Eino Luukkanen

Eino Luukkanen (4 June 1909 – 9 April 1964) was a Finnish fighter ace in World War II.

On 4 March, Luukkanen led his flight in a ground strafing attack against Red Army columns on the ice of the Gulf of Finland.

After the Winter War, Luukkanen had the task of ferrying the newly arrived Brewster 239 fighters from Trollhättan, Sweden to Finland.

Four BWs under Luukkanen's command had taken off from Rantasalmi and were at 1500 meters over Parikkala when they attacked six I-153s flying at low altitude over the front line.

On 11 January 1942, Luukkanen was promoted to the rank of major and posted as the commanding officer of Reconnaissance Squadron 30, flying a mix of Fokker D.XXIs and captured I-153s.

Altogether Major Luukkanen's unit claimed 345 victories from 29 March 1943 to 4 September 1944 against 30 Messerschmitts lost, 18 of which were in combat.

He retired in November 1951 after he was found guilty of espionage for having handed over some aerial photographs to a man who worked for the Swedish intelligence service.

Luukkanen was one of Finnish leader Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim's pallbearers when the Marshal died in 1951.