Gustaf Erik Magnusson (8 December 1902, in

Ylitornio Ylitornio (; ; ; ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Lapland, Finland, Lapland along the Torne (Finnish and Swedish river), Tornio River, opposite the Sweden, Swedish ...

– 27 December 1993, in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

) was a Finnish major general,

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

and Mannerheim Cross Knight. He was the commander of the No. 24 Squadron and Flying Regiment 3 during World War II. He also flew 158 sorties as a fighter pilot and shot down 5 1/2 enemy aircraft.Keskinen; Stenman 2003 p. 67

Life and career

Magnusson was born in Ylitornio,

Lapland Province The Province of Lapland (, ) was a Provinces of Finland, province of Finland from 1938 to 2009. It was established in 1938, when it was separated from the Province of Oulu. After the Second World War, the Pechengsky District, Petsamo municipa ...

to superintendent Leopold and Maria Magnusson (née Hälli). He matriculated in 1923 in Kuopio. After completing his compulsory military service in the Northern Savo regiment, Magnusson tried to get into the Military Academy. He was admitted to course number 6 on 1 December 1923. After completing the course, he was assigned to Naval Flight Squadron 30 on 30 September 1925. Magnusson was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 14 May 1927. Magnusson served in several military assignments in the 1930s, including the Air Force Headquarters. He was promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 30 November 1932. Between 1936 and 1937, Magnusson was twice ordered to the Netherlands, where he tested aircraft that had been offered to the

Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; ; ) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions. The Finnish Air ...

and evaluated their air combat qualifications and flight characteristics. In 1938, Magnusson spent three months in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and learned German fighter tactics.Keskinen, Stenman, 2003 p. 66 Brewster 239 formation

Magnusson was appointed squadron commander for No. 24 Squadron on 21 November 1938. During the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, Magnusson, newly promoted to the rank of major, flew several combat flights with the squadron, achieving four victories. In the beginning of the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

, on 10 November 1941, Magnusson was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and at the same time he was barred from flying combat missions. He worked as the commander of No. 24 Squadron until May 1943, when he was appointed command of Flight Regiment 3, a position he held until the end of the Continuation War. Magnusson was proposed the Mannerheim Cross for the first time in August 1941, but the proposal did not go through. By recommendation of the Air Force Commander, JF Lundqvist, he was given the Mannerheim Cross on 23 June 1944 (Number 129).Hurmerinta; Viitanen, 1994 p. 223 Magnusson resigned from the Air Force on 17 March 1946. After his military career, he worked for the Nordic Union Bank as a bank manager in Varkaus, Lahti and Helsinki until 1959. He was promoted to the rank of major-general on 4 June 1993. Gustaf Magnusson died on 27 December 1993. He is buried at the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnusson, Gustaf 1902 births 1993 deaths Finnish Air Force personnel Finnish major generals Finnish World War II flying aces Winter War pilots Knights of the Mannerheim Cross