ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193052
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| Date: | Saturday 24 January 1942 |
| Time: | 10:15-1030 |
| Type: | Polikarpov I-15bis |
| Owner/operator: | 65 ShAP Soviet Air Force |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Ontajärvi area -
 Finland
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 24 January 1942, five Brewsters from 2/LLv 24 led by luutnantti L. Ohukainen attacked ten enemy biplanes, which were escorting a pair R-5s over Ontajärvi. Between 1015-1030 hrs, they claimed five victories: an I-152 was claimed over Kuusjärvi by kersantti Eino Myllymäki (BW-358), an I-152 over Ontajärvi by lentomestari Yrjö Turkka (BW-352) and an I-152 over Kiimasjärvi by luutnantti Ohukainen (BW-356). Lentomestari Turkka and luutnantti Ohukainen also claimed a shared R-5 over Kuusjärvi. Finally, between 1015-1020 hrs, alikersantti Paavo Koskela (BW-372) collided with a Chaika over Ontajärvi but managed to return back to Tiiksjärvi with a broken starboard wing tip to claim one victory.
Brewster BW-372 was repaired and was later used by the Finnish ace Lauri Pekuri (18 ½ victories), who claimed seven victories while flying this aircraft until they were shot down on 25 June 1942 by a Hurricane from 609 IAP and crashed behind Soviet lines near Seesjärvi. Pekuri succeeded to return to his own line on foot.
The Soviet fighters were six I-15bis and I-153s from the 65 ShAP, which were sent to attack Finnish positions. They were intercepted by five Brewsters on the way back and in the battle two I-15bis were shot down in Ontajärvi area and their pilots, Starshiy Leytenant Mytrofan Fedorovich Semenihin and Serzhant Nikolay Aleksandrovich Rulev, were killed. Starshiy Leytenant Vasiliy Averkyevich Knizhnik in his I-152 made a “taran” ramming attack on one of the Brewster and after a forced landing he made a claim.
For this combat, Knizhnik was decorated with the Order of Lenin. 65 ShAP was later re-armed with Il-2s and Knizhnik claimed 4 more victories to become an ace. He also claimed 54 aircraft destroyed on the ground. These were claimed on 203 missions. Knizhnik retired as a Polkovnik. After the war, he was transferred to the reserve and worked as a flying trainer at Kiev aeroclub.
Sources:
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/soviet_knizhnik.htm
https://eismeerjager.livejournal.com/3175.html
http://allaces.ru/p/ls.php?div=shap0065017&sort=dateR
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontaj%C3%A4rvi
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Jan-2017 12:29 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 02-Jul-2021 08:37 | JF | Updated [Operator] |
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