Spares, Bf 109Gs, and the Buffalo's long Finnish afterlife

By 1943 a shortage of spare parts, accumulated wear, and newer opponents were reducing Finnish Buffalo effectiveness. Limited access to the original suppliers and materials constrained what local modifications could accomplish. Incoming Bf 109Gs embodied the continuing development that the Buffalo itself had never received. The type's last Finnish victory over a Soviet aircraft is dated to June 1944, followed by victories against German Ju 87s during the Lapland War after Finland's September 1944 armistice with the Soviet Union. Only eight of the original aircraft remained by the end of that war. Five continued flying until 1948, and the survivors were stored until scrapping in 1953, giving the design a much longer Finnish service life than its Allied reputation suggests.