Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ssipila
In June 1944 Finland was in the middle of a dire moment in its history. The mass offensive of the Soviet Union on the Karelian Isthmus had begun on 9 June. To aid the Finnish military in bringing the offensive to a halt, Detachment Kuhlmey of the Luftwaffe arrived on 12 June (see http://www.pelastamalmi.org/en/news/mass_offensive.html ). Its pinpoint bombings were a decisive factor in stopping the Red Army. Detachment Kuhlmey flew thousands of sorties and dropped hundreds of tons of bombs. It destroyed more than 100 enemy aircraft, around 200 tanks, and tens of bridges and maintenance convoys while suffering notable losses itself.
Unteroffizier Herbert Koller of Detachment Kuhlmey took off on 18 June 1944 at 8:45am from Immola in order to fly the battle-damaged Focke- Wulf 190A "Black 12" to Petseri, Estonia, for repairs. An intermediate landing in Helsinki was intended. |
I recommend that you look at the picture behind above URL. You might see there even Heribert Koller (?)
And compare it to this
http://www2.hs.fi/kuvat/uutiset/2003/09/25/ie-malmi.jpg which is from year 2003.
More pictures from the airport you can get here
http://pik.tky.fi/malmi/index-e.htm
http://pik.tky.fi/malmi/malmi-e.htm
http://pik.tky.fi/malmi/interior2.jpg
And if you want to read about the old unique WWII airport, look here
http://www.pelastamalmi.org/en/index.html
(and do not forget to sign the petition! )