From 1939 to 1940, the Winter War broke out between the Soviet Union and Finland, and although the Soviet Union eventually won the war, the superior Soviet Union was met with stubborn resistance from the Finns and suffered heavy losses. During the war, a Finnish sniper named Simon Hayer single-handedly killed about 500 Soviet soldiers, hence the name "White Death.". So what is the legend of the sniper with the highest number of enemies in history?
First, from hunter to sharpshooter
Simon Haye was born in 1905 in a small village in southern Finland, the seventh oldest in his family. The Hayer family made a living from farming and hunting, and Simon went out hunting with his family from an early age, a time that laid the foundation for him to become a good sniper. At the age of 17, Simon Hayer joined the Finnish National Guard, a support militia, where his shooting ability was further improved, and he even won several awards in the Vyborg Provincial Shooting Competition. Allegedly, his home is full of championship trophies in shooting competitions, which is enough to show that his shooting ability has been outstanding.
Haye's hometown of Lauterjelvy
In 1925, at the age of 19, Hayer joined the Finnish Army for 15 months of military service in the Second Bicycle Infantry Battalion. Haye then entered the Officers School, after which he was promoted to corporal and served as a squad leader in the 3rd Company of the Second Bicycle Infantry Battalion. On March 21, 1927, Simon Hayer retired from the army after completing his military service. It is worth noting that despite Hayer's excellent sniping ability, he did not receive regular sniper training at Ooty Training Camp until 1938, a year before the outbreak of the Sufinnish Winter War. According to Major Tapio, The biographer of Simon Haye, Simon Haye hit a target 150 meters away 16 times in 1 minute, which is an incredible achievement considering that the gun Simon used needs to be manually loaded.
Simon Haye in sniping
Second, the White Death
Simon Haye's legacy is the outstanding performance of the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939-1940. On 10 October 1939, Hayer was drafted into the barracks of Vyborg. On November 30 of the same year, the Winter War broke out, and Haye served as a sniper in the 6th Company of the 34th Regiment of the Finnish Army against the Soviet army. Simon Haye, dressed in white camouflage, ambushed in the snow and sniped at Soviet soldiers at a time when temperatures were extremely low, roughly minus 40 degrees to minus 20 degrees, and it was in this cold environment that Haye fought in such a cold environment.
Simon Haye in white camouflage
Although Haye never spoke publicly about the number of enemies he killed, he mentioned in his diary that he had killed about 500 Soviet soldiers in 100 days, an average of five per day. On December 21, 1939, Hayer set his record for the highest single-day kill, killing 25 enemies on that day. These records made him the sniper who killed the most during World War II, and even in history. When later asked how he was called a marksman, Haye's answer was only three words, "Practice more."
The reason why Simon Hayer was able to achieve such brilliant results was on the one hand because of Haye's excellent sniper skills, and on the other hand, it was also related to the situation of the Soviet army at this time. The first was that the Soviet army was in disarray after the 1930s purge, and the second was that the Soviet army was not equipped with white camouflage uniforms, which made the Soviet army a live target for snipers in the snow. Although the Finnish side said that the Soviet Union referred to Simon Haye as the "White Death", this title should have originated from Finnish propaganda, and the "white death" in the Soviet population should refer to the severe frost in the Finnish forest. It wasn't until the 1980s that Simon Hayer's title of "White Death" first appeared in Finnish Winter War literature. During the war, Finnish newspapers used the "White Death" for propaganda to boost morale. In addition, Simon Hayer has been called a "magic shooter", which also shows the recognition of his outstanding sniper skills.
Winter War
Third, return to life
Since Haye had made the Soviet army suffer so much, they tried everything they could to get rid of him. A Soviet shell once landed near the sniper point, causing Haye to be slightly wounded. On March 6, 1940, Hayer was hit in the left jaw by a Soviet explosive bullet and immediately fell into a severe coma. At one time, it was thought that the legendary sniper was dead, and news of his death soon spread throughout Finland and the Soviet Union. But in fact, one of his comrades found haye in the pile of corpses that Hayer was not dead and took him to the hospital. A week later, on March 13, Haye woke up from his coma and personally wrote a letter to correct his mistake after seeing his death in the newspaper.
The injury left Haye half his face missing, and doctors performed as many as 26 surgeries on him, eventually taking 14 months to recover. In 1941, war broke out again between the Soviet Union and Finland, and Haye, who had recovered, wanted to go to war, but his request to join the war was not approved because of his serious facial injuries. In view of his outstanding performance in the Winter War, Hayer was promoted directly from corporal to second lieutenant, becoming the fastest-promoted soldier in Finnish history. He has also been awarded several medals in recognition of his contribution to Finland.
Simon Haye recovering from a serious injury
After the war, Simon Hayer returned to the mountains and lived a peaceful life. He became a reindeer hunter and dog breeder, lived in a small town on the Soviet-Finnish border, and even hunted with Finnish President Urho Kekkonen.
Haye lived in seclusion in Ruokolahti after the war
Country life brought him peace, but it also sometimes made him feel lonely and fearful, he never married, naturally he did not have children, but fortunately he was sometimes accompanied by friends and family. On April 1, 2002, Simon Hayer died at the age of 96, bringing to an end a generation of legendary snipers.
Elder Haye
Wen Shijun said
From hunter to national hero, diligence and talent were perhaps the greatest success for Simon Haye, who, with the rifle in his hand, became a terrifying presence for Soviet soldiers. Although Haye was a legendary sniper, some people disagreed with his approach, and when it came to whether he regretted killing so many people, Haye replied: "War is not a pleasant thing, but if we don't go to the battlefield, who will defend Finland?" Whether it was because of his humble character, Haye was not proud of what he had done, and rarely even talked about the war and his achievements. Maybe for him, killing people is not something to be proud of, and he has done nothing more than what he does not want to do but has to do in order to defend the country.
bibliography
[Russian] Beyr Ilyincheyev, "White Death: The Soviet-Finnish War 1939-1940", Taiwan Straits Publishing House, 2019.
Yu Jian: "Soviet Uniforms in World War II: Losses in the Soviet-Finnish War, Stained in the Soviet-German War", National Humanistic History, 2017.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi · Friends of ABC)
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