Simo Häyhä | Timeline

Simo Häyhä (17 December 1905 – 1 April 2002) was a Finnish military sniper in the Second World War during the 1939–1940 Winter War against the Soviet Union. He used a Finnish-produced M/28-30, a variant of the Mosin–Nagant rifle, and a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun. Häyhä is believed to have killed over 500 men during the Winter War, the highest number of sniper kills in any major war. (Intro from Wikipedia)

December 17, 1905 - Rautjärvi, Viipuri province, Finland - Simo Häyhä is born

January(?) 1(?), 1923 - Rautjärvi - Joins the Rautjärvi Civil Guard aged 17

December 10, 1925 - Valkjärvi - Begins serving in the finnish army's Bicycle Battalion 2, 1st company =(START)

March 6, 1926 - Valkjärvi - Corporal training in Bicycle Battalion 2

June 1, 1926 - Valkjärvi - Häyhä is promoted to Corporal. He begins NCO Training

August 19, 1926 - Terijoki - Transfered to 3rd Company, Bicycle Battalion 1 as squad leader

March 21, 1927 - Terijoki - Discharged

Häyhä in training
(with a telescopic sight)

October 10, 1937 - Kouvola - Civil Guard Shooting competition

July 14, 1938 - Utti, Kouvola - Sniper training in Utti Training Center

August 2, 1938 - Utti - Sniper training completed

November 1, 1938 - Huuhanmäki - Infantry Regiment 34 is established at the Huuhanmäki garrison and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ville Teittinen

October 10, 1939 - Reserve Lieutenant Aarne Edvard Juutilainen, the "Horror of Morocco" is named Häyhä's company commander

November 29, 1939 - Suvilahti - Sent to Suvilahti to participate in an antitank course

November 30, 1939 - Suvilahti - The Soviet Union invades Finland with 23 divisions. After waking up, Häyhä is informed that the soviets had started a heavy artillery bombardment against villages in Hyrsylä river bend, and attacking across the border with infantry

December 1, 1939 - Pyhäjoki | Along the Loimola road - Häyhä reaches Pyhäjoki and begins fortifying finnish positions with the other soldiers, building trenches and fox holes and assembling barbed wire. The most deadly days to the finnish army begin

The "White Death"

December 4, 1939 - Kollaa River - S.E. of Loimola - Häyhä's unit withdraws to Suvilahti and then a further 30 kilometers back to the River Kollaa, where they dug in

December 7, 1939 - Kollaa River - The Battle of Kollaa begins! (lasts until the armistice in March 1940)

December 21, 1939 - Kollaa River - 25 confirmed russian kills

December 25, 1939 - Kollaa River - 138 confirmed kills total

February 1(?), 1940 - Kollaa River - Häyhä takes an observer, Corporal Malmi, and moves through the forest to reconnoiter a new area of ​​Soviet accommodation bunkers. After establishing an observation post, Häyhä and Malmi kill 19 Russians without ever being detected

Simo Häyhä with his new rifle
February 17, 1940

February 17, 1940 - Kollaa River - Häyha reaches 500 kills. He is awarded a custom-built precision rifle made by Sako, as a gift by swedish businessman Eugen Johansson

February 25, 1940 - Kollaa River - Awarded the Medal of Liberty 2nd Class (II LK Vapaudenmitali)

March 6, 1940 - Ulismaa, 15km S of Kollaa - After killing about 40 russians as they tried to break through the finnish lines in the dark forests of Ulismaa, Häyhä is shot in the Jaw with an explosive bullet and lapses into a coma. Although the fighting was furious, he is evacuated by a man-pulled lapp sledge just minutes before the soviets roll over the finnish lines

March 13, 1940 - Kinkomaa hospital, near Jyväskylä - Häyhä awakes in hospital, when the armistice had already been signed

April 2, 1940 - Kinkomaa hospital - Awarded the Medal of Liberty 1st Class (I LK Vapaudenmitali)

June 6, 1940 - Kinkomaa hospital - Awarded the Order of Liberty 4th class with Swords, which is personally delivered to him by the honorary judge and member of Parliament Toivo Horelli. He is back eating normal solid food with his rebuilt jaw and dental plate

August(?) 1(?), 1940 - Helsinki, Finland - Transfered to Helsinki after undergoing a number of complex surgical operations in the Kinkomaa hospital

August 28, 1940 - Helsinki(?) - Field Marshall Mannerheim promotes Häyhä to second Lieutenant

January 20(?), 1941 - Helsinki(?) - Häyhä and 21 other finnish war veterans travel to Syndehaven, Denmark, to stay in a holiday resort owned by the International Organization of Disabled First World War Veterans

January 26, 1941 - Helsingør, Denmark - Arrival at Helsingør, via Helsingborg (Sweden)

March 30, 1941 - Helsinki, Finland - First annual meeting of the Brotherhood of Kollaa Fighters

May 19, 1941 - Helsinki - Released from hospital and demobilized

June 21, 1941 - Helsinki(?) - Awarded the Order of Liberty 3rd class with Swords

January(?) 1(?), 1942 - Utula, Ruokolahti - Häyhä begins running a farm and doing some forestry work at Utula

December 17, 1965 - Utula, Ruokolahti - Celebrates his 60th birthday with members of the Ruokolahti Hunting Association

November 20, 1978 - Kontioranta, North Karelia, N of Joensuu - Awarded the honorary title of Karelian Jaeger and Honorary Cross of the Karelian Jaegers, at Kontioranta garrison, North Karelia

August 1(?), 1981 - Kontioranta - Visit to the Karelian Jaeger Battalion

June 24, 1990 - Ruokolahti - Visit to Raimo Partinen's farm for target shooting

April 10, 1997 - Ruokolahti - Interview with Tapio Saarelainen, writer of "The White Sniper"

January(?) 1(?), 1999 - Hamina - Häyhä's health begins deteriorating. He is operated to Cataracts in both eyes, and realizes he could no longer manage on his own any more and goes living at the Kymi Institute for Disabled Veterans, in Hamina

April 25, 2001 - Ruokolahti - Last visit to Ruokolahti municipality

May 5, 2001 - Ruokolahti - Last meeting with Tapio Saarelainen at his house

April 1, 2002 - Hamina - Simo Häyhä dies, aged 96 =(END)