Continuation WarThe Continuation War (jatkosota, fortsättningskriget, 25 June 1941 – 19 September 1944) was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.
At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War. The Soviet Union saw the war as a part of its struggle against Germany and its allies, the Eastern Front of World War II or, as it was known in the Soviet Union, the Great Patriotic War. Germany saw its operations in the region as a part of its overall war efforts of World War II. It provided critical material support and military cooperation to Finland. The United Kingdom declared war on Finland on 6 December 1941, followed by its dominions shortly afterwards. The British declaration of war on Finland during the Continuation War is a rare case of democracies declaring war on other democracies, although no hostilities ensued between the two parties. The United States, like many other nations, did not fight or declare war against Finland.
Acts of war between the two countries started on the day on which the German invasion of the Soviet Union was launched, 22 June 1941. Open warfare began with a Soviet air offensive on 25 June 1941. Subsequent Finnish operations undid its post-Winter War cessations on the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia and captured East Karelia by September 1941.
In the beginning of 1943, No. 24 Sqn was down to 24 operational Brewster fighters. At the same time, a new unit was formed. No. 34 Sqn was formed to incorporate the new Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters. It also recruited the best pilots from other units, among them many of No. 24 Sqn's best pilots, i.e. Ilmari Juutilainen and Jorma Lukkanen, who had 34 and 14.5 victories respectively. The Soviet Air Force was continuously modernized. The No. 24 Sqn participated among other in the defence of the Gulf of Finland, where they met the aircraft of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, who recently had mounted an offensive. Captain Hans Wind received the Mannerheim Cross on July 31, when he reached 31 victories.
Luftwaffe/FinlandBf 109G2/G6
Fw 190A5
B-239
Me-410
Stuuuuka D3/G2
Ju-88
VVSI-16
Il-2
La-5FN
Yak-7B
Yak-9T
Boston
A-20
Soviet ArmyT-34/76
M4A1
M-3/16
German Army/Finnish ForcesStugIII(sub Jag38t)
Tiger I
Panther
Panzer H
SdKfz 251
M-16