Hans Wind

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Hans Henrik "Hasse" Wind (July 30, 1919, Ekenäs - July 24, 1995, Tampere) was a Finnish fighter pilot and flying ace in World War II with 75 official victories.

Wind started his pilot career in 1938 by volunteering to a pilot course. He was a reserve officer in the Winter War 1939-1940 but didn't fly because of lack of available planes. He finished his officer examination in the summer of 1941 and after that he participated in the Continuation War in fighter squadron 24.

He flew a Brewster B239, which is thought to be one of the world's most failed airplanes, in 1941-1943. In 1943-1944 he flew a German Messerschmitt Bf 109. Hans Wind is considered as one of the most skillful aerial tacticians in the Finnish Air Force, and he wrote the combat manual for the Brewster after analyzing the disaster of the Battle of Midway in 1942.

Wind was awarded with his first Mannerheim Cross on 31 July 1943 and the second one on 28 June 1944. He was promoted to captain in 19 October 1943 when he was only 24 years old.

In the summer of 1944 Wind shot down 30 enemy airplanes in 12 days. He was wounded seriously in a battle against a much bigger squadron on 28 July 1944. He still managed to fly and land at the airfield even though the plane didn't have all its instruments after being damaged by the enemy.

Wind recovered from his wounds but never flew against the enemy again.

He left the Finnish Air Force in 1945 and worked in business until his retirement.

Finnish World War II Aces with over 30 air victories
Ilmari Juutilainen | Hans Wind | Eino Luukkanen | Urho Lehtovaara | Oiva Tuominen | Olli Puhakka | Olavi Puro | Nils Katajainen | Lauri Nissinen | Kyösti Karhila | Jorma Karhunen