Flight Sergeant Heikki Marklund's grave memorial is returned to the grave

Suomeksi

The grave memorial of Flight Sergeant Heikki Marklund, restored by the Tuesday Club, was reattached on Saturday, 27 June 2026 to Marklund’s grave in the cemetery of Tyrväntö Church, near Hämeenlinna.

Photo: Heikki Kauppi

Photo: Lassi Karivalo

The grave memorial, made from the wooden propeller blade of Marklund’s accident aircraft Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard (MA-34), had stood on Marklund’s grave since his funeral on 18 September 1934. It is therefore no wonder that the wooden propeller blade, which had been at the grave for nearly 94 years, had been badly weathered. At the initiative of Heikki Kauppi and Pasi Pirttikoski, the Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club took on the task of restoring the propeller blade. The restoration was successful, and the propeller blade could be returned almost to its original splendour. The blade could therefore be reattached to Marklund’s grave to honour the memory of Marklund, who died in an aviation accident at Kauhava on 7 September 1934.

Photo: Antti Hyvärinen

On Wednesday, 24 June, Kauppi and Pirttikoski came to the Aviation Museum Society’s workshop on Puusepäntie in Tuusula to collect the restored propeller-blade grave memorial so that they could attach it to Marklund’s grave. The unveiling ceremony for the restored propeller-blade grave memorial had been scheduled for Saturday, 27 June, so before then the memorial had to be fastened to the base stone on Marklund’s grave.

Photos: Pasi Pirttikoski

At the cemetery of Tyrväntö Church, Kauppi and Pirttikoski drilled holes in the base stone on Marklund’s grave for the fastening screws. They then set the propeller-blade grave memorial in place on top of the base stone and screwed the memorial to the stone by its metal stand. For the Saturday’s ceremony they planted white rose begonias on the grave.

Photo: Pasi Pirttikoski

Photo: Antti Salvisto

On an almost hot Saturday, a dozen people gathered in Tyrväntö churchyard to celebrate the unveiling of Marklund’s grave memorial. Most of them were members of Hämeen Ilmasilta aviation history club. Lassi Karivalo had the honour of removing the cover from the memorial, allowing those present at the ceremony to view it.

Photo: Lassi Karivalo

Photo: Antti Salvisto

At the memorial, Heikki Kauppi and Pasi Pirttikoski spoke about Marklund’s life, the aviation accident at Kauhava, and Marklund’s funeral. A notable aspect of the funeral was that the Air Force, together with Marklund’s fellow pilots, erected the intact propeller blade from his accident aircraft as a memorial on the grave. Karivalo, in turn, described the role of Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club in restoring the propeller-blade grave memorial.

Photo: Cemetery worker

The restoration of the propeller-blade memorial on Marklund’s grave was not merely a technical undertaking. Alongside it, Heikki Kauppi’s research revealed an interesting story about Flight Sergeant Heikki Marklund and the aviation accident that led to his death. By restoring the grave memorial, we honour the memory of Flight Sergeant Heikki Marklund.

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen