When the Finns declared war on the Soviet Union on 26 June 1941, they were the German's brothers in arms and fellow warriors, but not an ally of the Axis forces. The object for the Finnish Army together with their Air Force was to retake all the territory lost during the so-called "Winter War" of November 1939 to Match 1940.

Their offensive was very successful with all Soviet-occupied land areas reclaimed by September 1941. From this period onwards the Finns tried to upgrade their fighter fleet to keep up with the new modern VVS fighters that were reaching the front. Although Germany supplied the Finns with fighters, it was not until February of 1943, that up-to-date fighters arrived in Finland when 30 Bf 109 G-2s were delivered.

Later, in an effort to force Finland out of the war, the VVS kept up the pressure by bombing the capital of Helsinki in February 1944. But it was not until the Red Army commenced their summer offensive on 9 June 1944 that the situation for the Finns became unsustainable. With 1,500 aircraft and 280,000 men, the "Russian Steam Roller" took more ground in ten days than they had managed in 105 days during the Winter War.

As a reply to the Soviet offensive and keep the Finns fighting on their Northern flank, the Germans sent aircraft, tanks and other equipment, including the most effective and modern anti-tank weapons available. The Germans had also contributed a special composite air unit, Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey. Under the command of the legendary Obersleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey, the unit had approximately 70 Fw 190 A-6 and F-8 aircraft and Ju 87 D Stukas.

Their efforts doubled the air defense capability of the Finnish Armed Forces in the ensuing battle. The fighter unit that arrived in Finland to its new base at Immola on 17 June was II./JG 54, led by Major Erich Rudorrfer. Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey would be crucial during the decisive battles in the summer of 1944.

Finally, after a 38-day battle, the Finns and their German allies had achieved a decisive victory. When the Red Army discontinued their offensive on 16 July, no fewer than 1,000 VVS aircraft had been destroyed.

During this period the composite German unit flew some 2,700 missions against the Soviets, dropping 770 tons of bombs. They reportedly destroyed over 150 Soviet aircraft, about 200 tanks, and dozens of bridges and transport vessels.

Personnel losses included 23 pilots killed and 24 wounded, with the unit also reporting the loss of 41 of its aircraft. Major Rudorffer personally claimed ten of the total 66 victories filed by the Gruppe, thereby reaching a total of 155 Abschüsse.

When the war ended, Erich Rudorffer had amassed a total of 222 victories in 1000 combat missions. He was also lucky to survive being shot down a total of 16 times. After the war, Rudorffer moved to Australia and started flying commercial flights. Later, he worked for Pan Am and then for the German civil aviation authority. When he died on 8 April 2016, at the age of 98, he was the last of the Swords recipients to pass away.

Note that this aircraft had been flown previously by Hauptmann Horst Adameit from I./JG 54, before it was passed on to Rudorffer. This A-6 wears a hybrid camouflage scheme of possibly the new colors RLM 81 and 82 applied by the unit over the factory-applied RLM 74/75/76. For some unknown reason the tail and nose of the aircraft was left in its original colors.

This profile was published in my profile book no 10 as profile number 98.