Brewster Buffalo Hans Hassi Wind Finnish Air Force Aviation Art Print

In the struggle for independence, Finland had to change allegiance and in doing so operated types from a number of different combatants. This did not hinder their ability to wage war and in several instances tactics and pilot skill made up for lack of quality aircraft. The greatest instance of this was the use of the Brewster Model 239 (Buffalo is a British name adopted for the later Model 339), an aircraft that was deemed not suited to operations in Europe and was found to be extremely wanting in the Far East with the USMC, Dutch East Indies Air Force and RAF. The greatest exponent of the type was Hans ‘Hassi’ Wind who scored 39 of his eventual 75 victories on the type and also helped developed the ‘Hit & Run’ tactics that made the aircraft so successful.