While we talk a lot about firearms and their history on these Sunday Gun Day pieces, sometimes it can be interesting to see what use these historical firearms were. The history of mankind, sadly, is the history of warfare, and so in many cases is the history of firearms. Sometimes a notable combination of warrior and weapon comes about, one so remarkable that the one man with a rifle ends up making a major difference. As the great philosopher Heraclitus wrote:
Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior and he will bring the others back.
For the warrior we will meet here, we must go back to the early days of World War 2 in Europe, when the Soviet Union invaded their much smaller neighbor, Finland.
The Arctic Predator
The year was 1939, and the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union was underway. On November 30th, the Soviet Union invaded Finland after demanding that Finland hand over territories along the Finnish-Soviet border. While the predominantly Russian forces were accustomed to fighting in winter, they were now facing not Napoleon’s French troops but the Finns, who were themselves a people accustomed to cold and snow. Despite overwhelming advantages in men and equipment, the Soviets made little headway and ended up giving up the whole thing as a bad idea in March of 1940.
A big part of the Soviet’s problems lay in the fact that not only were the Finns just as good at winter operations as the Soviets, not only in the fact that the Finns were fighting a desperate battle for their homes and their country, but that the Finns also had a secret weapon.
His name was Simo Häyhä. They called him the White Death.
His Origins
Simo “Simuna” Häyhä was born in December of 1905 in the small southern Finland village of Kiiskinen, the seventh of eight children in a farming family. He grew up to be a farmer himself, who also loved hunting and skiing, skills that would serve him well later in life when he started hunting Russians.
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At 17, Simo joined the Civil Guard, which was at that time a Finnish volunteer militia. He was a master rifle shot already, regularly taking home trophies and awards from local competitions. In 1925, he began two years of required service in Bicycle Battalion 3, during which time he attended the Non-Commissioned Officer School. In 1938, he received formal sniper training at a school in Utti, Finland – but those instructors had no idea what they had on their hands.
His One-Man War
When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in 1939, Simo picked up his issue SAKO M28-30, a Finnish-made copy of the 1891 Mosin-Nagant rifle, and joined the 6th Company of Infantry Regiment 34. He then proceeded to kill Soviet soldiers and did so at a prodigious rate. One Finnish Army record dated from March 1940, just before the Soviets threw in the towel, has him credited for 259 kills. While the exact number is not clear – he apparently killed so many Soviet troops that it is difficult to arrive at an exact figure – he was, shall we say, dedicated. Amazingly, all of his confirmed kills were carried out in less than 100 days.
He later estimated his own kill count to be at least 500, although his division commander credited Simo with 219 confirmed kills with the rifle and at least that many more with a submachine gun.
Interestingly, Simo eschewed the use of telescopic sights, pointing out that iron sights allowed the shooter to expose less of himself while shooting. Since we can scarcely argue with Simo’s success, we have to allow him that judgment call.
It’s important to note that a sniper, if used properly, is a more psychological weapon than a tactical one. While snipers and their spotters can provide valuable overwatch and fire support for troops moving in hostile country, a good sniper can also have enemy troops in their sector wetting themselves in terror every time they are forced to expose themselves. The knowledge that out there, somewhere, is someone who is wickedly good with their weapon and may at any moment be looking at you through a telescopic sight and preparing to arrange for an unpleasant notification to your next of kin is, to say the least, unsettling.
One week before the war ended, Simo was hit by an explosive bullet fired by an unknown Red Army soldier. The bullet passed through Simo’s face and shattered his lower left jaw. His comrades, thinking him dead, left him on a pile of bodies, but Simo was made of stern stuff and recovered. At one point, he read an account of his death in a newspaper and promptly dispatched a letter to the paper informing them that the rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated.
For his heroism, his tenacity, and his unparalleled skill at permanently revoking the birth certificates of Red Army soldiers, Simo was awarded the Medal of Liberty, both First and Second Class. He was also awarded the Third and Fourth Class Crosses of Liberty, which were normally only given to offices, and was almost awarded a nameplated SAKO M28-30 “Honorary Rifle.”
After the War
Simo spent years after the war recovering from his severe facial wound and was badly disfigured for the rest of his life. He went back to farming and continued to enjoy hunting elk (what we would call moose) as well as becoming a dog breeder. He never married, becoming something of a recluse, and reportedly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. After the war, he rarely spoke of the conflict or his exploits. That’s not an uncommon thing among veterans who have seen the horrors of war first-hand – even when they are really good at the arts of war. And, sometimes, it's baffling how the political leaders seem to forget those horrors - and are always anxious to start another round.
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Simo Häyhä died in a nursing home in Hamina, Finland, in 2002 at 96 years of age. He was a warrior, and while it was an unfortunate fact of history that made his feats necessary, he nevertheless carried them out with great determination – and great accuracy – and helped his small country fend off a much larger one.
That’s what heroes do.
