Simo Häyhä

Simo Häyhä (17December 1905 – 1April 2002), often referred to by his nickname, The White Death (Valkoinen kuolema; Белая смерть), was a Finnish military sniper in World War II during the 1939–1940 Winter War against the Soviet Union.

He used a Finnish-produced M/28-30 (a variant of the Mosin–Nagant rifle) and a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun.

He is believed to have killed over 500 enemy soldiers during the Winter War, the highest number of sniper kills in any major war.

Because of this, he is often regarded as the deadliest sniper of all time.

Häyhä estimated in his private war memoir that he shot around 500 Soviet soldiers.

In 1925, at the age of 19, Häyhä began his 15-month compulsory military service in the Bicycle Battalion 2 in Raivola, Viipuri Province.

He attended the Non-Commissioned Officer School and served as a conscript officer in the Bicycle Battalion 1 in Terijoki.

Joseph Stalin had purged military experts in the late 1930s as part of the Great Purge, and the Red Army was consequently highly disorganized.

Finnish sources state that Häyhä was nicknamed "The White Death" by the Red Army (Белая смерть, ; valkoinen kuolema; den vita döden).

The name "White Death" has been suggested to originate entirely in Finnish propaganda, rather than having been given to Häyhä by the Russians; according to information from prisoners, to the Russians "White Death" referred to a severe frost in the deep forest.

However, he did not receive formal sniper training until a year before the war in 1938 at a training centre in Utti.

According to Major Tapio Saarelainen—who met Häyhä several times and has written five books about him, including his biography—Häyhä was able to estimate distances with an accuracy of 1 metre (3.3 ft) up to 150 metres (500 ft).

The memoir, titled Sotamuistoja (War memoirs), was written in 1940, a few months after he was wounded, and described his experiences in the Winter War from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940.

Häyhä served as a sniper in the Finnish Army during the 1939–40 Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, under Lieutenant Aarne Juutilainen in the 6th Company of Infantry Regiment 34 (Jalkaväkirykmentti 34, or JR 34) during the Battle of Kollaa in temperatures between -40 and -20 C. He was dressed completely in white camouflage; Soviet troops were not issued camouflage uniforms for most of the war, making them easily visible to snipers in winter conditions.

On 21 December 1939, Häyhä achieved his highest daily count of 25 kills.

Some of Häyhä's figures are from a Finnish Army document, counted from the beginning of the war, 30 November 1939:

Häyhä's division commander Antero Svensson credited him with 219 confirmed kills with a rifle and an equal number of kills by submachine gun, when he awarded Häyhä with an honorary rifle on 17 February 1940.

In his diary, military chaplain Antti Rantamaa reported 259 confirmed kills made by rifle and an equal number of kills by submachine gun from the beginning of the war until 7 March 1940, one day after Häyhä was severely wounded.

Later in his book, Rantamaa credited Häyhä with a total of 542 kills.

Häyhä having the nickname "White Death" first appeared in the Finnish Winter War literature of the late 1980s.

During the war, the "White Death" was one of the leading themes of Finnish propaganda.

Finnish newspapers frequently featured the invisible Finnish soldier, thus creating a hero of mythical proportions.

To add to the myth, he was also nicknamed "The Magic Shooter" among Finns (taika-ampuja, in close reference to the Finnish word for "sniper"; tarkka-ampuja).

Häyhä's war memoir states that they captured a Soviet soldier, blindfolded him, spun him around until he was disoriented, and then took him to a party in the tent of Häyhä's company Lieutenant Aarne "The Terror of Morocco" Juutilainen.

The Soviet soldier was overjoyed by the carousing and was disappointed when he was released.

All of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in less than 100 days, an average of five per day at a time of year with very few daylight hours.

His kill count as a sniper was based on his own reporting, with the confirmation of his comrades, and only those who were verified to be dead were counted.

No count was taken when several snipers shot at the same target.

Enemy soldiers killed with a submachine gun with Häyhä as a group leader were not counted.

Hidden for decades, the memoir was discovered in 2017.

Häyhä was born in the Kiiskinen hamlet of the Rautjärvi municipality in the Viipuri Province of southern Finland near the border with Russia.

He was the seventh of eight children in a Lutheran family of farmers; his father, Juho Häyhä, was the owner of the Mattila farm while Simo's mother, Katriina (née Vilkko) was a loving and hard-working farmer's wife.

He attended school in the village of Miettilä in Kivennapa parish and cultivated his home farm together with his eldest brother.

He was a farmer, hunter, and skier prior to his military service.

Häyhä joined the Finnish voluntary militia Civil Guard (Suojeluskunta) at the age of 17.

He was successful in shooting competitions in the Viipuri Province; his home was reportedly full of trophies for marksmanship.

He was not keen to hog the spotlight, and accordingly in group photos from his youth he usually stood at the back, until his later successes forced him to take centre stage.

Häyhä never discussed it publicly, but his own private memoir, discovered in 2017, states a number.

He begins by stating that "this is his sin list", and estimates the total number he shot to be around 500.

Finnish historian Risto Marjomaa questions the large number, as confirmation of casualties was difficult due to the absence of the bodies.