Simo Haya – The White Death

Häyhä Simo was a known sniper and has to his credit over 500 Soviet casualties during the Winter War of Finland (1939-1940). He is considered one of the most lethal snipers.

Häyhä Simo was born in 1906 in Finland near the Russian border. Before the age of 18 performed compulsory military service which already showed signs in the firing exercises. After the service he returned home to care for the humble farm owned by his family.

In 1939 conflict broke out between Finland and Russia. Taking advantage of the confusion in Europe by the beginning of World War II, Stalin intended Finland win at any cost advantage of their numerical superiority, but Finnish resistance was able to stop
it.

At the outbreak of war Häyhä Simo was called up, where he soon distinguished himself with his gun in the river Kollaa campaign, a hard campaign in which soldiers had to endure temperatures of up to 40 degrees below zero. He was dressed in white for camouflage
in the snow so that the Soviet troops soon nicknamed Belaya smert or "white death" . It is estimated that 546 Russian soldiers ended in 100 days. He was a ruthless hunter who has not been surpassed by any sniper until today. In March 1940 he had to retire
after being hit by an enemy bullet, then was promoted to lieutenant and decorated.

When asked about his incredible record of deaths Häyhä merely answered: "I did what I was ordered as best I could" . He died in 2002 at age 96 and is remembered in his country as a war hero.

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Posted by Fouad Ashraf on May 18 2012. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry