Simo Häyhä
| Simo Häyhä | |
|---|---|
Häyhä after being awarded the honorary rifle model 28.
|
|
| Nickname(s) | White Death |
| Born | December 17, 1905 Rautjärvi,Viipuri Province, Grand Duchy of Finland |
| Died | April 1, 2002 (aged 96) Hamina, Finland |
| Allegiance | |
| Years of service | 1925–1940 |
| Rank | Alikersantti (Corporal) during the Winter War, promoted to Vänrikki (Second Lieutenant) shortly afterward[1] |
| Unit | Infantry Regiment 34 |
| Battles/wars | Winter War |
| Awards | Cross of Liberty, 3rd class and 4th class; Medal of Liberty, 1st class and 2nd class; Cross of Kollaa Battle[1] |
Simo Häyhä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈsimɔ ˈhæy̯hæ]; December 17, 1905 – April 1, 2002), nicknamed "White Death" (Russian: Белая смерть, Belaya Smert; Finnish: valkoinen kuolema; Swedish: den vita döden) by the Red Army, was a Finnish marksman. Using a modified Mosin–Nagant in the Winter War, he acquired the highest recorded number of confirmed sniper kills (505) in any major war.[2]
Early life[edit]
Häyhä was born in the municipality of Rautjärvi near the present-day border of Finland and Russia, and started his military service in 1925. Before entering combat, Häyhä was a farmer and hunter. At the age of 20, he joined the Finnish militia Suojeluskunta and succeeded with his sniping skills in shooting sports in Viipuri province. His home was reportedly full of trophies for marksmanship.[3]
Winter War service[edit]
During the Winter War (1939–1940) between Finland and the Soviet Union, Häyhä served as a sniper for the Finnish Army against the Red Army in the 6th Company of JR 34 during the Battle of Kollaa. In temperatures between −40 °C (−40 °F) and −20 °C (−4 °F), dressed completely in white camouflage, Häyhä was credited with 505 confirmed kills of Soviet soldiers.[2][4] A daily account of the kills at Kollaa was made for the Finnish snipers. All of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in fewer than 100 days – an average of just over five kills per day – at a time of year with very few daylight hours.[5][6][7]
Häyhä used a Finnish militia variant of the Russian-made Mosin–Nagant rifle, the White Guard M/28 early variant "Pystykorva" (literally Spitz, due to the front sight's resemblance to the head of a spitz-type dog) chambered in 7.62×53R, the Finnish Mosin–Nagant cartridge, because it suited his small frame (1.6 m (5 ft 3 in)). He preferred to use iron sights rather than telescopic sights to present a smaller target for the enemy (a sniper must raise his head higher when using a telescopic sight), to increase accuracy (a telescopic sight's glass can fog up easily in cold weather), and to aid in concealment (sunlight glare in telescopic sight lenses can reveal a sniper's position). As well as these tactics, he frequently packed dense mounds of snow in front of his position to conceal himself and provide padding for his rifle. He was also known to keep snow in his mouth whilst sniping, to reduce steamy breaths giving away his position in the cold air.[8]
The Soviets' efforts to kill Häyhä included counter-snipers and artillery strikes, and on March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in his lower left jaw by a Russian soldier. He was picked up by fellow soldiers who said "half his cheek was missing", but he did not die, regaining consciousness on March 13, the day peace was declared. Shortly after the war, Häyhä was promoted from alikersantti (corporal) to vänrikki (second lieutenant) by Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.[9]
Later life[edit]
It took several years for Häyhä to recuperate from his wound. The bullet had crushed his jaw and blown off his left cheek. Nonetheless, he made a full recovery and became a successful moose hunter and dog breeder after World War II, and hunted with Finnish President Urho Kekkonen.[8]
When asked in 1998 how he had become such a good shooter, Häyhä answered "Practice." When asked if he regretted killing so many people, he said, "I only did my duty, and what I was told to do as well as I could." Simo Häyhä spent his last years in Ruokolahti, a small municipality located in southeastern Finland, near the Russian border. He died in 2002 at the age of 96.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Lappalainen, Jukka-Pekka (6 December 2001). "Kollaa kesti, niin myös Simo Häyhä" [The Kollaa held out, so did Simo Häyhä] (fee required). Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish) (Helsinki). Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ a b Rayment, Sean (30 April 2006). "The long view". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 30 March 2009.
- ^ Gilbert, Adrian (1996). Sniper: The Skills, the Weapons, and the Experiences. St. Martin's Press. p. 88. ISBN 0-312-95766-1.
- ^ "Sotasankarit-äänestyksen voitti tarkka-ampuja Simo Häyhä". MTV3 (in Finnish). Retrieved 30 March 2009.
- ^ Jowett, Philip S. (2006). Finland at War, 1939–45. Osprey Publishing. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-1-84176-969-1.
- ^ Pegler, Martin (2006). Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper. Osprey Publishing. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-84603-140-3.
- ^ Farey, Pat; Spicer, Mark (5 May 2009). Sniping: An Illustrated History. Zenith Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-0-7603-3717-2.
- ^ a b Stirling, Robert (20 December 2012). Special Forces Sniper Skills. Osprey Publishing. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-1-78096-003-6.
- ^ a b Feist, Paul (21 July 2012). "The Winter War and a Winter Warrior". The Redwood Stumper 2010: The Newsletter of the Redwood Gun Club, Arcata, CA. Arcata, CA: Redwood Gun Club. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-300-03973-0.
- ^ Finnischer Scharfschütze Simo Häyhä: Der weiße Tod Der Spiegel (German)
Further reading[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simo Häyhä. |
- P. Sarjanen, Valkoinen kuolema. ISBN 952-5170-05-5.
- Tapio A. M. Saarelainen, Sankarikorpraali Simo Häyhä. ISBN 952-5026-52-3. http://www.apali.fi
- Tapio A. M. Saarelainen, The Sniper: Simo Häyhä. ISBN 978-952-5026-74-0. http://www.apali.fi
- William R. Trotter, Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939/40, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2000. ISBN 978-0-945575-22-1.
- Adrian Gilbert, Tom C. McKenney, Dan Mills, Roger Moorhouse, Charles Sasser, Tim Newark, The Sniper Anthology: Snipers of the Second World War, Pelican Publishing Company, 2012. ISBN 978-1-455616-82-4.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
- Military snipers
- 1905 births
- 2002 deaths
- Finnish military personnel of World War II
- People from Rautjärvi
- People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
- Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 3rd Class
- Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 4th Class
- Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, Medal of Liberty 1st Class
- Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, Medal of Liberty 2nd Class
- Sniper warfare