Interview of Finnish Curtiss Hawk 75 pilot Jarl Arnkil

Interview of Finnish Curtiss Hawk 75 pilot Jarl Arnkil

Curtiss And Other Nice Planes

Jarl "Kille" Arnkil joined Finnish Air Force in 1939. After the war
Kille transferred to Aero, later Finnair in 1948 and continued there
until his retirement in 1972. After that he worked as a senior inspector
of flight operations in National Board of Aviation 1973-1979. In this
lecture "Kille" tells about flying both in times of war and peace.

"The German factory pilots told us they would fly some training flights
with us. We tried to explain that we wouldn't need any training, that we
could fly and wanted to take off already. We put together a downright
air show above the airfield, did some air combat maneuvers against each
other etc. When we landed they agreed that we wouldn't have to be taught
to fly, that we could do it already."

Lecture & interview at:

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/

(left bar, under latest article)


Quote:

On 28.3. the main battle was over. The main attack came from the west
side of the island (describes the operation on the map). A smaller
detachment came from the east side drawing attention away from the main
attack. There was a ship stuck in ice in the harbor. It served as a
quarters to the men and the ship had a strong defense. That group was
destroyed from this hill. I talked to one guerilla Lieutenant who led
one group here and he told me about these engagements.

After Suursaari was taken 28.3. we were told that Pajari would organize
a parade in the harbor area of Suurkylä. All troops from Suursaari
battle were grouped there and we went to cover them with all our planes.
Lieutenant Nurminen led the first six Curtisses, I led the other six.
Nurminen was at about 3500 meters over Suursaari and I was below him. I
flew over Pajari's booth as he was speaking. You tend to notice the
noise Curtiss makes as it flies directly overhead. As I was turning we
heard that 29 enemy fighters were approaching from south in three
groups. Nurminen was already heading to Suulajärvi but he turned back.
Over Suursaari and east and southeast side they (Russians) started to
turn in Spanish wheel (Lufbery circle) and the fight went on for about
twenty- thirty minutes. We shot down 23 planes and none of us saw
Russians fire any shots. (Editor's note: This seems to be exaggeration,
all Curtisses had received hits, although with only minor damage.
Source: Finland's Aviation Historical Magazine issue 3/1994).

When we discussed the incident later, we came to a conclusion that these
had been young boys who had just came here and were overwhelmed and in
real trouble. But those guys who had been on Karelian Isthmus front,
they were top class fighter pilots. They had probably acquired their
skills while fighting against the Germans. They were in a totally
different class from these guys we fought in Suursaari.

By the way, there was a Finnish Broadcasting Company radio reporter in
Suursaari. He did a live broadcast from the parade and my wife happened
to be sitting by the radio at home with our first-born child, a little
over one month old daughter on her lap. She was listening to the program
from Suursaari and the aerial battle. They kept saying "and another
plane fell, and a plane fell again" but they didn't say if they were
enemy planes or ours. My wife thought that probably the Finns were
staying in the sky while the Russians didn't. The army reported that
they had counted 27 kills but the count in the official report was 23. I
flew there with sergeant Tähti the next day and there were 23 wreck
piles on the ice. By the way, Veikko Lavi has recorded a song about this
Suursaari battle and you can buy that on C-cassette named "The guilty
and the innocent". The song ends like this: "The parade was held on ice.
The men could also witness it, pilots above Suursaari, crowned the
conquest. 27 planes went to their death, the red star fell, leaving only
a hole in ice."