Finnish victory Helsinki, the capital of Finland, was bombed repeatedly during World War II.

The air defence of Helsinki was significantly strengthened from the spring of 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.

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.

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.

On the morning of the first air raid, Soviet bombers flew over Helsinki and dropped leaflets with the inscription:[3] You know we have bread - don't starve.

After this peace will come!By the afternoon, eight Soviet Ilyushin DB-3 long-range bombers of the Black Sea Fleet air arm bombed Helsinki after returning back from Russarö on a futile naval attack mission.

The bombers dropped their payload of 600 bombs on Helsinki with the intent of offloading them before returning to their airbase at Kronstadt.

Despite dropping their payload over Helsinki, the unescorted bombers were intercepted by the Finnish air force.

[citation needed] Helsinki fared somewhat better during the Continuation War since Soviet bombers focused mainly on German forces in the Baltic states.

The plane dropped only a single aerial bomb at the intersection between the streets of Yrjönkatu and Roobertinkatu.

[7] In February 1944, the Soviet Union launched three massive bombing raids against Helsinki.

The aim was to break the Finnish fighting spirit and to force the Finns to the peace table.

Joseph Stalin obtained British and American support for the measure at the Tehran Conference in 1943.

In that manner, the Soviets hoped to force Finland to break its ties with Germany and agree to a peace settlement.

Finnish air defence forces counted 2,121 bombers in the three raids of February 1944, which dropped more than 16,000 bombs.

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 total number of bombs dropped (included the ones that fell into the sea) amounted to some 6,990.

Most of the population of Helsinki had voluntarily evacuated to the countryside and the remainder were prepared to take shelter at the first warning, which reduced casualties significantly.

Finnish intelligence had intercepted messages one hour and 40 minutes before the raid and warned the air defence, which had time to prepare.

Five minutes later, the air surveillance grid, manned by Lotta Svärd auxiliaries, reported approaching bombers.

The last wave hoped to finally flatten the city, but most of the aircraft turned away when met with fierce anti-aircraft barrages and night fighters.

Helsinki and many other European cities endured bombing raids throughout the Second World War, the Finnish capital fared better than many others because of the efficiency of its anti-aircraft and deception measures.

The Soviet embassy on the corner of Bulevarden and Albertsgatan was hit by bombs and burnt down completely.

[8] After the war, the Allied Control Commission led by Soviet General Andrei Zhdanov came to Helsinki.

[8] The Soviet leadership thought that it had destroyed the city completely and that the bombings had forced the Finns to the peace table.