Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
He is generally regarded as the deadliest sniper in history.
He is generally regarded as the deadliest sniper in history.
The numerous Russian wars
Ever since the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, the World has focused on the ongoing fights.
That being said, Russia has been involved in numerous wars throughout history.
Celebrating themselves
Every year, Russia marks “Victory Day” to celebrate the Soviet Unions victory over Nazi Germany.
But Russia seem to forget that they, themselves, were aggressors during WW2.
The Winter War
On November 30th 1939, the Soviet Union launched an invasion of their Nortern neighbours, Finland, starting what has since become known as the Winter War.
Lasted 3½ months
The war lasted only 3 months, 1 week and 6 days and ended with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty.
Technically a Soviet victory
The peace resulted in a number of Finnish regions being claimed by the Soviet Union, but looking at the casualties, you could hardly call the war a Soviet victory.
Absolute Russian debacle
When the war came to an end, Finland had suffered personnel losses of 25,904.
The Soviet Union has been estimated to have lost between 126,875 and 167,976
Over 300,000 total losses
If you include the number of wounded on each side, the Finnish suffered around 70,000 casualties.
The Soviet Union suffered between 321,000 and 381,000 casualties.
And one Finnish soldier named Simo Häyhä played a huge part in those numbers.
An excellent marksman
Born in 1905, Häyhä joined the Finnish voluntary militia at the age of 17.
He excelled in shooting competitions, but when he joined the Finnish military at the age of 19, he didn’t get any formal sniper training.
That didn’t happen before 1938, the year before the war.
Fighting in freezing cold
During the Winter War, Häyhä served as a sniper During the battle of Kollaa, usually fighting in temperatures between −40 and −20 °C (−40 and −4 °F).
The White Death
Dressed in completely white camouflage, Häyhä became known by the Soviets as “The White Death” due to his ability to stay completely hidden while taking out a huge number of enemies.
500 kills – at least
In less than 100 days of war, Häyhä was able to kill a staggering 500 enemies – and these numbers have all been verified.
It is possible that his actual kill count is way higher.
138 kills in 22 days
His most impressive achievements as a sniper include 138 killed enemies during the first 22 days of the Winter War according to Finnish Army documents.
No telescopic sights
What makes his abilites even more impressive is that Häyhä did not use telescopic sights, as he wanted to be as small a target to his enemies as possible.
This means he used the iron sights on his Civil Guard SAKO M/28-30 rifle.
Sugar and bread
To cope with the intense cold, Häyhä dressed in multiple layers of clothing, and he kept sugar and bread in his pockets, consuming them to provide calories for his body.
Filled mouth with snow
Another clever tactic he used was to frequently fill his mouth with snow. This prevented his breath from becoming visible in the cold air.
Private memoirs
Häyhä was injured just a week before the war ended, and a few months after, the penned his memoirs, describing his experiences in the Winter War.
The memoirs was discovered in 2017, 15 years after Häyhäs death in 2002.
Immortalized in song
Simo Häyhä has been referenced several times in popular culture, most notably in a song by the Swedish heavy metal-band, Sabaton, titled “The White Death”.
The Chorus of the song goes:
You’re in the sniper’s sight
His first kill tonight
Time to die
You’re in the bullets way
The White Death’s prey
Say goodbye!