Eila Jutilainen

Eila Ilmatar Jutilainen is a fictional character in the anime series the Strike Witches. The character is based on the life of WWII Finnish Ace Eino Ilmari Juutilainen.^[1]

Early life

Jutilainen was born outside of Helsinki on February 21, 1919. Her father Reid, a woodworker, died of unknown causes in 1927, and Eila and her mother were disturbed by his untimely death. Eila, who had always been interested in her father's woodwork, took his tools and began making small items such as model frogs and planes. She attended Helsinki University but quit in 1940 to become involved with the second World War.

World War II

In the outbreak of World War II, Eila applied as an engineer to a large air brigade stationed near Helsinki. She was almost turned down because of her young age and female gender, but after a review of her talents, was accepted. Eila helped design and build many fighter planes used in her brigade during later years of the war. She is most especially known for co-designing the VL Humu as well as the KB Juti, which was named after her.

After the war

After the war ended in 1945, Eila reattended Helsinki University. In 1955, she became a professor at UH. She retired from teaching in 1990. On August 4, 1991, her home caught on fire after the oven was left on for three hours. Eila, who was out shopping at the time, came back to find her home had been destroyed as the fire department could do nothing to save it. Eila moved in with one of her grandsons for a short time before purchasing a smaller home in another Helsinki suburb. On September 21, 2000, Eila died at the age of 81 after a year-long battle with cancer.

Personal life

Eila had a relationship with a soldier named Samuel Litvyak during her time in World War II. However, they parted ways after the war ended. She went on to marry a neighbor of hers named George in 1948. They separated in 1960. Beforehand, they had four children together.

References