When you think about the most lethal sniper in world history, a teeny Finnish farmer probably isn’t the mental image that immediately springs to mind.
Yet, truth is stranger than fiction, and in this case, that adage proved true.
The setting was 1939, with World War II underway. Joseph Stalin sent over half a million soldiers, 6,000 tanks, and 3,000 aircraft to Finland in the hopes of turning the country into a communist state.
Things truly looked hopeless for the Finns. Their small army was less than half of the Soviets. Not to mention, they only had around 100 planes and a handful of tanks.
On paper, the Soviets should have won.
But one small-time farmer picked up his old rifle and helped even the odds.
This is the story of Simo Häyhä…
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A Small Finnish Farmer
Simo Häyhä wasn’t much to look at.
The good-tempered man barely stood over 5-feet-tall. However, put a bolt-action rifle in the man’s hands…and he proved to be a deadly enemy.
When Häyhä wasn’t farming, he was shooting, spending a great deal of time practicing with his Mosin-Nagant M28-30.
He enjoyed hunting, target practice and entered shooting competitions whenever time permitted.
Having only spent a year’s worth of time in compulsory military service at the age of 20, Haya wasn’t some top-shelf trained sniper – just a Finnish version of a redneck who liked guns.
Yet despite that, the enemy feared him.
The Winter War
Upon the Russian invasion, the Finnish Civil Guard (akin to the U.S. National Guard) called upon Häyhä to fight in The Winter War.
By the end of the war, 100 days later, Häyhä had a confirmed kill count of 542 Russians (unconfirmed kill count of 705). He also sported a new moniker — The White Death.
Fighting in winter temperatures that dropped to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, he devised a creative means of fighting against the Russians to stay hidden.
The Finnish Civil Guard issued Häyhä all-white camouflage, which he would wear out into the field, but that was only the beginning.
To better hide, he would often pile big snow mounds all around his position.
Not only did these mounds provide a source of concealment for him, but they also served as padding for his rifle to better keep puffs of snow from being generated every time he took a shot.
Furthermore, he’d put snow in his mouth to chill his exhaled air – limiting visible fog.
And to top it all off?
He used iron sights.
Häyhä spotted counter-snipers sent to kill him after sunlight reflected from their scopes. He didn’t want the same fate to befall him; thus, iron sights.
A further argument for his choice was the subzero temperatures of wintertime Finland. These temps would often leave scopes hazed over.
Plus, Häyhä felt like he presented a smaller target without a scope attached to his rifle.
Equipped with nothing more than one day’s worth of food and a pocketful of ammo, Häyhä would head out into the woods he’d spent so much time hunting moose in before. But this time, he had a different target…Soviets.
The Hammer Falls
The White Death posed such a serious problem that the Soviets conducted numerous artillery strikes on his suspected locations – in addition to sending multiple snipers to kill him.
For invaders, Häyhä proved a veritable enemy — one that justified a rather expensive solution.
But the end of the war for Häyhä wasn’t an incoming mortar round; it was an explosive bullet to the face.
Just days before the end of The Winter War, an explosive round virtually blow half of Häyhä’s face.
Dragged off the field by his buddies, he woke 11 days later to find his fight was over.
The facial wound took years to recover from – leaving him permanently disfigured. But Häyhä lived to tell the tale.
What did Häyhä attribute his lethality to? One word…“Practice.”
This is a new style of article for Pew Pew Tactical, if you liked it — let us know in the comments! If you didn’t enjoy it…well phooey. To catch up on previous Pictures From History, click on over to our History Category.
30 Leave a Reply
Great article! Keep 'em coming.
Love to see what happens when you get back to the basics of things and able to achieve such outstanding success. Practice, knowledge of the land, and a superior understanding of all variables (scope hazing over, warm breath, etc.) let him be a true legend.
I think that in an age when we have such incredible technology available to us in order to accomplish any conceivable pursuit as shooters, his plight illustrates what drive and discipline can do. An incredible story and, I hope, an example to inspire us to quit the trash talk and get to the damn range.
One man with a gun defending his homeland. A story of courage and cunning. Loved it!
What an inspiring story! This is just what we need, a starch reminder of How Important World History can be and is! Especially these days when Yahoo’s want to erase and re-write our Nation’s history!
How about a story on The Korean and Vietnam War snipers? Who where the best of those respective conflicts?
Great story! Love stories of people and stuff that I have never heard of.
enjoyed the story, ordinary men doing extraordinary things. Would enjoy more
You got it!
During WWII, my father fought in Europe and the Pacific. Like many of veterans in his generation, he rarely talked about his experiences. Therefore, I'm grateful that Pew Pew Tactical hosts these Picture from History articles.
I've read about military snipers and seen films about several of them. This story about Simo Häyhä is fascinating and it shines a light on a little known hero from WWII.
Thanks Aden, and keep up the good work!
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Good...more stories like this, even longer ones
What a great story, about a great sniper. Keep stories like that coming.
A good story about the sniper, but the very beginning is historically wrong. Stalin never intended to turn Finland into a communist state. Finland was a part of Russian Empire and Lenin gave it freedom to get away after Communist revolution. The thing was - Finland was expected to be occupied by Nazi Germany as was Poland and other European countries, and the border between Finland and the Soviet Union was extremely close to Leningrad - almost in suburbs. Stalin wanted to move the border further away from the city, and offered other land in Kola peninsula for exchange - to which the Finns did not agree. The war was to move the border away from Leningrad before the German strike on Russia - which was done, alas with much blood. Nevertheless, that war helped in saving the city during the Siege of Leningrad in 1941-1944, when the Nazi officially declared their intention to wipe the city off clean, including all inhabitants. That never happened partially because of that infamous Soviet-Finnish war in 1939, when much blood was shed on both sides. Hope that never happens again.
The whole point of Stalin's ideology was world domination. It still is. It would have been impossible for him to invade Finland without having that in his mind.
"The whole point is to retain power, to consolidate it, to make it invincible." - Stalin
Lies.
Russia and Nazi Germany divided Europe into spheres of influence in the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Finland was inside Russian sphere. Poland was invaded by and divided between the allies Russia and Nazi Germany, Finland was to be swallowed up by Russia.
Stalin’s “offer” was to move the border behind the permanent Finnish defensive positions and leave the capital extremely open to pressure and attack.
In ‘40 there was zero probability of a German attack on Leningrad (St Petersburg). There were no German soldiers in Finland. This war, like the occupation of the Baltic states, was a Russian imperialistic move to expand Russian territory.
Hate to say it but Pew Pew needs a like button for these articles so people like me who have little to say can just upvote the stories.
great story. well written! I hope you continue to write more.
Good article, now for one about Joseph R. Beyrle.
Thank you for the article. Really enjoy reading these. Keep up the great work!
How about one on Alvin York next
Haha, read my mind.
Great article, really enjoyed it.
Thanks man! I appreciate it!
I really enjoy these off the beaten path historical articles. These are stories and photographs I don't think I'd have been exposed to otherwise. You guys do a great job, please keep it up.
Hey, I'm glad you enjoy it. I have a blast writing them.
I loved the article
Thanks Shane! You rock!
I thought about going to med school.
I didn't have the patients though.
*buh bum psssh*
Awesome! What a beast
542 seems like allot until you consider it was Soviets and then it seems it wasn’t enough.
Great story! Keep them coming!