Always outnumbered by their Soviet counterparts, the small band of Finnish fighter pilots who defended their Scandinavian homeland from the 'communist hordes' in three separate wars between 1939 and 1945 amassed scores only bettered by the Luftwaffe's Jagdflieger. Initially equipped with a motley collection of biplane and monoplane fighters garnered from sources across the globe, the Finnish Air Force was thrust into combat through the invasion of its eastern border in November 1939. Given little chance against the massive Soviet force, the Finnish fighter pilots confounded the sceptics and proceeded to decimate the attacking fighter and bomber formations to the extent that the Russians had to call a halt in March 1940.