Finnish Forces

Bristol Blenheim Mk IV

During the Winter War, Finnish Air Force had 41 Bristol Blenheim bombers bought from Britain. 18 was bought in 1936 and the rest 23 after outbreak of the war, arriving in January-February 1940. The Blenheims flew 423 missions dropping 3168 bombs and shooting down 5 enemy aircrafts. 7 of the bombers was lost. After the Winter War, "Valtion lentokonetehdas" (State Airplane Factory) started constructed Bristol Blenheims under licence. The first batch of 15 aircraft were completed between June 1941 and January 1942. The second batch of 30 Blenheims were complited in July-November 1943. And the third batch of 10 Finnish built Bristol Blenheims was complited in February-April 1944. The last order of 5 bombers was cancelled after the peace treaty of september 1944. During the Continuation War(1941-1944) these Bristol Blenheims flew 2768 bombing missions and shot down 3 enemy aircraft. The Blenheims flew further 157 bombing missions in the Lapland War. 30 of the bombers were lost in combat. The Bristol Blenheim Mk IV (registered BL-200) in the picture was built in spring 1944 and it flew 55 bombing missions during the war. It is today the sole surviving original Blenheim in the world. It was completely restored in 2006-2008 and is now on display at "Keski-Suomen ilmailumuseo" (Aviation Museum of Central Finland) in Tikkakoski, Jyväskylä, Finland.