Pudasjärvi
The construction of Pudasjärvi airfield was finished in October 1940 for use by the Ministry of Defense. At the time, the airfield had gravel/sand runways of approximately 600x60m and 800x60m.
In the summer of 1941, the airfield was handed over as a reserve airport to the German Luftwaffe. The operation of the airfield was probably never particularly active, and according to contemporary reports, the German use of the airfield was limited mostly to the offensive phase of the Continuation War.
When retreating from Pudasjärvi in 1944, the Germans tried to make it difficult for the Finns to put the airport into use by blowing holes in the airfield, digging trenches across the runways and erecting rows of poles on the field. In a report prepared for the Ministry of Defense on October 5, 1944, it is stated that there were no buildings left behind by the Germans at the airfield. The Germans had also destroyed the aircraft's shelters located south of the airport, which the report proposes to repair.
Today, the remains of five aircraft shelters can still be seen around the airport, dug into the natural ridge formations of the area.