Don’t you know about Simo Häyhä? Learn about the famous sniper known as the White Death

Simo Häyhä. His friends called him Simuna, his enemies, the White Death. Regarded as the deadliest sniper that ever existed, his victims are counted by the hundreds, all of them during the Winter War (1939-40), when the mighty Red Army of the Soviet Union struggled to defeat a far smaller Finnish Army, which relied amongst other factors, in the sharpshooting skills of men like Simo Häyhä. Read about it below. May the hunting begins:

#1 Snipers

Loved by their allies, hated by their foes. The cold-blooded, skilful, shooter has hooked our interest like few other members of the modern armed forces, and has become protagonist in movies and videogames on its own right. Although snipers, or sharpshooters, existed since as early as the Napoleonic Wars, it was the Second World War that saw their massive use in the modern army, thanks to the widespread use of telescopic sights. Camouflage, tracking, surviving and hunting skills complete the set of these widely feared warriors, who kill without being seen.

#2 Simo’s origins

Seeing the photo of our friend Simmuna, you’d probably struggle to believe that this short and harmless-looking fellow could have posed such a deadly threat to the Soviet soldier. To understand this, we must go back to his beginnings. He was born on December 17^th 1905, in Rautjarvi, then the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Nowadays, half of Rautjarvi is part of Russia once more.

Simo, or Simuna to his friends, was the son of farmers, and always declared his love for farming but he also strived to cultivate his hobbies, particularly hunting and skiing. He proved very talented at breeding hunting hounds and also at brewing mixtures that masked his scent while tracking fox and moose.

At the age of 17 he joined the White Guards, a militia supervised by the Finnish Army. Simo didn’t waste time in proving how frightfully accurate his aim was, and easily won several regional shooting competitions. The White Guards were bolstered with veterans from the First World War and the Civil War that had followed after Finland’s independence in 1918, and their experience was paramount in Simo’s training. Coupled with a lack of ammunition, it forced the recruits to hone their skills above average. A wise policy, as time would prove.

#3 The troublesome neighbour

Led by Iosif Stalin, Finland’s communist neighbour, the Soviet Union claimed part of the enviable Finnish greenery as their own. After having enacted several purges to get rid of opposition, real or imaginary, and after signing a non-agression pact with Nazi Germany; Stalin turned his attention to his northern borders.

Anticipating an eventual German invasion that indeed came a year later, the USSR demanded from the Finnish government an exchange of territory, in order to cushion Leningrad (modern St Petersburg) from a northern attack. However, the Finnish government refused it.

#4 The Winter War

Stalin wasn’t one to take a no for an answer, and on November 30th 1939, the USSR attacked Finland. To exonerate themselves of this flagrant blame, the Soviet authorithies blamed Finland for shelling the Russian town of Mainila, but the incident has been proven to be a Soviet false flag operation. The Red Army mobilised 23 divisions, 450,000 men in total, plus 2.500 aircraft and thousands of tanks, while Finland gathered the modest amount of 30 tanks and 100 planes.

At this junction the former Corporal Simo reenlisted in the 6^th Battalion, Infantry Regiment 34, in the 12th Division, tasked to protect Kolla from the Soviet 8^th Army, comprising 4 divisions. Simuna gloomily remarked: “I hadn’t expected the next shooting competition to be a war.”

Despite the USSR’s insulting advantage in men and material, Finland’s scarce roads and its forested landscape, dotted with thousands of small lakes, stripped the Red Army of many of their apparent advantages over the defenders. In addition to, the winter of 1939-40 was extremely severe, with temperatures plummeting to -40 degrees Celsius. The Soviet soldier lacked winter equipment like skis or white camouflage uniforms. Why? They had been told to expect a swift victory and a prompt triumphal parade in Helsinki.

On the other hand, the Finns, masters of cross-country skiing, knew the terrain by heart, and skilfully flanked the Russians, decimating their ranks and forcing them to retreat, despite the enemy’s mechanized superiority. Stalin, who had the same lack of military aptitude than Hitler and the same ego, had no qualms about pouring more and more cannon-fodder to force a breakthrough. Waiting for them was little Simuna, at a scarce 1,6m in height, and solely armed with his perfume to mask smells and a rifle M/28-30.

#5 The White Death

Discouraged by their initial heavy losses, the Red Army dubbed all Finns as Belaya smert (White Death), a nickname later used exclusively for Simo Häyhä. ‘Death’ was a bit excessive for a nickname, in the opinion of his fellow Finns, who simply called him, ‘Magic Shooter’. His hunting and marksman abilities turned him into a living nightmare for the Russians, who repeatedly failed to remove him with artillery strikes. Aware he wasn’t the biggest or strongest man in the party, Simo counted on painstaking preparation to outwitt his foes. He was the first to wake up in the mornings to oil his rifle’s barrel, in order to prevent freezing and jamming. Then he wrapped it with white gauze for camouflage, and dusted off the trigger mechanism.

Then Simo would crawl to the foxholes he had prepared the night before, where he would soak the soil under the rifle’s muzzle, to prevent the shot from lifting snow dust and reveal his position. He would have also piled a snow wall behind him, to blur his silhouette with it.

Simo estimated the distance, taking into account humidity and wind, and adjusted his iron sight. The amazing fact, was that he never used a scope, believing the sunlight reflection would expose him. Closing his left eye, Simo slowed his breath, and aimed always at the middle of the target, to maximise his chance of a hit. Then the White Death pulled the trigger.

Decades later, when asked if he suffered nightmares, Simo responded “War was never in my dreams”. He never allowed his feelings to interfere with the mission. And his mission was to kill. He declared he never felt hatred towards the invaders, because his only task was to concentrate, keep the rifle stable, shoot, and reload; for as long as there were enemies present.

I did what I was told to, as well as I could. There would be no Finland unless everyone else had done the same

Simo Häyhä

The White Death claimed many lives, including enemy snipers. He patiently attempted different approaches to his target, until the bullet in his clip ended up finding its way. Not only he was deadly with M/28-30 rifle, but he aslo displayed frightful proficiency with the Suomi sub-machine gun. Overall, the White Death ripped 542 souls during the 98 days that he served. The highest death toll from a single sniper. Ever.

Simuna was a lone wolf, and unlike applicants boasting of their skills in their CVs, he refused to brag and seldom talked or even revealed his exploits. On 21^st December 1939, after he had shot down 25 Russians, he was awarded a custom-built rifle, intended for the most distinguished shooter of the corps.

#6 It’s not enough

The Red Army stagnated after several defeats, but on February, they had gathered plenty of reinforcements, and attempted a breakthrough in Kolla. Their intention was to reach Ladoga’s northern shore, thus outflanking the vital Mannerheim line in the Karelian Isthmus.

The enemy’s numbers were superior, its artillery overwhelming. The Soviets fired 35.000 to 40.000 shells every day, while the Finns could barely respond with 1.000. Finland’s diplomacy worked against the clock to find allies but meanwhile Simuna and the 12^th Division were on the verge of collapse. Their effort was so critical, that nowadays, the phrase ‘Kolla holds’, is used in Finland as synonymous of perseverance.

In the early hours of 6^th March 1940, Simo was hit by an explosive bullet that shattered his cheek and lower left jawbone. He was immediately evacuated and was believed to be dead. However, the unconscious Magic Shooter was recognised and removed from the truck carrying the Finnish casualties. He regained consciousness on 13^th March, 1940, after the Treaty of Moscow was signed, ending the hostilities. For Simuna however, it was the start of a long recovery process, including 26 surgical operations to reconstruct his jaw, using bone from his hip, and leaving him permanently disfigured.

#7 The twilight of the White Death

When Nazy Germany invaded the USSR on 22nd June 1941, Finland sided with them in a bid to recover its former territories. The dutiful Simo felt it was his obligation to keep serving his country, but having become a hero and Finnish symbol, his petition was rejected. He returned to farming and hunting, never forgetting to regularly keep in touch with his fellow Kolla veterans. After the end of the war his country was packed with Soviet spies and collaborators, only too eager to report the capitalist pigs who had killed so many of them during the war. No wonder the man who wiped out more than 500 of them, wished to keep a low profile.

In the 70’s, Simo bought an apartment in Ruokolahti, unable to manage a farm by himself any longer. He didn’t have many friends and later was appointed a nurse to care him. Eventually, budget cutbacks forced him to move to the Kymi Institute for Disabled Veterans. The hero of the Finns, White Death to the Russians, after narrowly escaping death, and enjoying a second chance at life, spent his last peaceful years talking about the weather with the nuns, surrounded by his fellow veterans. They never mentioned the war.

Don’t forget to comment and suscribe. Give your best shot!