Oiva Emil Kalervo Tuominen was born in Iitti, a
farming community in Southern Finland on 5. March 1908. He was
the only chold of his mother Iida. In 1917 he saw for the first
time in his life an aeroplane, a Russian flying boat. Immediately
he decided to be a pilot some day. But the path in the cockpit
was not straight...
Tuominen began to approach his dream when he did his compulsory
military service in the Air Force. He was accepted despite his
minimal education, four years of school, and was trained as
assistant mechanic in 1926. Complying with his mother's wish, he
did not apply for "dangerous" pilot training , but
chose to become professional aircraft mechanic instead. He got
married and his only son was born in 1932. He earned his living
as FAF mechanic up to 1933, then he could no more resist the call
of his dream. He applied for and was accepted to a NCO pilot
training course. After training he was promoted to Sergeant and
transferred to LeLv 26, a fighter squadron equipped with Bristol
Bulldogs. He showed good flying and shooting skills, his eyesight
was phenomenal, but his superiors considered him stubborn - but
is that a fault in a fighter pilot ?
Physically he was shortish, with dark complexion for a Finn, and
he had a fine set of teeth and black hair. He walked with a
slight limp due to knees damaged in soccer. He also was talkative,
mischievous and prone to use hyperbola in small talk, especially
to "dupe" men with less experience.
For
example when he had landed his Me109 at Malmi in spring 1943 Fiat
pilots of HLeLv 26 based there came to gawk at the new fighter.
Tuominen boasted how fast the "Mersu" is: upon approach,
he had throttled back over Tallinn (distance 80 km) and yet he
had had to circle the base eight times before the speed had
decreased enough to take out the undercarriage! When "Oippa"
told a story, the listener was the "responsible" one.
In the Winter War Senior Sgt. Tuominen was initially commanded to
Squadron 24 to fly Fokker D.XXI. He opened his score on 25.12
with a shared SB-2, then another on 19.1.40 . He was transferred
back to his own squadron on February to fly the new Gloster
Gladiators. His first flight with the new fighter on the 2nd of
February 1940 turned into a nightmarish battle against at least
nine I-16. But Tuominen was not only able to survive that, but
also shot down two of the attackers before the enemy had to
disengage due to lack of fuel. (separate story)
On 13.2. 1940 at Wartsila he shot down in seven minutes three SB-2
(of 39.SBAP) and damaged the fourth. Another pilot finished that
one off and downed another SB. The enemy lost 5 bombers of the 9-plane
formation. Lasse Lautamäki, frequently flying as Tuominen's
wingman, said:
- I just wonder how Oippa does it, he just squirts once and the
bomber is in flames. I have to make several attacks for the same.
Sr.Sgt. Tuominen became the top Gladiator ace with 6 1/2
victories. His Winter War score totalled eight, and at least four
unconfirmed. In March, for example, flying a Fiat G.50 he
attacked enemy bombers being fired at by Finnish AA at Kouvola.
Two enemies were shot down, but credited to the AA. Tuominen
demanded that the wrecks should be examined to determine who
downed them, but his squadron leader refused.
As the war broke out again in June 1941, Sr. Sgt. Tuominen had
acquired an excellent skill in flying his Fiat G.50. His self-confidence,
never weak, had been even stronger. Once his Squadron Leader gave
him a talking-to for inverted flying over a lake at wavetops. (In
inverted position the Fiat engine would leak oil and fuel,
causing a risk of fire.) The pilot retorted that he, Tuominen,
was able to do whatever he wanted to do, while others were able
to do only what they could. Tuominen was never at a loss for
words and was a great storyteller, too. But he did not endear
himself to his superiors.
Tuominen was in custody on the 25th June 1941 , punished for
flying over the no-fly zone at the Soviet border without
permission some days earlier. That day 15 SB-2 bombers attacked
the Fiat base in Joroinen. The FA pilots scrambled, pursued the
enemy and only two of the enemy bombers escaped in the clouds.
Tuominen reopened his score at Joensuu on 4.7. The 1st Flight of
LeLv26 was based on a natural sand field created by the extremely
low water level of Lake Hoytiainen. The weather was warm, sunny,
with big random Cumulus clouds.
There was a scramble, and the entire flight took off to intercept
enemy bombers reported to be approaching Joensuu. As soon as
Tuominen had taken in the wheels of the FA-3, he banked and left
the other fighters with the wingtip nearly sweeping the ground.
He had an idea where the enemy would be, and immediately he
spotted 12 unescorted SB-2 bombers in about 3000 m. The FA-3 did
not have a radio transmitter, so he could not infor the other
pilots, and they did not see how he rocked the wings of his
fighter to signal about the enemy. Tuominen pulled the stick and
began to approach the enemy heads-on from below.
When in range he fired at the leading bomber. The salvo smashed
in the plexi glazing in the bomber nose, and probably killed the
pilot because the bomber nosedived immediately. Tuominen flew
through the bomber formation and made a chandelle turn when above
and behind. He attacked the wing bomber of the formation, aiming
carefully his first salvo at the gunner, then at one engine. But
another SB slowed down to enable the gunner shoot at the fighter
at a range of twenty meters from the side. Tuominen felt a jar in
his pedals, "as if a horse had kicked", his fuel tank
was pierced, too, but he kept "working" at his victim.
Not until the SB dived with burning engines he turned his
attention to the insolent bomber gunner. Now the entire bomber
formation jettisoned their bombs and began to climb to seek cover
in the clouds. The third SB was shot down before the cloud hid
the bombers for a while.
Tuominen kept pursuing his prey. As soon as he emerged from the
cloud, he fired and damaged one engine of a fourth SB. But now
his damaged fuel tank had been nearly drained and he had to
disengage. He had saved the town from bombardment single-handed.
The entire battle had been seen by the ground personnell. The
fourth SB vanished from the witnesses' view trailing smoke. The
FA-3 landed, engine coughing due to fuel starvation. The wreck of
the damaged fourth bomber was found later in the forest at
Tohmajarvi: the engines of the SB-2 were prone to overheating and
in warm weather the damaged plane did not get far.
An interesting episode followed, as they found out that the pilot
of the fourth SB had bailed out and was taken prisoner. Tuominen
was asked whether he would like to meet this man, and he accepted
the offer.
Tuominen was introduced to the captured Soviet captain as the
pilot who shot him down by Flt. Mstr. Torhonen, who spoke Russian.
The prisoner asked how they could be so sure about that. At least
three fighters had attacked the formation, he said, two from
below and one from above. It took some time to convince the
captain that one single fighter had shot down all four SB's.
-Is this pilot the famous Sarvanto? the prisoner asked.
Having been told who the Finnish fighter pilot was, the Soviet
pilot reached his arm and shook hands with Tuominen, saying
solemnly:
- Allow me congratulate you for your feat.
After a while he continued:
- Allow me also congratulate the Finnish Air Force for such
pilots as Sarvanto, the terror of Soviet bomber crews.
Tuominen scored another 2 bombers on 14.7. and one more on 30.7.
On 5.8.1941 Tuominen and Sgt. Paronen escorted a novice, Lt.
Bruun on his first mission. They encountered four enemy I-15 bis
fighters. Tuominen shot down two, Paronen one. They decided to
take a prisoner, forcing the last I-15 fly between two Fiats to
the Finnish base. But the enemy pilot resisted, and Tuominen
ordered Bruun shoot the enemy down while the two other Finnish
pilots made sure that the enemy did not get away. Back at the
base the squadron leader at first refused to believe what had
happened, only after all three pilots told the same story it was
believed. Tuominen was credited with one kill only, however.
Tuominen was promoted into Sergeant-Major as his score was 18. He
also became the first FAF holder of the Mannerheim Cross on the
18.August 1941. At that time he was the number one ace with a
score of 14 (8 Winter war and 6 newer victories), and Air Force
needed a Knight, too. His commendation reads:"Sgt.-Maj.
Tuominen who as a very successful fighter pilot has shot down 18
enemy aircraft is nominated as a Knight of the Mannerheim Cross".
The document that Marshal Mannerheim based his decision on was if
possible even shorter: Gen. Lundqvist wrote: "Tuominen is
the best fighter pilot" and annexed copies of four battle
reports.
But Tuominen proved to be a public relations disaster. Reporters
wanted to hear stories about his battles, and he reminisced about
the appalling billets he had had to endure during the Winter War...
The main reason for his success was a burning desire to fly and
fight the enemy. He often abandoned the formation and went to
look for the enemy, just in WW1 style. The result was that he did
not often have any witnesses for his victories, which conseqently
were not confirmed. Although the enemy in 1941 would avoid battle
with larger formations, a single plane was less respected.
Tuominen knew that having enough altitude he could attack any
number of enemies and disengage at will by diving. The Fiat could
outdive both I-16 and I-153 and at a competent pilot's hands out-curve
them. Tuominen never met a Soviet pilot superior to himself.
On the 4th June 1942 the undercarriage of the FA-1 collapsed as
Tuominen was landing at Malmi, and the fighter nosed over.
Tuominen was hospitalised for a few days.
For several months in 1941 -1942 Squadron 26 was mostly grounded
due to technical problems: the engines of the Fiats were worn out
and could not be replaced fast enough. Some aircraft remained in
usable condition, however. On the 21st September 1942 the
following incident took place at Kilpasilta:
Tuominen and two Sergeants were on duty, playing cards, as the
Flight Commander, Lt. Mikko Linkola joined them. Soon the phone
rang and the pilots received a scramble order. As often before,
Tuominen disappeared after start, but returned with others about
20 minutes later.
Back in the hut the men picked up their cards and continued the
game in silence. Tuominen broke the silence and said in an
offhand way that he had "squirted" at Miikkulainen one
or two planes. "Uh huh", the lieutenant commented and
the game continued in silence until the phone rang again. Linkola
answered, listened and turned to stare at Tuominen.
Then the Lieutenant rang off and asked:
- Oippa, what was it that you just said?
- I said I squirted a couple of planes. Then he volunteered:
- One Tchaika and one I-15, probably.
The lieutenant said that the "observer girls" in
Miikkulainen had seen how a "Fiiu" pursued a Tchaika in
a cloud, then they had heard shooting and soon pieces of aircraft
fell out of the bottom of the cloud. The Fiat emerged from the
cloud alone, the I-15 fell a moment later... The squadron leader,
Major Harju-Jeanty had complained once:
- Damn that Oippa. Always he lies, and when you for once check
you find that he has told the truth...
In 1943 Flight Master Tuominen had 31 victories as he
was transferred to HLeLv 34 equipped with Me 109. His first
victory with MT-212 was a PE-2 at Kotka on 2.6.43 as he virtually
shot down himself (the wing of a disintegrated Pe-2 hit the
propeller of his Messerschmitt) and made a forced landing in the
sea. (story enclosed). The 1st flight was transferred to defend
Helsinki, and the pilots saw very little action. Between 23rd Aug
1943 and 7th July 1944 Tuominen did not get any confirmed
victories.
In September 1943 there was a battle south of Helsinki and
Tuominen again damaged his fighter by debris from his victim. He
had to land at Tallinn, where Luftwaffe had a base. Unfortunately
the base was under Soviet air attack, and as soon as Tuominen had
climbed out of his fighter he had to take cover in a ditch. A
fuel dump was hit and burning petrol began to flow in the ditch.
The Finnish pilot had to crawl for his life to avoid being burnt
alive while bombs kept falling nearby. The flaming liquid was
catching up with him so he had to get up and leave his cover.
Fortunately the bomber wave had passed, and Tuominen decided to
get out of the hellish place by any means. He saw a Luftwaffe Ju
52 taxiing toward the end of the runway and made a dash at it. As
the Ju was turning at the end of the runway for takeoff, Tuominen
began to bang at the door with his fists. As soon as a surprised
German airman opened the door, the Finnish pilot pushed himself
in and asked in German where the plane was heading. He was told
that the destination was Pori, where Luftflotte 5 had a big
maintenance depot. The stranded pilot got a ride roughly in the
right direction. It must be kept in mind that this is what
Tuominen himself told.
Meanwhile at Malmi the other pilots were guessing at the fate of
the missing ace. In the heat of the battle no one had seen what
had happened to Oippa. They were not very worried, because
Tuominen used to boast that no such pilot was born as to shoot
him down. Then the Flight Commander received a phone call from
the M.P. who had nabbed a suspect. The man claimed to be Flt.Mstr.
Tuominen on his way to the base at Malmi. He had no ID documents
because he was on return from mission, but curiously enough, over
Lauttakyla and without his fighter! The commander asked the
policeman to describe the suspect.
- Leather jacket, flying helmet, odd-looking square goggles, dark
as a Gypsy, handsome teeth, cursing like a Turk!
Ther commander asked the M.P.s to send the man to Malmi, although
he failed to understand how his pilot who had gone missing in the
Gulf of Finland could be found deep inland...
Tuominen scored five more victories in 1944, totalling 42. That
was not bad for a 36 year old fighter pilot. But he did not excel
as he did in 1941- 42. There was no room for lone wolwes any more
in the confined theater of war at the Carelian Isthmus. The enemy
was better trained, equipped with radar and led with radio, and
as usual, numerically superior. Moreover, the Finnish fighters
were concentrated in escorting bombers on the strikes against
enemy troops and material on the front line. Ilmari Juutilanen,
among others, appreciated Tuominen very much, saying that he
often was the first one to spot the enemy and very fast in making
up a strategy to get in an advantageous position for attack.
After the war Tuominen resigned from FAF service and became a
taxi operator, having flown about 400 missions during the war He
remained an active hobby pilot as long as he could. He died on 28.1.1978.
A rare honour was bestowed on him as Republic of Equatorial
Guinea issued a postage stamp with his portrait in the stamp
series "Heroes of the Air".
Strip-tease of Oippa's Messerchmitt Bf-109 G-6 "MT-212".
1999.09.27, © WW II Ace Stories.