Jorma "Joppe" Karhunen (17 March 1913 – 18 January 2002) was a

Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; fi, Ilmavoimat, , Air forces; sv, Flygvapnet, , Air weapon) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of Finnis ...

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

and an author. Karhunen scored 31.5 kills in World War II; 25.5 of his air victories were achieved while flying the

Brewster F2A 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 modifications ...

, an American fighter.Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 85. Brewster 239 formation

Soon after the outbreak of the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, on 25 June 1941, when he was 1st Lt, Karhunen led the 3rd Flight (of eight

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 modifications ...

) of ''Lentolaivue'' ''(LLv) 24'', based at Vesivehmaa.Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 11. On 9 July, Karhunen was one of the dozen Brewster pilots led by Major

Gustaf Magnusson Gustaf Erik Magnusson (8 December 1902, in Ylitornio – 27 December 1993, in Helsinki) was a Finnish major general and Mannerheim Cross Knight. He was the commander of the No. 24 Squadron and Flying Regiment 3 during World War II. He also flew ...

on a patrol over

Lahdenpohja Lahdenpohja (russian: Лахденпо́хья; Finnish and Swedish: Lahdenpohja; krl, Lahdenpohju) is a town and the administrative center of Lakhdenpokhsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located west of Petrozavodsk on the Au ...

, that in a ten-minute air combat shot down eight out of 15 Soviet bombers and fighters.Stenman and Thomas 2010, pp. 13-14. At the end of July, Karhunen's 3/LLv24 was ordered to support the offensive against the Karelian Ishtmus, scheduled for 31 July. His unit's opponents were 5th SAD, 7th and 153rd IAP and 65th and 235th ShaPs.Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 14. On 1 August Karhunen's unit of seven Brewsters shot down six I-16s near

Rautjärvi Rautjärvi () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland and is part of the South Karelia regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and ...

, WO

Ilmari Juutilainen Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 – 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Fi ...

, claiming two of them.Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 15. Eleven days later, on 12 August, Capt Karhunen was involved in the heaviest air combat over the Karelian Isthmus, while leading six Brewsters from 3/LLv 24 on a patrol. On Antrea area, they attacked a formation of about 20 aircraft from 65th ShAP. During the ensuing 30 minutes air combat, Karhunen and his pilots shot down nine

Polikarpov I-153 The Polikarpov I-153 ''Chaika'' (Russian ''Чайка'', "Seagull") was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mong ...

s "Chaikas". On 26 September, Soviets suffered further losses. That day, Capt Karhunen's formation of seven Buffalos shot down six I-15s north of Petäjäselkä. The Finns came back in the area a short while later and encountered eight I-15 bis from 65th ShAP. The Brewster pilots shot down three of the enemy aircraft.Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 18. Capt. Karhunen, who claimed two I-153, his fourth and fifth air victories, recalled: Jorma_Karhunen_ja_maskottikoira_1

After the end of hostilities, Karhunen, the captain and commander of the 3rd flight of LeLv 24, recalled: Karhunen retired from active duty on 13 December 1955. During his retirement years, Karhunen wrote 36 books in Finnish, mainly about aerial combat in the wars between Finland and the USSR. The books were published between 1958 and 2000. As an author, Karhunen used the alias Joppe Karhunen. Karhunen won the Officers' Series Championship in the SA Ski Championships in 1937 and participated in the Finnish team in the Military Patrol Skiing World Championships in

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...

in 1939. In 1992, Karhunen was awarded the Harmon statue by the Finnish Aviation Association.

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * Neulen, Hans Werner. ''In the Skies of Europe.'' Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press, 2000. . * Stenman, Kari and Andrew Thomas. ''Brewster F2A Buffalo Aces of World War 2'' (Aircraft of the Aces). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2010. .

External links

Biography
*

List of World War II aces from Finland This list includes of all 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karhunen, Jorma 1913 births 2002 deaths Finnish Air Force personnel Finnish World War II flying aces Winter War pilots People from Karkkila People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Knights of the Mannerheim Cross