AIR COMBAT ON 5TH OF NOVEMBER 1941, PART I

(History of the Hanko Group, T-22005, Military Archives of Finland)

5th of November 1941

- At 13:45 to 15:00 four Curtiss planes performed an surveillance mission. In the air combat on the east side of Hanko Cape against six enemy fighters type I-16 and I-153 one of the enemy planes was shot down and one was seen smoking while heading towards the airfield. One of our own planes was shot down and plunged to the sea. This was the plane CU-567, piloted by the Second Lieutenant A. Lakio.

- We attempted to lure the enemy planes to take off from their airfield and fly to the east side of the Hanko Cape. The weather and visibility there however was really bad that it was no use to fly there. We turned north of Hanko Cape and ended to the south-east side of the Hanko Cape where the cloud cover was at 1500 meters. On 700 meters there was cirrostratus. We were just about to turn to home when a radio station informed us that three enemy planes had taken off and were heading towards us. I saw those three planes type I-16 below us in the direction of Hanko. 

- I gave the order to attack and turned against the enemy planes from an higher altitude and behind of them. Others followed me. At that time I saw two other enemy planes type I-16 and performed an attack against them. The three other enemy planes however had now time to fly to a higher altitude and reached to the edge of the cloud cover. Due to our earlier attack and because of the clouds, we couldn't get a favourable attack position above them. Thus began a dogfight where the planes were circling each other's at the same altitude. 

Commander of Section Hanko: Captain Kullervo Lahtela.

- Next to the dirt road, which starts from the present day Hanko - Hyvinkää road and leads towards the structure 201, is some dugout remains.

- One of the remains.

- More dugout remains right next to the road.

- A single man shelter.

- Additionally there is a massive pit in the area. The edges of the pit can be still seen in the forest. The structure is a way too big to be a dugout. One option is that the dressing station, which is marked to the structure 201, was actually located here. It hasn't been a dugout, but a tent or some other temporary structure, which has been the dressing station. Looking at the size of the structure, it would have been suited to serve as a dressing station.

- The edge of the structure.