Simo Häyhä is considered the most effective sniper in history. Surprisingly, the Finnish sniper set his "record" in a few months, as well as the fact that he did not use an optical sight.

little hunter

Let's make a reservation right away, we do not want to sing praises to the Finnish sniper, who shot hundreds of Red Army soldiers during the Winter War. The purpose of this material is to talk about Simo Häyhä, and not to extol his merits.
The future most productive sniper in world history was born in the small village of Rautyarvi in ​​the Vyborg province on December 17, 1905. He was the seventh child of eight in the family.

His abilities in shooting manifested themselves from childhood - Simo's family lived by fishing and hunting. At the age of 17, he joined the security squad, participated in sniper competitions, where he won prizes.
Simo was short (1.61), but later it was his short stature that helped him become an effective sniper, allowing him to successfully disguise himself and quietly evade pursuit.

In 1925, Simo joined the Finnish army, was trained at a non-commissioned officer school, leaving it as a non-commissioned officer of the first bicycle battalion.

propaganda hero

With the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish war, Simo was appointed as a sniper. He immediately became one of the most productive shooters. In just one day (December 21, 1939), he liquidated 25 soldiers, the account for three December days was 51 people. For the entire time of the short but extremely tense war, the Finnish sniper hit from 550 to 700 soldiers. The exact number of his victims is still disputed, but the high efficiency of his actions is undeniable.

Of course, Simo immediately became an instrument of Finnish propaganda. Rumors of an invincible sniper also spread beyond the front line. Häyhä was hunted. Detachments of snipers, artillery - all forces were sent to eliminate the well-aimed fin, but until March 1940 he remained an unattainable target. Simo fought in places familiar to him, knew the area like the back of his hand and had an excellent instinct. "Getting" it was extremely difficult.

Tactics and weapons

The ideal weapon for Simo was the Finnish modification of the M/28 or M28/30 Mosin rifle. From it, the sniper destroyed most of the soldiers. He also masterfully owned the Suomi submachine gun and the Lahti salorant M-26 submachine gun, of which he eliminated almost 200 opponents.
A distinctive feature of the Finnish sniper was that he did not use a sniper scope. This was due to the fact that, firstly, the glare from the sight gave out a dislocation, and secondly, the glass of the sight used to freeze. In severe winter conditions, the sight thus lost its performance.

At his location, Simo rolled the snow crust, sometimes even filling it with water, so that the snow would not scatter from the shot, betraying the ambush site. In order to prevent him from being detected while hiding in a snowdrift, the Finnish sniper constantly chewed the snow. This technique is still successfully used by the Spetzazovites - due to the balancing of temperatures, the arrow does not give out steam from the mouth.

Wound

No matter how elusive a sniper is, sooner or later a bullet will find him. She also found Simo. On March 6, 1940, a Soviet soldier hit a Finnish sniper. The bullet entered the jaw and exited through the left cheek. The unconscious Simo was evacuated to the rear, he came to his senses already on the day the war ended. He had a long treatment ahead, the destroyed jaw had to be restored with a bone taken from the thigh.

One shot, one hit - Finn Simo Häyhä is considered one of the best snipers in history. During the Soviet-Finnish war, which began 75 years ago, he shot more than 500 Red Army soldiers.

Simo Häyhä began to prepare long before the first rays of the sun appeared. The Finnish shooter checked round after round before carefully inserting them into the magazine. When the store was full, Hyäuhä checked everything again. One single small mistake could have led to his death. But everything went as planned. He brought death to others.

From the Finnish point of view, Häyhä is a hero. In accordance with the non-aggression pact concluded on August 24, 1939 between Hitler and Stalin, when the dictatorships of Germany and the USSR became allies for a while, Finland was included in the sphere of interests of the USSR. On November 30, 1939, the Red Army launched an offensive against Finland. The winter war was short and bloody. The hopelessly outnumbered Finns relied on soldiers like Häyhä to stop the advance of the Red Army. For them, Häyhä became white death. In nearly 100 days, he shot more people than any sniper before or after him in the course of the war.

Simo Häyhä was going alone. He quietly made his way at night through the snow-covered territory of Finland. He was wearing a white winter jacket and thick gloves. With him he had only a rifle, cartridges and some food. By the end of 1939, the air temperature dropped to minus 40 degrees, the snow cover was one meter thick. Near the Kollasjoki River in Karelia, Häyhä took up position at dawn.

Guns kill, fear paralyzes

For a sniper, two things are important - good camouflage and a free field for shooting. And all that remained was to wait until the enemy showed up. Here, on the line along the Kollasjoki River, the Finns had to stop the Red Army, otherwise vast areas of the sparsely populated country would be lost. Finland at that time was a little larger than today's West Germany, but only a little over 3.5 million people lived in it.

Simo Häyhä waited. The sniper's weapon is a lethal shot to a single target and the object's fear of an invisible shooter.

On this day, Hyayhya shot the first Soviet soldier. One shot, one hit. During the war, which lasted 105 days, he destroyed 505 soldiers. Häyhä is considered to this day the most effective military marksman of all time.

Not surprisingly, fear soon began to grow among the Soviet soldiers. No one knew who the bullet would hit next. Unlike battles on the battlefield, the soldiers did not see who was aiming at them. The snipers fired suddenly and accurately, their shots were deadly. Soon the Red Army came up with a suitable name for the shooter - white death. He was perfectly camouflaged in white clothes, he was almost invisible in cover. He made one gap after another in the ranks of the Red Army.

Animal and human hunter

Simo Häyhä was born on December 17, 1905 in a peasant family. Before the war, he worked on the ground. But the fact that with the outbreak of war he went to the front was not an accident. Häyhä, a passionate hunter, was also a member of the Finnish National Guard and had won various awards in sniper shooting competitions even before the start of the war.

And now his superiors called for him every time the situation became difficult and dangerous. He became a real legend among the soldiers. “Try to eliminate this man,” the chief ordered him, when a Soviet shooter at the beginning of the war inflicted mortal wounds on three Finnish commanders at once. “I will do my best,” said Häyhä.

On that day, he hid in a fortification far from the Finnish borders. While he was tracking down the enemy sniper, he was also waiting for him. Hour after hour, Häyhä waited patiently in the shelter, evening was approaching, it was beginning to get dark. And then Hyahya noticed how in the distance something reflected the sunlight - the optical sight of a Soviet sniper. Hyahya took aim and hit him in the face.

The Soviet soldier died immediately, because he made a mistake that Hyayuha avoided. He almost never used optical sights, so as not to give away his position, he always fired from an open sight. Two more stunts contributed to his success. He always compacted the snow in the position where he was, so that after the shot the snow would not scatter. He also collected snow in his mouth so that the steam from his breath would not be visible in the cold. So, the opponents could only guess where Hyayuha was hiding.

More and more Soviet soldiers became its victims. In one day, he destroyed 25 Red Army soldiers. The officers of the Red Army put up more and more snipers against the Finn. And every time Häyhä fired, they opened fire on the intended position with all means - machine guns, mortars, artillery. Unsuccessfully. Each time he avoided even the slightest injury. “Once more than 50 grenades hit the place around my fortification, but they did not hit the target,” Häyhä later told his biographer Tapio Saarlainen (Tapio Saarelainen). "Some grenades hit my face with clouds of sand, but it was better than what they wanted to achieve."

Forever maimed

In 98 of the 105 days of the Soviet-Finnish war, Häyhä was incredibly lucky. Luck ended on March 6, 1940. During an unprecedented confrontation in the forest, he was shot in the head. “I heard only a muffled sound, and immediately realized that I was wounded,” he later wrote in a letter. He was wounded in the jaw and his teeth were knocked out. Häyhä fell into a coma and came to his senses only on March 13th. It was on the day when the USSR and Finland signed a peace treaty.

Relatively small Finland held its own against the huge Soviet Union - but the price was the loss of 7% of the territory. Later, the Finns tried to return the territories in an even more bloody war with the help of Nazi Germany. During the new and previous war, the desert country turned into one of the bloodiest fronts of World War II.

Estimates of the victims vary. The losses of Finland during the winter war amounted to 26 thousand soldiers. According to the results of two wars - about 84 thousand, including German soldiers. The losses of the Red Army were much higher. In total, at least 320,000 Red Army soldiers died during the two regional wars along the Finnish-Soviet border, possibly as high as 450,000. Stalin underestimated the statistics.

According to official figures, Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä shot dead 505 Soviet soldiers. The destruction of another 37 military has not been officially confirmed.

“I did what I was ordered to do and as well as I could,” Häyhä, who died in 2002, later said. When asked what he felt when he pulled the trigger and killed Russian soldiers, he replied - "Recoil".

The rumble of low-flying Soviet planes mingled with the roar of explosions and the wail of sirens over Helsinki.

The air raid on the Finnish capital on November 30, 1939 was the beginning of a large-scale invasion. A thousand Soviet aircraft, 2.5 thousand tanks and 420 thousand soldiers violated the 1300-kilometer border.

Finland rejected the demands of Joseph Stalin, refused to give up its territories, in particular, the naval base on the Baltic Sea. And yet, the attack came as a surprise to the Finns, who did not expect the invasion to take place in the winter. And they did not wait for the declaration of real war.

Stalin hoped that the war would be short. That it would take 12 days to defeat a neighboring country. Did not work out. The Finns fought heroically - and among the biggest heroes was a hunter from Rautjärvi in ​​southeastern Finland, who was 152 cm tall.

Simo Häyhä, 33, was one of 250,000 Finns mobilized after the Soviet attack. He was a quiet man who liked to hunt in his spare time.

From the age of 17, he was a member of the Finnish civil defense detachment, and already there he established himself as an outstanding sniper. He trained both in the detachment and in his spare time.

“We worked during the summer. But the rest of the time we had fees every month,” he told the Finnish TV channel YLE many years later.

He frequently won sniper competitions and brought home small rewards such as teaspoons. But in the winter of 1939, the game turned into a serious business. The commander noticed his talent and wanted Häyhä to become a sniper.

unpredictable and invisible

Häyhä, 152 cm tall, was walking in the snow. Evening came, and he was looking for a suitable place to hide before the fight, which was expected tomorrow.

winter war

When World War II broke out, Finland declared itself neutral. But the USSR demanded from her, in particular, changes in the border and the abandonment of a number of islands and territories on land.

In return, Finland was to receive a large area of ​​the Soviet part of Karjala. Everyone in Helsinki agreed that it was impossible to accept such demands.

On November 30, 1939, after the Soviet Union refused to comply with the 1932 Non-Aggression Pact, Soviet troops launched a large-scale offensive against Finland.

Gradually, the Finnish armed forces managed to stop the avalanche of the Soviet offensive. It was completely unexpected, and Finland was admired in Scandinavia and the entire Western world.

On March 13, the fighting was stopped: the Soviet high command received substantial reinforcements, and the Finnish government was forced to ask for peace in order to avoid a military catastrophe.

Source: Great Norwegian Encyclopedia

Every day, a new hiding place was needed if he wanted to have any chance of surviving. You had to be unpredictable and invisible. White as chalk, form and modest growth helped. And for everything else, his natural desire for thoroughness in everything he did was to be thanked.

Häyhä found a suitable place and poured water over the snow around it. To prevent frosty steam from coming out of his mouth, he will collect snow in his mouth when he shoots. And then he lay down in the snow with his old rifle.

The rifle had a primitive metal sight, because if it had a rifle with a telescopic sight, the glass could reflect light. And this could indicate to the enemy the place where he is hiding, and would mean certain death.

And this theory was confirmed. When it began to get dark in the evening, he saw the light reflected in the sight of a Soviet sniper's rifle. Heihe only fired one shot and killed the soldier.

Killed 25 people in one day

One murder was soon to be followed by another. He himself did not count those whom he killed, his comrades did. Within a few weeks, Häyhä became popular with the people of Finland. When he allegedly killed 25 Soviet soldiers on December 21, 1939, the newspapers called it his "Christmas gift to Finland."

The Soviet side also realized that an extremely dangerous Finnish sniper had appeared. They called it "White Death". Therefore, they even sent special forces to eliminate him, they fired artillery against the positions where they thought he was. But no one succeeded in getting rid of Hyayuhya.

Headshot

On March 6, 1940, fierce fighting continued throughout the day. The Finns bravely defended themselves, but despite this, the Soviet troops, numerically superior to the Finnish, pushed the Finns deep into their own territory. And Hyahya had to participate in close combat. And then - after countless attempts to kill a sniper in that war - a Soviet soldier finally caught up with him.

“I got hit in the face, I fell. I was conscious, but I couldn't move,” he later told Finnish television.

Almost half of his face was torn off. He fell into a coma, and when he regained consciousness a week later, his world changed. Finland surrendered.

In subsequent years, he underwent several operations in order to somehow “pat up” his face. As a kind of balm for the wounds, a promotion from corporal to junior lieutenant followed, no one in the Finnish army jumped over so many ranks.

He was interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat in 2001. When asked how he managed to kill so many people, the old man replied:

“I just tried my best to do well what I was told. If others did not do the same, Finland would not exist.”

A year later he died - he was 96 years old.

Stalin's soldiers died like flies

Although the Soviet Union won the war with Finland, this victory was bitter. Poor organization, poorly organized reinforcements, the brave resistance of the Finns and the fact that Stalin dealt with many of his best military leaders, made the war truly bloody for the USSR.

Stalin counted on a 12-day war, but it lasted almost 10 times longer.

“We conquered just as much land as we needed to bury our dead,” one Soviet general later stated.

It is believed that Finland lost 23,000 people as a result of the war with the USSR, and 40,000 were wounded. On the Soviet side, the number of dead and wounded exceeded 200,000. The lives of 505 soldiers out of these 200,000 were claimed by Simo Häyhä.

During the Finnish war, Simo Häyhä was nicknamed the White Death by the Red Army. He was, according to the Finns, the most productive sniper in all wars in the world. According to some reports, during the 100 days of the war, he killed 500-750 people. This means that every day he took the lives of 5-8 Red Army soldiers. Could it be? After all, he was followed by a real hunt, in which more than a dozen of the best counter-snipers of the Red Army participated, and they, by all accounts, were the most productive in the world.

Myth or reality

Probably, the Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä was a good shooter, but Finnish propaganda clearly outdid both the Soviet and the fascist taken together. For the sniper, nicknamed the White Death, there was a real hunt, this is confirmed by his severe wound. The Finnish side simply could not not know this. Most likely, Hyayuhya himself knew about this. So, starting from the middle of the war, he did not shoot as much as he hid.

No one argues that snipers from the Finnish side really raged in the first days of the war. But this is for the time being. Soviet snipers also worked along the entire front line. If at the beginning, as always, they blundered a little, then by the middle of the campaign there was no such revelry. It is also necessary to take into account the length of the front line. It was insignificant, just a little less than 400 kilometers. Someone will object that the Finns are excellent forest hunters, but Russia is not deprived of them either. There were also taiga dwellers who, without any optics, hit a squirrel in the eye.

And one more important fact. It was the winter war, when any trace was imprinted in full view. In severe frosts, there are no snowfalls that hide traces. And the cold was almost the whole of December 1939. And yet, shooting in the Union has always been given due attention, there were special courses for snipers. In the NKVD alone, there were more than 25,000 of these specialists on staff.

Of course, no one but the sniper himself could and cannot confirm this "record". In addition to Simo Häyhä, other shooters also worked from the Finnish side. Professionals also worked from the Soviet side. Interestingly, the 100 best Soviet snipers during the years of World War II destroyed 25,500 enemy soldiers and officers, which is an average of 255 people per shooter. There were also those who had an account of more than 500 killed, but this, it is worth emphasizing, was over four and a half years.

Childhood and youth

The son of a peasant, Simo was born on December 17, 1905 in Rautjärvi, located in Finland (Russian Empire). There were eight children in the family, he was the seventh. Together with his older brothers, he went fishing and hunting. These activities were the main occupation of the family. He graduated from the public school in Mietilä. When he was 17 years old, he entered the Shchyutskor security corps, where he was engaged in shooting. He even participated in the shooting competition in Viipuri, where he became the first.

Military career

The future sniper Simo Häyhä, at the age of twenty, served in the second bicycle battalion stationed in Valkyarvi. He graduated from the non-commissioned officer school and received the rank of non-commissioned officer of the 1st cyclist battalion in the town of Terijoki. Noting his good performance in shooting, he was sent to Kouvola, where he studied at the Utti Fortress in sniper courses in 1934.

War between Finland and the USSR

After training, he served in the 34th Infantry Regiment. During the war, since December 7, 1939, the regiment has been participating in the battles of Ladoga Karelia, near Mount Kolla. During the hostilities, there were severe frosts, the air temperature reached -40 degrees Celsius.

The soldiers of the Red Army at the beginning of the war did not have winter equipment (white coats) and were excellent prey for Finnish snipers. This gap was quickly filled. In addition, myths were launched about the elusive Finnish "cuckoos" who allegedly shot from trees. At first, this played a significant role.

Special tactics of Finnish snipers

Equipped platforms in the trees, "cuckoos", which at first were mistaken for the positions of snipers, were a kind of observation posts. Snipers advanced to positions on skis. The rookeries were equipped in advance and carefully masked. Warm woolen clothes protected in the most severe frost and evened out the pulse. Simo Häyhä's small stature allowed him to feel good in the cramped snow holes.

Simo's little tricks

As a weapon, Hyayhya used the "Sako" M / 28-30 spitz - the Finnish analogue of the Mosin rifle. He did not use a telescopic sight, as it left a glare that could give him away. In addition, the windows "wept", and frost covered them in the cold. When using optics, the sniper's head rose higher, which also made him vulnerable. He also used the Suomi KR/31 submachine gun.

Another nuance: he located his position at a short distance, about 450 meters from the enemy’s position, taking into account the fact that they would not look for him so close. By mid-February, the unit commander recorded 217 Red Army soldiers killed by a sniper rifle on his account. And according to one version, he killed 200 people with a machine gun. Why were Simo Häyhä feared? Because they were afraid not only of him, but of any other human hunter. Everyone wants to live.

Wound

The Red Army called him the White Death. On him, as well as on others, the hunt began, to which the best snipers of the Soviet Union were attracted. At the very beginning of March 1940, he was seriously wounded. An explosive bullet hit him in the lower part of the face, turned his cheekbone and shattered his bones. Having lost consciousness, the sniper came to his senses only a week later. The treatment was hard and long. He endured many surgeries and survived. Due to his injury, he did not participate in the war of 1941-1944. But he was promoted to second lieutenant. The post-war photos of Simo Häyhä show that his face is very different from the images in the pre-war pictures.

Häyhä's image is a weapon of propaganda

At the very beginning of the military campaign, the Finnish press created the image of a hero who kills a myriad of enemies. The most interesting thing is that at critical moments at the front, when it was necessary to raise the morale of the soldiers, the Finnish command announced that a great sniper was arriving in their unit, who killed 25 Red Army soldiers in one day. Often he actually appeared in this place. This was done to raise the spirit of ordinary and war-weary soldiers. Simo's "achievements" were skillfully used as a propaganda weapon. Most likely, he was in fact a good sniper, but not the way they are trying to present him to us today.

Although Simo Häyhä did not take down four with one shot, as a British officer recently did, this Finn is known for being the most prolific elite shooter in history.

"I tried to do what I was ordered to do in the best possible way." This simple phrase was said by sniper Simo Häyhä when, already in his old age, he was asked how he felt after destroying 700 Red Army soldiers (of which 502 to 542 were documented and from his rifle) during the so-called "Winter War".

Ethical issues aside, it must be admitted that this death toll allowed the Finn, nicknamed the "White Death", to become one of the most prolific elite shooters in history. And in just 100 days, during which his country's tiny army put Stalin's gigantic war machine in check.

Although Simo, with his face disfigured after being wounded, did not take down four with one shot, as a British officer recently did with four militants from IS (the organization is banned in the territory of the Russian Federation - ed. note), he died in 2002 knowing that he would go into textbooks history as one of the best snipers in the world.

First steps

Simo Häyhä, the future nightmare of Soviet soldiers, was born in the village of Rautjärvi on December 17, 1905. At least that's what the historians Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter and Toni Wirtanen argue in their book Finland at War: The Winter War 1939-40. -40"). Although, depending on the source, the shooter could have been born on a variety of dates.

“Simo was the penultimate child of eight. He went to the village school and started helping his parents on the family farm early. Since childhood, he was fond of skiing, shooting, hunting and playing pesapallo - a kind of Finnish baseball, ”the authors of the book write. In addition, fate decreed in such a way that Simo's native village was located right on the border with the Russians, whom he would later destroy by the dozens.

The researchers note in their work that at the age of 17 (a disputed date, there is a widespread opinion that at 25) Häyhä joined the Finnish Civil Guard (Suojeluskunta), a military formation born from the "White Guard", which in civilian life fought against the so-called "Red Guard". While in the service, our hero spent hours perfecting his shooting accuracy. This hard training, combined with a natural talent, made him one of the best shooters in the unit.

“He was an experienced shooter. He took first place in the competition, hitting the same tiny target six times within a minute, located at a distance of 150 meters, ”says the book. In 1925-1927 (at the age of only 20 years old and with his height of 1.52 meters) he completed his compulsory military service in a scooter battalion.

Subsequently, he completed courses for junior officers and was promoted to the rank of corporal. Just a few months later, he passed his sniper exams. However, he soon quit and returned to his parent's farm, where he led a measured life. Until the Winter War began.

ice war

To understand how a Finnish farmer became one of the most successful snipers in history, one has to go back to 1939, when Hitler and Stalin had just divided up conquered Poland by signing a military treaty. By that time, the Soviet leader had already annexed Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and was eager to further expand his possessions in Europe.

That is why his eyes turned to Finland, conquering which could provide direct access to the Baltic Sea and move the borders away from Leningrad, which was too close to a potential enemy.

They don’t take money for demand, apparently the Soviet leader thought, and, wanting to show himself from the best side, invited the Finnish delegation to the Kremlin on October 14, 1939, to convince its members that the most correct thing they could do was to take on their own sickle and hammer banners. What the ambassadors did under “the pressure of threats and the promise of compensation,” writes historian and journalist Jesús Hernández in his book Breve historia de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

The emissaries returned home, and a month later they rejected the proposal of the USSR. And they logically chose to remain within the former borders.

If it took the Finns a month to make a decision, it took Stalin only a few hours. “Without a declaration of war, the Red Army attacked Finland on November 30, 1939. Unlike the Poles, the Finns retreated behind a strong defensive line to repel the Russians, ”says Hernandez.

On that day, the Seventh Army of the Red Army approached the borders of a new enemy. At the same time, her numerous tank forces were mobilized, as Chris Bellamy points out in the book Absolute War.

Finnish ghosts

Thus began the so-called "Winter War", which for Stalin's gigantic army seemed like a military walk. However, in the icy expanses of Finland, the Red Army ran into an obstacle that its inexperienced fighters often could not overcome: the steadfastness of the Finns.
“Finnish resistance was fierce, and the actions of the Soviet soldiers, despite their overwhelming numbers, were extremely ineffective. Many of the units deployed were recruited in Central Asia […] and were not prepared or equipped for warfare in winter conditions,” notes popular historian Martin H. Folly in his Atlas of World War II.

Context

Finns in the Winter War and the Siege of Leningrad

InoSMI 11.08.2016

Russia and Finland: the border is no longer a wall

Helsingin Sanomat 22.03.2016

Finland dreamed of revenge

Reflex 06/29/2016 In addition, the Red Army faced the deadly weapon of the White Death, which, like its Finnish comrades, understood that winter was a potential ally for Finland. “The unpreparedness of the Soviet army to fight in the winter was partly due to overly optimistic forecasts about the duration of the campaign,” explains Bellamy.

No wonder Marshal Voronov himself later admitted how difficult it was for his soldiers in these snowy regions and at such low temperatures: “The troops were poorly prepared for operations in the forest and for sub-zero temperatures. […] In the harsh climate of Finland, the mechanisms of semi-automatic weapons failed.”

In addition, the "White Death" and the Finnish army during the "Winter War" resorted to the tactics of guerrilla warfare. And while the Russians moved their giant infantry units along the clogged roads, the defenders of Finland preferred to sit in the forests and attack only at convenient moments. And it was a good idea, because for every Finn, 100 Red Army soldiers came.

“Silently moving on skis along narrow forest paths, the Finnish troops, like ghosts, fell upon the frightened Russian soldiers and immediately disappeared into the fog. Due to a shortage of military equipment, the Finns used their imagination to blow up enemy tanks and came up with Molotov cocktails that would later be known as “Molotov cocktails,” writes Hernandez.

Fight!

When the war started, Häyhä decided to rejoin the Finnish army to fight the invaders. And from that moment he received the nickname "White Death". And not only because he killed on the spot any Russian he aimed his rifle at, but also because he appeared on the battlefield dressed like a real ghost - in a white cape, a white mask that covered almost the entire face, and gloves of the same color. This resemblance to a ghost (and the number of people killed) made him one of the most formidable snipers for Stalin's troops.

Simo liked to shoot in severe frosts (at 20-40 degrees below zero, according to some researchers), while he kept snow in his mouth so that the steam from his breath would not betray him. This was not the only "trick" he used. Finn, for example, froze the snow in front of the rifle barrel with water, so that when fired, the snow would not fly up, indicating its exact location, and, of course, in order to support the weapon and better aim.

And one more detail that "The Redwood Stumper 2010: The Newsletter of the Redwood Gun Club" gives: our hero hated optical sights for two reasons. Firstly, because of the shine of the lenses, which also often betrayed the location of the sniper. And secondly, because of the fragility of the glass in the cold. Therefore, Häyhä preferred to shoot from an open sight.

All these tricks allowed him to shoot 505 enemy soldiers with his sniper rifle, which is documented. However, as always happens, some researchers, like Robert A. Sadowski, indicate a higher figure - 542 killed. To this number should be added another 200 unconfirmed hits made from a submachine gun that Simo used at short distances (some historians also give 300 hits in this case). And what is absolutely incredible - the Finnish shooter destroyed so many Red Army soldiers in just 100 days, the author of the book "Finland is at war" concludes.

Weapon of choice

After the end of the war, Häyhä said that he usually went on a “hunt” with two barrels.

1-Mosin rifle M28

This rifle has proven itself since it was adopted by the Russian army at the beginning of the 20th century. A large volume of production made it possible to supply it to Finland in the 20s. However, here preference was given to a model with a weighted barrel. Finnish snipers usually used the 28/33, but Simo preferred the older M28, finding it more reliable and less noticeable due to the small scope.

2-Suomi M-31 SMG

This submachine gun served him for shooting at short distances. It was adopted by the Finnish army in 1931 under the name Suomi KP-Model 1931, or simply KP-31 (Konepistooli, or "automatic pistol" 31). Its production ceased in 1944, but during the "Winter War" this weapon demonstrated its effectiveness. It was this model that served as a model for Soviet designers when creating the famous PPD and PPSh. Their Finnish predecessor was an efficient and reliable weapon, but very expensive to manufacture.

Calla doesn't give up

One of the battles in which our hero inflicted the most significant damage to the enemy was the Battle of Kolle near the Finnish-Soviet border. From the beginning of the Winter War, the USSR mobilized the 56th Rifle Division, transferring it to this area on December 7, 1939, not counting on the fact that its participation could ensure the defeat of most of the Finnish forces.

However, the Finns were not going to allow this. The defense was led by Colonel Teittinen, who in the first weeks of the war had to repulse the onslaught of four enemy divisions with the help of a single regiment, which sat in the trenches dug by hand.

As usual, Soviet tactics were simple - a frontal attack on the Finnish defensive line. And it could have been successful, taking into account the numerical superiority of the Red Army, but failed due to the better knowledge of the area by the defenders. The 34th Infantry Regiment, in which Häyhä served, was sent to the scene of hostilities. In a few weeks, the Finnish sniper laid down from 200 to 500 (according to various sources) enemy soldiers.

“In the Battle of Kolle, Simo used his old rifle, from which he also fired at the Civil Guard. He himself did not count the dead, his comrades did. In early December, there were already 51 shot dead Red Army soldiers in three days,” the co-authors of the book “Finland is at War” note.

These figures were so incredible that the officers did not believe them at first. Colonel Teittinen sent an officer to follow Simo and keep count of the casualties. “When Häyhä was approaching 200, having endured a particularly powerful duel with an enemy sniper, the officer returned with a report. Subsequently, the shooter was promoted to sergeant, ”they write.

During the Battle of Kolle (where the slogan “They will not pass!” spread among the Finnish defenders), it became clear that despite the superior forces of the enemy, the Finns were not going to give up an inch of their land.

And they confirmed this in the battle on the "Hill of Death", which took place during the battle and in which 32 Finnish soldiers repulsed the attack of 4 thousand Red Army soldiers, while losing only four killed against the background of 400 dead enemy soldiers. Mount Kolla remained standing on Finnish territory.

fatal shot

In all subsequent weeks, the Soviet riflemen chased Simo, but he was out of reach. Stalin's artillery was also helpless against him. He seemed invulnerable to bullets. But this opinion was soon refuted - in March 1940, the legendary sniper was wounded. “On March 6, 1940, Häyhä was wounded in the face by an explosive bullet that entered in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe upper lip and pierced right through the cheek,” is described in the book “Finland is at War”.

The lower part of his face was disfigured and his jaw was crushed. Fortunately, despite the great blood loss, the comrades managed to evacuate Simo in an insensible state to the rear, and he woke up only on March 13. Some time later, Finland signed a peace treaty with the USSR, ceding part of its territory.

Being a national hero, Simo Häyhä was forced to leave his home, since it was now located on the territory that had ceded to the USSR. He had another way out, how to go to his parent's farm. It took 10 operations to restore the disfigured part of the face. And yet, Simo lived quietly raising cattle until April 1, 2002, when he left this world.