Hans Wind Hans Henrik " Hasse " Wind ( 30 July 1919 , Ekenäs - 24 July 1995 , Tampere ) was a Finnish fighter pilot and flying ace in World War II with 75 confirmed air combat victories . Biography . Wind started his pilot career in 1938 by volunteering to join a pilot training course . He was a reserve officer in the Winter War 1939 - 1940 but did not fly due to a lack of available planes . Wind had now decided to enter into a military career , and he finished training as a Lieutenant on 17 June 1941 . Transferring to LeLv24 in August 1941 , with which he participated in the Continuation War . He flew a Brewster B239 ( the export version of the Brewster Buffalo ) from 1941 – 1943 claiming 39 of his victories in the type . On 22 September 1941 Wind was credited his first kill , a I - 15 . In August 1942 the squadron was transferred to Römpötti to operate over the eastern Gulf of Finland . On 14 August 1942 Wind shot down two Hurricane s , and four days later a Hurricane and two I - 16 s . At the end of 1942 his score stood at 14 . 5 claims . On 5 April 1943 Wind shot down three Il - 2 s . On 14 April Wind claimed 2 Spitfire s , and on 21 April two Yak - 1 s and shared one with fellow ace Sgt Kinnunen . Wind was awarded his first Mannerheim Cross on 31 July 1943 and his second on 28 June 1944 . In August 1943 the unit converted to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G . He was promoted to Captain on 19 October 1943 when 24 years old and was posted from front line duty in order to instruct new fighter pilots . Wind was considered one of the most skillful aerial tacticians in the Finnish Air Force , and Wind ' s ' Lectures on Fighter Tactics ' were written in 1943 and used in the training of new pilots for decades to come . Wind returned to the front in February 1944 . On 27 May 1944 he scored his first victory with the Messerschmitt , shooting down 2 La - 5 s . The Soviet Offensive in the Karelian Isthmus started on 9 June 1944 . On 13 June 1944 Wind led six 109s against a formation of Pe - 2 bombers , and Capt . Wind shot down four bombers . Wind ' s kills was continued in the days that followed ; with a P - 39 and an IL - 2M on 15 June , 2 Pe - 2s and a La - 5 the next day , and on 19 June two P - 39s ( both of the 196 IAP ; one flown by Hero of Soviet Union and eventual 29 - kill ace Major A . V . Chirkov , who baled out ) and a La - 5 . On 20 June 1944 Wind added 2 La - 5s , 2 Yak - 9 s and a Pe - 2 . On 22 June he claimed 2 Spitfires and a La - 5 , with 2 La - 5s and 2 DB - 3F s the next day . On 25 June he downed 3 Yak - 9s and 2 Yak - 7 s . He was seriously wounded in an aerial battle against some thirty Yak - 9s and P - 39s on 28 July 1944 . Wind shot down one Yak - 9 before a 37 mm shell fired by a P - 39 exploded against his seat armour . Another shell pierced the armour glass behind his left shoulder , exploding on the instrument panel . Wind ' s left arm was badly wounded . He still managed to fly and land at an airfield even though his plane had been seriously damaged during the attack . Wind recovered from his wounds but never flew a combat mission again . He finished the war with a total of 302 combat sorties , scoring 75 kills , and is ranked second on the Finnish aces list . He was married on 26 August 1945 then began his studies in Helsinki School of Business having resigned from the Air Force on 10 May 1945 . Wind died on 24 July 1995 and was survived by his wife and five children .