Inglis Sniper Rifle?

[maple_leaf_eh]

Certainly. But ultimately Finland decided it was in their best interests to make terms and thereafter maintain diplomatic relations by being diplomatic. I leave that up to them.

Finland suffers from the geography of being in the middle. Go back a millenium, and come forward through the decades. Finland has had dominant neighbours every century. If the Norse weren't trying to impose their will on the locals, converting them from paganism to some version of Christianity, monopolizing their trades routes, there was Swedes/Teutonic Knights/Poles/Russian Tsars etc trying to control that section of the Baltic coast. In the 1900's the Finns were caught between semi-neutral Sweden and antagonist Germany and the Soviets. Annoy one by making friends with the other, and in a few years when the tables are turned, get stomped on.

The Winter War 1940 was a success because the mostly self-sufficient Finns so severely delayed the Soviets that both sides acknowledged their losses. The Finns gave up some land, and the Soviets stopped dying in droves. Eighteen months later, the Finns allied with the Nazis and pushed the Soviets back to their old borders and not much further. They lost money and land in the peace, but were never included in the Warsaw Pact.

So, if a successful sniper kept the hordes in their hides, good for him. When the politicians and diplomats have to keep the neighbours better than unhappy, maybe a bit of discrete foreign medical care isn't such a bad tradeoff.

 

[Suomi]

I very much respect Simo Häyhä, but I do wonder how he was able to shoot the Russian who finally got him? Did he not have the lower left part of his face shot off?

If he was able to regain his composure, fight the shock and pain, AND still manage to send the Bolshevik sniper who shot him to meet his maker..... well, he is a true survivor!!

Simo was also in a coma for about seven days from the head shot. I am not sure how he would have exacted revenge, unless they shot each other the same time. From what I know, he was out of the fight following the injury.

 

[Suomi]

"Embarassment" is perhaps not the best description. But the entire war was an embarrassment to Soviet Russia because the Finns stood up to them and held off the vastly larger Red Army so effectively for so long. Talking about it generally or about Hayha's achievements in particular sort of rubs the Russians' collective nose in it. Not good diplomacy.

The end of the Contiuation War was a complicated one. As Germany began to lose and the Soviet's war machine was put into high gear, Finland could not realistically continue to fight. The Soviet offensive was overwhelmingly superior in numbers and supplies. However, the Soviets also knew that to cross the Mannerhiem Line would result in huge losses.

Therefore, the Moscow Armistice was signed. As a result Finland gave up territory, had to remove German troops from Lapland, make payments to the Soviets in money and commodities; and there were war-responsibility trials against Finnish war time leaders etc. (Lauri Thörni is another example). It was a fine balancing act, but, in the end, Finland remained independent.

Also, Finland had to demilitarize somewhat, to appease the Soviet Union. However, many Finnish soldiers stored armaments hidden in their homes, just in case. My father told me stories of having artillary shells in his attic, when he grew up in Helsinki.

 

[Hawkshadow]

Wheaty you should relate any stories here that he may have told you.Perhaps start a new thread.What better way to remember a man who stood so bravely and did so much for his country than to tell his tales to hungry ears.

A fine idea. We are losing touch with the history and the stories every day. Every effort that we can make to preserve them is a positive one.

 

[wheaty]

From what I seem to recall regarding Simo getting the sniper who shot him, it was almost an immediate reaction before the pain set in just as he was shot. I have pictures of Simo's wound however I feel it fitting I not post them, out of respect for the man. Most pictures you see of Simo after the war to his death are from the right side. He was one of the tiniest men I have known, but a giant among men and especially Finns. He was one interesting man, and I only wish I could have spoken to him without using a translator. Things get lost in translation.

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

There is a Finnlander who I knew in Ottawa, he shot two Russians in his backyard then went into town to report for military duty.

 

[RRCo.]

Pavlichenko was presented with a No.4 Mk.I(T) when she visited Enfield in 1942. She probably got a No.4 from Long Branch when she visited here, or maybe she got an Inglis Hi Power. Somewhere on the web it says she was given a Colt pistol in the USA and a Winchester in Canada.

 

[lawn gnome]

If you shot a few hundred communists, Elections Canada would probably be after you

 

[Talquin]

I think the ndp and liberal party wouldn't allow you membership.... The tories might just pin a medal to your chest.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

It’s my job. If I don’t get those bastards, then they’re gonna kill a lot of kids dressed up like Marines. That’s how I look at it.”

I like that quote.

Grizz

 

[John Sukey]

I read somewhere that they shot hundreds of thousands of their own soldiers during WW2.

So much for the workers' paradise.

Stalin shot those soldiers because they were captured by the germans.
Of course it was Stalin's fault in the first place because he thought his good buddy Adolph was on his side.
At the same time the germans went into Russia, there were trainloads of russian wheat going into germany!

 

[cyclone]

I read somewhere that they shot hundreds of thousands of their own soldiers during WW2.

So much for the workers' paradise.

They had soldiers and officers specifically designated to shoot any of their "own side" who looked as though they were about to retreat - or even fall-back....

Another notion was that if a soldier shot a retreating "not-too-senior" officer, there would be an upgrade in rank for that soldier....

Bloody times indeed !.....