Helsinki, the capital of Finland, was bombed repeatedly during World War II. Between 1939 and 1944, Finland was subjected to a number of bombing campaigns by the Soviet Union. The largest were three raids in February 1944, which have been called The Great Raids Against Helsinki.

Helsinki's air defence

In the autumn of 1939, Helsinki was protected by the 1st Anti Aircraft Regiment consisting of four heavy anti-aircraft batteries of three to four guns each, one light AA battery and one AA machine gun company.

The air defence of Helsinki was significantly strengthened from the spring of 1943 onwards under the lead of Colonel Pekka Jokipaltio. During the Continuation War, Germany provided two early warning radars and four gun laying radars to Helsinki, further, 18 very effective German heavy 88 mm AA guns were also placed in Helsinki. The new six-gun batteries were grouped at Lauttasaari, Käpylä and in Santahamina. By February 1944 Helsinki was protected by 13 light and heavy AA-batteries. Air defences included 77 heavy AA-guns, 41 light AA-guns, 36 searchlights, 13 acoustic locators and 6 radars in addition to visual spotters and the Finnish Navy's anti-aircraft units. Germany also provided some night fighter support against the Soviet air raids.

The air defence command system was based on the German system and was quite effective – key personnel had trained in Germany. Manpower shortages made the air defence also use 16-year-old boy volunteers from Suojeluskunta (White Guard) to man the guns and young girls of the Lotta Svärd organization to man searchlights.

The Germans had also based a night fighter unit, consisting of 12 modified Bf 109G-6 night fighters in Helsinki on 12 February 1944 and the German night fighter direction vessel Togo cruised in the Gulf of Finland between Tallinn and Helsinki.

Helsinki's air defences prioritized stopping bombers from reaching the city over the destruction of air targets. In a special type of barrage, several batteries would fire a wall of flak in front of the approaching bombers in an attempt to scare them into dropping their payloads too early and breaking away. AA shells had been jury-rigged by drilling the fuze-hole larger and filling the extra space with magnesium mixed with aluminium, turning their explosion from a dull red to a searing white.

Soviet long-distance bomb group (ADD)

The bombing of Finland was generally conducted by the long-range bombing and reconnaissance group of the Soviet Air Force (VVS), the Aviatsiya Dalnego Deystviya (ADD). This group was directly subordinated to Stavka. During the February bombings of 1944, the ADD was reinforced with other units. The ADD commander was Marshal Aleksandr Golovanov. Bombing raids were also sometimes done by the VVS and the BF (Baltic Fleet air group).

The Soviet bomber fleet was very diverse. Most of the aircraft were twin-engined Ilyushin-4, Lisunov Li-2, North American B-25 Mitchell and Douglas A-20 bombers. The B-25s and the A-20s had been supplied to the Soviet Union as Lend Lease material from the United States. The Lisunov Li-2 was a Soviet bomber version of the American Douglas DC-3. There were also some heavy four-engined bombers participating in the bombings, e.g. the Petlyakov Pe-8.

Civil defence Before the war, Helsinki had an extensive civil defense system. By a city decree of 1934, bomb shelters were constructed in all high-rise building basements. These were merely basement rooms with reinforced walls in order to withstand nearby bomb impacts. All buildings were required to have an appointed civil protection supervisor who was not in the reserves or the armed forces, and as such was usually unfit for military service. That person was tasked to see that all occupants made it to the shelter in an orderly fashion.

There were a few larger shelters built into solid rock, but it was not possible to fit all citizens of Helsinki into them. Some hospitals were also equipped with subterranean shelters in which patients could be relocated during air raids. Others, such as the Children's Hospital, were moved outside the city. One hospital was entirely underground, below the Finnish Red Cross building.

Winter War

The first bombing of Helsinki occurred the very day Finland was invaded, on 30 November 1939. On the morning of the first air raid, Soviet bombers flew over Helsinki and dropped several high explosive and a dozen incendiary bombs, but did little permanent damage. The chief airport buildings were not hit and were untouched throughout the war.

They also dropped leaflets with the inscription:

You know we have bread - don't starve. Soviet Russia will not harm the Finnish people. Their disaster is due to the wrong leadership. Mannerheim and Cajander must go. After this peace will come!

By the afternoon, eight Soviet Ilyushin DB-3 long-range bombers of the Black Sea Fleet air arm bombed Helsinki after returning back from Russarö on a futile naval attack mission. The bombers dropped their payload of 600 bombs on Helsinki with the intent of offloading them before returning to their airbase at Kronstadt. The first two air raids resulted in the deaths of approximately 100 Finnish civilians. When the alarms sounded in the afternoon for the second air raid, people did not rush to shelters. One girl finished a game of tennis and dressed leisurely, and others stared at the sky.

The bombs fell in two groups: around the Technical High School leaving one five-story wing blazing; and behind the Parliament house and close to the main city bus station. Finnish authorities later announced that the second air raid in the afternoon resulted in 61 deaths and 120 wounded; the heaviest casualties from any one air raid in the war.

The following morning on 1 December, another wave of Soviet bombers were sent to bomb Helsinki. Despite dropping their payload over Helsinki, the unescorted bombers were intercepted by the Finnish air force.

Helsinki was bombed a total of eight times during the Winter War. Some 350 bombs fell on the city, resulting in the deaths of 97 people and the wounding of 260. In all, 55 buildings were destroyed.Helsingin suurpommitukset Helmikuussa 1944, p. 22

The Soviet bombings led to harsh reactions abroad. US President Roosevelt asked the Soviets not to bomb Finnish cities. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov replied to Roosevelt, "Soviet aircraft have not been bombing cities, but airfields, you can't see that from 8,000 kilometers away in America".

Continuation War Helsinki fared somewhat better during the Continuation War since Soviet bombers focused mainly on German forces in the Baltic states. Helsinki was bombed 39 times during the Continuation War. 245 people were killed and 646 wounded, mostly in the three large raids in 1944.

Raids Bombs Dead Wounded Winter War 8 about 350 971 260 1941 9 about 80 332 210 1942 17 about 70 683 167 1943 13 about 110 3 211 91 deaths on 30 November 19392 22 deaths on 9 July 19413 51 deaths on 8 November 1942

8 November 1942 bombing During the daytime on 8 November 1942, a lone Petlyakov Pe-2 was on a reconnaissance mission over Helsinki. The plane dropped only a single aerial bomb at the intersection between the streets of Yrjönkatu and Roobertinkatu. There were 51 killed and 120 were injured near a movie theatre, where the film The Three Musketeers was playing at the time. Therefore, the victims were mainly children and youth.

Great raids of February 1944

In February 1944, the Soviet Union launched three massive bombing raids against Helsinki. The aim was to break the Finnish fighting spirit and to force the Finns to the peace table. The raids were conducted on the nights of 6–7, 16-17 and 26–27 February. Joseph Stalin obtained British and American support for the measure at the Tehran Conference in 1943. In that manner, the Soviets hoped to force Finland to break its ties with Germany and agree to a peace settlement.

Finnish air defence forces counted 2,121 bombers in the three raids of February 1944, which dropped more than 16,000 bombs. Of the 34,200 shots fired against the bombers, 21,200 were with heavy AA artillery, and 12,900 were with light AA artillery. The Finns were able to conceive an effective plan to divert enemy aircraft away from the heart of the city. In order to deceive Soviet pathfinders, fires were lit on the islands outside the city and searchlights were only used east of the city, thereby leading the pathfinders to believe that it was the city.

The decoy system worked surprisingly well. After the final bombing on February 26, the Russians believed their strategic goal had been achieved. Meanwhile, Finland spread false reports to the media, via Swedish channels, claiming Helsinki had been completely destroyed. When a Soviet delegation arrived in Helsinki after the September 1944 armistice, they were shocked by the city being largely intact. Enraged by the deception, Stalin dismissed Marshal Golovanov, head of the Strategic Air Force.

Only 530 bombs fell within the city itself. Most of the population of Helsinki had left the city, and the casualties were lower than in other cities bombed during the war. Of the 22–25 Soviet bombers lost in the raids, 18–21 were destroyed by AA fire, and four were shot down by German night fighters.

First great raid: 6–7 February

The first night saw the most destruction.

The first bombs fell at 19:23. Some 350 bombs fell within the city and approximately 2,500 bombs outside Helsinki. The total number of bombs dropped (included the ones that fell into the sea) amounted to some 6,990. Approximately 730 bomber aircraft participated in the raid. The bombers arrived in two waves: 18:51–21:40 on 6 February and 00:57–04:57 on 7 February. Most of the damage was done in the district of Katajanokka, and the streets Porthaninkatu, Kasarmikatu, Kaisaniemenkatu and Vuorikatu suffered considerable bomb damage as well, and the Technical University (Tekninen korkeakoulu) at Hietalahdentori was destroyed.

Although it had been the most massive raid, the damages were again quite limited: 21 people were killed and 35 wounded; 59 buildings were destroyed and 135 damaged.

The defence fired 122 barrages. The light AA artillery fired 2,745 shots and the heavy AA artillery fired 7,719 shots. The Finnish Air Force had no night fighters at this time.

There were 100 killed and 300 injured. More than 160 buildings were damaged, including the Soviet embassy, on the corner of Bulevardi and Albertinkatu.

Second great raid: 16–17 February Since Tallinn had been bombed heavily and intelligence pointed out that a raid might be directed at Helsinki, the Helsinki air defence took some active measures.

After the first raid, a German night fighter group of 12 Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 fighters with special night fighting equipment was transferred to the Helsinki-Malmi Airport from the Estonian front. These managed to shoot down six bombers during the following two raids. The anti-aircraft batteries fired 184 barrages and downed two bombers. Heavy AA batteries fired 12,238 shots and light AA batteries fired 5,709 shots.

Most of the population of Helsinki had voluntarily evacuated to the countryside and the remainder were prepared to take shelter at the first warning, which reduced casualties significantly.