"Little Giant"
Urho Sakari Lehtovaara (1917-1949) nicknamed "Pikku-Jätti" (Little Giant) because of his shortness. He was Finnish Airforce ace with 44.5 aerial victories, the top scoring Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406 pilot and Knight of the Mannerheim Cross #142. When the Winter War begun in 1939 Lehtovaara was still in training and didn't get to the front until february 1940, when he was assigned to the LeLv 28 flying MS 406's. He achieved his first aerial victory on March 2, when he shot down SB-2 bomber. In the Continuation War he first flew in the same squadron scoring 14 kills with his Morane-Saulnier, until on March 28, 1943, he was transferred to LeLv 34 flying the just arrived Messerschmitts. He flew the Bf 109 G-2 until the end of the war shooting down 29 enemy aircraft, most of which during the summer of 1944. After the Continuation War he was assigned back to the LeLv 28, participating in the Lapland War of 1944-1945. During his wartime service Lehtovaara flew over 400 missions in total and achieved the rank of Warrant Officer. He retired from the Finnish Air Force in 1946 and started to run his own cinema. Urho Lehtovaara died in very sinister conditions on January 5, 1949. He had been arrested by "Valpo" and interrogated of the "Weapons Cache Case". He attacked one of his interrogators, grabbed his pistol and committed suicide so that his interrogators would get no information of him.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ww2incolor.com/gallery/finnish-forces/37256/%22little-giant%22