+3 votes
69 views
in News & Informations ⌨ by

A Finn, Simo Häyhä, is said to have killed over 500 Russian soldiers in the Winter War, which only lasted about four months, during the winter of 1939-1940.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-deadliest-marksman-s-cold-brave-stand?utm_source=pocket-newtab

2 Answers

+2 votes
by

THAT is a fascinating story; even the names a tug at my heart, having grown up in logging country where there were many Finns...Heikennen, Finnerud...I would think of more if I tried.

I have never heard of his gun, "a Finnish-modified Mosin-Nagant M1891 rifle, which was originally manufactured in Russia...the Finnish army’s preferred rifle, in part because it rarely jammed, and also because the stocks were made of Arctic birchwood, which was not susceptible to warping in the cold."

The end of his story is remarkable also, in its own way: "He ran a farm for much of the rest of his life, living alone, quietly, never marrying or having children. He lived to be 96, dying of natural causes in a veteran’s facility."

And the photo, of him at his namesake rifle competition in 1978; it's a lovely find, Tink, glad to learn of him.

+2 votes
by

Just been working on a DLC for "the Winter War". Those Finns were some hard fighting people. This doesn't surprise me much.

Simo Häyhä
 Finnish Army Second Lieutenant Simo Häyhä Nicknamed "White Death," Simo Häyhä tallied 505 kills, far and away the highest count from any major war.
by
+1

And in only four months!

He was averaging 4 or 5 kills a day!   :O

Is this page not working?

(or) the content is outdated?

Click here to see the recent version of this page

Is this page not working?

Click here to see the recent version of this page

...