No. 26 Squadron (Finland)

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.

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