Bombing of Helsinki in World War II The capital of Finland , Helsinki was bombed several times during World War II . Between 1939 – 1945 Finland fought three wars , two against the Soviet Union and one against Germany . The largest raids were three raids in February 1944 , which have been called The Great Raids Against Helsinki . Helsinki ' s air defense . In the autumn of 1939 , Helsinki was protected by the " 1st Anti Aircraft Regiment " consisting of four heavy anti - aircraft batteries of three to four guns each , one light AA battery and one AA machine gun company . The air defense of Helsinki was significantly strengthened from spring 1943 onwards under the lead of Colonel Pekka Jokipaltio . During the Continuation War Germany provided two early warning radars and four gun laying radars to Helsinki , further , 18 very effective German heavy 88 mm AA guns were also placed in Helsinki . The new six - gun batteries were grouped at Lauttasaari , Käpylä and in Santahamina . By February 1944 Helsinki was protected by 13 light and heavy AA - batteries . Air defenses included 77 heavy AA - guns , 41 light AA - guns , 36 search lights , 13 acoustic locators and 6 radars in addition to visual spotters and the Finnish Navy ' s anti - aircraft . Germany also provided some night fighter support against the Soviet attacks . The air defense command system was based on the German system and was quite effective – key personnel had trained in Germany . Due to manpower shortages , the air defense also used 16 - year - old boy volunteers from Suojeluskunta to man the guns and young girls of the Lotta Svärd organization to man search lights . The Germans had also based a night fighter unit , consisting of 12 Bf 109G - 6 nightfighters in Helsinki on 12 February 1944 and the German night fighter direction vessel Togo cruised in the Gulf of Finland between Tallinn and Helsinki . Helsinki ' s air defenses prioritized stopping bombs from reaching the city over the destruction of air targets . In a special type of barrage , several batteries would fire a wall of flak in front of the approaching bombers in an attempt to scare them into dropping their payloads too early and breaking away . AA shells had been jury - rigged by drilling the fuze - hole larger and filling the extra space with magnesium mixed with aluminium , turning their explosion from a dull red to a searing white . The Soviet long distance bomb group ( ADD ) . The bombing of Finland was generally conducted by the long - range bombing and reconnaissance group of the Soviet Air Force ( VVS ) , the " Aviatsiya Dalnego Deystviya " ( ADD ) . This group was directly subordinated to the Soviet High Command . During the February bombings of 1944 the ADD was reinforced with other units . The ADD commander was Marshal Aleksandr Golovanov . Bombing raids were also sometimes done by the VVS and the BF ( Baltic Fleet air group ) . The Soviet bomber fleet was very diverse . The majority of the aircraft were twin - engined Ilyushin - 4 , Lisunov Li - 2 , North American B - 25 Mitchell and Douglas A - 20 bombers . The B - 25s and the A - 20s had been supplied to the Soviet Union as Lend Lease materiel from the United States . The Lisunov Li - 2 was a Soviet bomber version of the American Douglas DC - 3 . There were also some heavy four - engined bombers participating in the bombings , e . g . the Petlyakov Pe - 8 . Civil defense . Before the war , Helsinki had quite an extensive civil defense system . By a city decree of 1934 , shelters were constructed in all high - rise building basements . These were merely basement rooms with reinforced walls in order to withstand nearby bomb impacts . All buildings were required to have an appointed civil protection supervisor who was not in the reserves or the armed forces , and as such was usually unfit for military service . This person was tasked to see that all occupants made it to the shelter in an orderly fashion . There were a few larger shelters built into solid rock , but it was not possible to fit all the citizens of Helsinki into these . Some hospitals were also equipped with subterranean shelters where patients could be relocated during air raids . Others , such as the Children ' s hospital , were moved outside the city . One hospital was entirely underground , below the Finnish Red Cross building . Winter War . Three hours after Soviet forces had crossed the border and started the Winter War , Soviet planes bombed Helsinki . The most intensive bombing raids were during the first few days . Helsinki was bombed a total of eight times during the Winter War . Some 350 bombs fell on the city , resulting in the deaths of 97 people and the wounding of 260 . In all , 55 buildings were destroyed . The Soviet bombings led to harsh reactions abroad . U . S . President Roosevelt asked the Soviets not to bomb Finnish cities . Molotov replied to Roosevelt : " Soviet aircraft have not been bombing cities , but airfields , you can ' t see that from 8 , 000 kilometers away in America . " Continuation War . Helsinki fared somewhat easier during the Continuation War since Soviet bombers mainly focused on German forces in the Baltic states . Helsinki was bombed 39 times during the Continuation War . 245 people were killed and 646 wounded , the majority in the three big raids of 1944 . The great raids of February 1944 . In February 1944 , the Soviet Union launched three massive bombing raids against Helsinki . The aim was to break the Finnish fighting spirit and force the Finns to the peace table . The raids were conducted on the nights of 6 – 7 , 16 - 17 and 26 – 27 February . Joseph Stalin had obtained British and American support for this measure at the Tehran conference in 1943 . In this manner the USSR hoped to force Finland to break its ties with Germany and agree to a peace settlement . Finnish air defense forces counted 2 , 121 bombers in the three raids of February 1944 , which dropped more than 16 , 000 bombs . Of the 34 , 200 shots fired against the bombers , 21 , 200 were with heavy AA artillery , and 12 , 900 were with light AA artillery . The Finns deceived Soviet pathfinders by lighting fires on the islands outside the city , and only using the searchlights east of the city , thereby leading the pathfinders to believe that it was the city . Only 530 bombs fell within the city itself . The majority of the population of Helsinki had left the city , and the casualties were quite low compared to other cities bombed during the war . Of the 22 - 25 Soviet bombers lost in the raids , 18 - 21 were destroyed by AA fire , and four were shot down by German night fighters . The first great raid : 6 – 7 February . 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 amount 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 . 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 . 100 persons were killed , and 300 injured . More than 160 buildings were damaged . The AA defenses had issued some false alarms the previous days which had lowered people ' s readiness levels . The second great raid : 16 – 17 February . Since Tallinn had been bombed heavily and intelligence pointed out that a raid might be directed at Helsinki , the Helsinki air defense took some active measures . After the first raid , a German night fighter group of 12 Messerschmitt Bf 109G - 6 fighters with special night fighting equipment was transferred to the Helsinki - Malmi Airport from the Estonian front . These managed to shoot down six bombers during the following two raids . The anti - aircraft batteries fired 184 barrages and downed two bombers . Heavy AA batteries fired 12 , 238 shots and light AA batteries fired 5 , 709 shots . Most of the population of Helsinki had voluntarily evacuated to the countryside and the remainder were prepared to take shelter at first warning . This reduced casualties significantly . This time 383 bombers participated . While 4 , 317 bombs fell on the city , the sea and in the surrounding area , only 100 bombs fell within the city . The warning was sounded at 20 : 12 and the bombers approached again in two waves : 20 : 12 – 23 : 10 on 16 February and 23 : 45 - 05 : 49 on 17 February . The first wave tried to concentrate the bombing by approaching from different directions . In the second wave , the aircraft came in smaller groups from the east . Finnish intelligence had intercepted messages one hour and 40 minutes before the raid and warned the air defense , which had time to prepare . The air defense sounded the warning 49 minutes before the raid . Radar picked up the first aircraft 34 minutes before the beginning of the bombings . This time casualty figures were much lower : 25 died and 29 were injured . 27 buildings were destroyed and 53 were damaged . The third great raid : 26 – 27 February . On the evening of 26 February , a single Soviet reconnaissance aircraft was spotted over the city . It was a sign of the coming attack . The weather was clear , which helped the attackers . Again Finnish Radio Intelligence intercepted messages of the forthcoming raid , this time 1 hour and 28 minutes before the bombing would commence - although the Soviets tried to maintain radio silence . Five minutes later , the air surveillance grid , manned by Lotta Svärd auxiliaries , reported approaching bombers . A silent alarm was sounded in the city in good time before the raid . Street lights were turned off , trams and trains were stopped and radio transmissions ended . In this manner , the enemy had more difficulty finding their target . All citizens knew that they had to take cover . The first bombers were picked up by Finnish radar at approximately 18 : 30 , 25 minutes before they would arrive . A few minutes later , the night fighters took off and flew to their predesignated positions . The AA - artillery had also been alarmed . The air raid warning was sounded at 18 : 45 . AA - batteries opened up fire at 18 : 53 . At 19 : 07 the first bombs fell . This last great raid differed from the two previous ones . The battle lasted for some 11 hours and was divided into three different phases . The first one was in the evening and lasted for four hours and concentrated the attacks against the city . The second one was mainly focused on the defending AA artillery , but to little success . The last wave hoped to finally flatten the city , but the majority of the aircraft turned away when met with fierce anti - aircraft barrages and night fighters . The all clear signal was finally sounded at about 6 : 30 in the morning of 27 February . Despite that this had been the most massive raid , the damages were again quite limited : 21 people were killed and 35 wounded ; 59 buildings were destroyed and 135 damaged . The heavy AA artillery fired 14 , 240 shots and the light AA artillery 4 , 432 shots . Nine Soviet bombers were downed . This time 896 bombers participated in the raid on Helsinki . They dropped 5 , 182 bombs of which only 290 fell on the city itself . The damage of the great raids . Thanks to the efficiency of the anti - aircraft and deception measures , damage was limited . Only 5 % of the bombs fell within the city , and some of these fell in uninhabited park areas causing no damage . Some 2 , 000 bombers participated in the three great raids on Helsinki and dropped some 2 , 600 tons of bombs . Of the 146 who died , six were soldiers ; 356 were wounded . 109 buildings were destroyed . 300 were damaged by shrapnel and 111 were set on fire . The Soviets lost 25 aircraft . By comparison , Dresden was bombed on 13 – 15 February 1945 by 1 , 320 bombers , which dropped 3 , 900 tons of bombs . This force was comparable to the total that attacked Helsinki , but the Dresden raid killed about 25 , 000 to 35 , 000 people and the city was almost completely destroyed . After the war , the Allied Control Commission led by Soviet General Andrei Zhdanov came to in Helsinki . Zhdanov was perplexed by the limited damage the city had sustained . The Soviet leadership thought that they had destroyed the city completely and that it was these bombings that had forced the Finns to the peace table . Finnish response . The Finnish Air Force responded to the air raids with series of night infiltration bombings of ADD airfields near to Leningrad . Finnish bombers - Junkers Ju 88 s , Bristol Blenheim s , and Dornier Do 17 s - either tailed or in some cases even joined formation with returning Soviet bombers over the Gulf of Finland and followed these to their bases . Once most Soviet bombers had landed the Finnish bombers approached to bomb both the landed and still landing Soviet bombers and then escaped in the ensuing confusion . The first major night infiltration bombing took place on 9 March 1944 and they lasted until May 1944 . However Soviet casualties from these raids could not be estimated reliably .