Lauri Nissinen
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Lauri Nissinen (31 July 1918 in
Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...
– 17 June 1944 in Kaukjärvi) was a
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 ...
flying 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 ...
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 ...
.
in May 1939. In summer 1939 he was promoted to Sergeant. As the Winter War broke out, Sgt. Nissinen first claimed an air victory on 1 December 1939, claiming a SB-2 shot down and damaging two others over Viipuri. By the end of the Winter War he had claimed four victories in total and was a Sergeant Major. HLeLv 24 then equipped with the US- built
Brewster Buffalo The Brewster F2A Buffalo is an American fighter aircraft which saw service early in World War II. Designed and built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, it was one of the first U.S. monoplanes with an arrestor hook and other modification ...
. As hostilities broke out again on 25 June 1941 Nissinen again flew operationally. On 7 July 1941 over
Käkisalmi Priozersk (; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Priozersky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of the Vuoksi River on the Karelian Isthmus. It i ...
two enemy fighters attacked head-on, Nissinen shooting down both. On 21 July 1941 he again shot down a I-153 in a head-on battle, although his aircraft was damaged and he returned to base. His ground crew found four hits in the engine, one in the prop and several more in the wings. On 1 August 1941 at
Rautjärvi Rautjärvi () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in the South Karelia regions of Finland, region of Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . More than half of ...
six Buffalos engaged eight Soviet I-16 fighters, Nissinen's target exploding and its debris damaged Nissinen's right wing. Three I-16s attacked from behind and his fighter took several hits, shattering the windscreen. At the end of 1941 Nissinen was the second highest scoring FAF ace with 15.5 kills. Early in 1942 Nissinen attended Officer Cadet School, from where he then graduated in June 1943 as a lieutenant. Nissinen was awarded the
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 5 July 1942, his number being 69. He held the rank of ''
vänrikki ''Vänrikki'' () (Second lieutenant, Swedish: ''Fänrik''), from the German '' fähnrich'', is a Finnish commissioned officer rank (OF1). A typical assignment for a professional ''vänrikki'' is as junior instructor of recruits. Finland The ra ...
'' at the time. Returning to HLeLv 24 Nissinen was made a flight commander and resumed flying missions. His score increased to 26 by the end of 1943. The squadron gradually re-equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters in spring 1944. In May 1944 HLeLv 32, flying the Curtiss P-36, was temporarily strengthened with a Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 flight commanded by Lt. Nissinen. On 16 May Nissinen scrambled against a single
Lavochkin La-5 The Lavochkin La-5 (Лавочкин Ла-5) was a Soviet Union, Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3, LaGG-3, replacing the earlier model's Inline engine (aeronaut ...
approaching Nurmoila. The La-5 circled at 1500 m and allowed Nissinen climb to the same altitude before turning to attack from above, shooting down the La-5 after a series of exhausting attacks. With the renewed Soviet offensive on 9 June 1944 Lt. Nissinen scored two more victories on 17 June 1944 as two flights intercepted Soviet Il-2 ground attack aircraft attacking Finnish positions at Kaukjärvi. Nissinen's wingman, Sgt. Heimo Lampi saw the crippled Messerschmitt of Lt. Sarjamo dive through the cloud and collide with Nissinen's plane. Both planes exploded on impact and the pilots were killed. Nissinen flew some 300 missions and scored 32 victories in total. His grave is in
Valkeala Valkeala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland, and is a neighborhood of city of Kouvola, and it was a part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 11,238 (2003) and cove ...
.


See also

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List of World War II flying aces Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors: the pilot's skill level, the performance of the airplane the pilot flew and the planes they flew against, how long they served, their opportu ...
*
List of World War II aces from Finland This list includes all of the 96 fighter aces of World War II from Finland. For other countries see List of World War II aces by country Finnish fighter aces With specific aircraft types Fokker D.XXI Below are all the Finnish aces who have w ...


References


External links


Lauri Nissinen
at ''Sci.fi'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nissinen, Lauri 1918 births 1944 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Finland Finnish World War II flying aces Finnish military personnel killed in World War II People from Joensuu Knights of the Mannerheim Cross Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944 Winter War pilots