No . 24 Squadron ( Finland ) No . 24 Squadron ( or " LLv . 24 " , from 3 May 1942 " Le . Lv . 24 " ) , renamed No . 24 Fighter Squadron ( Finnish : " Hävittäjälentolaivue 24 " or " HLe . Lv . 24 " on 14 February 1944 ) was a fighter squadron of the Finnish Air Force during World War II . The squadron was part of Flying Regiment 2 . During the Winter War , all Fokker D . XXI s - Finland ' s only modern fighter - were concentrated into the No . 24 Sqn , making it the only frontline fighter force . No . 24 Squadron was the most successful fighter squadron of the Finnish Air Force during World War II , claiming 877 aerial victories for a loss of 55 aircraft . The unit produced seven Mannerheim Cross winners , including Ilmari Juutilainen and Hans Wind , the two top - scoring aces . After the re - organization of the Finnish Air Force after World War II , HLeLv 24 was renamed into HLeLv 31 . Today it is part of the Karelian Wing , flying F - 18 Hornet s and still sporting the " Supersonic Lynx " as its emblem . History . Foundation . The Finnish Air Force was re - organized on July 15 , 1933 . As a result of a political decision , more aircraft bases were built and new units were formed . Among these were No . 24 Sqn , which was located to Utti , north of Kotka and close to the Karelian Isthmus . No . 24 Sqn was equipped with British Gloster Gamecock III fighters , that had been license - manufactured in Finland . The first unit commander , Richard Lorenz , developed a new fighter tactic , based on aircraft pairs , instead of the three - aircraft groups that were standard of the day . It is possible that the Finnish Air Force was the first air force to introduce this system as a tactical formation , later to be immortalized by Luftwaffe , and a standard today . The squadron was equipped with Dutch Fokker D . XXI fighters in 1937 . Winter War . The unit was still equipped with Fokker D . XXIs when the Soviet Union attacked Finland on November 30 , 1939 . Violent bomb raids on Helsinki claimed more than 300 lives on the very first day of the war . The Fokker fighters were considered inferior to the Soviet equivalents , such as the Polikarpov I - 16 and the Polikarpov I - 153 , which were the most common aircraft of the Soviet Air Force . The Finnish fighters were ordered to concentrate on the enemy ' s bombers in order to avoid unnecessary losses . The first victory was won on 1 December , when 11 Soviet SB bombers were downed . The first loss was attributed a blue - on - blue incident , when the Finnish anti - aircraft defences downed a fighter . Bad weather stopped air operations several times during the war , but the squadron downed 12 enemy aircraft on December 19 , including two I - 16 fighters . The total claimed tally for December 1939 was 54 aircraft shot down against one lost and one damaged own aircraft . These successes came at the same time as the Finnish Army stopped the Soviet advances on all fronts . Jorma Sarvanto became not only the squadron ' s top ace , but also overall ace of the Finnish Air Force , when he downed six Ilyushin DB - 3 bombers in only four minutes . The tally for January was 34 downed aircraft for one lost in battle . The squadron operative strength was down to 28 aircraft . The Soviet fighter tactics was changed by the end of January . Drop tanks were introduced and the Soviet pilots became more aggressive . Soviet fighters could now escort bombers far inland and sometimes whole swarms of fighters ( up to 40 - 60 fighters ) could make patrols far inland . A new Soviet land offensive was set in motion on February 1 , with the goal to breach the Mannerheim line on the Karelian Isthmus . No . 24 Sqn patrolled the front lines to try to protect the troops on the ground . The squadron flew sometimes as many as 88 sorties a day in February . The increased activity and work load was also noted in the losses . Among the deaths were two Danish fighter pilot volunteers . No . 24 Sqn lost six aircraft and claimed 27 enemy aircraft . The squadron strength was now down to 22 operational aircraft . During March , the weight of the ground operations was moved to the Bay of Vyborg , where the Red Army tried to cross the ice to southern Finland . The whole Finnish Air Force was ordered to try to stop the Soviet offensive . No . 24 Sqn flew 154 missions against the Soviet troop movements on the ice . A cease - fire was signed on March 13 . No 24 sqn had started the war with 36 fighters and were left with 22 . The unit claimed 120 aircraft downed ( of which 100 were bombers ) . Own losses amounted to 11 aircraft , of who 9 had been lost to the enemy . The Interim Peace . The squadron was re - equipped with US - made Brewster 239 fighters on April 19 , 1940 . This aircraft was considered to be the best fighter aircraft of the Finnish Air Force at the time . The unit itself was moved to the new base at Vesivehmaa , east of Lahti . The situation between the Soviet Union and Finland was very tense and many believed that it was only a matter of time until the war erupted again . During the 14 months that the peace lasted , the pilots of No . 24 Sqn trained hard , so that they would be ready to take on the enemy again . A ground - based early - warning system was developed and introduced to give warning of enemy aircraft at an earlier stage . The Continuation War . 1941 . At the beginning of the war , the squadron was equipped with 34 Brewster fighters . The Finnish Air Force consisted of 235 aircraft , of whom 187 were immediately ready . 179 of these were fighters . Against them were 1 , 332 aircraft from the Leningrad Military Area , 400 aircraft from the Soviet Baltic Red Fleet and 114 aircraft from the Soviet Arctic Red Fleet . The Finnish aircraft were marked with a yellow band , similar to German aircraft , to more easily distinguish them from the opponents ' aircraft . About 150 Soviet aircraft attacked several Finnish cities on June 25 , 1941 . This started the Continuation War . During the first day , No 24 Sqn downed 10 enemy bombers , without own losses . The unit protected southern Finland between June 25 – 30 and managed to shot down 17 enemy aircraft , among these were two MBR - 2 amphibious aircraft and one PE - 1 . One Brewster was lost in an accident . The squadron was relocated to Rantasalmi AFB on July 3 . Their mission was to support the Karelian Army ' s operations , together with the entire 2nd Air Regiment , the reconnaissance squadrons 12 and 16 , as well as Bristol Blenheim bombers from the 4th Air Regiment . Soviet reconnaissance discovered the Finnish troop concentrations and began a series of attacks on these on July 8 . The No 24 Sqn downed 11 enemy aircraft without own losses . The unit continued with its support operations during the summer of 1941 . By the end of 1941 , the No 24 Sqn could claim 135 victories against and only two losses to the enemy ( one to enemy anti - aircraft fire and one in an accident ) . The Finnish Air Force total tally was 356 enemy aircraft downed and 84 lost in battle and in accidents . No 24 Sqn was now the most successful fighter unit of the Finnish Air Force . 1942 . After the Finnish Army had reached its operational goals by the end of December 1941 , the war changed . It now took more a form of trench warfare . At the same time , the Soviet Air Force was being re - equipped with new fighters , many coming as lend - lease from the United Kingdom . Fighters such as Hawker Hurricane IIA and IIB began appearing over the Finnish front . No . 14 Sqn , which was equipped with Fokker D . XXIs , and who was located in northern Karelia faced increasing difficulties against the more modern Soviet fighters . The second group of the 24th Sqn was ordered to reinforce the defence at Tiksjärvi . Here they met Soviet MiG - 3 s and Hurricanes and also suffered their first losses to Soviet fighters ( three Brewsters were shot down ) , but they also shot down at least eight enemy aircraft . The Battle of Hogland was fought late in the winter of 1942 . No 24 Sqn supported the operations with six fighters . The fighter ace Ilmari Juutilainen managed to down two enemy aircraft . Juutilainen had now 20 victories and was rewarded with the Mannerheim Cross , the first pilot to be given the distinction in the unit . The Finns conquered the island after a successful operation . During the remainder of the year , the unit provided air defence from the Gulf of Finland up to northern Karelia . Jorma Karhunen was awarded with the Mannerheim Cross on September 8 . The Soviet Air Force operated now better fighters , such as the LaGG - 3 , La - 5 , Il - 2 Sturmovik , Yak - 1 , and Yak - 7 . 1943 . In the beginning of 1943 , the unit was down to 24 operational Brewster fighters . At the same time , a new unit was formed . No . 34 Sqn was formed to incorporate the new Messerschmitt Bf - 109 fighters . It also recruited the best pilots from other units , among them many of No . 24 Sqn ' s best pilots , i . e . Ilmari Juutilainen and Jorma Lukkanen , who had 34 and 14 . 5 victories respectively . The Soviet Air Force was continuously modernized . The No . 24 Sqn participated among other in the defence of the Gulf of Finland , where they met the aircraft of the Soviet Baltic Fleet , who recently had mounted an offensive . Captain Hans Wind received the Mannerheim Cross on July 31 , when he reached 31 victories . 1944 . In early 1944 the unit received the " fighter " prefix to its name and only 17 Brewsters remained operational . The successful aircraft , with a 30 : 1 victory ratio was replaced with Bf 109s . The unit was fully re - equipped by May 1944 and operated 14 Bf 109Gs when the Soviet Great Offensive started . The Soviet Great Offensive . The Soviet land , air and naval forces launched a coordinated attack on Finland on June 9 , 1944 . More than 1 , 500 Soviet aircraft were concentrated against the Finns in the immediate area . The Soviet strategic bomber command , ADD , also supported the operations . The Finnish Air Force could muster 16 Bf - 109s in No . 34 Sqn , 18 Brewsters in No . 26 Sqn and 14 Bf - 109s in the No . 24 Sqn . The No . 24 Sqn was based at Suulajärvi on the Southern Karelian Isthmus . The No . 24 Sqn was first tasked with reconnaissance , trying to find out how far the Soviet forces had advanced into Finnish territory . The largest activity in the air was on June 14 , 1944 , during the battles of Siiranmäki and Kuuterselkä . The enemy gathered some 1 , 700 aircraft for the battle . On June 15 , the No 24 Sqn was moved further northwest , to the airport at Lappeenranta . The unit was hardly struck on June 17 , when lieutenant Nissanen ( 32 . 5 victories ) and lieutenant Sarjamo ( 12 . 5 victories ) , two of its most experienced pilots were killed in action . Finland began receiving well - needed help from Germany - new Messerschmitt fighters arrived to replace losses and the German jabo unit Geschwader Kuhlmey also arrived and gave valuable assistance . Results of the war . No . 24 Sqn had 763 confirmed kills and lost itself 30 aircraft ( of whom 26 to enemy fighters ) . This gives a kill - ratio of 29 . 3 downed enemy aircraft for every own aircraft lost . Four pilots of No . 24 Sqn were awarded with the Mannerheim Cross , two of them received it twice . The unit was renamed into No . 31 Fighter Sqn on December 4 , 1944 . The unit is still active and flies F - 18s today . Organization . Winter War . The equipment consisted of 36 Fokker D . XXI s . Continuation War . The equipment consisted of 34 Brewster Buffalo es . Later during the war the unit was equipped with 29 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Gs .