The Flight Regiment 19 (Swedish: Flygflottilj 19, Finnish: Lentorykmentti 19 or LentoR 19), also known as the Swedish Voluntary Air Force or F 19 was a Finnish Air Force unit, manned by Swedish volunteers, which operated from Kemi in northern Finland for the last 62 days of the Winter War. The aircraft also came from the Swedish Air Force inventory. Its designation number was taken from the Swedish Air Force which had 18 flying regiments at the time. The designation F 19 has not been used in Sweden. When new regiments were later formed they were named F 20, F 21 and F 22.
| Flight Regiment 19, Finnish Air Force | |
|---|---|
| Active | 10 January 1940 - 13 March 1940 |
| Countries |  Finland |
| Branch | Finnish Air Force |
| Role | fighter/attack |
| Engagements | Winter War |
The unit made a significant contribution to the defense of Finnish Lapland, from January 7, 1940, with 12 Gloster Gladiator II fighters,[1] five Hawker Hart bombers, and eight other planes. In total, the unit destroyed twelve Soviet aircraft (eight in the air, four on the ground), and lost a total of six planes; two to enemy action and four to accidents. Three of its pilots were killed and two more were captured by Soviet forces. The captives were returned to Sweden five months after the end of the war.
Organization
edit- Staff
- Staff Detachment
- Radio Detachment
- Household Detachment
- Truck Detachment
- Medical Detachment
- Airfield Company
- Fighter Squadron, equipped with Gloster Gladiator Mk. Is
- Attack/Joint Operation Flight, equipped with Hawker Harts
- Transport/Liaison Flight, various aircraft types
The unit was equipped with 12 Gloster Gladiator Mk. Is, four Hawker Hart Mk. Is, one Raab-Katzenstein RK-26, one Waco ZQC-6, and one Junkers F 13kä.
Victories
edit| Victories claimed while flying Gloster Gladiator | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Air force | Victories | Notes |
| Per-Johan Salwén | Finnish Air Force | 3 | F 19 |
| Einar Theler | Finnish Air Force | 2 | F 19 |
| Ian Iacobi | Finnish Air Force | 1 | F 19 |
| Gideon Karlsson | Finnish Air Force | 1 | F 19 |
| Roland Martin | Finnish Air Force | 1 | F 19 |
The F 19 unit destroyed 12 enemy aircraft, and lost three Hawker Harts and three Gloster Gladiators due to various incidents, however, only one of these, a Gladiator, was lost in an air battle.
References
edit- ^ Avrosys.nu: J 8 - Gloster Gladiator (1937-1947) Archived 2007-11-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Falk, Greger: F19:n - en krönika; Flyghistorisk Revy nummer 33, Svensk Flyghistorisk Förening, Stockholm, Sweden. c. 1989-1990
- ^ Geust, Carl-Fredrik (1997). "F19". Ikaros: Flygvapenmusei årsbok (in Swedish). Linköping: Flygvapenmuseum. SELIBR 4110804.