The Deadliest sniper of all time Simo Hayha known as the White Death

Simo Häyhä ( Finnish : Simo Häyhä , born December 17, 1905 – died April 1, 2002) called by the Soviets the White Death (Russian: Белая смерть (биелая смиерт'), Finnish: Valkoinen Kuolema (falkoinen kuolema), was a Finnish sniper, hero of the Russo-Finnish War of 1939. He used a simple rifle without a special scope and had the highest recorded number of successful shots as a sniper of all the snipers of all the major wars.

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Heihe was born in Rautjärvi , a town near the Russo- Finnish border, and began his military career in 1925. Before enlisting he was a farmer and hunter, and his farm is said to be full of trophies due to his keen marksmanship. During the Winter War (1939–1940) between Finland and the Soviet Union he essentially began his career as a sniper fighting the Red Army .
He operated in polar temperatures of -20 and -40 degrees Celsius wearing his all-white camouflage uniform, killing a confirmed 505 Soviet soldiers, and a further 542 if unconfirmed deaths were added. According to the unofficial daily record of sniper action on the battlefield of the Battle of Kollaa , his casualties were 800. In addition to his successes as a sniper, he is also credited with approximately 200 confirmed kills using a Suomi KP/- submachine gun. , thus bringing his total confirmed victims to 705. All this was achieved in less than one hundred days.

White Death: The World's Deadliest Sniper

"A lone rifleman strikes fear into the hearts of the 750,000 invading Russians. The Finns should have been terrified, but the Finnish had something that the Russians didn't, a humble farmer-turned-sniper named Simo Häyhä. He pulled his old gun out of storage and waited for the Soviets. The Winter War lasted roughly 100 days, in that time, Häyhä eliminated 505 soldiers, an average of over 5 a day. The Soviets gave him the name 'White Death' and he became the deadliest sniper in history. Thanks to our friend Staffan for providing the Finnish voices in this film!"

THE WAR

The war broke out on November 30, 1939, after the Soviet Army invaded Finnish territory. Relations between the two countries have always been tense and peace between them was based on the Treaty of Tartu (1920), the Non-Aggression Pact of 1932 and the Charter of the League of Nations (1934). The military power of the Soviets. With three times the army, 3.5 thousand more planes and a hundred times more tanks, the Red Army attacked the Scandinavian country. Despite the fact that the Finns lost 11% of their territory, they taught Stalin a strong lesson, which aimed to completely conquer his neighbors. Soviet losses were five times greater in dead and four times greater in wounded than the opposing army....
The military strength of the Soviets. With three times the army, 3.5 thousand more planes and a hundred times more tanks, the Red Army attacked the Scandinavian country. Despite the fact that the Finns lost 11% of their territory, they taught Stalin a strong lesson, which aimed to completely conquer his neighbors. Soviet losses were five times as many dead and four times as many wounded as the opposing army....

For the Finns who had to defend their homeland, Stalin had given them a hopeless "gift". It was preceded by the great purges of 1936-1938 in which 30 thousand officers of higher and lower ranks had been executed or imprisoned. The Soviet leader feared a possible overthrow by the military and took drastic measures to exterminate them. The morale of the Red Army had fallen and was in the process of reorganization, after the extermination of the officers. Thus during the invasion the comrades were led like sheep to the slaughter, since they were led by inexperienced soldiers. The Finns were behind in everything. They did not have a large army and had huge shortages of ammunition and fuel. But they knew the geography of the country well and had the weather on their side. That year saw a record cold temperature of -43 degrees Celsius. The Scandinavians had the right clothing for such conditions. Their ability to move on skis and white uniforms made them invisible. So they actually conducted guerilla warfare with which they had better results and economy of forces, unlike the Soviets who, if they didn't die by fire, they happily fought by frostbite....

The war ended in March 1940 with the Treaty of Moscow. Finland lost territory but retained its independence, while the USSR had achieved part of its goal, with heavy losses. Above all, it injured the reputation of the superpower, and the Germans who were preparing their attack realized that the Red Army was a giant with feet of clay, which nevertheless managed to get back on its feet with solid foundations and crush the Hitlerian forces...

THE ENGAGEMENT

The Finnish sniper, Simo Heihe, was the fear and terror of the Soviets during the Winter War, as the Russo-Finnish War of 1939 was called. He was nicknamed the White Death. And not unfair. From his rifle, 705 Soviet soldiers are confirmed to have fallen. Heihe was the ultimate soldier for his time. Before he enlisted his house was filled with trophies from shooting competitions and when the war broke out, he had already been in the army for 14 years....

It became one with the snow. He wore the white uniform of the Finnish army and "set up a carter" of death in every detail. He buried part of the gun in snow, ate ice to hide his lint, reduced any chance of metal reflections, and took care to "vanish" any marks left by the gun's "kick" after firing. He was so sure of himself that he killed from long distances without a special telescopic diopter. The Soviets, in order to exterminate him, hit his possible positions, with artillery shots or placing snipers everywhere....

THE STORY
The "White Death", as the Soviets called it, roamed the trenches of war alone and stalked for enemy flesh like a predator awaiting the death of its prey.

Within just 100 days of the Russo-Finnish conflict of 1939-1940, Heihe with the heroic Finnish M91 rifle in his hands (a conversion of the Russian Mosin-Nagant, how ironic!) turned into a murderous savage whose only enemy was the sun of. From the said rifle, 505 confirmed Soviet soldiers fell ignominiously on the battlefield, as no one could see Simo.

In his all-white uniform, he literally became one with the snow, and his mastery of the "carter" made him invisible: Heihe buried his weapon piece by piece to avoid being seen, tasted ice so his steaming fluff wouldn't betray him, made sure to it limits the reflections of the metal elements that could reveal its position, even for the "kick" of the weapon he had found a solution to go as unnoticed as possible. And it was passing, it's the truth.

The sharpshooter was even so confident in his abilities that he did not use the telescopic diopters of his colleagues, relying mainly on his unerring killer instinct (and the metal sight). The Soviets had no answer for Heihe and simply leveled his potential positions with their artillery or sent in sniper armies as a countermeasure.

One such would blow his face up, ending his murderous merry-go-round, though Simo was too tough to die. Despite being shot in the jaw by a Soviet sniper on March 6, 1940, now bearing distinct "marks" on his face, Heihe recovered and lived to a ripe old age as one of the greatest heroes of the Russo-Finnish War.

The fighting ended a few days later and Finland's guerilla war against the mighty enemy had paid off. Hehe had contributed the most, both in terms of casualties and crippled Soviet morale...
Early Years

Simo "Simuna" Hehe was born on December 17, 1905 in the town of Rautjärvi, very close to the Russian-Finnish border. He grew up in a rural household and used to help his parents on the estates from a very young age. He and his father often went hunting, so he came into contact with the gun from a particularly tender age.

Simo showed his appeal to the mark and before he even enlisted in the army his room was filled with trophies from shooting competitions. At the age of 20 he will begin his military career, when he enlists in the Finnish National Guard.

In his spare time he hunts deer and everyone is now talking about his excellent shooting performance. Which the Soviets would soon learn in 1939. By then Simo would already have 14 years in the army and would be a real ace in shooting. Although the full extent of his abilities would only be realized by all when the war broke out...
The "White Death" roars

It was April 1938 when representatives of the USSR expressed to the government of Finland the Kremlin's concerns about an imminent attack by Hitler on Moscow. Soviet staff were particularly concerned that the Nazis would come from a weakened Finland and did not seem reassured by neutral Finland's assurances that it would be there to repel any invasion by Adolf.

The Red Army was determined to advance into the country's territory to confront the enemy and would not accept the "no" of the smaller neighbor. Negotiations continued until November 1939, with the Soviets even proposing a partial cession of territory by the Finns that would act as a buffer in Hitler's advance on Leningrad.

The stalemate ended on November 30, 1939, when all talks broke down at once and the Red Army invaded Finland. The small border municipality of Rautjärvi was in the midst of war and the 34-year-old Simo was caught in the dark.

Learning of hostilities with the Soviets, he took food, water, white camouflage and the Finnish version of the formidable Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle and went to defend his country. Before the four-month war was over, the humble Heihe would become a fear and terror in the ranks of the "red" enemy.

Until then he had the reputation of being ahead, since he remained the only one who could hit a target at 150 meters some 16 times a minute! The lance corporal of the Finnish army had done his military service, served for many years in the Militia and was now hurriedly called back to the army.

WHITE DEATH - Simo Hayha - Forgotten History

The army of a country of three million that had to face the armed forces of the mighty Soviet Union of 171 million! As for the distribution of forces, they were far behind the Soviets, as the ratio of war crystallized to 1/100! The Soviets also had 3,500 more planes and a hundred times more tanks.

So the only way was necessarily guerilla warfare, and snipers were employed as the spearhead of unorthodox warfare. The Winter War of 1939-1940 was extremely severe in terms of frost, as record temperatures were recorded that winter.

Hehe put on everything he had and didn't have, covered his clothes with his white uniform, put on his gloves and mask, stuffed a few cans into his sack and loaded 50-70 bullets into his pistol and left for the front. He had the rifle and a submachine gun with him.

He usually hid in the undergrowth and waited, often for days and nights, until the enemy appeared. The Soviets tended to use the roads during their advance, which made it easier for the sniper, who chose hiding places in plain sight.

The most capable predator was killing one Soviet after another. The attacker had no way to counter Hehe's murderous cartel, so he usually leveled the area around with artillery, both in blind and aimed strikes, just to get rid of Hehe's hoarseness.

The Soviet snipers had express orders to pick off the pesky Finn with the Mosin-Nagant M91. In fact, one Soviet had cleaned out a lot of Finnish soldiers with his scope, as well as three officers. That day he had eaten another, betraying his position to the lurking Heihe. With the sun slowly setting, the Soviet thought the day was over and rose to his knees. With a shot from 450 meters, Simo's bullet lodged in his head.

But despite Heihe's success, the Soviets were slowly and steadily winning the war. The Finns had retreated at least 40 kilometers and the sniper unit of the 34th Regiment now had to defend a strategically important hill.

Both sides knew that the Finns were weakened, without supplies and reinforcements available. Nevertheless, the few soldiers successfully defended the pass for weeks, giving the Soviets a headache over the incomprehensibility of the thing. We are now on December 21, 1939, when Hehe set a new record for that day with 25 confirmed Soviet deaths.

By then his personal tally reached 500 men, both with the rifle and the machine gun. And by then the Soviets were well aware that it was a sniper who wreaked havoc and terror on their forces, prompting the advancing Red Army to dub him the "White Death."

By mid-January, the Soviets were still struggling to hold the high ground, despite their vast numerical superiority and heavy weaponry. In one battle alone, for example, 32 Finns faced some 4,000 Soviets. Only 4 were left alive to see their grand victory!

While the British and French were sending offers of help to the Finns, the Soviets were intensifying their efforts. On March 6, 1940, Lance Corporal Simo Heihe was lurking like any other day for Soviets. He now had 505 confirmed kills with his rifle, more than any other sniper in the war! There was no stopping his streak, since before noon he already had 40 kills in his quiver. But his luck was about to change.

A bullet lodged in his upper right jaw. "Half his face is missing," the men carrying him to the rear said over the radio. The sniper remained in a coma for several days and woke up with a shattered jaw, but the same thirst for battle.

On the day he regained consciousness, however, March 13, the Treaty of Moscow had just been signed, ending the Winter War and recognizing the brave struggle of the Finns. The Soviets took possession of a good portion of Finnish territory, including Heihe's hometown of Rautjärvi. Some 422,000 Finns were forced from their homes in the wake of the peace pact.

But as a Soviet general declared: "We won enough territory to bury our dead." The Finns had fought fiercely and maintained their independence, inflicting heavy casualties on the militarily superior Soviets. Although they lost 11% of their territories, they taught a strong lesson to Stalin, who also aimed to completely conquer his neighbors. Soviet losses were five times higher in killed and four times higher in wounded than the Scandinavian army.

As for Hehe, he was awarded five medals after the Winter War and a promotion from corporal to lieutenant! Now, moreover, he was invited everywhere to talk about his sport-record. After writing a book about his war exploits, he lived a quiet and long life away from active action.

He may have sent 705 Russian soldiers to the other world in a little less than 100 days, causing chaos in the Red Army, but he never talked about the fact either publicly or privately! Nor was he proud that he never used a scope like all his colleagues. For he knew that these are things of war which do not belong to peace, and it is good that mankind should not resort to war.

In his country he was worshiped as a national hero, but he himself was limited to decidedly more humble roles. He spent the rest of his life working as a deer hunter and later a dog breeder, continuing his difficult recovery for many more years as a constant reminder of the bloody days he so desperately wanted to put behind him.

When asked how he managed to take out 505 enemies with the sniper rifle, he smiled and replied succinctly: "With practice." But did he have any remorse for the many deaths he caused? "I was just doing my duty," he replied dryly.

It is worth noting that Heihe operated in polar temperatures of -20 and -40 degrees Celsius (up to -43 the thermometer reached that winter!). Wearing his all-white camouflage uniform, he killed 505 Soviet soldiers as a sniper, and is credited with another 200 confirmed kills with the Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun, bringing his total confirmed casualties to 705 men.

When Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim made him a second lieutenant, he became the first ever Finnish soldier to be promoted so quickly! Heihe nevertheless lived in peace until his old age and was fortunate enough not to see war again in his lifetime. He even went reindeer hunting with his good friend, the country's president, Urho Kekonen.

He breathed his last on April 1, 2002, a few years before he turned a century old. "Death took the White Death", wrote the local newspapers modestly...

Simo Hayha: The Deadliest Sniper in History

THE WEAPON

Hehe was using a Finnish variant of the Soviet rifle, the M/28, of the reliable Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle (also known as the Pystykorva ). He preferred to use a metal sight rather than a telescopic one so that he would give the enemy less of a target because with a telescopic sight the sniper must raise his head more when aiming and observing.This also reduced the possibility of reflection from the telescopic sight, which might give away his position. Another tactic of Heihe was to compact the snow in front of weapon, making it solid, so that during the shooting and kicking of the weapon it does not go off and betray its position, as well as throughout the waiting and deployment period, he had snow in his mouth so that his breath does not sublimate in the frozen air and becomes evident in case the area was monitored by enemy binoculars.

The Russians tried in many ways to eliminate him by placing snipers as well as blind or targeted artillery fire. On March 6, 1940, Heihe was wounded in the jaw during the battle. He was found and rescued by fellow soldiers who later reported that "half his head was missing". Heihe remained unconscious until March 13, the day the war between Finland and the Soviet Union effectively ended. Shortly afterwards Heihe was promoted from the rank of corporal to the rank of second lieutenant by Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim . No other soldier in the history of the Finnish army was promoted as quickly as Heihe.