1 January 1914 – 11 April 1965

Eero Enroth was born in Espoo on 1 January 1914.

He received flying training in 1936-37 at IRUK 6.

During the mobilization of 1939, he was posted to LLv 26 on 9 October as a vänrikki.

On 19 December 1939, he claimed a damaged SB over Muolaanjärvi while flying a Fokker D.XXI. This was probably a bomber from the 13 or 44 SBAP, both units being engaged by both LLv 24 and LLv 26 during the day.

On 15 February, a patrol led by luutnantti Siiriäinen attacked a nine-strong DB formation. One bomber was forced to land on the ice of Lake Suulajärvi after being shot down by ylikersantti Valio Porvari at 15:15. This was a DB-3 from 42 DBAP flown by Leytenant Nechiporenko. A second DB was also damaged in this combat.
In addition, one R-5 was destroyed by vänrikki Enroth in the same area at 15:25. In fact, this was an R-5 from 7 ShAP, 7 VA flown by Leytenant Stepurenko, which was only damaged and made a forced landing. The aircraft was however destroyed when the pilot attempted a take-off after a quick repair.

On 4 June 1941, he was accepted to KadK but during the mobilization, he was again assigned to LLv 26 on 21 June.

On 13 August 1941, LLv 26 escorted an artillery fire-control aircraft over Aunuksenjoki, south of River Tuulos, Lake Ladoga.
At 14:00, when luutnantti Lauri Hämäläinen’s (FA-3) swarm (kersantti Ilmari Joensuu (FA-35), alikersantti Klaus Alakoski (FA-28) and ylikersantti Sulo Suikkanen (FA-18)) was changing the shift with luutnantti Olli Puhakka’s (FA-1) swarm (vänrikki Enroth (FA-3), lentomestari Lauri Lautamäki (FA-26) and one unknown pilot), nine I-153s of 195 IAP and 197 IAP attacked the fire controller. In five minutes of combat, the eight Fiats claimed all Russians. The victories were claimed by Hämäläinen, Joensuu (one and one damaged), Alakoski, Suikkanen (two I-153s), Puhakka (two I-153s), Enroth and Lautamäki. Puhakka initially claimed one damaged and one destroyed, but the Air Force HQ recorded it as two destroyed:

“At Hoski, I saw two I-153s at about 200 m altitude, I attacked and shot the latter quite close and saw the bullets hit the fuselage. Then I saw two more above me and pulled up. When I looked back to the scene, I saw already two Fiats having attacked and saw one I-153 parting company and sliding to southeast. It came down at Alavoinen and catching fire. After that I tried to get behind the tail of another. The other two were already fired at by other Fiats. The whole battle occurred in a small area. When I finally got behind one and shot very near, I saw after pulling up and going down again that no Chaikas remained. My plane was FA-1.”

On 9 October 1941, he was promoted to luutnantti.

He continued as a cadet at MaaSK on 1 July 1942 and retuned to LeLv 26 on 23 June 1943.

On 14 March 1944, he was transferred to HLeLv 34, which was equipped with Messerschmitt Bf109Gs.

On 19 May, luutnantti Paavo Myllylä of 3/HLeLv 34 scrambled at 04:45 with nine Bf109s to Kotka, meeting 20 Pe-2s from 12 GBAP escorted by 15 Yak-9s from 21 KIAP, KBF. In a chase that went all the way to Lavansaari, two bombers and three fighters were sent into the sea. Luutnantti Myllylä described the combat:

"Altitude 2,000-100m.
I saw several Pe-2s escorted by Yak-9s approach Kotka from southeast at 3,000 meters. I managed to shoot at one Pe-2 over the south side of Kotka, it caught instantly a strong fire between the starboard engine and fuselage. I was not able to follow the aircraft as I got several Yaks in my back. But kapteeni Puhakka saw the plane come down 5-10kms southwest of Rankinsaari. Then I fought with the Yaks and shot one in the sea 5-10kms north of Lavansaari.
My plane MT-406."

Enroth ended the war with 1 biplane victory and a total of 3.
During his career, he was awarded with the Vapauden Risti of the 4th Class twice.

After the war, Enroth changed his last name to Eroila and served with LeSK until resigning from duty on 15 May 1947 as a kapteeni.

Enroth died on 11 April 1965.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1939
	19/12/39	10:30	1	SB (a)	Damaged	Fokker D.XXI	FR-103	Muolaanjärvi	LLv 26
	1940
1	15/02/40	15:25	1	R-5 (b)	Destroyed	Gladiator II	GL-266	Valkjärvi	LLv 26
	1941
2	13/08/41	13:45-14:45	1	I-153 (c)	Destroyed	Fiat G.50	FA-3	Aunuksenjoki	LLv 26
	1944
3	19/05/44	04:45-04:50	1	Pe-2 (d)	Destroyed	Bf109G	MT-415	Someri	HLeLv 34

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged.
(a) Probably a SB from 13 or 44 SBAP.
(b) R-5 from 7 ShAP, 7 VA flown by Leytenant Stepurenko, which was only damaged and made a forced landing. The aircraft was however destroyed when the pilot attempted a take-off after a quick repair.
(c) Claimed in combat with I-153s from 195 IAP and 197 IAP. LLv 26 claimed nine victories but it only seems that 195 IAP lost two I-153s (Leytenants I. D. Vinogradov and A. F. Ilyin KIA) and 197 IAP lost one (Leytenant K. F. Meshalkin KIA).
(d) Claimed in combat with Pe-2s from 12 GBAP, which reported one lost to AA fire and one to fighters. 3/HLeLV 34 totally claimed three Pe-2s.

Sources:
Englantilaiset Hävittäjät - Keskinen, Stenman, Niska
Ilmavoitot, osa 1 - Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, ISBN 952-99432-8-8
Ilmavoitot, osa 2 - Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, ISBN 952-99432-8-8
LeR 2 - Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2001 Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 17, ISBN 951-98751-0-7
Suomen Ilmavoimat part III – 1941 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2007, ISBN 978-952-99743-1-3
Suomen Ilmavoimat part VI – 1944 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2008, ISBN 978-952-99743-5-1
Additional information kindly provided by Alexey Andreev, Lars Larsson and Tuomo Lukkari