Lauri A. Heino (24 August 1918 in

Somero Somero () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Southwest Finland region in the province of Western Finland, located northeast of Salo, east of Turku and northwest of Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and cove ...

– 3 February 2001) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

soldier, awarded the

Mannerheim Cross The Mannerheim Cross ( fi, Mannerheim-risti, sv, Mannerheimkorset), officially Mannerheim Cross of the Cross of Liberty ( fi, Vapaudenristin Mannerheim-risti, link=no, sv, Frihetskorsets Mannerheimkors, link=no) is the most distinguished Finnis ...

(2nd class) on 11 November 1943. At the time, he held the rank of sergeant and was serving as a

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful e ...

driver in the 3rd Company, I Armoured Battalion of the Finnish Armoured Brigade. Heino was the first foreign soldier to capture an intact Soviet

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The Chri ...

tank and drive it.

References

Knights of the Mannerheim Cross
Finnish military personnel 1918 births 2001 deaths Tank personnel Knights of the Mannerheim Cross {{Finland-bio-stub