Editing Aksel Airo

{{Short description|Finnish general (1898–1985)}}
{{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix  = 
| name              = Aksel Airo
| honorific_suffix  = 
| native_name       = 
| native_name_lang  = 
| image         = Aksel Airo 1940.jpg
| image_size    = 300px
| alt           = 
| caption       = Aksel Airo in 1940
| birth_date    = 14 February 1898 
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1985|5|9|1898|2|14|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Turku]], [[Grand Duchy of Finland]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_place   = [[Heinola]], [[Finland]]
| placeofburial = 
| placeofburial_label = 
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      = 
| birth_name    = Aksel Fredrik Johansson
| allegiance    = Finland
| branch        = Army
| serviceyears  = 1918-1945
| rank          = Lieutenant general 
| servicenumber = <!-- Do not use data from primary sources such as service records -->
| unit          = 
| commands      = 
| battles       = 
| battles_label = 
| awards        = Knight of the Mannerheim Cross in Order of the Cross of Liberty, Order of the White Rose
| spouse        = <!-- Add spouse if reliably sourced --> 
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'''Aksel Fredrik Airo''' (14 February 1898 – 9 May 1985) was a [[Finland|Finnish]] [[lieutenant general]] and main strategic planner during the [[Winter War]] and the [[Continuation War]]. He was the virtual second-in-command of the Finnish army under [[Field Marshal (Finland)|Field Marshal]] [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim|C.G.E. Mannerheim]].

He was born in [[Turku]]. As a young man he became a supporter of Finnish independence. His father changed the original, [[Sweden|Swedish]], [[family name]] Johansson to Airo (lit. "oar").

[[File:Airo ja Mannerheim.jpg|thumb|left|Aksel Airo (left), with [[C.G.E. Mannerheim]] (right) and [[Erik Heinrichs]]]]
During the [[Civil War in Finland]] (1918), Airo served in the [[artillery]] on the [[White Guard (Finland)|White side]], taking part in battles near [[Viipuri]]. At the end of the war he was a [[lieutenant]]. Afterwards he was trained as an officer in [[Lappeenranta]] artillery school and was sponsored to the [[France|French]] military academy, [[École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr|École militaire]] in [[Saint-Cyr-l'École|St.-Cyr]] in 1920. In 1921 he was accepted into [[École Supérieure de Guerre]], the French officer training academy, from which he graduated as a [[Captain (Land)|captain]] in 1923, at the age of 27. Mannerheim invited him to join Finland's Defense Council as a secretary.

Airo rose swiftly in rank, mainly because newly independent Finland needed suitable officers for the fledgling army. He had, however, some professional challenges because he was neither a Germany-trained [[Finnish Jaeger troops|Jaeger officer]], nor one of the officers trained in the [[Tsar]]'s army during [[Russia]]n rule. Still, by 1930 he had become a [[colonel]].

In the beginning of the [[Winter War]], Mannerheim appointed Airo as [[Quartermaster general|Quartermaster-General]], and he was promoted to [[major general]], and two years later to [[lieutenant general]]. On November 18, 1944, Marshal Mannerheim made him a Knight of the [[Mannerheim Cross]] in [[Order of the Cross of Liberty]].

Airo was in the [[Mikkeli]] headquarters during the war and rarely went to the field. He was responsible for operational planning and the presentation of operations, or, as he allegedly said, "The Marshal leads the war, but I lead the battles". They had many differences in opinion but still managed to work well together.

After the [[Continuation War]], the now [[Communist]]-dominated [[Valtiollinen Poliisi|Valpo (the Finnish State Police)]] arrested him for his alleged involvement in the so-called [[Weapons Cache Case]]. He was imprisoned for nearly three years, 1945 to 1948 without being sentenced, until [[President of Finland|president]] [[Juho Kusti Paasikivi]] released him. He said almost nothing about the affair afterwards and earned the [[moniker]] "the silent general". The President relieved him of his duties with special permission to wear a military uniform.

In his later life Airo was a member of the [[Parliament of Finland|parliament]] for the [[National Coalition Party]] and a presidential [[President of Finland#Election|elector]]. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he never wrote [[memoirs]] about his war experiences. In 1982 President [[Mauno Koivisto]] awarded Airo with the Grand Cross of the Finnish [[Order of the White Rose]] with swords, which was a very rare honour in Finland. He died in 1985 at his home farm in [[Heinola]].

==See also==
* [[The Headquarters (film)|''The Headquarters'' (film)]]

==External links==
{{commonscat-inline|A. F. Airo}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061228072138/http://www.mikkeli.fi/fi/museot/english/02_the_headquarters_museum/03_airo/?C:D=177929 Mikkeli Headquarters museum about Airo]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Airo, Aksel}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Turku]]
[[Category:National Coalition Party politicians]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Finland (1958–1962)]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Finland (1962–1966)]]
[[Category:Finnish lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Finnish military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Finnish prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Knights of the Mannerheim Cross]]
[[Category:People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)]]
[[Category:People of the Finnish Civil War (White side)]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Finland]]