Endel Puusepp

Endel Puusepp
Podpolkovnik Endel Puusepp c. 1942.
Born	1 May 1909 Samovolny farm, Yeniseysk Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	18 January 1996(1996-01-18) (aged 86) Tallinn, Estonia
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Air Force
Rank	Colonel
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner Order of the Red Star (2) Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class (2) Order of Suvorov, 3rd class Order of Alexander Nevsky Order of the Red Banner of Labour (3) Order of Friendship of Peoples Order of the Badge of Honor

Endel Puusepp (Russian: Эндель Карлович Пусэп; May 1, 1909 – June 18, 1996) was a Soviet Russian-Estonian World War II pilot and military officer. He is mostly known being leading military officer in charge of bomb-attacks to peaceful cities of Helsinki, Tallinn and Narva, including infamous "march bombing" in Tallinn, where approximately 1/3 of the city was destroyed, 757 civilians killed, 20 000 left homeless. He was a recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union award for flying a high-ranking delegation over the front line from Moscow to Washington, D.C. and back to negotiate the opening of the Western Front.

Endel Puusepp was born into a family of Estonian peasants living in Yeniseysk Governorate, Siberia. His parents moved there, drawn by an offer of the Russian government to be given as much land as they could manage to cultivate. Thus, thousands of Estonians settled in Siberia and built farms, where they preserved their language and culture. Ever since early childhood, Puusepp dreamed of becoming a pilot. His parents, however, envisaged a different career for him: either a teacher or an agronomist. Having completed 7 grades of school, Puusepp moved to Leningrad to study at the Estonian-Finnish Teachers' College.

After completing one year of studies at the teacher's college, Puusepp transferred to a pilot's school, first in Volsk and later in Orenburg. He stayed at the latter as a flight instructor, having graduated. He was later transferred to a newly formed squadron specializing in blind flying (using only the airplane's instruments due to limited visibility).

By 1938, Puusepp was an established pilot, proficient in blind flying. Even earlier, he participated in the operation to locate the plane of Sigizmund Levanevsky, which disappeared in the Arctic. The North captivated Puusepp so much that he decided to stay and work there. He flew to the ice station North Pole-1 on several occasions and visited other Soviet Arctic stations. He was also involved in creating optimal routes for ships and in observing the movements of ice. While on one of these missions over the Kara Sea, Puusepp learned about the onset of the Operation Barbarossa. Having landed, Puusepp requested a transfer to the front line.