page_title: Operational history of the Dornier Do 17
section_title: Finnish Air Force
hierarchical_section_title: Operational history of the Dornier Do 17 / Other air forces / Finnish Air Force
context_page_description: In late 1936, the Do 17 E-1 began to be mass-produced. The first Luftwaffe units to receive the bomber were Kampfgeschwader 153, and KG 155. Aufklärungsgruppe /122, a reconnaissance unit, began converting to the Do 17 F-1. In early 1937, KG 255 was formed, also to be equipped with the Do 17 E-1.
  According to the Generalquartiermeister der Luftwaffe, 479 Do 17s were on strength. Some 100 more had been lost in crashes or sent to Spain. On 12 March 1938, Do 17Es of KG 155 dropped pro-Nazi leaflets on Vienna, as a prelude to the city's occupation during the German Anschluss operation. KG 153 received its first Do 17 E-1s on 20 September 1938 as part of a mass re-equipment program. The unit was redesignated KG 3 on 1 May 1939. KG 155 converted on to the type in early 1938. KG 252 was also equipped with the Do 17M, at this time to meet the threat of the Sudeten Crisis. By December 1938, it had 26 Do 17s and 17 crews. On 1 May 1939, the Kampfgeschwader was redesignated Kampfgeschwader 2.
context_section_description: In November 1941, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring decided to give 15 Dornier Do 17Z aircraft to the Finnish Air Force. No. 46 Squadron operated the Dorniers. The Finns used their Do 17 aircraft mainly for night bombing and against "soft" targets at the front, since the aircraft were considered obsolete – the speed and climbing abilities of the Do 17 were deemed inadequate by 1942 standards.
  Fifteen Do 17s (three Z-1, three Z-2 and nine Z-3) saw service with the Finns. Ten were lost between January 1943 and January 1945, the remaining five were not scrapped until in 1952. (For a full list of the Dorniers used see:Finnish Air Force No. 46 Squadron).
caption: Do 17Z of the Finnish Air Force.
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