The WW2 Sniper !!

He was Simo Häyhä, he got over 500 kills in less than 100 days.

 

Is he finish?

 

With that name - I'd guess he was.
Impressive record - I guess that was in the Winter War?

 

Both correct.
Some links in english:
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Simo%20H%E4yh%E4
http://www.snipercountry.com/BVT_Reviews/ValkoinenKuolema.asp

 

Yes he just used an Mosin nagant without scope, and achieved an extreem number of kills... "But" can it be trusted ?? as we know under the finnish war against the Soviets, the Russians didnt really hold count on their dead, so we can never know... Simo was also never acompanied by a spotter to confirm the kill "But you know what...?? i think he actually did achieve this "

Anyway the Finnish certainly had some of the best sniper of WW2..

KBO

 

Interesting that the first link gives him 505 kills, and the second claims he had 'over 500' kills, and then an additional 'over 40' kills before his wound to the jaw.

Still, both give over 500!

 

KBO: Actually that m/28 isn't mosin-nagant, its finnish improved design of mosin-nagant.
More from here:
http://ankkurinvarsi.com/jaeger/RIFLES2.htm



Ricky: Yeah, those figures vary a lot, some finnish pages claim that Häyhä started counting his kills only after few weeks of sniping. Whatever his actual kill count is, he definitely got much in so short time.

 

The movie "Enemy at the Gates" was based on a book, so that would probably be the very same story...

 

Okay well its still the same basic design, exept i would probably prefere the finnish design because of its better quality..

Anyway i didnt know that, so thanks Notmi

KBO

 

Might be Roel

 

Long before 'Enemy at the Gates' was filmed,I did read a short story somewhere about a sniper vs. sniper duel in Russia.There might be more truth to the movie than we might originally think.

 

Even before "the enemy at the gates" came out, the historic dual between Konig and the Vasilev was well-documented in the book "one shot, one kill". Of course, the accuracy of the story depends mostly on the accounts of the Russians.

Does sniping apply to infantry actions alone? If a well-hidden 88-mm picks off an unsuspected Sherman from a mile away, is that consider sniping, granted the gun is a little bigger.

 

I don't think sharp-shooting or ambushing tanks is the same as sniping... But this will definitely lead to another discussion of definitions. What is sniping?

 

US Marine Carlos Hathcock had a sniper taken out with a 105mm Howitzer at point-blank-range.Would that qualify as sniping?
He also mounted a scope on an M2 .50 Cal and used that to snipe at extremely long range.

 

That's countersniping. :lol: Did he get tried for unnecessary cruelty?

Seriously. Ouch.

 

Yeah now we are talking, can we move onto the sniper counter-counter warfares.
Sharp shooting is different from sniping. Sniping to me means firing upon an unsuspected enemy while stay hidden out of sight. Thus a 88mm gun hidden in the pushes picking off a sherman too me is also considered an act of "sniping". On the other hand, the same 88mm gun taking out charging Matildas on the opens of the african dessert is sharp-shooting.

 

You couldnt be more right

 

But the hidden 88 would be considered an ambush, and therefore its act of taking out an unsuspecting enemy tank would be ambushing.

Sniping has less of the defensive nature of ambushing, it is more like amking a specific area unsafe for the enemy by hiding yourself and picking off enemy soldiers at great ranges. Another act of area denial, rather than the ambush which is basically a hidden defensive position.

 

Well a sniper is actually more a Ambush-weapon than an Defensive weapon... it is possible to "Ambush" an enemy while on the Defensive..

The shooting that accured during WW1 between the trenches could be considdered "Sharpshooting" and not "Sniping" as the enemy wasnt unsuspecting..

KBO

 

Now this is interesting - I have read accounts from British soldiers in the Desert during the build-up to the final El Alamein battle in which they mention that the Germans set up 88s as 'area denial' weapons to stop Allied armour moving about. One particular account was from a chap who was in a Bren Gun Carrier - the shell went in the front, through the front armour, through the driver, through the bulkhead, and through the rear armour. Apparently you could see daylight from one end to the other. :cry:
Anyway, that was a hidden 88 that 'sniped' enemy armour to create 'area denial'. Does it count?