Hans Henrik "Hasse" Wind (30 July 1919,
Ekenäs – 24 July 1995,
Tampere
Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...
) was a Finnish fighter pilot and flying ace in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, with 75 confirmed air combat victories. He is one of the four double recipients of the
Mannerheim Cross 2nd Class.
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
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 ...
(1939–1940), but did not fly due to a lack of available planes. Wind had now decided to embark on a military career, and he finished training as a lieutenant on 17 June 1941.
Transferring to LeLv24 in August 1941, he fought in 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 ...
. He flew a
Brewster B239 (the export version of the Brewster Buffalo) from 1941 to 1943, claiming 39 of his victories in the type. On 22 September 1941, Wind was credited his first kill, an
I-15
I15 may refer to:
* Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America
* Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft
* I15 (band), a band
* , of the Imperial Japanese Navy
* Älvsborg Regiment
The Älvsborg Regiment ...
. 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
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
s, and four days later a Hurricane and two
I-16s. At the end of 1942, his score stood at 14.5 claims. On 5 April 1943, Wind shot down three
Il-2
The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian language, Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a Ground attack aircraft, ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the World War II, Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (C ...
s. On 14 April, Wind claimed two
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...
s, and on 21 April two
Yak-1s and shared one with fellow ace Sgt Kinnunen. In August 1943, the unit converted to the
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...
G.
Wind was awarded his first
Mannerheim Cross
The Mannerheim Cross (, ), officially Mannerheim Cross of the Cross of Liberty (, ) is the most distinguished Finnish military honour. A total of 191 people received the cross between 22 July 1941 and 7 May 1945, with six of the recipients receiv ...
on 31 July 1943 and his second on 28 June 1944.
He was promoted to captain on 19 October 1943 when he was 24 years old and was removed 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
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 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 Bf 109, shooting down two
La-5s. A Soviet offensive in the Karelian Isthmus started on 9 June 1944. On 13 June 1944, Capt. Wind led six 109s against a formation of
Pe-2 bombers, shooting down four of them. Wind's streak continued in the days that followed; with a
P-39
The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by th ...
and an IL-2M on 15 June, two 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
The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both t ...
and eventual 29-kill ace Major A. V. Chirkov, who bailed out) and a
La-5. On 20 June 1944, Wind added two La-5s, two
Yak-9
The Yakovlev Yak-9 (; NATO reporting name: Frank) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and successful ...
s and a Pe-2. On 22 June, he claimed two Spitfires and a La-5, with two La-5s and two
DB-3Fs the next day. On 25 June, he downed three Yak-9s and two
Yak-7s.
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 was badly wounded in his left arm. 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 at the 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.
Victories
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus. ''Hävittäjä-ässät (Finnish Fighter Aces)'' (in Finnish). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteas, 1978. .
* Stenman, Kari and Keskinen, Kalevi. ''Finnish Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces 23)''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1998. .
External links
Webpage about Hasse Wind*
List of World War II aces from Finland
*
See also
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wind, Hans
1919 births
1995 deaths
People from Raseborg
Swedish-speaking Finns
Finnish Air Force personnel
Finnish World War II flying aces
Knights of the Mannerheim Cross