Article about Simo Häyhä from January 9, 2020

[skeptical_in_Ohio]

Hi all-

Apologies if this was already posted - it's from something called Narratively that happened to come up on a random load when I opened Firefox this morning.

The Deadliest Marksman’s Cold, Brave Stand

The article details the exploits of Simo Häyhä in action against the Soviets during the Winter War of 1939-40.

I especially was impressed at a couple of things. First, the detail to which he went in camouflaging himself (e.g. pouring water on the snow in front of his location so there wouldn't be loose snow to fly from the muzzle blast; putting snow in his mouth to disguise his breathing in the cold; making kills at over 300 yards with open sights so there would be no reflection from the scope - with a Mosin Nagant yet).

Second, in training he once hit a target at 500 feet 16 times in a minute, again with a Mosin. There are more than few folks that would have trouble cycling the bolt and pulling the trigger 16 times in a minute, let alone hitting something at distance.

Have a great day.

 

[nhcruffler]

Simo is THE MAN ! The kind you want defending your country.

 

[lemaymiami]

A really determined individual with some skills is a fearsome opponent... at any time or place

 

[kBob]

Other sources indicate he did on occasion use a Swedish Mauser with a scope and that a fair number of his kills were with a Suomi SMG in 9x19mm.

-kBob

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

The Winter War was a war that I am glad that I was never in.

 

[Old Dog]

As an aside, for you war movie buffs, Talvisota (The Winter War) is one of the best war movies ever made. You might be able to find a dubbed or sub-titled (most common) as it's a Finnish movie. All I know is, my Finnish immigrant granddad who was there, was one helluva rifleman.

 

[toivo]

The Winter War was a war that I am glad that I was never in.

It was a lot worse for the Russians than it was for the Finns. It was an extremely cold winter; some of the Russian units had inadequate clothing and no winter tents, whereas the Finns were on their home turf and had emergency shelters and supply dumps scattered around the forests, where they could go to warm up, rest, and re-supply. The Soviets were mostly regular infantry, lacking winter camo and moving by road with tanks and trucks. The Finns made extensive use of ski troops, who were much more mobile through the forests and virtually invisible in their white camo gear. Even though they were massively outnumbered, the Finns fought the Russians to what was essentially a stalemate.

I second Old Dog's recommendation of Talvisota. It doesn't seem to be available anywhere, but here are some excerpts: