given Finnish serial numbers. The seventh Pe-2 was bought from the Germans in January 1944, and it was flown to Finland at the end of the month.

It was initially planned to use these planes as dive bombers in the 1st flight of LeLv 48, which began to receive its aircraft in July 1942, but during the training it was found out that this caused too much strain for the engines. Thus, the role of Pe-2s was changed to fly long-range photographic and visual reconnaissance missions for the Army General Headquarters. These sorties began in late 1942, and were often flown with two 250 kg (551 lb) bombs for harassment bombing and in order to cover the true purpose of missions.

By the time the Soviet Fourth strategic offensive started in June 1944, the secondary bombing role had already ended and the surviving Pe-2s began to be used solely at Karelian Isthmus in escorted (normally by four FiAF Bf-109 Gs) photographic reconnaissance flights in order to find out enemy troop concentrations. These vital missions were flown successfully, allowing artillery and Finnish Air Force and Luftwaffe's Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey's bombers to make their strikes against the formations preparing for attack, which had an important impact on the outcome of the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, where the Soviet advance was halted.

During the Continuation War, three Pe-2s were lost in accidents or technical failures, one was destroyed in bombing of Lappeenranta airfield, one was shot down by Soviet fighters and one went missing in action. In the Lapland War the only remaining machine flew a single reconnaissance sortie in October 1944. On average, the aircraft flew some 94 hours per plane during the war. The sparse usage was due to difficulties with obtaining spare parts.

The Finnish Air Force also operated one Petlyakov Pe-3 (PE-301) that had been captured in 1943.

PE-301 and PE-215 were destroyed when Soviet aircraft bombed the Lappenranta airfield on 2 July 1944. PE-212 went down in 1943, PE-213 was destroyed in an emergency landing in 1942. PE-214 was destroyed in a failed take-off attempt at Härmälä on 21 May 1942: as Härmälä airfield was quite short, the pilot had to try to lift off with too little speed, which caused the aircraft to stall and crash, killing the crew. PE-217 managed to shoot down a Soviet fighter in 1944. PE-216 was destroyed in a forced landing in 1944. PE-211 survived the war and was removed from FAF lists in 1946. It was still standing beside the Kauhava airfield in 1952, but further information on its fate is unknown

Sunday, August 17, 2014

StuG III in Vyborg

 Vyborg Nortside 1944.07.02
SA-photo
 Vyborg Nortside 1944.07.02
SA-photo

The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank, replacing the turret with a fixed casemate and mounting a more powerful gun. Initially intended as a mobile, armoured light gun for direct-fire support for infantry, the StuG was continually modified and was widely employed as a tank destroyer.