Eino Luukkanen Eino Luukkanen ( 4 June 1909 - 10 April 1961 ) was a Finnish fighter ace in World War II . Luukkanen scored 56 confirmed victories , becoming Finland ' s third highest ranking ace . He flew the Fokker D - 21 , Brewster B - 239 Buffalo , and Bf 109 G . Biography . Luukkanen was born in Jaakkima , Finnish Carelia into the family of a railway employee and grew up in Sortavala on Lake Ladoga . Having completed compulsory military training he started he became a Pilot Officer in a Cadet School course in 1931 , graduating in 1933 , and receiving a commission . Luukkanen was posted as an Ensign to the 1st Maritime Squadron in Viipuri . He flew both as a pilot and as an observer . In 1935 he was transferred to fighter squadron LeLv 26 , equipped with the Bristol Bulldog Mk . IV A biplane fighter . In 1939 he completed a course of studies in the Military Academy and promoted to Captain . He was then posted as the commander of the 3rd flight of Fighter Squadron 24 ( LeLv24 ) , recently equipped with the Fokker D . XXI fighter . On 30 November 1939 , the Winter war started against the Soviet Union . The next day Luukkanen scored his first victory , a SB - 2 bomber . On 18 December Luukkanen ' s Fokker was damaged by friendly fire and he was forced to land on a rough field , damaging his plane . On Christmas Eve he shared a R - 5 with another pilot over Summa . On 24 December the 3rd flight was ordered to Värtsilä to provide air cover . During the six weeks at Värtsilä Luukkanen shot down one SB - 2 on the 6 January 1940 - his last victory in the Winter War . On 4 March Luukkanen led his flight in a ground strafing attack against Red Army columns on the ice of the Gulf of Finland . The attack was a success , and such ground attacks against enemy columns were the main activity for the Squadron 24 up to the end of the war on the 13 March 1940 . After the Winter War Luukkanen had the task of ferrying the newly arrived Brewster 239 fighters from Trollhättan , Sweden to Finland . Squadron 24 was re - equipped with this fighter and training was started immediately . The air war started again on 25 June 1941 . Luukkanen saw combat again on 8 July 1941 . Four BWs under Luukkanen ' s command had taken off from Rantasalmi and were at 1500 m over Parikkala when they attacked six I - 153s flying at low altitude over the front line . They claimed a total of five victories , but Luukkanen could only confirm one . During 1941 Luukkanen scored 5 . 5 victories and during 1942 claimed 9 more . On 11 January 1942 Luukkanen was promoted to the rank of Major and posted as the CO of Reconnaissance Squadron 30 , flying a mix of Fokker D . XXIs and captured I - 153s . The task of the unit was to monitor enemy shipping movements on the eastern Gulf of Finland and the enemy aircraft on the islands of Seiskari and Lavansaari . On 27 March 1943 he was posted as the commander of the recently created Fighter Squadron 34 and equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109G - 2 fighters . By the end of the war he had logged 441 missions . Luukkanen scored his last victory on 5 August 1944 as he and his wingman each shot down a Yak - 9 . Major Luukkanen unit had claimed 345 victories from 29 March 1943 - 4 September 1944 . for 30 Messerschmitts lost , 18 of which in combat and 12 pilots were killed , with one taken prisoner of war . He wrote his memoirs ( published in 1956 ) and proved a success , with three print runs . His book was translated in English and published in Britain in 1961 and reprinted in the US in 1992 entitled " Fighter over Finland " . Luukkanen died in 1961 , survived by his widow and his son Risto , who also entered the military as a career . After the war . The President of Finland , Field Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim died on 28 January 1951 . Eino Luukkanen was among his pall bearers . Luukkanen entered retirement in November 1951 after being convicted of espionage after having handed over some aerial photographs to a man who worked for the Swedish intelligence service .