Lauri "Lapra" Nissinen in The Classic Duel. by Ossi Juntunen Lauri Vilhelm Nissinen was born in Joensuu on 31 July 1918. The sources tell very little about his background except that he was a good cross-country skier and that he had joined the Home Guard at the age of 13. He received a little more than just the compulsory education. Nissinen did his compulsory military service in the Air Force, during which time he became attracted to flying as a career. Having served his service, he immediately applied for NCO pilot training in 1938. He was accepted and he completed the course very successfully. Due to his good performance during training he was allowed to select the squadron he wanted. He selected HLeLv 24 with its Fokker D.XXI equipment, the only first line squadron of the FAF. Nissinen joined the squadron in May 1939 and during the training in summer '39 he proved to be a very promising young pilot and was promoted to Sergeant. As the Winter War broke out, Sgt. Nissinen opened his score on the second day of the war as he shot down one SB-2 and damaged two others on 1 December 1939 at Viipuri. By the end of the Winter War he had scored a total of four victories and held the rank of Sergeant Major. As the squadron was equipped with Brewsters, Nissinen became a good BW pilot, but he also wanted to promote his career. He applied for and was accepted to Reserve Officer training - in anti-aircraft artillery! Lauri Nissinen, 2./LeLv.24 with 15½ victories painted on the tail As the war broke out again on 25 June 1941 officer-pilot Nissinen fought successfully. He was a very aggressive pilot and often he had more than a dozen hits in his BW upon returning from mission. The reason for this was mostly heads-on shooting, which the Soviet I-153 and I-16 pilots resorted to, being unable to escape the faster Brewster. For example on 7 July 1941 at Käkisalmi two enemy pilots in succession engaged him in heads-on shooting, the Finnish pilot winning in both cases. Nissinen was admonished by Capt. Karhunen, the flight commander who ordered him to keep to the "pendulum" tactics as trained to do. Nissinen admitted that heads-on shooting was a foolish thing to do, but he did not want to disengage if challenged by the enemy. Lauri Nissinen, 3./LeLv.24 strapping into the Brewster. Nissinen was a tenacious type of fighter pilot and with a natural aviator's talent. In 21 July 1941 he again shot down one I-153 in a heads-on battle, but the enemy bullets damaged his engine. With good luck he returned to base, where his ground crew found four hits in the engine, one in the prop and several more in the wings. On the 1st of August 1941 at Rautjärvi six BWs engaged eight I-16 bis fighters at 1600 m altitude. The enemy was taken by surprise. Nissinen attacked first, shooting at his victim at a range of 20 meters. The target exploded, its oil blinded the BW-363 windscreen and debris damaged the right wing, making Nissinen unable to continue the battle. But at the very moment three enemies opened fire at him from behind. His fighter took several hits and he had to disengage with a nose-dive. Enemy bullets had shattered the windscreen, so his view was better, but again he returned to base with luck only. At the end of 1941 he was the No:2 FAF ace with 15 1/2 kills after Oiva Tuominen (21) but ahead of Illu Juutilainen (15). Early in 1942 Major Karhunen, the squadron leader, persuaded Nissinen to abandon the competition for No:1 ace title and become a professional officer. The major reminded the young pilot that the war would not go on forever and he should think of his future. Also there was a shortage of flight commanders. Nissinen decided to go to the Cadet School, from where he then emerged one year later, in June of 1943, as a lieutenant. He also had been granted the Mannerheim Cross in July 1942. Cadet Lauri "Lapra" Nissinen Upon returning to his old squadron Nissinen was immediately made a flight commander and he resumed flying battle missions. His score was 26 at the end of 1943. As the squadron was gradually re-equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters in spring 1944, it was Nissinen's flight that was the first to receive them. The planes were old ones, already used by Squadron 34. In May 1944 the FAF Squadron 32 (equipped with Curtiss A75s), based in Nurmoila, Olonez, was temporarily strengthened with a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 flight commanded by Lt. Lauri "Lapra" Nissinen. The enemy pilots were used to fight against the obsolete Curtiss fighters with their superior La-5s and had grown self-confident and aggressive. On the 16th of May Nissinen was on duty, sitting in the cockpit of  MT-235, ready for immediate takeoff. His mechanic was dozing off on the wing of the fighter, the starter crank was inserted. Both men were waiting. Suddenly there was an alert: a single La-5 was approaching Nurmoila base. The mechanic grabbed the starter crank and Nissinen closed the cockpit canopy. The fighter was rolling to takeoff less than three minutes later. As Nissinen took off, the word was passed around in the base: Lapra is going to take on the enemy! A dogfight above the base was to be expected: a most rare treat for everyone to watch. As the lone Me-109 took off, the La-5 kept circling at 1500 m and allowed Nissinen climb to the same altitude before turning to attack. The personnel of the base gaped at the sky and watched how two experienced pilots fought. The two fighters circled each other, fired briefly when having a chance, but neither of the pilots made any errors. The dogfight had been going on for 15 minutes as the La-5 pilot changed tactics and resorted to heads-on attack. This maneuver was much disliked by Finnish pilots because the combatants not only risked being hit by the projectiles of the opponent but also there is a fair chance of a mid-air collision. Nissinen, however, had scored several victories in this style while flying Brewsters. So he did not hesitate to approach the La-5 heads-on. Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 MT-229, call code "9", the last machine flown by Nissinen. It was used in Squadron 34 (among others by Kössi Karhila) before handed over to Squadron 24. The two fighters approached each other at a speed of 300 meters per second. The pilots aimed at each other, then they came within shooting range, having a fraction of second to fire before they had to evade each other to avoid collision. The opponents swept past each other, fortunately having dodged to opposite directions. The La-5 banked for another firing pass, and the Messerschmitt did the same. Another approach, firing and dodging - situation remained 0 - 0. The Soviet pilot banked his La-5 for the third pass, Nissinen also, however much he disliked the situation, but he could not retreat. Again the two opponents approached, fired and missed. As the fighters passed each other, sunlight from a gap between the clouds fell on Nissinen's face. Instinctively he pulled the stick and steered his Messerschmitt toward the sun until the plane's stick began to feel light - a symptom of impending stall. Then he kicked the left rudder and a couple of seconds later his Bf 109 was diving from the sun toward the La-5. The enemy pilot tilted his fighter left and right as if looking down to find his opponent. Nissinen approached from above and rear and took aim. The wings of the La-5 stuck out of the outer ring of the Revi sight as the Finnish pilot saw his enemy turn his head to look behind. At the same moment Nissinen pulled the trigger and saw the tracers sink in the front fuselage of the La-5. The foe nose-dived, Nissinen turned to be able to see when the pilot would bail out. But there was just an explosion in the forest and a black smoke column began to rise in the Carelian sky. Nissinen landed and the spectators ran to him, cheering and congratulating. But the victorious, weary pilot, drenched in sweat, did not feel any joy. He felt the enemy pilot would have deserved to survive. Nissinen was sure that the La-5 had been hit in the engine and front fuselage: why did the pilot not save his life even though he had a chance to do it? (Postscript: Stalin had decreed in August 1941: any Soviet soldier taken POW is a traitor! Could this have been the reason?) Then the Soviet offensive started on 9 June 1944. Lt. Nissinen had scored two more victories on the 17th of June 1944 as two flights of  Squadron 24 were sent to intercept Soviet ground attack planes attacking Finnish positions at Kaukjärvi. He was flying MT-229. The other flight, commanded by Lt. Sarjamo, engaged the escort fighters and Lt. Nissinen and his men concentrated on the Il-2s. There was a 100 m thick cloud cover under which the enemy ground attackers were flying. Suddenly Nissinen's wingman, Sgt. Heimo Lampi saw a crippled Messerschmitt dive through the cloud only about 30 m away at Nissinen, whose attention was concentrated on finding the enemy somewhere below. Lampi did not have any time to react before the falling fighter hit Nissinen's plane. Both planes exploded upon the impact and fell to the ground in one mess. Both pilots were instantly killed. Later it was found that it was Lt. Sarjamo who was shot down over the cloud and whose plane caused the collision. The squadron lost two flight commanders in one minute. Lt. Nissinen had scored 32 1/3 victories. His grave is in Valkeala. Major Karhunen, the squadron leader was short on competent officers. He called Major Luukkanen, the commander of Squadron 34, and asked for Lt. Kössi Karhila as replacement for Nissinen. Luukkanen agreed, and one of his top aces was transferred to Squadron 24. Nissinen as the commander of 1./LeLv.24 in the cockpit of a Messerschmitt Bf 109G on 4 April 1944. Back to Finnish Fighter Aces Originally published at: WW II ACE STORIES   Home Latest Topic | Air Warfare | Conferences/Air Shows | Fighter Tactics | Fighter Aircraft | Missiles | Fighter Aviation Topic | Fighter History | Warbirds | Magazines | Current News | Links | Physiology | Photo Gallery | Bibliography | SIIVET - Wings | What's New J Lindberg. Copyright © 1997-2006 Fighter Tactics Academy. All rights reserved. Revised: tammikuu 01, 2006.