Simo Häyhä
| Simo Häyhä | |
|---|---|
Häyhä after being awarded the honorary rifle model 28.
|
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| Nickname(s) | White Death |
| Born |
17 December 1905 Rautjärvi, Viipuri Province, Finland, Russian Empire |
| Died | 1 April 2002 (aged 96) Hamina, Finland |
| Allegiance |
 Finland
|
| Service/branch |
 Finland Army
|
| Years of service | 1925–1940(2) |
| Rank | Alikersantti (Corporal) during the Winter War, promoted to Vänrikki (Second Lieutenant) shortly afterward |
| 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 |
Simo "Simuna" Häyhä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈsimɔ ˈhæy̯hæ]; 17 December 1905 – 1 April 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 Finnish-produced M/28-30 rifle (a variant of the Mosin–Nagant rifle) and the Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun, he is reported as having killed 505 men during the 1939–40 Winter War, the highest recorded number of confirmed sniper kills in any major war.
Häyhä was born in the municipality of Rautjärvi in the Grand Duchy of Finland, in present-day southern Finland near the border with 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 voluntary militia White Guard (Suojeluskunta) and was also successful in shooting sports in competitions in the Viipuri Province. His home was reportedly full of trophies for marksmanship.
During the 1939–40 Winter War 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. Because of Joseph Stalin’s purges of military experts in the late 1930s, the Red Army was highly disorganised and Soviet troops were not issued with white camouflage suits for most of the war, making them easily visible to snipers in winter conditions. Häyhä has been credited with 505 confirmed sniper kills. A daily account of the kills at Kollaa was made for the Finnish snipers. However, he was also known to carry and use a submachine gun, and though very few of his kills using this weapon were confirmed, as such, the true count is thought to be much higher, more than likely around 800 kills. All of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in fewer than 100 days – an average of just over five per day – at a time of year with very few daylight hours.
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Wikipedia