Simo Hayha, ”The White Death”

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Simo Hayha

 

Let’s talk about Finland

 

officially called the Republic of Finland.

 

The country’s name was said to be found on three runestones. 

 

has about 168,000 lakes and 179,000 islands.

 

Helsinki is capital 

 

As for weather, In Helsinki, the summers are comfortable and partly cloudy and the winters are long, freezing, snowy, windy, and mostly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 17°F to 71°F and is rarely below -3°F or above 79°F.

 

Member of the EU

 

338,455 square kilometres (130,678 sq mi) with a population of 5.5 million people.

 

Helsinki is capital 

According to an American study, an average of 7,000 rifle-caliber shots were required to achieve one combat kill during the First World War. During the Vietnam War this number had increased to more than 25,000. So, for Simo Häyhä’s more than 505 kills, more than 13,550,000 bullets would have been needed in Vietnam.

Simo Was born December 17th, 1905

 

In the Kiiskinen hamlet of the Rautjärvi, Viipuri Province, In southern Finland.

 

Not far from the Russian border.

 

His father, Juho Häyhä, was the owner of the Mattila farm while Simo's mother, Katriina was known as a “loving and hard-working farmer's wife”.

 

He was the the second youngest of eight children, 

 

Went to school in the village of Miettilä in Kivennapa parish

 

Working on his family's farm and hunting in the Finnish wilderness made him tough, yet very patient.

 

Built his own farm along with his eldest brother. 

 

Proficient farmer, hunter, and skier.

 

At 17, Simo joined the Finnish voluntary Militia Civil Guard, kind of like the National Guard in the US. 

 

Was only 5’ 3”

 

Was great at marksmanship and won several shooting competitions, having many trophies and awards in his home.

 

Was a shy guy that wasn’t a big fan of the spotlight

 

At 19, Simo started a 15 month mandatory military service, called Conscription, in the Bicycle Battalion 2 in Raivola. 

 

He didn’t even start sniper training until he was 20.

 

Simo was supposedly able to estimate distances up to 150 meters (500 ft) within 1 meter or 3.3 ft. That’s over 1 and a half football fields in length. 

 

An author that wrote about Simo said that he once hit a target 16 times from 150 meters away in only one minute. “This was an unbelievable accomplishment with a bolt action rifle, considering that each cartridge had to be manually fed with a fixed magazine that held together five cartridges.” That’s insane.

 

Simo went back to his farm until the invasion happened.

 

THE WAR

 

The Soviets didn’t trust Germany and wanted a buffer zone.

 

In the autumn of 1939, the Soviet Union demanded that Finland move their border back 25 kilometers from Leningrad. 

 

The Finnish government refused.

 

The Soviet Union staged an incident at the border, using it as an excuse to attack Finland.

 

This started the Winter War.

 

Stalin sent over 750,000 Russian soldiers to invade Finland. Finland’s army had only 300,000, a few tanks and just over 100 aircraft.

 

Russia had almost 6000 tanks and over 3000 aircraft.

 

Stalin thought Finland would be a pushover. He was wrong. 

Simo was called up. He pulled out his old gun, joined the Finnish army and entered the Winter War between 1939 and 1940.

 

This war was between Finland and Russia and the temperatures were between -40 and -4 degrees Fahrenheit.  

 

Simo dressed in all white camo where the Russian troops weren’t given any camo, making them easier targets.

 

They wore their standard Green greatcoats.

 

This disorganization was due to Stalin freaking out and killing most of his superior generals, leaving confusion and a lack of leadership.

 

ON A SIDE NOTE 

 

The Finns were also smart in their tactics, the most notable of which were known as “Motti”-tactics. Since the Soviets would invade by the roads, the Finns would hide out in the surrounding wilderness. They would then let the invaders cross the border, and attack them from behind.

 

the Finns faced both the 9th and 14th Soviet Armies, and at one point were fighting against as many as 12 divisions - about 160,000 soldiers. Also at one point in the same area, there were only 32 Finns fighting against over 4,000 Soviets

 

The Russian army supposedly gave him the name “white Death”, but some speculation believes it was propaganda created by Finland. Kind of like the new “Ghost Of Kiev”.

 

Russian prisoners claimed that “white death” was referring to how cold it gets in the deepest parts of the forests. 

 

The Finnish newspapers used the name and the likeness of an “invisible soldier” to create and proport a hero for the war. 

 

He was also called the “magic shooter”.

 

Even rumors that captured Russian soldiers were disappointed to not get to meet Simo.

 

AS A SNIPER

 

All 500 of Simos kills were supposedly done in less than 100 days.

 

That’s an average of 5 kills a day.

Not a lot of sunlight during this time of the year.

 

On February 17th, 1940 Simo was awarded an honorary rifle.

 

Given by Commander Svensson, for 219 confirmed kills with a rifle and 219 with a submachine gun.

 

December 21, 1939 was his daily high kill count of 25. 

 

Army chaplain Rantamaa claims it was more like 542 confirmed kills, starting from the beginning of the war until he was injured

 

Some Finnish documents say he had:

 

138 sniper kills in 22 days, published on December 22, 1939

 

199 sniper kills published on January 26th, 1940

 

219 Sniper kills published on February 17th, 1940

 

259 Sniper kills (40 in 18 days) published on March 7th, 1940

 

In Simo’s memoirs found in 2017, he had a “sin list” that claims around 500 kills.

 

Finnish historian Marjomaa claims the number to be like “more than 200 kills” due to the absence of bodies and the use of the press's propaganda. Still a lot.

 

Simo’s gun of choice was his SAKO M/28-30, a Finnish version of a Mosin-Nagant, known as “The Spitz” because of its front sights resembling the head of a dog. Also, a popular bolt action rifle in the video game, Call of Duty.

 

Simo liked iron sights, not scopes. He claimed that he could keep his head lower and it gave him a smaller target.

 

Iron sights were dependable where scopes could fog up in cold weather and made the gun easier to hide. Not to mention the reflection of light from the scope’s lens could show enemies where the sniper was positioned.

 

Simo knew how cold it could be out there so he dressed for the weather wearing multiple layers. This meant he could stay out in the cold longer, waiting for his attack or to wait after.

 

He kept sugar and bread in his pockets.

 

He would eat them for calories to help keep him warm.

 

Unlike most snipers, Simo didn’t fire from the prone position; he preferred sitting up. 

 

Being shorter helped him as he hid from enemies.

 

He would go out at night, improve his favorite shooting positions, and perform meticulous maintenance on his rifle so that it would never jam, especially in the cold conditions.

 

He would head to his spot for the day before sunrise and stay there until after the sun had set.

 

Daylight only lasted for roughly 3 hours a day.

 

Simo would pile the snow or pour water on it in a way that the blast from his barrel wouldn’t disturb the snow in front of him and even kept snow in his mouth to keep his breath from showing the enemy where he was.

 

He’d place his gloves on the snow and his rifle on top of them to lessen the recoil.

 

In the early days of the fighting, a Soviet sniper had killed three junior platoon leaders and an NCO. Simo’s platoon leader told him to take out the sniper.

As the sun was setting, the Soviet sniper carelessly abandoned his position. As he did, the sunlight glinted off his sniper scope. Simo put a round through his face.

 

Later another Soviet sniper kept Häyhä’s unit pinned down. Again, Simo was called upon  and began to search for his target.  Using another Finnish lieutenant as a spotter, he took the Soviet sniper out with a single shot from 400 meters.

 

Simo told a writer that snipers didn’t aim for headshots. “The head is a small size compared to the torso and for that reason, I always fired at the center of the torso. Shooting an enemy should only be done so when the probability of killing the enemy is at its highest, and if aiming at his head, a slight misjudgment leads to a miss which can give away your position with no gain taken.”

 

WOUNDED

 

Russia ordered counter snipers and artillery missions to SPECIFICALLY take out Simo.

 

Most failed.

 

Simo was almost killed on March 6th, 1940.

 

Shot in the face by an explosive, incendiary round, which explodes on impact.

 

Hit his lower left jaw, removing his upper jaw, most of his lower jaw and most of his left cheek.

 

Russians thought he was dead and threw him on a pile of bodies.

 

Finnish soldiers went looking for him and noticed a leg twitching in the pile of bodies.

 

The soldiers took him to get help and said “half his face was missing.”

 

Rumors of Simo’s death were everywhere.

 

One week later, he regained consciousness. The day that peace was declared.

 

The Finnish Army was exhausted, its ammunition nearly out, and its defensive lines close to being overrun. So, Finland was forced to sign the Treaty of Moscow on March 12, 1940. Under the treaty, it ceded 11 percent of its territory to the Soviet Union, more than the Soviets demanded prior to the start of the conflict.

 

Took him over 14 months to recover after 26 surgeries.

 

Saw a story about his death in a newspaper. He sent them a letter saying he was alive.

 

After recovery, he wanted to go back out to fight but wasn’t permitted.

 

AWARDS

 

Simo received the first and second class medals of liberty.

 

And The Kollaa fighters medal

 

Was promoted from the lowest ranked non commissioned officer (yes, that was his rank while he did all of this) to First military rank of an officer. 

 

Nominated as a Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, which is considered the greatest Finnish Military honor.

 

Was given his own farm in southeastern Finland. Fittingly, it was located near the Russian border. Probably to remind them of what he did last time.

 

AFTER THE WAR

 

Became a successful moose hunter and dog breeder.

 

Received death threats from people who thought what he accomplished was wrong.

 

Never talked about the war or what he had been through.

 

When asked how he became such a bad ass his response was, “practice.”

 

When asked if had any remorse he said, “"I did what I was told to do, as well as I could. There would be no Finland unless everyone else had done the same".

 

Simo died in 2002 at the age of 96 while living in a war veterans nursing home. He never married or had children. 

 

Nobody in history has ever been credited with more confirmed kills than Simo Häyhä.

 

OH AND BY THE WAY.

Despite gaining around 22,000 square miles of Finnish land, the Soviets lost the Winter War with most of their troops having been killed by the defending Finns. A Russian general later remarked that the land they had conquered was “just enough to bury their dead”.

https://knowledgeeager.com/best-sniper-movies/