BL-154 and BL-157

[Andrey Kuznetsov]

Hello James,

Originally Posted by James A Pratt III

I have another possible cause for the loss of BL-157 and BL-159 they collided possibly after one was hit by flak.

Maybe, but in this case it hardly changes anything.

Best regards,
Andrey

[Andrey Kuznetsov]

And about whether it was a night raid.

According to WD of 48.OZAD, it seems that AA gunners saw the planes, and the searchlights were not mentioned. The time was from 04:58 (1st alarm) to 05:05 msk, when two ball-shaped flashes appeared above one of the planes.

Finland switched to summer time at midnight on 2/3.Apr.42 and, as far as I know, Finnish time became equal to Moscow time. Is this correct? And is it possible to visually see a plane at 05:00 at that latitude on April 15?

Best regards,
Andrey

[Kari Lumppio]

Hi!

There was no Me 110 anywhere near the incident. Bomber types were Do 17Z and Blenheims. All Finnish, rest is Soviet confusion one can ignore.

Matti Hämäläinen has written two-three books about Lentolaivue 42. In one of these he writes Blenheim guys were angry because Do 17 going in first did so against orders and at the same altitude and speed. When BLs arrived, Soviets were all set and more so for the later group which lost two.
Bad tactics applied (against plans even?) allowing Soviet AAA time to get their sights really ready.
This is my recollection of a book. Right now several hundred kilometers away from those, so cannot check.

Cheers,
Kari