No. 26 Squadron (Finland)

No. 26 Squadron Finnish Air Force
Country	Finland
Branch	Finnish Air Force
Role	fighter
Engagements	Winter War, Continuation War

No. 26 Squadron (Finnish: Lentolaivue 26 or LLv.26, from 3 May 1942 Le.Lv.26), renamed No. 26 Fighter Squadron (Finnish: Hävittäjälentolaivue 26 or HLe.Lv.26 on 14 February 1944) was a fighter squadron of the Finnish Air Force during World War II. The squadron was part of Flying Regiment 2 during the Winter War and Flying Regiment 3 during the Continuation War.

The unit was mainly equipped with Fiat G.50 fighters and obtained 52 aerial victories and suffered two losses.

Organization

Winter War

• Detachment Heinilä (Osasto Heinilä)
• Detachment Carlsson or 1st Flight of No. 24 Squadron (Osasto Carlsson or 1./LLv.24)
• 1st Flight (1. Lentue)
  • Detachment Siiriäinen (Osasto Siiriäinen)
  • Detachment Nieminen (Osasto Nieminen)
• 2nd Flight (2. Lentue)
  • Detachment Kivinen (Osasto Kivinen)
• 3rd Flight (3. Lentue)
  • Detachment Nieminen (Osasto Nieminen)
• 4th Flight (4. Lentue)
• 5th Flight (5. Lentue)

The equipment consisted of 10 Bristol Bulldog IVs, 9 Gloster Gladiator IIs, and 23 Fiat G.50s.

Continuation War

• 1st Flight (1. Lentue)
• 2nd Flight (2. Lentue)
• 3rd Flight (3. Lentue)

The equipment consisted of 26 Fiat G.50s, 1 Fokker D.XXI, 19 Brewster Buffaloes, 2 Hawker Hurricane Is, 3 Fokker C.Xs, 8 Polikarpov I-153s, and 1 Blackburn Ripon IIF.

Bibliography

• Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari & Niska, Klaus (1995). Brewster Model 239. Suomen ilmavoimien historia. Vol. 1 (4th ed.). Tampere, Finland: Apali. ISBN 952-5026-02-7.
• Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari (2000) [1974]. Fokker D. XXI (Mercury). Suomen ilmavoimien historia (in Finnish). Vol. 3A. Helsinki: Hobby-Kustannus Oy. ISBN 952-5334-02-3.
• Shores, Christopher F. (1969). Finnish Air Force 1918–1968. Aircam Aviation Series. Vol. S2. Canterbury, UK: Osprey Publications. ISBN 0-85045-012-8.

External links

• Lentolaivue 26