The Story of Simo Häyhä aka White Death (Best Sniper in The World).

I consider war to be a tragedy of old powerful men that push young and eager ones to do their bidding. If it'd be possible, I'd wish for now war, however, here we are.

Hi guys and welcome to Historicly, for today's video we are going to be talking about the best sniper in the world, Simo Hayha.

Simo Hayha was born on the 17th of December, 1905 to Juho and Katrina, he was from the halmet of Kiskinen in Rautjarvi. This small town was in an old Finnish area, now it has become Russian territory.

Hayha joined the Finland army forces to fight against the Soviet Union, it was the Winter War. This happened during the winter of 1939-40. At the time of the war, Hayha was 33 years old. He celebrated his 34th birthday on the Kolla battlefield. He was on the battlefield for 98 days, he fought with the 6th Battalion, Infrantry Regiment 34. The war took place for 105 days, however, Hayha in the last week, later he was hospitalized.

For 98 days, Hayha was like a ghost, he camped up, not seen or heard, however people were dropping with dead accuracy. It is reported by his fellow soldiers, that during one day he might have killed up to 25 people. Being a sniper in the war, they're a rare and high value figure on the battlefield, Hayha's reputation for his dead on accuracy reached to the Russian forces, they'd refer him to as The White Death.
They'd try to get to Hayha using indirect fire, bombs, mortar bormbardment at roughly the area he was shooting from, whilst Hayha killed an enemy sniper with only a single shot, more than often making it out of the danger unharmed.

War is a scary place for men to be, Hayha said that he was not scared. The attitude towards sniping people off the battlefield was just another day on the job, it was just like hunting.
His camoflauge skills were very advanced, he would pour water into the snow in front so that the muzzle blast would blend in with the icy snow. He was good at hiding the sound of his shot, he'd use smoke and artillery fire to hide his movement when moving around the place, there were not enough maps during the the war, which is why Hayha relied only on his memory.

What contributed to Hayha being so good at war is his preperations, after the battle was done, during the night. It's recalled that he'd go to visit the best spots to shoot from and fix the place. What he would do during the night, is considered obsessive, addiction even. He would clean his weapons more than anyone else, beffore and after missions, it was necessary for guns to not jam in the freezing cold.

What he used was M/28-30, he had own that before the war had started, he didn't have a scope mounted on it, which is just fascinating. The rifle was standard issue for Finnish infantry, in the late 1930s. Hayha liked this gun because of the stability it had, he also had experience with the gun. He'd set the sights to zero which was 150 metres.

He skilled from his teenage years, was very good at spending time in the nature, he'd go on regular hunting trips in the forests. What he'd hunt were these small birds in pine forests, the birds were very reactive which required a very skilled hunter. Hunting those small birds sharpened his senses, his vision and ability to pick up small targets in the weirdest of terrain.

What added to his skills was his father teaching him the ability to read distance, this is rather something you pick up over years with a lot of practice. Reading distance is very necessariy to understand where a target is from your own position, how many steps. At this field, Hayha was nearly perfect, in the battle the approximate distance was 150 meters, he'd miss out by one or two steps but not that much.

Hayha's character was a lifetime of meditation, he was the nightmare for Soviet troops in the winter forests of Finland. He was wounded on 6th of March, 1940, he was hit by an explosive bullet during a Russian attack, he was in a coma but thankfully he woke up a week later. When he woke up, there was an armistice which was some relief. Hayha however, never escaped the pain and horror of war, he was in a constant battle with an almost constant pain that was a result of a scar on his cheek.

Hayha returned to work on his farm after the war ended. He became a hero in Finland, the tale of the white death became legendary. Simo Hayha's friend said once that he spoke with animals more than he did with people. He had done 26 surgical operations on his jaw and face, which is why he even struggled to speak to people, his speech never fully restorted. He moved to Kymi Institute for Disabled Veterans in 2001, he lived alone and died alone. He died in 2006 at the age of 96.

That's all we had for today, if you liked this video check out the lifestory behind the Elephant Man.

Remember, we are lucky that we don't have to experience the atrociousness of war, however if there's someone in the audience that has, we are here for you and we thank you!

Have a nice one!

Видео The Story of Simo Häyhä aka White Death (Best Sniper in The World). канала Historicly