The Fokker D.XXI can hardly be considered
one of the best fighters of the Second World War. Nevertheless, the D.XXI was used with
such success by Finland that it achieved one of the best kill ratios of that period.
Fokker aircraft. Normally we associate this name with Germany and the biplane and triplane
designs of the First World War. But in fact, Anthony Fokker, the founder, was born in the
Dutch East Indies and grew up in the Netherlands. He moved to Berlin in 1910 and would end up
working with the Germans during the Great War, but in 1919, after the war, he returned
to the Netherlands and moved his factory to Amsterdam.
What followed was Fokker’s golden period. During the 1920s and early 1930s, the Dutch
company dominated commercial aviation, especially in the US.
In the second half of the 1930s, the trademark designs of the Fokker company were becoming
obsolete, and the company suffered economically. And it’s in this less-than-ideal period
that the origins of the Fokker D.XXI lie. In 1935, the Netherlands East Indies Army
issued a requirement for a new aircraft that had to have a speed above 410 km/h (255 mph),
a fixed undercarriage, wood and metal construction, and an armament of one heavy and two light
machine guns. Its main role was to be an air superiority fighter.
Fokker answered and the project was awarded to Erich Shatzki, a new engineer who had worked
with Junkers and Lufthansa and had fled Germany due to its Jewish origins.
The D.XXI was of typical Fokker construction, with the fuselage made of steel tubes covered
in fabric, the moving parts also covered in fabric, the wings made of wood, the nose and
the engine mountings made of metal. It was powered by a Bristol Mercury VIII air-cooled
radial engine that could develop 830 hp. The first flight was on February 27, 1936,
and several tests ensued. It fulfilled all the Army's requirements, but changes in Dutch
defence policy meant that fighter production ceased to be a priority, and, for a while,
things looked bleak for Fokker’s new design. But Finland came to the rescue when they favoured
the design in their 1936 fighter contest, and on November 18 Finland ordered seven D.
XXIs and bought a licence to produce several more, becoming its first customer.
This Finnish interest seemed to renew the Dutch one, and so the Netherlands also placed
an order for 36 Fokker D. XXIs in 1937. Denmark and Spain followed with their own orders.
Nevertheless, the D.XXI never saw combat for the Republic of Spain since the plant where
it was going to be produced was overrun by nationalist forces.
The D.XXIs operated by these countries had small differences.
The Dutch version was lightened and had improved aerodynamics. It had the two fuselage-mounted
machine guns moved to the wings, saving the weight caused by the synchronization gear.
The Finnish D.XXI had a modified landing gear so that it could be fitted with skis. It retained
the two fuselage-mounted machine guns. One aircraft was fitted with two wing-mounted
20 mm Oerlikon cannons. The Danish planned to use a pair of 20mm Madsen
cannons instead of the wing-mounted machine-guns, but it seems their D. XXIs were never equipped
to that standard. The D.XXI entered service with the Dutch Army’s
Aviation Branch in the summer of 1938. Dutch pilots quickly found that due to its
light structure and lack of self-sealing tanks, armour and retractable landing gear, the D.XXI
was quite light and consequently a good climber, reaching 5000 meters in 6 minutes and 36 seconds.
It also had a good ceiling of 11,000 meters (36,089 ft).
About the D.XXI’s handling, Dutch pilot Henk van Overvest had
this to say:
Its good vertical ability meant that the Fokker D.XXI was used more in an interceptor role
than as a pure air superiority aircraft. During the second half of 1939, the Dutch used them
to intercept numerous bombers and reconnaissance aircraft that entered their territory and
violated their neutrality. It was in one of those cases that the first recorded air victory
by a D.XXI happened, when on November 19, 1939, a German He 111 bomber was brought down.
On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark, and the Danes quickly surrendered. Some D.XXIs
were destroyed on the ground while attempting to take off; the remaining didn’t see combat
and were later confiscated by the Germans. When the invasion of the Netherlands came
on May 10, 1940, 28 Fokker D.XXI were available to the Dutch. The three squadrons equipped
with the fighter fought valiantly, shooting down ten aircraft despite being heavily outnumbered
(three Bf 109s, one Bf 110, one Do 17, three Ju 52s, and two Ju 88s). Twenty D.XXIs were
lost to all causes, and the remaining ones were burned on the ground after the Dutch
surrender. However, the Fokker D.XXI’s story would
be incomplete without visiting the conflict in which it shone the most, the Winter War.
While the world had its eyes set on Germany, Stalin demanded that Finland give up territory
near Leningrad in exchange for a large area of wilderness on the northern part of the
border. Finland refused, and the Soviet Union promptly invaded on November 30, 1939.
With a population of 183 million and a standing army of 1,600,000 men, the Soviet leadership
was convinced that Finland would surrender in less than two weeks. In contrast, at the
time, Finland had a population of 3 million and 337,000 men.
What followed was one of the most gruesome wars ever recorded. Finnish troops made use
of their superior knowledge of the terrain and in winter warfare to inflict heavy casualties
on the Soviet Red Army by engaging mostly in guerrilla warfare. Temperatures in the
-30º Celsius range, and sometimes well below that value, resulted in an even higher attrition
rate among the ill-prepared Soviets. The Red Army was initially ground to a bloody halt,
but after a quick lull in the fighting, the renewed Soviet attacks would eventually overwhelm
the highly outnumbered Finnish troops. If the fighting on the ground was one-sided
in numbers, in the air it was even worse. The Soviet Union amassed an incredible number
of aircraft for the attack on Finland, with a number estimated to be well above 3,000
flying machines. To face this, Finland only had 114 serviceable aircraft.
When it came to modern fighters, only 35 D.XXI were available, all transferred to the LLv
(Lentolaivue) 24 squadron that was deployed to the Karelian Isthmus.
The Fokker D.XXI proved to be quite a good bomber interceptor. Its good climbing ability
allowed it to timely catch enemy bombers, and as Soviet SB and DB-3 bombers didn’t
have armour or self-sealing tanks, the four rifle calibre machine-guns were more than
enough to bring them down. Initially, Soviet bombers flew unescorted
and, consequently, Finnish pilots were able to exact a heavy toll while taking negligible
losses. December was a highly successful month for
the Finns. But, during January, despite taking very few losses, D.XXI pilots were forbidden
from engaging Soviet fighters after several close calls. The most advanced soviet fighter
at the time was the I-16, and regarding it, Ilmari Juutilainen, future 94 victories ace
(2 with the D.XXI) said the following: Besides the direct comparison, possibly the
biggest problem was that Finland was unable to replace any aircraft losses, but the Soviet
Union could. After a lull in the conflict, February saw
a change in tactics by the Soviets, both on the ground and in the air, where fighter escorts
were added to the bombing runs, making life much harder for the Finns. Naturally, results
decreased. In March, D.XXIs were primarily used in strafing
missions to try to deal with the worsening situation on the ground.
The situation became dire, and Finland accepted the harsh terms of peace proposed by the Soviets.
Hostilities came to an end on March 13, 1940. During the three months and one week of the
Winter War, D.XXI pilots flew 2477 sorties, claiming 127 aircraft shot down, of which
100 were bombers. Twelve Finish pilots became aces while flying
the Fokker aircraft. A further 23 pilots achieved victories with the D.XXI and later became
aces while flying other airplanes. Finland lost 12 D.XXI to all causes. Of those,
9 were lost in combat. In total, Finland claimed 521 Soviet aircraft
during the Winter War. 207 by the Ilmavoimat, the Finnish air force and 314 by anti-aircraft
fire. The Soviet Union lost between 261 and 579 aircraft, according to their own records.
The latter number is the more recent, after revision of Soviet records. Finland lost 62
aircraft. If we look at the numbers on the ground, things
don’t look much better for the Soviets, with Finland’s causalities estimated at
around 70,000 men and the Soviet Union’s at least 350,000.
But despite all these numbers, the Winter War was a Soviet victory, albeit a very costly
one. Negotiations with Moscow forced Finland to cede a large amount of territory, almost
11% of its original size. But the Finnish love story with the Fokker
D.XXI didn’t end with the Winter War. Following this conflict, Finland produced 50 more D.XXIs,
now with a Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Junior engine. This was the only D.XXI variant to
be produced in significant numbers, and was actually a downgrade in terms of performance,
but this powerplant change was made out of necessity since Britain needed the Mercury
engines for their own aircraft. These new 50 fighters, along with the surviving
ones, would participate in the Continuation War, the second Finnish-Soviet war, when Finland
joined Germany in its invasion of the Soviet Union. D.XXIs were used by the Finns until
they left the war under the 1944 armistice. After the war, it was used as a training aircraft
until 1948. The Fokker D.XXI was, in all cases, a footnote
in Second World War history. With only 148 produced, it had a very limited impact globally.
But when considering the Finnish-Soviet war of 1939, it was a fearsome opponent, achieving
a kill-ratio that could be described as being 1:10, although the number of losses suffered
by the Soviet Union in this conflict are still in doubt.
Analyzing the Winter War and what the Finnish Airforce achieved, we can see a clear example
of superior training and organization wielding results, even against an overwhelming numerical
advantage. During the Continuation War, the Finns fell
in love with another fighter considered obsolete everywhere else, the Brewster F2A Buffalo,
but this will be the topic for another video. In the end, the D.XXI could have seen an improved
version if the Netherlands hadn’t fallen, as there were ongoing plans to adapt the D.XXI
to either a Rolls-Royce Merlin, Bristol Hercules, or Daimler-Benz DB 600 engine, and a retractable
landing gear. Finland did equip one D.XXI with a retractable
landing gear, but found that it wasn’t worthwhile. When it came to its appearance, it definitely
was. Is the D.XXI an overlooked aircraft deserving
more praise, or do the Finns deserve all the credit? Let me know your opinion in the comments
below. Thank you very much for watching, and happy New Year!
