Poncet or Ponzet? 2/JG54

[Matti Salonen]

In fact Uhtua is in Russia and today called Kalevala. Its present airfield's location is:

65 12 36.98 N, 31 08 08.77 E.

I don't know, if the airfield was at the same place during the war.

Those three Bf 109 E-7 started from Rovaniemi at 10.10 and landed at Uhtua at 10.50.

Matti

[Kari Lumppio]

Hallo!

As Matti wrote already.

Kalevala, Russia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalevala,_Russia

I am pretty sure one of Hannu Valtonen's books has this story and the "Uchta" airfield location, too. I have no possiblity to check for awhile now.

Cheers,
Kari

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Matti (and Kari)

I was hoping you would get back to us on this.
What an amazing name change, especially considering the implications on the Finnish myths. I always felt the epos was more Karelian than actually Finnish, but who can tell?

For those who don't know it, Matti is very well aquainted with the area and has helped me out before when I have reached seemingly dead ends.

Thanks again
Cheers
Stig

[Kari Lumppio]

Hello again!

There is this homepage for the Uhtua airfield with maps and modern photos:
https://www.sotahistoriallisetkohtee...view/-/id/1376

In Finnish, but surely Google Translate mangles it to something?

"vanha kenttä" = old airfield

"uusi pienkonekenttä" = new general aviation airfield

"säätutka" = weather radar


IIRC Finnish heavy artillery observers could see the field with some optics and they tried to destroy the three Bf 109s for Germans?

Cheers,
Kari

[Dan History]

Dear all,

The incident discussed in this thread was described in detail by a capable Karelian journalist, Andrey Tuomi, in an article published in May 2017:

"Local fighting: 'Messers' in the sky of Karelia
An almost forgotten episode of the war on the Karelian front, which became a headline in the reports of the Soviet Information Bureau"
ptzgovorit.ru/shortread/boi-mestnogo-znacheniya-messery-v-karelskom-nebe

The three Bf 109 E aircraft had in fact landed on a disused field airstrip about a kilometre from the frontline and some 13 kilometres from the town of Kalevala (Uhtua). The airstrip was not in use because it was under direct observation by Finnish forces. It is therefore unsurprising that Finnish mortar teams destroyed all three Messerschmitts, as described in the article. The three German pilots were taken prisoner by Ivan Kirin's battalion of the 118th Rifle Regiment of the 54th Rifle Division.

Andrey Tuomi had been active in Karelian journalism for many years, and in February of this year he published a two-part investigative report called "Red fish in troubled waters." The article discussed the great ecological danger presented by the setting up of a trout farm on an open lake in Karelia by a group of unscrupulous local businessmen and officials. Tuomi compared this to Finnish practice, writing that Finland had recognised the ecological danger and shifted trout farming to areas close to the sea.
mustoi.ru/krasnaya-ryba-v-mutnoj-vode-chast-1/

Mr. Tuomi died suddenly six months ago, on 18 June 2019. May he rest in peace.
ptzgovorit.ru/news/skonchalsya-laureat-konkursa-soyuza-zhurnalistov-karelii-andrey-tuomi

Regards,

Dan

[Dan History]

I would like to alert the moderators - every single attempt to insert links into a forum post leads to an error message. That is why message above contains no links. The error message is:

"The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later."

Posting a link is possible only be removing the protocol marker, as follows:
www.bbc.co.uk

Regards,

Dan

[rof120]

This is only a rather unimportant detail:

The name Poncet is fairly widespread in France. Many French people, most of them protestants, emigrated to other countries when the so-called "sun-king" Louis XIV withdrew all their rights and oppressed them in the XVIIth century. Many settled in Germany, hence numerous French names there including Galland and also de Maizières and more.

So Poncet could be a German name of French origin, but most Germans (if not informed) would pronounce it "Ponntsett", which corresponds Ponzet.

Disclaimer: I have no religion at all.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Dan History

I would like to alert the moderators - every single attempt to insert links into a forum post leads to an error message. That is why message above contains no links. The error message is:

"The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later."

Posting a link is possible only be removing the protocol marker, as follows:
www.bbc.co.uk

Regards,

Dan

Leaving aside that the moderators aren't initiated into the mysteries of IT support for the forum, here's what I do… https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

I just posted that link by clicking on the paperclip icon (fourth from the right in the toolbar at the top of the reply box) and pasting in the URL of the page in question. Do your problems arise from doing it that way?

[Dan History]

Hello Nick,

I am sorry that it has taken me all of 11 days to reply - work travel has intervened. Unfortunately, I am still unable to insert functional links, the best I can do right now is:
bbc.co.uk/news

I wish you an early Merry Christmas, and may the forum problems disappear in the New Year!

Regards,

Dan