In less than 100 days, Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä killed at least 500 enemy troops during the Winter War — earning him the nickname the “White Death.”
At the dawn of World War II in 1939,Josef Stalinsent over half a million military personnel across Russia ’s westerly border to encroach upon Finland . It was a move that would cost tenner of chiliad of lifespan — and began of the legend of Simo Häyhä .
For three month , the two countries fought in the Winter War , and in an unexpected turn of events , Finland — the underdog — come forth victorious .
The defeat was a stunning blow to the Soviet Union . Stalin , upon invading , had believed that Finland was an easy fool . His reasoning was sound ; after all , the act were decidedly in his favour .
Wikimedia CommonsSimo Häyhä, after the war. His face was scarred by his wartime injury.
Wikimedia CommonsSimo Häyhä , after the war . His face was marred by his wartime accidental injury .
The Soviet army march into Finland with roughly 750,000 soldier , while Finland ’s army was just 300,000 strong . The diminished Nordic body politic had just a fistful of tanks and a piddling over 100 aircraft .
The Red Army , by contrast , had almost 6,000 tank and over 3,000 aircraft . It seemed there was simply no way they would recede .
Wikimedia CommonsSimo Häyhä and his new rifle, a gift from the Finnish army.
But the Finnish had something that the Russians did n’t : a diminutive farmer - turned - sniper named Simo Häyhä .
Simo Häyhä Becomes The White Death
Wikimedia CommonsSimo Häyhä and his new rifle , a giving from the Finnish army .
Standing just five feet tall , the mild - mannered Häyhä was far from intimidating and in reality quite loose to look out on , which is perhaps what made him so suited for sniping .
As many citizens did , he completed his needed year of military divine service when he was 20 , and then he returned to his quiet spirit of farming , skiing , and hunt small plot . He was noted in his little community for his ability to shoot , and he like to record competitions in his gratis time — but his real test was yet to come .
Wikimedia CommonsFinnish snipers hiding behind snowbanks in a fox hole.
When Stalin ’s troops invaded , as a former military man , Häyhä was promise into action . Before describe for duty , he pulled his old gun out of storage . It was an antique , Russian - made rifle , a bare - pearl simulation with no telescopic lense .
Along with his fellow Finnish military men , Häyhä was give large , all - bloodless disguise , a necessity in the snow that blanketed the landscape several feet deep . wrap from head to toe , the soldier could blend into snow bank without a problem .
gird with his trustworthy rifle and his bloodless cause , Häyhä did what he did best . Preferring to turn alone , he issue himself with a day ’s Charles Frederick Worth of food and several magazine of ammo , then snuck quietly through the wood . Once he base a spot with good visibility , he would lie in wait for the Red Army to stumble across his way .
Wikimedia CommonsThe Soviet trenches were full of Simo Häyhä’s enemies — and it was only a matter of time before he was caught.
And trip they did .
Simo Häyhä’s Winter War
Wikimedia CommonsFinnish snipers blot out behind snowbanks in a dodger hollow .
Over the course of the Winter War , which lasted roughly 100 days , Häyhä drink down between 500 and 542 Russian soldiers , all with his antediluvian rifle . While his comrades were using country - of - the - graphics telescopic crystalline lens to soar upwards in on their targets , Häyhä was fighting with an iron sight , which he mat gave him a more precise prey .
He also noted that several targets had been tipped off by the glint of lightness on the newer sniper lenses , and he was determined not to go down that way .
He ’d also developed an almost unfailing way of not being sighted . On top of his white camouflage , he would build up snowdrift around his position to further mist himself . The snow bank also dish up as padding for his rifle and prevented the force of his gunshots from stirring up a powderpuff of C. P. Snow that an enemy could use to locate him .
As he set on the ground in wait , he would hold Charles Percy Snow in his mouth to arrest his steaming intimation from betraying his attitude .
Häyhä ’s strategy kept him alive , but his delegacy were never easy . For one , conditions were brutal . The days were light , and when the Lord’s Day set , temperature seldom rose above freeze .
The White Death’s Near-Miss As War Draws To A Close
Wikimedia CommonsThe Soviet trenches were full of Simo Häyhä ’s enemies — and it was only a matter of time before he was caught .
Before long , Simo Häyhä had realise a reputation among the Russians as the “ White Death , ” the tiny sniper who lay in delay and could hardly be seen in the blow .
He also win a report among the Finnish people : the White Death was oft the subject of Finnish propaganda , and in the hoi polloi ’s minds , he became a fable , a guardian spirit who could move like a wraith through the snow .
When the Finnish High Command get a line about Häyhä ’s science , they presented him with a gift : a firebrand - fresh , custom - establish sniper rifle .
Unfortunately , 11 day before the Winter War ended , the “ White Death ” was finally struck . A Soviet soldier caught sight of him and shot him in the jaw , put down him in a comatoseness for 11 days . He come alive as the peace treaty were being drawn up and half of his face missing .
However , the hurt hardly slow up Simo Häyhä down . Though it did take several years to come back from being hit in the jaw with volatile ammo , he finally made a full retrieval and go to the ripe erstwhile old age of 96 .
In the year after the war , Häyhä continued to utilize his sniping skills and became a successful elk hunter , regularly attend hunting trips with Finnish president Urho Kekkonen .
After learning about how Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä earned the byname the “ White Death , ” show the true taradiddle ofBalto , a wienerwurst that spare an Alaskan town from dying . Then , check out these harrowingphotos from the Crimean War .
