Born on the 21 February 1914 at Lieksa, Finnish Carelia. Later the family moved to Sortavala. The father was a railway worker who lost both legs in an accident.
As a boy Juutilainen read the book by Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Fighter Pilot" which made him dream about becoming a pilot. (the book in English: http://www.wtj.com/pl/pages/greatwar.htm). Also the vicinity of the Kasinhanta Air Base with its seaplanes and pilots added to the appeal of aviation.
Juutilainen did his military service in Signal Corpsduring 1932-1933 and was trained as a telegraphist.
After having fulfilled his compulsory service Juutilainen acquired a private pilote's licence from the Karhumaki Brothers' Flying School. Then, in 1935, he became an enlisted NCO in the Armed Forces.
Finally, in 1936 he applied for an Air Force NCO pilot course. He was accepted and due to his pilot's licence and telegraphist's skill he was made the elder of the course. Juutilainen did very well, but he spent a lot of time in custody - 27 days in a four-month course. The reason was that as the elder he was responsible for the misdeeds of his course - mostly excessive drinking. Personally he earned only one week for flying too low. After the course was completed, "Illu" had to sit in the "jug" for another week to serve the custody ordered to him.
Juutilainen started his career as a NCO pilot in a Reconnaisance Squadron in Suur-Merijoki in May 1937. He was considered a good and reliable pilot, much liked by the officer-observers. He was married in the same year with Miss Anni Nurmi, and their first son was born in 1938.
Sgt. Juutilainen was transferred to Sqn.24 to fly the Fokker D XXI's in March 1939. In a few weeks he became a good fighter pilot: his shooting skill was excellent. No wonder, hunting with dog and shotgun was his favourite hobby when the season was in. Juutilainen was fit as a professional athlete, he was also a teetotaller and non-smoker, staying like that during the whole of the war and also afterwards.
In the Winter War he flew as the wingman of the 3rd flight commander, Lt. Eino Luukkanen. He scored two proven victories. However, he fired his first angry shots with a pole-mounted Lewis gun from the ground against SB-2 bombers attacking the Immola Air Base on the 1st of December 1939.
The 3rd Flight was commanded to defend the area NE of the lake Ladoga. There, at the front section Kollaa, was fighting "Illu"'s brother, res. Lt.Aarne Juutilainen as a distinghuised infantry company commander. (This other Juutilainen was nationally known as the "Terror of Morocco" because he had served in the French Foreign Legion in N. Africa.)
The Fokker squadron carried out ground strafing raids on the ice covering the Bay of Viipuri against the Red Army columns the 1. to 12. March 1940. Those missions were hard for the Finnish fighter pilots because they really saw the lethal effect of their bullets. The enemy columns were initially without white camouflage clothing, and always marching in tight file formations. Shooting at aircraft was in a sense symbolic, a fighter pilot mostly did not see what happens to the crew of the victim aircraft. Illu did not feel good to see in his sighting scope how defenseless Red Army infantrymen flopped in the snow upon impact of his bullets. But he had to do his duty, the pilots knew that every enemy soldier left on the ice as casualty would relieve the pressure of the Finnish infantrymen defending the coastline. He flew eleven ground attack sorties.
In the Winter War Juutilainen scored two confirmed victories.
When the war against Soviet Union started again on 25 June 1941, Juutilainen was flying a Brewster in the 3st flight of LeLv 24 (Sqn.24). The 3rd Flight became later known as the "Knight Flight" because of the three holders of the Mannerheim Cross serving in it.
In 1941 he scored 13 confirmed victories and in 1942 next 21 victories.
In March 1943 Juutilainen was transferred to a new unit, Fighter Squadron 34, which was equipped with new Messerschmitt 109 G2 fighters. The Me with its 20 mm gun became his efficient tool and now he really began to excel. Less experienced or careless Soviet pilots had little chance when engaged by "Illu". The Soviet intelligence knew him well enough to once contact him via radio...
Finally in 1943 he scored 'only' 19 victories, but the 1944 was most successful recording additional 40 kills!
Illu shared von Richthofen's view: the task of a fighter pilot is to take his guns to an advantageous position in relation to the enemy and shoot him down. For Illu a fighter plane was a flying gun platform, nothing else. If Hasse Wind could be compared with Réné Fonck, so Illu Juutilainen was Georges Guynemer - the calculating tactician. A good example of this is what happened on early March 1944 (the story is in the second file). He attacked alone four La-5 led by Soviet Hero Medvetyev above Suulajarvi AB, despite low fuel.
He always looked back before opening fire, and if the enemy was approaching, he abandoned the target and prepared to meet the new challenge. Never was Juutilainen's fighter hit by enemy fighter fire during his 437 missions. (Once, flying a crucially important reconnaisance mission in June 1944, he was very nearly shot down as the oil tank of his Me was holed by the enemy AA. ) Yet he was an aggressive pilot, but never foolhardy. He had good luck, too. In his memoirs he conveys the impression that he really enjoyed aerial dogfights when flying a BW or a MT, sometimes he even was dissatisfied as an unskillful enemy succumbed too easily.
Illu Juutilainen had a matter-of-factly and professional attitude to war and fighting. He did not hate the enemy. For example on 14th March 1942 he shot up the engine of a MiG-3 at Karkijarvi, Eastern Carelia. The enemy pilot belly-landed on a bush-covered marsh. Juutilainen flew over to check, and saw the Soviet pilot standing at his MiG, waving his hand. The Finnish pilot made another pass and rocked his wings in salute before retreating.
Another time, on 23 September 1943 there was a hard battle over the Sepeleva Lighthouse, 10 Me's against a number of Yak-1, LaGG-3 and La-5. Juutilainen had shot down one of each kind and his 20mm ammo was spent as he was attacked by another La-5 at a low altitude. The Finnish pilot did his standard trick: he pulled his fighter into a tight climbing turn, and kept climbing and waiting until the over-eager enemy pilot would stall his fighter in an futile attept to pull the correct deflection. When the La-5 had stalled and dived to recover manouverability, Juutilainen was already 20 m behind his tail. Both fighters recovered from the dive at wavetops. Juutilainen fired at the enemy, saw holes appear in the fuselage of the La-5 but the 7.9 mm bullets had no other effect. Suddenly the La-5 pulled up, the Me followed but the pilot blacked out. As he recovered, he found himself wingtip to wingtip with the enemy. The two pilots looked each other in the eye. Juutilainen found the situation amusing, he smiled and waved his hand. The Soviet pilot responded and rocked his wings as a sign of truce. The Finnish pilot responed. Again the Soviet pilot waved his hand and flew his fighter below the Me toward Kronstadt. Juutilainen also turned toward Suulajarvi.
In July 1941 he saw his house in the Soviet-occupied town of Sortavala from the air, but as the Finnish troops took the town 24 hours later the retreating Soviets had burnt the house down, among many others. But Illu was not bitter. He told, chuckling, in an televised interview in 1997 : "It is war: if the enemy burns your house down, you go and burn one of the enemy's houses!" He did not burn down any houses, but shot down enemy aircraft. His official score is 94 confirmed victories, but he believes he shot down a total of 120 enemies.
He was decorated with the Mannerheim Cross twice, on 26 April 1942 and on 28 June 1944. He is one of the two pilots thus honoured. (Hans Wind was the other one). Citation in 1942: "Flight Master Juutilainen has displayed exemplary bravery and indomitable battle spirit with excellent skill and resourcefulness in several air battles." In 1944 the citation was " Flight Master Juutilainen's offensive spirit and skill has earned him 73 victories, 15 of which during the present enemy offensive. This is in our circumstances a brilliant military achievement, taking into account that most of the victories have been gained in battle against numerically great enemy superiority".
Juutilainen was promoted as Sr. Sgt. on 31 December 1939 and less than one month later to the rank of Sergeant-Major. He reached the top of his military career on the 1 March 1941, as he became Flight Master (the rank is also known as Air Master Sergeant or Warrant Officer.)
Juutilainen concentrated on flying instead of career. He was offered a chance to study in the Cadet School and become a commissioned officer, but he declined, explaining that during the year spent in studies he would lose his touch in flying. Then any enemy could shoot him down before he would have relearned his skill. Juutilainen loved flying and air battles, and being a husband and father of three sons did not slow him down the least. He was also an outdoorsman, his favourite hobbies were hunting and fishing. His character was extroverted and he was popular with the other pilots due to his witty humour and willingness to give advice. He was radiating vitality and self-confidence, which also rubbed on other pilots thus improving the general feeling in the unit. When "Illu" was asked after the war whether he ever feared, he said that he never felt fear, just urge for action.
For his squadron leader and flight commander he was an exemplary soldier with his good behaviour and high fighting spirit. However, there was one thing that Maj. Luukkanen had to turn a blind eye to: Juutilainen did not obey the standing order to avoid battle during a reconnaisance mission. "Illu" rationalized this by maintaining that the delay in providing the recce data was small (less than half an hour) and the "dual mission" made better use of the limited number of fighters... It did not occur to him that he could have been shot down and the data would be totally lost ! For example...
In the afternoon of the 1st July 1944 as Juutilainen was preparing for a recce mission on the Western side of the Carelian Isthmus with Sgt.-Maj. Antti Tani, they decided that they would meet the enemy during the sortie. Juutilainen flew his trusted MT-457, but Tani's fighter was the new MT-453 that still retained her 20mm wing cannons, and the pilot was most eager to test the triple-cannon firepower.
They carried out their mission, Juutilainen observed the ground and made notes about road and rail traffic and tank, artillery and troop concentrations while Tani covered him. They saw enemy aircraft but Juutilainen ignored them. In the return leg of the mission they flew towards Tali, where heavy ground battle was being fought. To their great satisfaction they found about 40 Il-2's - unescorted! Juutilainen told his wingman to roll his battery in position, and they attacked the rearmost wave of the Stormovik formation. Juutilainen shot down one near Juustila, and Tani wrecked two thanks to his firepower. Then they attacked the following wave ahead, the Stormoviks behind fired at them with their wing guns, but without result. Both pilots shot down one enemy more each at Pakkainen, then they were out of ammo and short on fuel after 10 minutes of engagement. They landed at Lappeenranta and gave their raport to the intelligence officer.
What kind of a man becomes a good fighter
pilot? "Eikka"
Luukkanen has listed some
characteristics:
- Physical: good eyesight, good physical condition, rapid
reactions
- Mental: excellent situational awareness, adventurousness
He may have had his top ace Illu Juutilainen in mind when making that list. A good fighter pilot never really grows up, Luukkanen wrote. Illu was one of these happy men. Consider the following incidents:
As Juutilainen was decorated with the Mannerheim Cross in April 1942, the reporter of the Aunus (Olonez) radio came to interview him in the base. The natinonally famous reporter, Pekka Tiilikainen asked in a magnificent voice vibrant with patriotism:
- Tell us, Illu, about your feelings at this great moment?
Juutilainen answered - in a live transmission:
- Well, at the moment I am thinking about the delicious cabbage casserole that my mother used to make.
Humour and practical jokes had a serious purpose. The major part of a fighter pilot's life consisted of waiting for a scramble alarm - life in constant nervous tension. In addition to chatting, reading or card playing practical jokes (for example rigging a tripping wire across the path to the canteen or booby-trapping a toilet door) were a way to relieve stress and think of something else than the next sortie.
Whenever there was a special mission for Juutilainen, the young replacement pilots would literally crowd around him, each one begging: "Illu, take me with you!" They knew: when flying as his wingman they would find action. Moreover, they were sure that the enemy was not able to surprise Illu, and in a dogfight he would save you in case you got in trouble. Consider the following:
On the 1st of June 1944 the 1st flight of Squadron 34 led by Lt. Pokela was scrambled to Teikari Island to intercept enemy ground attack planes. Juutilainen's wingman was Lt. "Saku" Heiskanen, a young pilot. At Teikari the first division (4 Me's) attacked the Stormoviks, and as the escorting six Yak-9's intervened, Pokela ordered the 2nd division at them. The Yak's dispersed, some dived on, others pulled up. Lt. Heiskanen was careless and got one Yak behind his tail. Juutilainen came to rescue, but another Yak was just closing on him. Fortunately for Heiskanen, Sgt. Leino engaged the Yak, allowing Juutilainen to continue his rescue operation. Heiskanen kept climbing and curving, seeing that "white zero"(MT-457) was approaching the enemy. When in close range, Juutilainen fired a burst, and the Yak dived, trailing heavy smoke from her engine...
After the war
In late September 1944 a rare visitor, Soviet Air Force Col.Lt. V.F. Golubev, the commander of 4.GIAP (Guards' Fighter Regiment) came to see the pilots of the Squadron 34 at Utti Air Base.
According to the conditions of the ceasefire treaty Golubev's unit had been stationed for a while at Malmi, the airport of Helsinki. He decided to make use of the opportunity and meet the men he had fought against - with a risk to himself.
When Illu Juutilainen was introduced to Golubev, the Soviet officer said nothing, just shook his hand longer than anybody elses. 60 years later "Illu" said in an interview that the greatest decoration a soldier can get is an acknowlegment given by his enemy.
In May 1947 Juutilainen resigned from the FAF service and bought an old DH Moth from the Air Force surplus stock. Then he had the plane repaired and entered in civilian register. Finally he hired a mechanic and became a self-employed pilot. He toured with his Moth and mechanic around Finland, offering ten-minute flights at rural fairs and small towns. There always were people who wanted to be flown around by the famous ex-fighter pilot, a double holder of the Mannerheim Cross, providing Illu and his family with income.
Juutilainen was selected as one of the six pall-bearers at Marshal Mannerheim's burial on the 4th February 1951. (Four of the men were generals, Juutilainen represented the NCO's and the rank and file were represented by L.-Cpl. Seppanen, a "tank killer". All men were holders of the Mannerheim Cross.) In 1956 Juutilainen's war memoirs were published. The publisher was a small company, and nowadays the original edition is a rarity, but a reprint has been published recently. The author chose to name his opus "As a Nuisance to Red Pilots" which in those days was not p.c. The book was translated in English by a FAF General and a USN Admiral, then published as "Double Fighter Knight" in 1997. (You can check the book review at this site: http://www.hkkk.fi/~yrjola/war/refs/refs.htm/#faf)
Illu Juutilainen is now living on pension in his home, in reasonable good health so far.
Trivia
Winter War planes: FR-106 and FR-108 (one
victory with each)
1941-1943 he flew mostly the BW-364 (29 victories)
1943-1944 he flew first mostly the MT-222 (16 victories), then
MT-426 (9 victories) and finally MT-457 (18 victories). He did
not allow his ground crew paint any "personal emblems"
on his fighter, except the victory bars on the BW-364 vertical
stabilizer
Victim list:
I-153 -13; I-16 -11; SB-2 -2; DB-3/-3F -5; MiG-1/-3 -5;
Hurricane -4; Spitfire -2; LaGG-3 -5; Tomahawk P-40 -1; Lightning
P-38 -1; Pe-2 -4; Airacobra P-39 -4; La-5 -11; La-7 -1; Yak-1/-7
-2; Yak-9 -12; IL-2 -7; Mustang P-51 -2; He-111 -1; Li-2 -1.
Sad epilouge...
In end of February 1999, almost at the same moment, when his story landed in
Ace Stories, "Illu" Juutilainen 'took off for his last flight' without return... He shall
be buried on the 13th March 1999. It's strange, but it's the anniversary of the day the
Winter War ended in 1940...
Five most exciting epizodes of his career please read in "Illu" Juutilanen - Pilot in Battle! story!
The Fokker D.XXI fighter of 3./LLv 24, flown by Sgt. Juutilainen in March of 1940.
1999.02.20, © WW II Ace Stories.