page_title: Bombing of Helsinki in World War II
section_title: The first great raid: 6–7 February
hierarchical_section_title: Bombing of Helsinki in World War II / Continuation War / The great raids of February 1944 / The first great raid: 6–7 February
caption_attribution_description: Suomi: Pommitustuhoja Helsingissä 1944.02.07
context_page_description: The capital of Finland, Helsinki was bombed repeatedly during World War II. Between 1939–1944 Finland was subjected to a number of bombing campaigns by the Soviet Union. The largest raids were three raids in February 1944, which have been called The Great Raids Against Helsinki.
context_section_description: 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 Skatudden, and the streets Porthaninkatu, Kasarmikatu, Kajsaniemigatan and Berggatan suffered considerable bomb damage as well, and the Technical University (Tekniska högskulan) at Sandvikstorget was destroyed.
  The defense 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.
  One-hundred persons were killed, and 300 injured. More than 160 buildings were damaged, including the Soviet Embassy on the corner of Bulevarden and Albertsgatan.
caption: Bombing destruction in Helsinki, the night of February 6-7, 1944.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "5000", "Image ImageLength": "3313", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "Pommitustuhoja Helsingiss\u00e4.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ImageEd 2.6.0.0", "Image DateTime": "2020:02:19 16:55:45", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "294", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3313", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom"}