Antti Tani was born in Hämeenlinna on Aug 3rd 1918, about 9 months after Finland was declared independent. His father Aarne was a military musician, and the Tani family moved several times as Aarne Tani sought better postings in garrison towns. Finally, after the Great Depression, the five person family settled in Käkisalmi, where the father found employment as a clerk in Waldhoff pulp plant.
Antti went to school for 8 years and at the age of 15 it was time to learn a trade. He began his apprenticeship at the local watchmaker in Käkisalmi. Then he joined the Civic Guard. His apprenticeship completed in 1938 it was time to do the compulsory military duty. His older brother Heikki had entered into military career: he was serving in bomber squadron LLv 46 as gunner/radio operator. Antti wanted to become a fighter pilot. He was slim, 169 cm tall, he had blue eyes with exceptionally good sight and light brown hair.
Since he was underaged (19 yrs) he needed his parents' permission to apply for pilot training. Of the 800 applicants for Reserve NCO pilot course no.5, due to start on 21st Nov 1938 he was among the 400 who were examined medically and finally among the 25 accepted.
Pilot training
The training base was the Air War School in Lapua, where the Air Force recruits were at first given infantry training for two months, then assistant mechanic training for another 3 months until it was time for flying. Tani took his first flying lesson on the 21st February 1939, and after 11 flying hours he flew his first solo flight with a Letov Smolik on 29 March.
The course was completed on 12 Aug 1939 and Antti Tani had logged 90 flying hours. He had flown several different biplane types, Gloster Gamecock being the most advanced machine. After two weeks' furlough he continued training, now his aim was to become a professional NCO pilot, one of the 13 trainees of the course.
The clouds of war darkened during the NCO pilot training course no.9 and the Winter War broke out. Training went on nonetheless, and Lance Cpl.Tani received his wings on 4th February 1940 with 143 hours' flying experience. Due to illness he had lost some training time, and he had not been given a regular posting, which meant no pay. He served as a conscript instead.
Most of the pilots graduating from the course no.9 were posted to the new LLv28, which was being formed. The ground crew personnell was obtained by "thinning" from existing squadrons, and the equipment was donated by the French Government: 30 pcs Morane-Saulnier M.S.-406 fighters.
The Moranes were flown from Sweden to Lake Pyhäjärvi (50 km NW from Turku), the frozen surface of which served as runway and one-meter thick ice blocks sawn and piled as walls constituted dispersal shelters.
Once in the base, the fresh pilots were introduced to their equipment. They sat in the cockpits while mechanics peeked over their shoulders and explained the controls and dials. There was a lot to learn: retractable undercarriage, variable pitch propeller and liquid cooled supercharged engine with its peculiar pneumatic starting system were features none of the training aircraft had included.
Antti Tani made his first flight with MS-327 early on 2nd March 1940. He did three landings and logged 50 minutes flying time. In the afternoon he was sitting in the cockpit and studying his "workplace" as Capt. "Pete" Siren, the Flight Leader of the 1st flight, saw smoke in the SW horizon. Turku was being bombed. He gave a general scramble order, and all Moranes in readiness took off, Sgt. Tani among them on his first mission, with 155 hour flying experience and less than one hour with Morane.
But the enemy bombers were flying at 5000 m and the Finnish pilots had no chance of catching them. Tani was the last one to give up after 30 minutes' pursuit. He landed and as he opened the cockpit hood at the dispersal, curious men came to hear his news. Among them was SirTn. Tani reported to him his return from interception mission, but the Captain had not been listening. Instead he wished Tani welcome to home - as if he would have ferried another Morane from Sweden. The others who were present laughed at this misunderstanding. S. turned crimson and left; his sense for humour seemed to be rather limited. "Pete" also began to dislike Tani, and did not hide it.
The Winter War ended 13th March 1940, LLv 28 had scored 13 confirmed victories during the 5 weeks it had been on active duty. The lack of radios seriously reduced the efficiency of the MS-406 as interceptor, and the fighter, although manouverable, proved to be technically complicated and labour-intensive in maintenance.
End March Tani received a letter informing him about the death of his brother Antti. He had been killed in action on 9th March as his BL had been shot down by enemy fighters. The pilot who had bailed out had been shot in his parachute. The funeral was to take place the next day, it was too late for him to try to attend.
The ice of Pyhäjärvi began to soften and the squadron was transferred to the civilian airport Artukainen in Turku. Tani applied for regular posting, but Capt.Siren, now the Squadron Leader, tore his application. It was a breach of duty, the Captain should have forwarded the application whether he approved it or not, but he had friends in the FAF HQ who had secured him his posting. In June Tani took courage and bypassed the chain of command by addressing directly Major Haaki, who was the Chief of Personnell of FAF. The Major took his application and had it approved. Sgt. Tani began to receive regular salary.
The Squadron was transferred to Naarajärvi near Pieksämäki in summer 1940, where training continued. Tani also got married in early 1941 and the young couple set up their first home in Pieksämäki.
New war
In the morning of 25th June 1941 the 3rd Flight of LLv 28 was on alert duty in a/b Naarajärvi. The Flights were on duty for one week a time, and for the following two weeks the pilots were off duty. The fact that Germany had invaded Soviet Union two days earlier and the fighters were painted with yellow identification ring and yellow underwing tips had not affected the routine. It was a beautiful, warm summer day with some Cumulus at 1500m. The pilots were playing cards in their tent as the scramble order arrived at 11.10 hrs. Unknown aircraft were approaching from the South. Seven Moranes were started and a huge dust cloud soon blanketed the base. The Flight took off in pairs, but at once the leader was belly up at the side of the runway. Tani and his wingman Lce.Cprl. Pauli Lehtonen took off as the last pair at 11.20hrs.
The Flight, lacking further instructions, climbed to 5000m and headed for Mikkeli. Then they received radio message: "Fifteen slash two approaching Rantasalmi!" - this meant 15 enemy bombers! But the leader headed for Hankasalmi instead, and Tani failed to contact him to correct. Tani and his wingman headed for Rantasalmi, decreasing attitude to gain speed. At Joroinen they found about five burning bomber wrecks - later they learned that the Fiat G50 pilots of LLv26 had had a field day: they had shot down 13 of the 15 bombers reported in the radio message. Tani was annoyed, they had missed a piece of action. They went on to Rantasalmi, no enemy was to be seen.
At 12.20 hours Tani and Lehtonen headed for Naarajärvi from Rantasalmi. At Joroinen Tani spotted an aircraft coming to their direction - it was a lone twin-engined bomber. Tani contacted his wingman - 500 m behind - and banked hard to the right to intercept the bomber flying on SE course. Soon he was close enough to see the red stars of a SB-2bis. The bomber pilot steered in the nearest cloud and Tani followed, into the cloud, out of it, into another. Some minutes later he was 100m behind the enemy as there was another gap between the clouds. Tani fired at the left engine of the bomber with his three 7.5mm MGs. The enemy began to leak oil, some was spilled on the windscreen of the Morane. The fighter pilot saw the flicker of muzzle flame from the turret of the SB, and at the next gap Tani eliminated the gunner with a good burst. Again there was a cloud, and at the following gap the range was well below 100m. Tani fired again at the left engine of the SB and now a smoke trace appeared, then he took aim at the right engine which also began to emit smoke. Tani was now short of ammunition and he called for his wingman to help. But Lehtonen informed that his fuel was dangerously low, and so was Tani's as he checked his fuel gauge. The pair had to turn home and leave the damaged enemy on its a slightly descending flight path. Lehtonen's engine stopped due to fuel starvation at approach, but he glide landed successfully, Tani run out of fuel at dispersal. They had been airborne for 1 h 55 min.
Tani had been the only one to engage the enemy, but Sirén refused to believe his story, he did not even want a battle report, although Tani could show enemy oil on his windscreen.
But half an hour later an unexpected visitor arrived: Col.Lt. Lorenz, the commander of the 3rd Wing had flown in to inspect the base. He absolutely wanted to hear what Tani had to tell. Lorenz praised Tani's decision to leave the formation at Mikkeli and promised to have the SB searched for. There was another visitor, and it was Mrs. Tani !
A couple of hours later Lorenz came back to the alert tent: the SB had been found crashed in Sulkava, 30 km from the place Tani had seen it for the last time. It was the first victory for LLv28 in the new war and the only one that day. Squadrons 24 and 26 had distinghuised themselves. It was thanks to Tani that the Squadron had not totally failed. Sirén must have had some explaning to do for allowing two thirds of his pilots to be idle despite breakout of hostilities.
There were a lot of missions during the next weeks, but few results. The pilots began to call themselves "Siren's Buzz Boys" for chasing insubstantiated ground observations - and each others.
In Carelia
On the 12 Aug 1941 the Squadron was based at Lunkula by Lake Ladoga. A Division (4 a/c) was patrolling over the front line at Vieljärvi, 60 km NE from the base. After circling for one hour at 1500 m the Moranes left for base. At Kollaanjoki (famous for the Winter War) Tani, with his exceptionally good vision, spotted 6 I-15 bis fighters at about 1000m on opposite course. Moranes attacked and Sec.Lt. Linnainmaa shot down one with his 20mm fuselage gun. The surviving enemies formed a Spanish Ring - except one that tried to ram Sgt. Norola´s MS-301. The right wing tip of the Morane cut the strut between the right wings of the Soviet fighter. The wing of the enemy broke off and the fighter disappeared in an uncontrolled dive. Sgt. Tani managed to get behind one and shoot, but the enemy armour withstood the 7.5 mm bullets. The result of the scrap was 2 enemies destroyed, 2 damaged.
20th August Col.Lt. Lorenz arrived at Lunkula and he had a talk with Sgt. Tani, who seemed to be his favourite. Upon learning that Sgt. Tani did not have the 20mm gun in his fighter, Lorenz ordered the Flight commander (bypassing Capt. Siren) to see to it that Tani's fighter would be fitted with the a 20mm gun to be taken from the next Morane due to major overhaul at the Aircraft Factory. The very next day a 20mm gun was mounted in MS-311 and Tani took off as one of Division for Suojärvi, 90 km NE of the base. The Division intercepted a dozen of I-153 and I-15bis ground strafing Finnish troops. The Moranes attacked from 3000m turning round a cloud to be able to approach undetected from behind. Tani selected an I-15 bis and followed it as it dived for a strafing run, and as the enemy pulled up at 100m altitude, MS-311 was at 6 o'clock position at a distance of 30m. Tani took aim and fired. The 20mm shells hit the enemy tailplane: the I-15 pulled up, stalled, dived, then crashed in the forest - without exploding. Tani saw another 3 I-15 bis and pursued them at an altitude of 50m. He got one in his gunsight at a fairly long range of 150 m and fired; the victim crashed. Then the Finnish pilot engaged a third I-15 bis but he already had spent his 55 20mm gun rounds, and the light machine guns did not have any visible effect on the enemy. The Division rallied and returned to the base. Lorenz sent his personal congratulations to Tani when receiving the battle report.
Stationary war
Eastern Carelia was a secondary front; there were but a few bad roads, and no major strategic targets except the Murmansk railway. Also the short winter days and snowstorms hampered flying activities. In the winter 1941-1942 Fighter Squadron 28 was based in Viitana near Petrozavodsk. The missions were mainly reconnaisance, including propaganda leaflet dropping, ground attacks at targets of opportunity with machine guns and 12.5 to 25 kg bombs carried one under each wing of the Morane. Now of the 30 Moranes received in 1940 19 had survived. The 3rd flight also received a new Leader: Lt Olli Puhakka was transferred from LLv26. He proved to be a competent and well-liked commander.
On 25.3.1942 Sgt. Tani intercepted and shot down a lone Pe-2 on a recce mission.
In 4th June 1942 he flew his 100th mission.
On Aug 20th Tani was travelling in Europe: he was one of the
pilots ordered to ferry more Moranes from France. It was a
memorable and rare mission. As the ten-man Finnish team arrived
at Chateauroux, some of the Moranes were not yet airworthy. The
Finns hurried to Paris to spend their time and money.
They left Chateaurouz, penniless and with hangover on 26 Aug,
stayed overnight in Nancy the 27th, in Nuernberg on the 28th ,
(experiencing a British air raid) in Prag the 29th and 30th, in
Koenigsberg the 1st Sept. Finally they arrived in Helsinki on 3rd
September.
An unexpected result of this trip was the change of Squadron Leader. Maj. Siren had sent almost all his officers to France and no one was left to organize the interception of Pe-2 harassment missions at Petrozavodsk area. Siren was posted to command a training unit and Maj. Manula, a competent and far more popular officer replaced him.
Transfer to fly the Me109
In April 1943 Maj. Maunula, the squadron leader, commanded Tani to Tampere to ferry a prototype Morane with Russian Klimov M-105P engine for trials. But the upgraded fighter was still having engine cooling problems, and instead Tani was given the overhauled MS-634. The pilot chose to return via Utti to enquire about his chances of getting transfer to HLeLv34. In Utti he sought Capt. Puhakka, his onetime flight commander. The Captain, now the second-in-command of Sqn.34, was delighted to see Tani and promised that Maunula would have to change his mind.
Finally, on 19th April 1943 Sgt.Maj. Tani was posted to the 3rd Flt of HLeLv34, commanded by Puhakka. Tani started training at once: he sat in the cockpit and a mechanic showed him the controls. Next day Sgt. Paronen gave a lecture about the characteristics of the MT, and on the third day Tani was ordered to make the first flight. Capt. Puhakka trusted his new pilot. The takeoff was successful, when airborne Tani found the fighter was fast and climbed like nothing he had flown so far. He found landing was easier than takeoff.
On the 23rd April Tani flew his first mission on MT-203 but hydraulic oil leaking from the prop adjustment gear blinded his windscreen. The first victory in the new unit he scored with MT-229 on 21st May 1943. Tani shot down two single-seat IL-2s but he gave Capt. Lahtela one of the victories to console him. Lahtela had landed with undercarriage retracted and badly damaged his MT.
Then a new base was completed at Juurikorpi near Kotka, and the 3rd Flight was transferred there. On 29th Aug 1943 at 15.00 Capt Puhakka and Sgt Tani were scrambled to intercept four IL-2 escorted by fighters that were harassing ships near Haapasaaret islands. As the two MTs arrived at the scene at 1500 m the enemy was no more there. But Tani saw two enemy fighters on opposite course 500m below and alerted Puhakka. They dived and banked, Puhakka leading. He got behind the other Yak-1 and fired a square hit. The Yak dived trailing black smoke. The Captain was quick enough to shoot at the other Yak before pulling up. Tani then attacked the surviving but slightly damaged enemy, but he was coming in a steep dive and the enemy evaded him by a climbing turn.
Now a duel ensued. Puhakka was nowhere to be seen. Each pilot tried to get behind the other, the Yak was encumbered by partly protruding undercarriage leg. The Soviet pilot tried to get to Oranienbaum, but he could not shake the MT off. The dogfight climbed higher and higher, and 15 minutes later they had several thousands of meters of altitude.
Then the Yak pulled up from below and the MT pushed down: the Soviet pilot fired but missed, the Finnish pilot did not get a good aim. Then the two fighters passed each other, barely avoiding collision. Tani pulled up so that he blacked out, then half-looped and turned 180 degrees using ailerons. He found himself 100m behind the Yak that kept climbing. Tani fired a burst, hitting the engine of the enemy. The Yak shed some debris and began to trace thick smoke. A big lump was detached from the enemy, passing below the MT at a close distance. Tani was now so near the Yak that he could see that the cockpit canopy was open and there was no pilot. The abandoned fighter began a slow descent, tracing smoke.
Then Puhakka alerted Tani about an IL below, but they failed to find anything. Then they headed for base. Puhakka was elated after a successful battle, he began to make horixontal rolls, loops and "barrels", Tani copying his manouvers. They buzzed the base and landed at 15.55 hrs.
Debriefing, Tani could prove that the Yak Puhakka had shot at had crashed in the sea but Tani's hard work went rewarded - until decades later.
Soviet military archives prove that the 4th GvIAP, based on Kronstadt, had lost two fighters on the 29th August 1943. Puhakka's victim was 2nd Lt.Simatchev, who was killed, and Tani's was 2nd Lt. Stolyarskiy. Stolyarskiy was on his 7th mission - and he had fought well! He had bailed out, having suffered bad burns, but survived. The "lump" Tani had seen was the pilot, just bailed out.
Another lively engagement took place on the 8th September 1943. Sgt.Maj.Tani and Maj. Luukkanen were sitting in their fighters in alert readiness as Capt. Puhakka relayed scramble order at 11.58 hrs. Four IL-2 and two LaGG-3 were reportedly approaching Lavansaari from East. The two MTs took off at 12.05 and another four followed, all under total radio silence.
The enemy formation passed Lavansaari at 1500m and continued West, toward the Seeigel minefield and Finnish and German vessels covering it. Luukkanen and Tani spotted the enemy at 1500m about at the Southern tip of Suursaari island, coming right at them! There were four fighters at the altitude of the cloudbase (1500m) and two Sturmoviks at 1000m. The Soviet pilots spotted the two MTs at the same moment. The Ils turned back and dived, but the LaGGs pulled up in the ragged cloud.
Luukkanen was leading, he attacked the right-hand IL but his fire did not have any visible effect. One of the LaGGs dived at Luukkanen, who pulled a climbing turn ending behind the attacker. The Major fired and the enemy hit the water at 12.19 hours.
Tani had attacked the left-hand IL from 4 o'clock position, then he pulled up and attacked from above. He aimed in the middle of the IL, then fired. The victim shed pieces, dived and crashed in the sea at 12.24 hours.
Luukkanen and Tani had to abandon the surviving IL because of the enemy fighters hiding in the cloudbase. One of them bounced Tani, he pulled up to meet it, firing from 3 o'clock position but missing. Now the other four MTs had arrived at the scene, and one of them was behind the LaGG before Tani had a chance to aim again. He saw tracers sink in the front fuselage of the Soviet fighter, then it turned over and dived vertically in the sea. The third LaGG tried to climb in the cloud, pursued by a MT, and was shot down. Tani was looking for the fourth enemy and found it had emerged from the cloud behind his tail, uncomfortably close. Tani pushed the stick as hard as he could and the enemy's 20mm shells passed by so close that he could hear the whacks while the safety belts bit into his muscles and blood rushed in his head. The LaGG tried to pull up but there already was a MT behind him, and the Soviet fighter flew right in the 20mm burst, hitting water at 12.28 hrs.
Luukkanen ordered rallying and return to base where they landed at 12.50 hours.
Boston hunt
In October 1943 the airspace of Southern Finland was intruded by fast enemy aircraft operating singly. The enemies approached from the Gulf of Bothnia about at Uusikaupunki and crossed the country to the East before heading for Leningrad. They triggered air raid alerts also in Mikkeli, disturbing the life of the GHQ.
Maj. Luukkanen received orders to put a stop to the enemy activities. If some enemies could be shot down, the enemy would redirect the return route, if not abandoning the missions totally. On the night of 9th October the 3rd Flight at Kymi celebrated the 100th victory of the squadron, and Luftwaffe had kindly supplied festive drinks for the occasion. Sgt.Maj.Tani boasted jokingly to his friend W/O Paronen that he would shoot down one enemy during the next three missions.
Next morning the weather was bad, which was just as well since the pilots were more or less hung over at 6.40 hours as the day dawned. Lt. Ernamo checked his pilots and selected Sgt.Maj.Tani and Sgt. Leino as the scramble pair. They climbed in the cockpits of the MTs and began to wait.
The weather got better, as well as the mood of the fighter pilots. At 0850 hrs it was reported that an enemy entered the Finnish airspace N of Turku at 5000m, course E. 0923 hours it was approaching Kouvola at 4500 m. Tani and Leino were scrambled.
Tani spotted the enemy East of Utti: it was a A-20 Boston. The Finnish pilot enjoyed the situation. Now he was flying a fast well-armed fighter, instead of a slow Morane. He had no problems catching the bomber. Having approached at the cover of the tailplane to a range of 100 m until he opened fire. The bomber dived but Tani pursued and fired at each engine which began to trace smoke. Tani decided to wait until the enemy would make a forced landing, the altituce was 200m. There could be valuable cameras in the Boston which Tani wanted to spare. But his wingman, Sgt. Leino, wanted to share the victory and despite Tani's denial fired the right engine of the enemy in flames. The bomber crashed in solid forest and caught fire.
However, the pilot of the Boston was captured although badly wounded. Before dying of his wounds Senior Lt.Pavel Volkov told that his unit was 1.Guards' Mine and Torpedo Flying Regiment based in Kamenka near Leningrad. They had been on a recce mission on the Baltic.
There was a break in the operations of the 1.GvMTAB. On the 14th October 0730hrs another enemy a/c was spotted N of Uusikaupunki heading for East at 6000m among the clouds. The enemy evaded interception attempts from Tampere and Malmi (Helsinki). The Kymi pilot were going to try their luck next. Antti Tani was off duty, but he and all other pilots were in the command center following the reports about the intruder. As the enemy had been reported to pass Hämeenlinna, Tani donned his gear and went to the end of the runway where two MTs were ready to start. He climbed in the cockpit of MT-204 and the unsuspecting mechanics helped him to take off at 08.15.
Sgt.Maj. Tani climbed to 5000m and started cruising above Selänpää airfield in a 50km gap in the clouds. The enemy was bound to come that way, and the Finnish pilot was aware that he had better to score before having to answer for his shamelessness...
After a couple of minutes he spotted an Boston flying at 5000m in a shallow dive for maximum speed. Tani banked and applied full power. After a chase of 30 km in an altitude of 4500 m he was within range, approaching in the cover of the enemy tailplane. He aimed his first burst at the turret of the bomber to eliminaate the gunner, the Boston sideslipped and Tani could not keep her in his gunsight. Then the bomber dived, the fighter overshot it and had to make a full turn for another firing run. The Finnish pilot found that the Boston was flown by a skilled pilot, such as he never met so far. The bomber kept manouvering and the fighter pilot had to shoot "off the hip". The chase approached the cloud bank and it was not until near Lappeenranta that Tani managed to put some 20mm shells in the right engine of his target. There was a trace of oil mist but the bomber kept evading. Tani now hit the left engine which began to smoke heavily - at the very moment the cloud swallowed his target. Tani followed and at 150m he reached the bottom of the cloud bank. No enemy was to be seen and MT-204 landed in the base at 09.05 hrs.
Maj. Luukkanen had also joined the hunt and he had seen that Tani had damaged the Boston, but its fate remained unknown for hours. In the afternoon it became known that a Boston had belly landed 40km E of Immola and the crew had been taken prisoner.
The crew comprised the pilot, Capt. Asar Samedov; 1900 logged hours explained his skill; observer, 2nd Lt. Alexander Kopylov; gunner, Sr.Sgt. Boris Bubnov. Their unit was 1.GvMTAB.
The crew had taken off from Kamenka in the night and crossed the German occupied territory of Latvia to the Baltic. They had torpedoed a freighter.
Sr.Sgt.Tami considered this victory as the sweetest of his career, he had saved his reputation and kept his promise so that no one could tease him about idle boasting.
FAF anniversary day 6th March 1944
On the 6th March 1944 the weather was sunny, visibility 20 km, temp about 0 centigrade. A/b Kymi had been cleared of snow and fully operational. Alert was received at 13.30 hrs: 27 Pe-2 escorted by 12 La-5 approaching Kotka from Lavansaari at 3500m. The 5 serviceable MTs were scrambled, Tani took off as no.3 on MT-209, the narrow runway allowed single takeoffs only. When airborne Tani flew around the AA zone of Kotka, but the first bomber wave already was attacking. The Soviet escort fighters were scattered in pairs in varying altitudes up to 4000 m and a little to the side and at a distance to the bombers. The second wave, 18 bombers, turned away as they spotted the MTs but the first nine pressed on athough Maj Luukkanen shot down one of them before the La-5s intervened.
Sgt. Tani was watching the enemy and moved to intercept them after the bombers returned from the bombing run. The first Pe-2 approached heads-on at level flight at 1500 m. Tani gave her a burst, then banked for a 360 degree turn to be able to engage the next one. He repeated this manouver five times, each time damaging one Pe. The sixth bomber was badly damaged by the fire of MT-209, Tani saw holes in her fuselage as she left with the right engine tracing heavy smoke. The seventh enemy went down with a burning engine in a 30 degree dive having received a burst. The Finnish pilot still had ammo, he had only had a couple of seconds to aim and shoot at each target. He climbed to 3000m but the escort fighters were gone. In the debriefing session it was found that 6 enemies had been shot down while one MT had been damaged - that of Maj. Luukkanen.
But the enemy was active: another alert came at 17.10 hrs, this time 12 Pe-2 escorted by no less than 17 La-5. Four MTs took off to intercept but scattered and each pilot fought on his own. Tani climbed to 6000 m and found four La-5 heading for home. He surprised one, and having shot at her several times had to abandon his victim N of Haapasaari islets at 2000m.
The total score of the day for the Kymi pilots were 9 kills at the cost of two damaged MTs. Kotka AA had shot down one bomber But 11 people had been killed and three houses had been destroyed and one damaged in Kotka. It could have been worse, and later it was...
Hat Trick
1st July 1944 the first mission of the day for HLeLv34 took place between 1020 to 1130 hrs. Two flights of 8 MTs covered ships evacuating troops from the islands of Viipurinlahti against IL-2s. The MTs succeeded in repelling the attack and two Yak-9s escorting the attackers were shot down.
At 1200 hours an order for a combined mission was received. Four fighters were ordered first to cover Ju-88s of PleLv44 attacking enemy ships at the N end of Koivisto island then proceed to reconnaisance the road to Terijoki and back to Viipuri. Takeoff 1400 hrs, leader Maj Luukkanen (Squadron leader), other pilots Lt. Pokela (Flight leader), W/O Juutilainen and Sgt.Maj. Tani.
Tani and Juutilainen discussed the mission and they were sure lots of enemies would be around at Viipurinlahti.
The Division took off 1410 hrs, climbed S to 5000m among Cumulus clouds. At the target they found only one JK and signs of successful raid: burning and sunken transport vessels. The fighter pilots witnessed how the bombs of the Junkers barely missed a ship. No enemy fighters were seen, the JK headed for home and the recce mission started.
Dodging AA fire the Division flew above the coastal road to Terijoki, undisturbed by enemy a/c, then followed the Viipuri road to the town, now in Soviet hands, and finally turned E to fly home over Tali.
At Tali Juutilainen signalled with his hand to Tani: "Let's go!" Tani hesitated for a second: after all, the Boss himself was leading the mission. But Tani was flying "white 11" MT-453 armed with three 20mm guns, and he had some fuel reserve. "Illu" banked hard to the left and "Antti" followed.
A few minutes later Juutilainen contacted Tani by radio and asked him to look down: at an altitude of 500 m below them were at least 50 IL-2 in several formations. Some of them were ground strafing, some returning to theír bases.
Tani attacked the nearest formation comprising 6 IL-2. He approached from 9 o'clock position shooting at a 90 degree angle as the range was 100m. To his dismay he found that the left wing gun was jammed and the uneven recoil swung the MT. Yet the IL shed pieces and it dived with engine burning, hitting the ground at Juustila.
Both Finnish fighters were under intense fire from the rear gunners. Also the ILs that were near enough and behind fired their fixed guns at the attackers but without making any hits. The enemy was flying SE.
During the next firing run against another 9-ac formation, again from the side, Tani depressed the left pedal to counter the uneven recoil at the moment he pushed the trigger. The second IL-2 hit the ground at Suomenvedenpohja.
MT-453 began to blink the low fuel warning light as Tani engaged a third IL-2. He had to attack several times before he managed to get a good hit in the tailplane of the target. Juutilainen was approaching, Tani pulled up and saw a smoke column rising at Laiharanta.
Now they had only 15 minutes worth of fuel - would it be enough? Juutilainen and Tani landed at Lappeenranta where they handed over their recce results and refuelled. "Illu" told that he did not shoot at the third IL, it was Antti's victory. They were back in Taipalsaari a/b at 17.30 hours, and found that their "private enterprise" did not cause any problems.
Tani was very tired, he pulled off his swimming vest and used it as a pillow when lying down in the alert tent. He fell asleep at once, despite the noise of fighter engines being test-run.
Last victory
11 July 1944 at sunrise -0300 hrs- the 1st flight started the alert duty. The Red Army was crossing the Vuoksi river at Äyräpää. At0530 hrs 10 MTs were scrambled to Pölläkkälä to intercept ground attack a/c. Tani was flying MT-469 and his wingman was Sgt. Pekka Taimen. At Pääkkölä the flight intercepted 8 IL-2 at 800m. It was the normal altitude from which the ground attack pilots used to observe the target before starting the strafing run. The enemy turned back, the MTs pursuing. Tani and his wingman picked one IL and Tani fired at her from high 6 o'clock position from a range of 100m in the rear fuselage. At the next attack Tani found that his 20mm gun was jammed. He decreased altitude and fired at the IL radiator from below with the functioning two heavy machine guns. After a couple of bursts the IL-2 began to leak glycol. Tani kept firing at the tailplane while waiting for the enemy engine stop due to overheating. Some minutes later the crippled IL-2 tried to belly land on a field, but overshot it, cutting a 150 m swath in the forest, without catching fire.
After the war
Antti Tani continued his career in the FAF as fighter pilot and was promoted W/O on 15 May 1955. He served until 1955 and retired with 25 years of service and 1380 flying hours. He bought a house in Kouvola and started working as clockmaker full time. In the 70's electronic watches made the demand for watch repairs decrease and Tani became a lorry driver. He retired in 1982 at the age of 64 years.
His biography, a pleasure to read if one knows Finnish, was published in 2001. It is a most complete description of his flying career and also shows how good memory Mr. Tani has.
Victory list
Date place a/c victim unit if known
25.6.1941 Middle Finland MS-311 SB-2bis 10.
Fast Bomber Regiment
21.8.1941 Carelia MS-311 2x I-15 65. Ground Attack Rgt.
2.9.1941 Carelia MS-308 I-16 65. Ground Attack Rgt.
12.9.1941 Carelia MS-328 1/2 DB-3f 72. Fast Bomber Rgt.
23.9.1942 Carelia MS-317 DB-3 117. Recce Sqn.
25.3.1942 Carelia MS-619 Pe-2 4. Guards' Bomber Rgt.
24.2.1943 Olonez MS-619 Pe-2 119. Recce Sqn.
21.5.1943 Gulf of Finland MT-229 Il-2 7. G. Ground Attack Rgt.
8.9.1943 Gulf of Finland MT-223 Il-2 35. Ground Attack Rgt.
10.10.1943 S Finland MT-201 1/2 A-20 1. G. Mine and Torpedo R.
14.10.1943 S Finland MT-204 A-20 1. G. Mine and Torpedo R.
6.3.1944 Gulf of Finland MT-209 La-5 3 / 4. G. Fighter Rgt.
6.3.1944 Gulf of Finland MT-209 Pe-2 12. G. Bomber Rgt.
8.5.1944 Gulf of Finland MT-414 Yak-9 21. Fighter Rgt.
16.6.1944 Carelian Isthmus MT-428 Il-2 703. Ground Attack Rgt.
20.6.1944 Carelian Isthmus MT-428 P-39 196. Fighter Rgt.
21.6.1944 Carelian Isthmus MT-435 Yak-9 11. Fighter Rgt
1.7.1944 Carelian Isthmus MT-453 3xIL-2 448 / 566 Ground Attack R
11.7.1944 Carelian Isthmus MT-469 Il-2 566. Ground Attack Rgt
Total: 21.5 victories
Research C-F Geust, op.cit.
Sources:
Piipponen, Jukka, Jatkosodan ässä, Hämeenlinna 2001
SIH11, Keskinen-Stenman-Niska, Hävittäjä-ässät Finnish
Fighter Aces, Forssa 1994
Antti Tani with his mechanic R. Hiltunen in early 1943."Roope" was a real Mechanic who could drink the brake fluid of the Morane without apparent ill effects... ;-) Tani had shot down two Pe-2 with MS-619, indicated by the longer victory stripes at the tail.
2003.03.06, © WW II Ace Stories.