The best snipers of World War II: a list. The most productive snipers Famous German snipers of the second world war

After the start Great Patriotic War hundreds of thousands of women went to the front. Most of them became nurses, cooks, and more than 2000 - snipers. The Soviet Union was almost the only country that attracted women to perform combat missions. Today I would like to recall the shooters who were considered the best during the war years.

Rosa Shanina

Rosa Shanina was born in 1924 in the village of Yedma, Vologda province (today the Arkhangelsk region). After 7 classes of training, the girl decided to enter a pedagogical school in Arkhangelsk. The mother was against it, but the daughter's stubbornness was not to be taken from childhood. Buses did not go past the village then, so the 14-year-old girl walked 200 km through the taiga before reaching the nearest station.

Rosa entered the school, but before the war, when education became paid, the girl was forced to go to work in a kindergarten teacher. Fortunately, then the employees of the institution were given housing. Rose continued to study at the evening department and successfully completed the 1941/42 academic year.

Even at the beginning of the war, Roza Shanina applied to the draft board and asked to volunteer for the front, but the 17-year-old girl was refused. In 1942 the situation changed. Then the active training of women snipers began in the Soviet Union. It was believed that they are more cunning, patient, cold-blooded, and the fingers pull the trigger more smoothly. At first, Rosa Shanina was taught to shoot at the Central Women's Sniper Training School. The girl graduated with honors and, having refused the position of instructor, went to the front.

Three days after arriving at the location of the 338th Infantry Division, 20-year-old Roza Shanina fired the first shot. In her diary, the girl described the sensations: “... her legs weakened, she slipped into the trench, not remembering herself: “I killed a man, a man ...” Alarmed friends, running up to me, reassured me: “You killed the fascist!” Seven months later, the sniper girl wrote that she was already killing enemies in cold blood, and now this is the whole meaning of her life.

Among other snipers, Roza Shanina stood out for her ability to make doublets - two consecutive shots that hit moving targets.

Shanina's platoon was ordered to move in the second line, behind the infantry detachments. However, the girl constantly rushed to the front line to "beat the enemy." The rose was strictly cut off, because in the infantry it could be replaced by any soldier, and in a sniper ambush - by no one.

Rosa Shanina took part in the Vilnius and Insterburg-Koenigsberg operations. In European newspapers, she was nicknamed "the invisible horror of East Prussia." Rosa became the first woman to be awarded the Order of Glory.

On January 17, 1945, Roza Shanina wrote in her diary that she could soon die, because only 6 of their 78 fighters remained in their battalion. Because of the incessant fire, she could not get out of the self-propelled gun. On January 27, the unit commander was wounded. In an attempt to cover him, Rose was hit in the chest by a shell fragment. The brave girl died the next day. The nurse said that before her death, Rosa regretted that she had not had time to do more.

Ludmila Pavlichenko

The Western press gave the nickname to another Soviet female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. She was called "Lady Death". Lyudmila Mikhailovna remained famous in world history as the most successful female sniper. On account of her 309 killed soldiers and officers of the enemy.

From the very first days of the war, Lyudmila went to the front as a volunteer. The girl refused to be a nurse and demanded to be enrolled as a sniper. Then Lyudmila was given a rifle in her hands and ordered to shoot two prisoners. She got the job done.

Pavlichenko took part in the defense of Sevastopol, Odessa, in battles in Moldova. After a female sniper was seriously wounded, she was sent to the Caucasus. When Lyudmila recovered, she flew as part of the Soviet delegation to the United States and Canada. Lyudmila Pavlichenko spent several days at the White House at the invitation of Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Soviet sniper made many speeches at numerous congresses, but her speech in Chicago was most memorable. Lyudmila said: “Gentlemen, I am twenty-five years old. At the front, I have already managed to destroy three hundred and nine fascist invaders. Don't you gentlemen think you've been hiding behind my back for too long?" In the first seconds, everyone froze, and then a flurry of approving applause erupted.

On October 25, 1943, female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Nina Petrova

Nina Petrova is the oldest sniper among women. She was 48 years old when the Great Patriotic War began, but age did not affect her accuracy in any way. A woman in her youth was engaged in bullet shooting. At the sniper school, she worked as an instructor. In 1936, Nina Pavlovna released 102 Voroshilov riflemen, which testifies to her highest professionalism.

Behind Nina Petrova 122 killed enemies during the war and the training of snipers. The woman did not live to see the end of the war for only a few days: she died in a car accident.

Claudia Kalugina

Claudia Kalugin was named one of the most productive snipers. She got into the ranks of the Red Army as a 17-year-old girl. On account of Claudia 257 destroyed soldiers and officers.

After the war, Claudia shared her memories of how at first she did not hit the target at the sniper school. They threatened to leave her in the rear if she did not learn to shoot accurately. And not to go to the front line was considered a real shame. For the first time, being in a blizzard in a trench covered with snow, the girl got scared. But then she overcame herself and began to make well-aimed shots one after another. The hardest thing was to drag a rifle along with her, because the growth of thin Claudia was only 157 cm. But the sniper girl overcame all adversity, and over time she was spoken of as the most accurate shooter.

female snipers

This photo of female snipers is also called "775 kills in one shot", because in total they destroyed exactly that many enemy soldiers.

During the Great Patriotic War, not only female snipers terrified the enemy. , because the radars did not detect them, the noise of the engines was practically inaudible, and the girls dropped the bombs with such precision that the enemy was doomed.

Date: 2011-03-22

During the First World War, the work of a sniper grew and developed into a whole independent branch of combat activity, in conditions of positional standing; but already the experience of 1918 made it possible to evaluate the sniper in the field war. The Germans, the inventors of sniping, introduced one shooter with a rifle equipped with a telescopic sight into each light machine gun link. German snipers, in the first period of trench warfare, disabled the British, on the entire front, several hundred people a day, which within a month gave a loss figure equal in number to an entire division. The British quickly responded to the threat by establishing their own sniper school and eventually completely suppressed the enemy shooters. Almost all participants in the world war, especially in the German sectors of the front, had to deal with one or another manifestation of the work of a German sniper. "I personally remember well what a difficult atmosphere was created in the regiments of the 71st Infantry Division in the winter of 1916-1917, the German snipers (probably from the 208th German division), who literally made "Paradise valleys" from some sections of our trenches on the left bank of the Seret River (in Romania). the depth of the trench defeat), they literally did not allow showing half a head, not only because of the parapet, but even into the hole of a disguised machine-gun nest under the parapet, not to mention the breaks in the trenches flanked from their position. A high percentage of officers disabled in the very first minutes of the battle also suggested, even then, the idea that someone was beating them, what is called “to choose from”, - of course, it was snipers who were beating. "(E. N. Sergeev). It was on the fronts of the First World War that the basic principles and specific methods of sniping were determined (for example, sniper pairs - a “shooter-fighter” and an observer-target designator).

It was only later, in the Red Army, that it was possible to create our own Russian sniper school, putting the training of shooters on stream.

Despite the fact that during the First World War the Germans were the first to take the initiative in the use of specially trained soldiers and rifles with a telescopic sight, active work in the field of sniping began in the Wehrmacht only after encountering the Soviet tactics of "sniper terror". In the winter of 1941-1942. snipers appeared on the Russian positions and the sniper movement began to actively develop, supported by the political departments of the fronts. The German command remembered the need for training and their "super accurate shooters." Sniper schools and front-line courses began to be organized in the Wehrmacht, and the “share” of sniper rifles in relation to other types of light small arms gradually began to grow.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the German army used a 7.92 mm Mauser rifle of the 1935 model of the year (K98) with a 1.5x sight of the 1941 model of the year or a fourx Zeiss sight. In terms of its main combat properties, this weapon did not differ much from the Soviet Mosin rifle, so that in terms of armament, the forces of the parties were approximately equal.

The sniper version of the 7.92 mm Mauser 98K carbine was tested back in 1939, but this version began to be mass-produced only after the attack on the USSR. Since 1942, 6% of all carbines produced had an optical sight bracket, but throughout the war there was a shortage of sniper weapons in the German troops. For example, in April 1944, the Wehrmacht received 164,525 carbines, but only 3,276 of them had optical sights, i.e. about 2%. However, according to the post-war assessment of German military experts, “type 98 carbines equipped with standard optics could by no means meet the requirements of combat. Compared to Soviet sniper rifles ... they were significantly different for the worse. Therefore, each Soviet sniper rifle captured as a trophy was immediately used by Wehrmacht soldiers ”(R. Lidshun, G. Vollert. “Small arms yesterday”).
By the way, the ZF41 optical sight with a magnification of 1.5x was attached to a guide specially machined on the aiming block, so that the distance from the shooter's eye to the eyepiece was about 22 cm. from the shooter's eye to the eyepiece, should be quite effective, since it allows you to aim the crosshair at the target without stopping the observation of the area. At the same time, the small magnification of the sight does not give a significant discrepancy in scale between objects observed through the sight and on top of it. In addition, this option for placing optics allows you to load a rifle with clips without losing sight of the target and the muzzle of the barrel. But naturally, a sniper rifle with such a low-powered scope could not be used for long-range shooting. However, such a device was still not popular among Wehrmacht snipers - often such rifles were simply thrown onto the battlefield in the hope of finding something better for themselves.

German sniper's arsenal: Mauser-7.92 rifle, Walther PPK and Walter P-38 pistols

German sniper scope 2.5 magnification

German and Finnish snipers on ultra-precise rifles "Mauser-7.92" had sights with a magnification of only 2.5 times. The Germans (and they were smart people) believed that no more was needed. German snipers had sights with a tenfold increase, but only virtuosos fired with them. Such a sight was obtained as a trophy by Russian sniper Vasily Zaitsev in a duel with the head of the Berlin school of snipers.

Low to intermediate level shooters hit better with low magnification scopes. The process of aiming with a telescopic sight is very strict, when aiming you have to be very collected and very attentive. The optical sight does not so much facilitate aiming as it mobilizes the efforts of a trained shooter to aim and hold the weapon. It is in this regard that the optical sight allows shooters with high training to realize their reserve capabilities. An optical sight is a means of realizing a shooter's training. And the greater the degree of training and acquired stability the shooter has, the greater the increase in the sight he can afford. Only professional snipers with well-trained, well-established stability, with a nervous system balanced to complete indifference, with no pulsation and possessing infernal patience, can afford to work with a sight of magnification of 6 times or more. For such shooters, the target in the sight behaves calmly and does not try to control the shot. (A. Potapov "The Art of the Sniper")

Since 1943, the Wehrmacht used the Walther system self-loading carbine (1943 model), the 7.92-mm G43 (or K43) self-loading rifle had its own sniper version with a 4x optical sight. However, due to low reliability and low accuracy, the "Walter" was not popular among the troops - just like the Tokarev SVT rifle in the Red Army. The German military leadership required all G43 rifles to have a telescopic sight, but this was no longer possible. Nevertheless, out of 402,703 issued before March 1945, almost 50,000 had an optical sight already installed. In addition, all rifles had a bracket for mounting optics, so in theory any rifle could be used as a sniper weapon.

1944 was a turning point for sniper art in the German troops. The role of sniping was finally appreciated by the high command: numerous orders emphasized the need for the competent use of snipers, preferably in pairs of "shooters plus an observer", various types of camouflage and special equipment were developed. It was assumed that during the second half of 1944 the number of sniper pairs in the grenadier and people's grenadier units would be doubled. Heinrich Himmler also became interested in sniping in the SS troops, he approved a program for specialized in-depth training of fighter shooters.
In the same year, by order of the Luftwaffe command, the training films "Invisible Weapons: Sniper in Combat" and "Field Training of Snipers" were filmed for use in training ground units.

Fragment from the training film "Field training of snipers: masters of disguise".

Fragment from the training film "Invisible Weapons: Sniper in Combat"

Both films were shot quite competently and very high quality, even from today's height: here are the main points of special sniper training, the most important recommendations for operations in the field, and all this in a popular form, with a combination of game elements.
A memo widely circulated at that time called "The Ten Commandments of the Sniper" read:
- Fight selflessly.
- Fire calmly and carefully, concentrate on each shot. Remember that rapid fire has no effect.
- Shoot only when you're sure you won't be detected.
- Your main opponent is an enemy sniper, outwit him.
- Do not forget that a sapper shovel prolongs your life.
- Constantly practice in determining distances.
- Become a master of terrain and disguise.
- Train constantly - on the front line and in the rear.
- Take care of your sniper rifle, don't let it fall into anyone's hands.
- Survival for a sniper in nine parts - camouflage and only one - shooting.
In the German army, snipers were used at various tactical levels. It was the experience of applying such a concept that allowed E. Middeldorf in the post-war period to propose the following practice in his book: “In no other issue related to infantry fighting, there are such big contradictions as in the issue of using snipers. Some consider it necessary to have a full-time sniper platoon in every company, or at least in a battalion. Others predict that snipers operating in pairs will have the greatest success. We will try to find a solution that satisfies the requirements of both points of view. First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between "amateur snipers" and "professional snipers". It is desirable that each squad has two non-professional amateur snipers. They need to give the assault rifle a 4x optical sight. They will remain ordinary shooters who have received additional sniper training. If it is not possible to use them as snipers, then they will act as ordinary soldiers. As for professional snipers, there should be two in each company or six in the company control group. They must be armed with a special sniper rifle with a muzzle velocity of more than 1000 m/s, with a telescopic sight with a 6-fold increase in large aperture. These snipers will generally "free hunt" within the company's area. If, depending on the situation and terrain conditions, the need arises to use a platoon of snipers, then this will be easily feasible, since there are 24 snipers in the company (18 amateur snipers and 6 professional snipers), which in this case can be combined together " . Note that this concept of sniping is considered one of the most promising. (Oleg Ryazanov "Super-sharp shooters" from the Wehrmacht)

Matthias Hetzenauer (1924-2004) with a Kar98k rifle with a 6x optical sight.
Sniper of the 3rd Mountain Division (Geb.Jg. 144/3. Gebirgs-Devision). From July 1944 to May 1945 - 345 confirmed killed soldiers of the Red Army. Awarded the Knight's Cross with Swords and Oak Leaves. One of the most productive snipers in Germany.

In the Great Patriotic War, "the Russians were superior to the Germans in the art of night combat, combat in wooded and swampy areas and combat in winter, in the training of snipers, as well as in equipping the infantry with machine guns and mortars" (Eike Middeldorf "Tactics in the Russian Campaign").

German snipers:

Erwin Konig 400/Heinz Thorvald

Matthaus Hetzenauer 345

Josef Sepp Allerberger257

Bruno Sutkus 209

Friedrich Pein 200

Gefreiter Meyer 180

Helmut Wirnsberger 64

An extremely interesting interview with three former Wehrmacht snipers (Sniper's Notebook) gives some idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe German shooters:

This is a general interview with two of the most successful Wehrmacht snipers. To get a broader overview of the experience, an interview with a third, also a very good sniper, has been added.

The fact is that these three soldiers had really good training and a lot of experience to give accurate and informative answers to questions.

During the interview they will be named A, B and C. During the war they were all in the 3. Gebirgsdivision.

Brief information about the respondents.

A: Matthaus H. from Tyrol, on the Eastern Front was from 1943 until the end of the war, the most successful sniper in the Wehrmacht with 345 confirmed kills.

B: Sepp A. from Salzburg, was on the Eastern Front from December 1942 until the end of the war, second in rank with 257 confirmed.

C: Helmut W. of Styria, on the Eastern Front from September 1942 until the end of the war, with 64 confirmed destroyed. After he was wounded, he was an instructor.

What weapon did you use?:

A: K98 with 6x scope, G43 with 4x scope

B: Captured Russian sniper rifle with telescopic sight, K98 with 6x

C: K98 with 1 1/2x and 4x scopes, G43 with 4x scopes.

What scopes did you use?

A: 4x scope used up to 400m, 6x was good up to 1000m

B: I had a Russian sniper rifle for 2 years, and I don't remember the exact type of scope, but it worked well. On K98 I used 6x.

C: 1 1/2x was not efficient enough and was replaced by the better performing 6x.

What do you think about high magnification?

A, B: 6x is enough, there was no need for a higher one.

C: 4x is enough for most missions.

The maximum shooting distance at which you could hit the following targets?

Head: A, B, C: up to 400m

Embrasure: A: up to 600m

Human figure: A: 700m - 800m

B, C: about 600m

Are these distances acceptable to you personally, typical only for the best or for all snipers?

A, B: only for the best snipers

C: For me personally, but also for most German snipers. Some hit targets at longer distances.

B: Complementary: Really 100% defeat is only possible up to 600m.

What was the farthest target you hit and what was it?

A: It was a standing soldier about 1100m away. At this distance, you are unlikely to hit, but we wanted to show the enemy that he was not safe at this distance. We also wanted to demonstrate our skills to the officer corps.

C: 600m, if there was a target further away, I waited until it closed the distance because it was easier to shoot and it was easier to confirm. The G43 had insufficient ballistic capabilities, so I only fired it up to 500m.

How many second shots were needed?

A: Almost never needed a second shot.

B: 1 or 2. The second shot was very dangerous because of the enemy snipers.

C: 1 or 2 at the most.

If you could choose which rifle would you prefer?

a) a manually operated rifle like the K98:

A: K98 due to high precision

b) Self-loading rifle like G43:

A: Not the G43 because it's only good up to 400m and doesn't have enough accuracy.

B: Not G43, too heavy.

C: Yes, because it was reliable and not much worse than the K98.

If you could choose today between a self-loading rifle with the same accuracy as the K98 and K98, which would you choose?

A: I would choose the K98 because a sniper who is used as a sniper doesn't need a self-loading rifle.

B: If it has the same weight....self-loading.

C: Self-loading can shoot faster when attacking.

How were you attached to your units?

All of them belonged to snipergroup Btl.; C was the commander of this unit. This unit consisted of up to 22 soldiers, of which six were permanently with Btl., the rest were attached to companies. The results of the observation, the use of ammunition and the destroyed targets were reported daily to the headquarters of Btl.

At the start of the mission, Btl. During the war, when there were fewer good snipers, they were sometimes ordered by the division headquarters.

In each company, some soldiers were equipped with rifles with telescopic sights, but they did not have any special training. They fired reliably up to 400m and did a very good job. These soldiers were serving in their normal mode of service within companies and were not able to get that high "lethality" as real snipers.

Tactics and goals?

A, B, C: always in a team of two. One is shooting, the other is watching. The most common missions: the destruction of enemy observers (heavy weapons), commanders. Sometimes targets like anti-tank gun crews, machine gun crews, and so on. The snipers followed the attacking forces and fought the most fortified enemy positions (with heavy weapon crews and so on).

A: I had to sneak through the enemy defense line before our attack in order to destroy enemy commanders and crews during our artillery preparation.

b) Attack at night:

A, B, C: We didn't fight during the night because the snipers were too precious.

c) Attack in winter:

A: I walked behind the attacking force in winter camouflage to counter the machine gun and anti-tank positions that countered our attack.

B, C: A good camouflage suit and warm clothing is essential, otherwise the possibility of long-term observation is reduced.

d) Defense

A, B, C: mainly free hunting in the company defense sector. Usually all targets or only the most important targets were to be destroyed. When the enemy attacked, their commanders were easy to identify because they had different equipment, camouflage uniforms and so on. So we fired them at great distances and in such a way that the enemy advance was stopped. (One day A remembers that he destroyed the commanders of eight attacks).

As soon as enemy snipers appear, they are fought to the point of destruction. These duels against enemy snipers caused many casualties in our ranks.

Snipers take up their positions before sunrise and stay there until sunset.

Sometimes, if the path to your own position was blocked by the enemy, you had to stay two or three days in this position without support.

e) Defense at night

A, B, C: Snipers were not used during the night. They weren't allowed into the security service or anything like that. Sometimes during the night they set up their position to be ready during the day.

f) Did you use moonlight when shooting?

A: Yes, if the moonlight was strong enough and I used a 6x telescopic sight, it was possible.

g) Containment Combat:

A, C: Usually 4 to 6 snipers fired at every enemy soldier that appeared. Machine guns were not often used in these rear areas, so one or two shots from a sniper delayed the enemy for a long time, and their own positions were not unmasked.

B: No experience. In this situation, everyone shoots at everything.

What tactic have you had the most success with?

A: A sniper's success is not measured by the people he killed, but by the impact he had on the enemy. For example, if the enemy loses commanders in an offensive, the offensive must be stopped. Of course, we had the highest indicators of those destroyed in defensive battles, when the enemy attacked several times a day.

B: On the defensive because no other kills have been confirmed.

C: The biggest success in the longest period of trench warfare due to good surveillance capabilities.

Percentage of destroyed for each distance:

Up to 400m: A: 65%

Up to 600m: A: 30%

Up to 800m: others

A: 65% up to 400m was not due to shooting distance, but due to being able to identify the target as "worth it". So, I often waited until I could identify the target.

B: Can't remember percentage, but most targets were hit up to 600m.

C: Did most shots up to 400m because it was a safe distance and it was easy to see if it hit or not.

How many shots did you fire from one position?

A, B, C: as many as needed

b) Defense in an equipped position:

A, B, C: 1 to 3 at most.

c) Enemy attack:

A, B, C: for every worthwhile goal.

d) Confronting enemy snipers:

A, B, C: 1 or 2

e) delaying fight

A, B, C: 1 or 2 was enough because the sniper wasn't alone.

B: Complementary: Kills are not confirmed during an attack or an enemy attack.

What else is important besides excellent shooting?

A: Apart from normal sniper skills, wit always wins. A man's "little tactics" win the battle. To get a high kill rate, it is also important that the sniper is not used for any other duty besides sniping.

B: Calmness, superiority, courage.

C: Patience and service life, excellent observation ability.

Who were the snipers recruited from?

A: Only born "lone fighters" like hunters, poachers and so on.

B: I don't remember. I had 27 kills with my Russian rifle before being admitted to sniper training.

C: Only soldiers with combat experience, with excellent marksmanship skills and two years of service, were admitted to sniper training.

What sniper courses did you take?

A, B, C: sniper course on Toepl Seetaleralpe.

C: I was there as a teacher (instructor).

Did you use binoculars and what amplification?

A: It was 6x30, but it wasn't enough for longer distances. Got 10x50 lateron and this one was good.

B: Binoculars as needed as an addition to the scope on the rifle.

C: Every sniper had binoculars and it was necessary. Up to 500m 6x30 was enough.

Would you prefer to watch through the periscope from the trench?

A: It was a good addition. We had one Russian.

C: If caught among the trophies, then it was used.

Were there scissor telescopes in use?

A, C: Yes, sometimes we used it with an artillery spotter.

What camouflage did you use?

A, B, C: Camouflage suits, painted face and hands, rifle camo in winter with blenket and coloring.

B: I have been using the umbrella for two years. I painted it like the environment. At the beginning I painted my hands and face very carefully, less at the end.

Have you used other things to deceive the enemy?

B: Yes, for example, false position with rifles that fire with wire structures.

Did you use some screen?

What do you think about tracer cartridges?

A, B, C: should not be used in combat because one cannot unmask one's own position.

They were used in training and in rifle testing. Also, each sniper had a few to check the distance.

Have you used so-called sighting cartridges that explode when they hit the ground?

A, B, C: Yes, small flames appear when they hit a target, so you can see if they hit. We also used them to set fire to a wooden building in order to smoke the enemy out of it. They were used at distances up to 600m.

How did you work with a side wind?

A: Feeling and experience sometimes tested with tracer rounds. The training on the Seetaleralpe was very good because there was a lot of wind there.

B: Feeling if there was a strong wind, we didn't shoot.

C: We didn't shoot if there was wind.

A, B, C: No, feeling, experience, fast aiming and fast shooting.

Did you use anti-tank rifles?

A: Yes, disabled some weapons crews through their screen. It was possible to shoot at targets up to 300m because it was not an accurate enough weapon. Very heavy and was not used by snipers. Didn't use it against soft targets.

How did you confirm the destroyed?

A, B, C: Either through an officer, or two soldiers who watched the destruction.

So, the number of confirmed destroyed is much lower than the real number.

X. Hesketh-Pritchard: "Sniping in France" (SERVICE OF THE SUPER-STROKE GUNS IN THE WORLD WAR ON THE WESTERN EUROPEAN FRONT). Translation from English, edited and with a preface by E.N. SERGEEVA, 1925
http://www.snipercentral.com/snipers.htm#WWII
Oleg Ryazanov "History of sniper art" http://www.bratishka.ru/zal/sniper/
A. Potapov "The Art of the Sniper", 2002

Well-trained snipers have always been valued in all the armies of the world, but the importance of snipers increased especially during the Second World War. The results of this war showed that the snipers of the Red Army turned out to be the most prepared and effective in their overwhelming majority. Soviet sniper fighters in many respects were noticeably superior to the snipers of the German Wehrmacht and not only them.

And this was not surprising, it turns out that the Soviet Union was almost the only country in the world where training in shooting was put on stream, they practically covered wide sections of the population throughout the country, they trained citizens in shooting in peacetime, as part of pre-conscription training , the older generation probably still remembers the sign "Voroshilovsky shooter".

Soviet snipers practice ambush

The high quality of this training was soon tested by the war, during which Soviet snipers showed all their skills, this skill is confirmed by the so-called sniper "death lists", from which it is clear that only the first ten Soviet snipers destroyed (according to confirmed data) 4200 soldiers and officers, and the first twenty - 7400, the Germans did not have such dozens and twenty.

Despite the heaviest defeats of the first months of the war, the training of the best shooters in units and formations of the front line continued at an accelerated pace and did not stop for a minute. The training of snipers, in addition, was carried out in reserve training units and in short courses directly in the combat formations of the troops.

However, the military command understood the need for centralized training of "super accurate shooters." As early as September 18, 1941, a decree was issued on universal compulsory military training for citizens of the USSR, which made it possible to organize military training for the population on the job. The training program was designed for 110 hours. In addition to other military specialties (machine gunner, mortar, signalman), the study also went along the line of sniping.

Cadets of the school of snipers at a practical lesson

Nevertheless, it was extremely difficult to train snipers in such a short time, so it was soon decided to open special "schools for excellent sniper training" (SHOSSP) at the military districts. The training went on for 3-4 months already with a break from production. The Moscow Military District alone had three such schools. OSOAVIAKhIM sniper instructors were involved as teachers, which, as in peacetime, continued to train sniper personnel in their schools.

In addition, it was decided to organize a centralized training of highly qualified snipers with instructor skills. For this, on March 20, 1942, a school of sniper instructors was established in Veshnyaki near Moscow.

Snipers of the Red Army take a position

Our opponents of the Germans also had special sniper schools, but the Germans did not have such a wide coverage and such a serious approach to the training of snipers, and they ended up far behind the Red Army in sniper business.

During the Second World War, much attention was paid to sniper business in the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition, however, the results of the Anglo-American snipers were much more modest than those of the Russians, Germans and Finns. The most trained snipers among the allies were mainly from the British, American snipers mainly distinguished themselves in battles with the Japanese in the Pacific.

Sniper work was difficult and dangerous, for hours, or even days, the fighters had to lie in the snow or swamp, in constant tension and attention, the equipment of the Soviet sniper during the Great Patriotic War was rather stingy. In addition to an optical sight for monitoring targets, they had a variety of field glasses (usually 6x and 8x) and TR and TR-8 trench periscopes.

For self-defense in close combat, the sniper often took several hand grenades, a pistol and a knife with him on a mission. If a sniper group was ambushed, then the weapons were also supplemented with a PPSh or PPS submachine gun. Throughout the war and after it, until the adoption of the SVD (in 1963), the standard sniper rifle in our army remained a mod. 1891/30 with a PU sight.

Unknown Soviet female snipers at the dugout. On overcoats sergeant's shoulder straps, in the hands of a Mosin rifle with a PU optical sight (Short Sight)

In total, from 1941 to 1945, 53.195 sniper rifles of the 1891/30 model were produced in the USSR. and 48,992 SVT sniper rifles. For wartime, this is a rather large figure, but if you look at the real number of professional snipers trained during the same time and make an allowance for the natural loss of weapons during hostilities, it becomes clear that all front-line "super sharp shooters" simply could not be provided with special sniper weapons.

By the middle of 1942, Soviet snipers were actively working on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War, they unleashed real sniper terror against the German troops, our snipers had a huge moral impact on enemy soldiers, and this is understandable why, since our snipers shot enemy soldiers almost daily and almost on a daily basis.

The most famous Soviet sniper, of course, is the Hero of Stalingrad Vasily Zaitsev, who destroyed 242 German soldiers and officers, including the head of the Berlin sniper school, Major Konings. In total, Zaitsev's group destroyed 1,126 enemy servicemen in four months of fighting. Zaitsev's comrades-in-arms were Nikolai Ilyin, who had 496 Germans on his account, Pyotr Goncharov - 380, Viktor Medvedev - 342.

It should be noted that the main merit of Zaitsev is not so much in his personal combat account, but in the fact that he became a key figure in the deployment of a sniper movement among the ruins of Stalingrad, naturally, the whole of the then Soviet agitprop worked for Zaitsev’s group, so he and all of us sign.

Soviet sniper V.A. Sidorov at a firing position in August 1941. The Red Army soldier is armed with a Mosin sniper rifle with a PE optical sight of the 1931 model, it is also worth noting the SSh-36 "Halking helmet" helmet (Steel helmet 1936)

And the main record holder for the destruction of enemy soldiers according to the "death list" was sniper Mikhail Ilyich Surkov (4th rifle division), on his account 702 enemy soldiers and officers were killed, then in the top ten they go by the number of enemy soldiers killed:

- Vladimir Gavrilovich Salbiev (71st Guards SD and 95th Guards SD) - 601 people.
- Vasily Shalvovich Kvachantiradze (259 s.p.) - 534 people.
- Akhat Abdulkhakovich Akhmetyanov (260 joint ventures) - 502 people.
- Ivan Mikhailovich Sidorenko (1122 s.p.) - 500 people. + 1 tank, 3 tractors
- Nikolai Yakovlevich Ilyin (50th Guards Rifle Regiment) - 494 people.
- Ivan Nikolaevich Kulbertinov (23 sep. ski brigades; 7 Guards airborne troops - des.p.) - 487 people.
- Vladimir Nikolayevich Pchelintsev (11 s.br.) - 456 people (including 14 snipers)
- Nikolai Evdokimovich Kazyuk - 446 members.
- Petr Alekseevich Goncharov (44th Guards Rifle Regiment) - 441 people.

In total, there are 17 Soviet snipers, whose account of destroyed enemy soldiers exceeds 400 people. Over 300 destroyed enemy soldiers were recorded at the expense of 25 Soviet snipers, 36 Soviet snipers destroyed more than 200 enemy soldiers.

The best of the enemy snipers are considered: the Finnish sniper Simo Haiha is the fifth in the general list, he has over 500 killed enemy soldiers on his account, of the Wehrmacht snipers the most productive is the twenty-seventh in the general list of Matthias Hetzenauer, he has 345 killed enemy soldiers and Sepp Allerberg on his account his account is 257 enemy soldiers and officers.

According to some researchers, the real accounts of many Soviet snipers are actually higher than the confirmed ones. So, for example, Fedor Okhlopkov, a sniper of 259 s.p., according to some reports, in total destroyed more than 1000 (!) Germans, using a machine gun as well, but on his official combat account he recorded only 429 destroyed enemy soldiers, probably the situation on the battlefield did not always make it possible to calculate their results more accurately.

In the diaries and letters found in the dead soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht, there are such phrases: “ A Russian sniper is something very terrible, you can’t hide from him anywhere! You can't raise your head in the trenches. The slightest indiscretion - and you will immediately get a bullet between the eyes ... Russian snipers lie in one place for hours in ambush and take aim at anyone who shows up. Only in the dark can you feel safe».

But it turns out that the Germans also could not feel safe in the dark. So, the sniper of the 1st Guards Artillery Regiment, Ivan Kalashnikov (it turns out that there were also snipers in the artillery) out of 350 destroyed soldiers 45 Nazis destroyed at night - this shooter truly had cat's eyesight!

By 1943, there were already more than 1,000 women among Soviet snipers, during the war they counted more than 12,000 killed Nazis, the best of the female snipers is considered to be Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlyuchenko, a sniper of 54 s.p., during the war she managed to destroy 309 enemy soldiers of them 36 were themselves snipers.

Soviet sniper Sergeant Tsyrendashi Dorzhiev from the 202nd Infantry Division in a firing position. Leningrad front. The combat score of Ts. Dorzhiev (Buryat by nationality) before his death in January 1943 amounted to 270 destroyed enemy soldiers and officers.

Adopted by the Red Army in 1942, the “Combat Charter of the Infantry” defined the range of combat missions solved by snipers at the front as follows: “ Destruction of snipers, officers, observers, gun and machine-gun crews (especially flanking and dagger crews), crews of stalled tanks, low-flying enemy aircraft, and in general all important targets that appear for a short time and quickly disappear ... The sniper must also be able to show with a tracer bullet and in other ways infantry, artillery, mortars and anti-tank rifles important targets that are not vulnerable to a bullet: tanks, bunkers (DZOT), guns».

And the Soviet snipers clearly carried out all these tasks assigned to them. Thus, a sniper, Marine Philipp Yakovlevich Rubakho (393rd Separate Battalion Marine Infantry) destroyed 346 enemy soldiers, 1 tank and disabled the garrisons of 8 enemy bunkers. Sniper 849 s.p. Ivan Abdulov destroyed 298 German soldiers, 5 of them were snipers themselves, plus the brave fighter also destroyed two enemy tanks with grenades. Sniper 283 Gv.s.p. Anatoly Kozlenkov, in addition to the 194 people he killed. enemy soldiers, knocked out 2 tanks with grenades, and destroyed 3 armored personnel carriers of the Germans.

And there are many such examples, our snipers even managed to knock out German planes, as it is known that the sniper of the 82nd Infantry Division Mikhail Lysov in October 1941 shot down a Yu-87 dive bomber from an automatic rifle with a sniper scope. Unfortunately, there is no data on the number of infantrymen killed by him, and the sniper of the 796th Infantry Division, Sergeant Major Antonov Vasily Antonovich, shot down a Yu-88 twin-engine bomber with 4 shots from a rifle near Voronezh in July 1942! There is also no data on the number of infantrymen killed by him.

Sniper of the 203rd Infantry Division (3rd Ukrainian Front) Senior Sergeant Ivan Petrovich Merkulov at the firing position. In March 1944, Ivan Merkulov was awarded the highest award - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, during the war years the sniper destroyed more than 144 enemy soldiers and officers.

Even Hitler's generals died from the fire of Soviet snipers, so on account of the sniper Semyon Nomokonov, among the 367 German soldiers and officers he destroyed, one was in the rank of General of the Wehrmacht. On account of the sniper 14 s.p. NKVD troops Yevgeny Nikolaev also recorded a German general.

There were even snipers specifically designed to deal with enemy snipers, so the sniper 81 Gv.s.p. Vasily Golosov destroyed 422 enemy soldiers in total, 70 of them were snipers themselves.

A special practice of using snipers existed at that time in the NKVD troops. After training and special training, the "super-sharp shooters" went on combat training to the active army. Such sniper teams usually numbered from 20 to 40 people, the duration of a business trip was from 10 days to a month. Thus, a significant part of the personnel not only received special training, but also underwent a run-in in real front-line conditions. For example, in the 23rd division of the NKVD troops for the protection of railways, 7283 snipers were trained during the war years.

Snipers of the division of Senior Lieutenant F.D. Lunin conduct salvo fire on enemy aircraft.

In the memorandum "On the combat activities of snipers of the NKVD troops of the USSR for the protection of important industrial enterprises for the period from October 1, 1942 to December 31, 1943" says: "... Over the past period, parts of the troops have been practicing in the combat formations of the active Red Army, some of them 2-3 times. As a result of combat work, 39,745 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed by snipers of the troops. In addition, an enemy plane was shot down and 10 stereo tubes and periscopes were destroyed. Losses of our snipers: 68 people were killed, 112 people were wounded».

In total, during the years of the war, a total of 428,335 excellent snipers were trained - this is a huge figure, in no army in the world there was such mass training of snipers, which significantly strengthened the combat formations of rifle units.
In addition, 9534 highly qualified snipers were trained in training formations of central subordination.

I would especially like to remember and note Lieutenant General G.F. Morozov, it was he who made a great contribution to the organization of centralized training of sniper personnel, it was he who, heading one of the departments of the General Staff, accumulated and analyzed the combat experience of Soviet snipers throughout the war.

In total, during the war years, 87 snipers became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and 39 became full holders of the Order of Glory..

Female snipers of the 3rd Shock Army, 1st Belorussian Front. From left to right:
1st row from the viewer - Guard Senior Sergeant V.N. Stepanova (on her account - 20 enemies), Guard Senior Sergeant Yu.P. Belousova (80 enemies), senior sergeant A.E. Vinogradov (83 enemies);
2nd row - guards junior lieutenant E.K. Zhibovskaya (24 enemies), senior sergeant K.F. Marinkina (79 enemies), Guard Senior Sergeant O.S. Marienkina (70 enemies);
3rd row - guards junior lieutenant N.P. Belobrova (70 enemies), Guard Lieutenant N.A. Lobkovskaya (89 enemies), guard junior lieutenant V.I. Artamonov (89 enemies), senior sergeant M.G. Zubchenko (83 enemies);
4th row - guards sergeant N.P. Obukhovskaya (64 enemies), Guard Sergeant A.R. Belyakova (24 enemies).

Sniper Roza Shanina with his rifle. Roza Shanina in the active troops since April 2, 1944. On account of 54 confirmed destroyed soldiers and officers, including 12 snipers. Cavalier of the Orders of Glory 2nd and 3rd degree. Killed in action on January 28, 1945, 3 km southeast of the village of Ilmsdorf, Rihau district, East Prussia.

Hero of the Soviet Union, sniper of the 25th Chapaev division Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko (1916-1974). Destroyed over 300 fascist soldiers and officers.

Soviet sniper Maxim Aleksandrovich Passar. Ethnic Nanai, sniper of the 71st Guards Rifle Division, destroyed over 230 Nazis. He died on January 17, 1943 in a battle near the village of Peschanka, Gorodishchensky district. On February 16, 2010, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 199, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

When it comes to sniping during the Second World War, they usually think of Soviet snipers. Indeed, no other army had such a scope of sniper movement as it was in the Soviet Army in those years, and the total number of enemy soldiers and officers destroyed by our arrows is in the tens of thousands.
And what do we know about German snipers, "opponents" of our shooters from the other side of the front? Previously, it was officially not customary to objectively assess the merits and demerits of the enemy, with whom Russia had to wage a very difficult war for four years. Today, times have changed, but too much time has passed since those events, so much of the information is fragmentary and even doubtful. Nevertheless, we will try to bring together the few information available to us.

As you know, during the First World War, it was the German army that was the first to actively use accurate rifle fire from snipers specially trained in peacetime to destroy the most important targets - officers, messengers, machine gunners on duty, artillery servants. Note that already at the end of the war, the German infantry had at its disposal up to six sniper rifles per company - for comparison, it must be said that the Russian army of that time had neither rifles with optical sights nor trained shooters from this weapon.
The German army instruction stated that “a weapon with an optical sight is very accurate at a distance of up to 300 meters. It should be issued only to trained shooters who are able to eliminate the enemy in his trenches, mainly at dusk and at night. ... The sniper is not assigned to a specific place and a specific position. He can and should move and position himself in such a way as to fire at an important target. He must use an optical sight to observe the enemy, write down in a notebook his observations and the results of observation, the consumption of ammunition and the results of his shots. Snipers are exempt from additional duties.

They have the right to wear special insignia in the form of crossed oak leaves over the cockade of the headdress.
German snipers played a special role precisely in the positional period of the war. Even without attacking the front line of the enemy, the Entente troops suffered losses in manpower. As soon as a soldier or officer inadvertently leaned out from behind the parapet of a trench, a sniper's shot instantly clicked from the side of the German trenches. The moral effect of such losses was extremely great. The mood of the Anglo-French units, losing several dozen people killed and wounded in a day, was depressed. There was only one way out: to release their "super-sharp shooters" to the forefront. In the period from 1915 to 1918, snipers were actively used by both warring parties, thanks to which the concept of military sniping was basically formed, combat missions for "super-accurate shooters" were defined, and basic tactics were worked out.

It was the German experience in the practical application of sniping in the conditions of established long-term positions that served as the impetus for the emergence and development of this type of military art in the Allied forces. By the way, when from 1923 the then German army - the Reichswehr began to be equipped with new Mauser carbines of the 98K version, then each company received 12 units of such weapons equipped with optical sights.

Nevertheless, in the interwar period, snipers were somehow forgotten in the German army. However, there is nothing unusual in this fact: in almost all European armies (with the exception of the Red Army), sniper art was considered simply an interesting, but insignificant experiment of the positional period of the Great War. The future war was seen by military theorists primarily as a war of engines, where motorized infantry would only follow tank attack wedges, which, with the support of front-line aviation, would be able to break through the enemy front and quickly rush there in order to reach the flank and operational rear of the enemy. In such conditions, there was practically no real work left for snipers.

This concept of the use of motorized troops in the first experiments seemed to have confirmed its correctness: the German blitzkrieg swept across Europe with frightening speed, sweeping away armies and fortifications. However, with the beginning of the invasion of Nazi troops on the territory of the Soviet Union, the situation began to change rapidly. Although the Red Army retreated under the onslaught of the Wehrmacht, it offered such fierce resistance that the Germans repeatedly had to go on the defensive in order to repel counterattacks. And when already in the winter of 1941-1942. snipers appeared on Russian positions and the sniper movement began to actively develop, supported by the political departments of the fronts, the German command remembered the need to train their "super-sharp shooters" as well. Sniper schools and front-line courses began to be organized in the Wehrmacht, and the “share” of sniper rifles in relation to other types of light small arms gradually began to grow.

The sniper version of the 7.92 mm Mauser 98K carbine was tested back in 1939, but this version began to be mass-produced only after the attack on the USSR. Since 1942, 6% of all carbines produced had an optical sight bracket, but throughout the war there was a shortage of sniper weapons in the German troops. For example, in April 1944, the Wehrmacht received 164,525 carbines, but only 3,276 of them had optical sights, i.e. about 2%. However, according to the post-war assessment of German military experts, “type 98 carbines equipped with standard optics could by no means meet the requirements of combat. Compared to Soviet sniper rifles ... they were significantly different for the worse. Therefore, every Soviet sniper rifle captured as a trophy was immediately used by Wehrmacht soldiers.

By the way, the ZF41 optical sight with a magnification of 1.5x was attached to a guide specially machined on the aiming block, so that the distance from the shooter's eye to the eyepiece was about 22 cm. from the shooter's eye to the eyepiece, should be quite effective, since it allows you to aim the crosshair at the target without stopping the observation of the area. At the same time, the small magnification of the sight does not give a significant discrepancy in scale between objects observed through the sight and on top of it. In addition, this option for placing optics allows you to load a rifle with clips without losing sight of the target and the muzzle of the barrel. But naturally, a sniper rifle with such a low-powered scope could not be used for long-range shooting. However, such a device was still not popular among Wehrmacht snipers - often such rifles were simply thrown onto the battlefield in the hope of finding something better for themselves.

Produced since 1943, the 7.92 mm self-loading rifle G43 (or K43) also had its own sniper version with a 4x optical sight. The German military leadership required all G43 rifles to have a telescopic sight, but this was no longer possible. Nevertheless, out of 402,703 issued before March 1945, almost 50,000 had an optical sight already installed. In addition, all rifles had a bracket for mounting optics, so in theory any rifle could be used as a sniper weapon.

Given all these shortcomings in the weapons of German shooters, as well as numerous shortcomings in the organization of the sniper training system, it is hardly possible to dispute the fact that the German army lost the sniper war on the Eastern Front. This is confirmed by the words of the former Lieutenant Colonel of the Wehrmacht Eike Middeldorf, author of the well-known book "Tactics in the Russian Campaign", that "the Russians were superior to the Germans in the art of night combat, combat in wooded and swampy areas and combat in winter, in the training of snipers, as well as in equipping the infantry with machine guns and mortars.
The famous duel between the Russian sniper Vasily Zaitsev and the head of the Berlin sniper school Connings, which took place during the Battle of Stalingrad, became a symbol of the complete moral superiority of our "super sharp shooters", although the end of the war was still very far away and many more Russian soldiers would carry German bullets to the grave shooters.

At the same time, on the other side of Europe, in Normandy, German snipers were able to achieve much greater success, repulsing the attacks of the Anglo-American troops that had landed on the French coast.
After the landing of the allies in Normandy, almost a whole month of bloody battles passed before the Wehrmacht units were forced to begin a retreat under the influence of ever-increasing enemy strikes. It was during this month that the German snipers showed that they, too, were capable of something.

American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, describing the first days after the landing of the allied forces, wrote: “Snipers are everywhere. Snipers in trees, in buildings, in piles of ruins, in the grass. But mostly they hide in the high, dense hedges that stretch along the Normandy fields, and are on every roadside, in every alley. First of all, such a high activity and combat effectiveness of German shooters can be explained by the extremely small number of snipers in the Allied forces, who were unable to provide a quick response to sniper terror from the enemy. In addition, a purely psychological moment cannot be discounted: the British and especially the Americans, for the most part, subconsciously still perceive war as a kind of risky sport, so it is not surprising that many Allied soldiers were severely amazed and morally depressed by the very fact of having some invisible enemy, stubbornly unwilling to abide by the gentlemanly "laws of war" and shooting from an ambush. The morale effect of sniper fire was indeed quite significant, since, according to some historians, in the first days of the fighting, up to fifty percent of all losses in American units were at the expense of enemy snipers. A natural consequence of this was the lightning-fast spread of legends about the combat capabilities of enemy shooters through the “soldier telegraph”, and soon the panic fear of soldiers in front of snipers became a serious problem for officers of the allied forces.

The tasks that the Wehrmacht command set for its "super sharp shooters" were standard for army sniping: the destruction of such categories of enemy military personnel as officers, sergeants, artillery observers, signalmen. In addition, snipers were used as reconnaissance observers.

American veteran John Huyton, who was 19 at the time of the landings, recalls his encounter with a German sniper. When his unit was able to move away from the landing point and reached the enemy fortifications, the gun crew tried to install their gun on the top of the hill. But every time another soldier tried to get up to the sight, a shot clicked in the distance - and the next gunner sank with a bullet in his head. Note that, according to Hayton, the distance to the German position was very significant - about eight hundred meters.

The following fact speaks of the number of German “super-shooters” on the shores of Normandy: when the 2nd battalion of the “Royal Ulster Fusiliers” moved to capture the commanding heights near Perrier-sur-le-Dene, after a short battle, they captured seventeen prisoners, seven of them turned out to be snipers.

Another unit of British infantry moved up from the coast towards Cambrai, a small village surrounded by dense forest and stone walls. Since observation of the enemy was impossible, the British jumped to the conclusion that there must be little resistance. When one of the companies reached the edge of the forest, it came under heavy rifle and mortar fire. The effectiveness of the German rifle fire was strangely high: the orderlies of the medical department were killed while trying to carry the wounded from the battlefield, the captain was killed on the spot with a shot in the head, one of the platoon commanders was seriously wounded. The tanks supporting the unit's attack were powerless to do anything because of the high wall surrounding the village. The battalion command was forced to stop the offensive, but by this time the company commander and fourteen other people had been killed, one officer and eleven soldiers were wounded, four people were missing. In fact, Cambrai turned out to be a well-fortified German position. When, after processing it with all kinds of artillery - from light mortars to naval guns - the village was nevertheless taken, it turned out to be filled with dead German soldiers, many of whom had rifles with telescopic sights. One wounded sniper from SS units was also captured.

Many of the riflemen that the Allies encountered in Normandy received good marksmanship training from the Hitler Youth. Before the start of the war, this youthful organization strengthened the military training of its members: all of them without fail studied the device of military weapons, trained in shooting from small-caliber rifles, and the most capable of them purposefully studied sniper art. When later these “children of Hitler” entered the army, they received full-fledged sniper training. In particular, the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitler Youth, which fought in Normandy, was manned by soldiers from among the members of this organization, and officers from the SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, notorious for its atrocities. In the battles in the Cannes region, these teenagers received a baptism of fire.

In general, Cannes was almost an ideal place for a sniper war. Working together with artillery spotters, the German snipers had complete control of the area around this city, the British and Canadian soldiers were forced to carefully check literally every meter of the territory to make sure that the area was really cleared of enemy "cuckoos".
On June 26, an ordinary SS man named Peltzmann, from a well-chosen and carefully camouflaged position, destroyed the Allied soldiers for several hours, holding back their advance in his area. When the sniper ran out of ammunition, he got out of his prone, smashed his rifle against a tree and shouted to the British: "I finished off enough of yours, but I ran out of ammunition - you can shoot me!" Perhaps he could not have said this: the British infantrymen gladly complied with his last request. The captured Germans who were present at this scene were forced to gather all the dead in one place. One of these prisoners later claimed to have counted at least thirty British dead near Peltzmann's position.

Despite the lesson learned by the Allied infantry in the very first days after the landing in Normandy, there were no effective means against the German "super sharp shooters", they became a constant headache. The possible presence of invisible shooters, ready to fire a bullet at anyone every minute, exhausted the nerves. Clearing the area of ​​snipers was a very difficult task, sometimes taking a whole day to completely comb the area around the field camp, but without this no one could vouch for their safety.

Allied soldiers gradually learned in practice the basics of precautions against sniper fire that the Germans themselves learned three years ago, finding themselves in the same situation under the guns of Soviet fighters. In order not to tempt fate, the Americans and the British began to move, bending low to the ground, dashing from cover to cover; the rank and file stopped greeting the officers, and the officers, in turn, began to wear field uniforms, very similar to the soldier's - everything was done in order to minimize the risk and not provoke the enemy sniper to shoot. Nevertheless, the sense of danger became a constant companion of the soldiers in Normandy.

German snipers melted into the difficult landscape of Normandy. The fact is that most of this area is a real maze of fields, fenced with hedges. These hedges date back to Roman times and were used to mark the boundaries of land. The land here was divided by hedges of hawthorn, brambles and various creepers into small fields, which strongly resembled a patchwork quilt. Some of these fences were planted on high embankments, in front of which drainage ditches were dug. When it rained—and it rained often—mud stuck to soldiers' boots, cars got stuck and tanks had to be pulled out, and there was only darkness, a dull sky, and shaggy hedges.

Not surprisingly, such terrain provided an ideal battlefield for sniper warfare. Moving into the depths of France, the units left a lot of enemy shooters in their tactical rear, who then began the systematic shooting of careless rear soldiers. The hedges made it possible to view the area at only two or three hundred meters, and from such a distance even a novice sniper can hit the head figure from a rifle with an optical sight. Dense vegetation not only limited the view, but also allowed the “cuckoo” shooter to easily escape from the return fire after a few shots.

The fighting among the hedgerows was reminiscent of Theseus' wanderings in the labyrinth of the Minotaur. The tall, dense bushes along the roads made the soldiers of the allied forces feel like they were in a tunnel, in the depths of which an insidious trap was set up. The terrain presented numerous opportunities for snipers to choose "prone" and equip shooting cells, while their opponent was in the exact opposite situation. Most often, in the fences on the paths of the most probable movement of the enemy, Wehrmacht snipers arranged numerous “prone” positions from which they fired harassing fire, and also covered machine-gun positions, set up surprise mines, etc. - in other words, there was a systematic and well-organized sniper terror. Single German shooters, finding themselves deep in the rear of the Allies, hunted enemy soldiers and officers until they ran out of ammunition and food, and then ... simply surrendered, which, given the attitude of the enemy military personnel towards them, was quite a risky business.

However, not everyone was willing to surrender. It was in Normandy that the so-called “suicide boys” appeared, who, contrary to all the canons of sniper tactics, did not at all seek to change position after a few shots, but, on the contrary, continued to fire continuously until they were destroyed. This self-destructive tactic in many cases allowed them to inflict heavy casualties on Allied infantry units.

The Germans did not only set up ambushes among hedges and trees - road junctions, where such important targets as senior officers often met, were also convenient places for an ambush. Here the Germans had to fire from fairly large distances, since it was the intersections that were usually tightly guarded. Bridges were exceptionally convenient targets for shelling, since the infantry crowded here, and only a few shots could cause panic among the yet unfired reinforcements moving to the front. Separate buildings were too obvious places to choose a position, so snipers usually camouflaged away from them, but the numerous ruins in the villages became their favorite place - although here they had to change position more often than in normal field conditions, when it is difficult to determine the location of the shooter .

The natural desire of any sniper was to be located in a place from which the whole area would be clearly visible, so water pumps, mills and bell towers were ideal positions, but it was these objects that were primarily subjected to artillery and machine gun fire. Despite this, some German "super sharp shooters" were still stationed there. Destroyed by Allied guns, the Norman rural churches became a symbol of German sniper terror.

Like the snipers of any army, the German riflemen tried first of all to hit the most important targets: officers, sergeants, observers, gun servants, signalmen, tank commanders. One captured German during interrogation explained to the interested British how he could distinguish officers at a great distance - after all, British officers had long worn the same field uniform as privates and did not have insignia. He said, "We just shoot people with mustaches." The fact is that in the British army, officers and senior sergeants traditionally wore mustaches.
Unlike a machine gunner, a sniper did not reveal his position when firing, therefore, under favorable circumstances, one competent “super accurate shooter” could stop the advance of an infantry company, especially if it was a company of unfired soldiers: when they came under fire, the infantrymen most often lay down and did not even try to shoot back . A former commanding officer of the American army recalled that “one of the main mistakes that recruits constantly made was that, under fire, they simply lie down on the ground and do not move. Once I ordered a platoon to advance from one hedge to another. While moving, the sniper killed one of the soldiers with his first shot. All the other soldiers immediately fell to the ground and were almost completely killed one by one by the same sniper.

In general, 1944 was a turning point for sniper art in the German troops. The role of sniping was finally appreciated by the high command: numerous orders emphasized the need for the competent use of snipers, preferably in pairs of "shooters plus an observer", various types of camouflage and special equipment were developed. It was assumed that during the second half of 1944 the number of sniper pairs in the grenadier and people's grenadier units would be doubled. The head of the "Black Order" Heinrich Himmler also became interested in sniping in the SS troops, he approved a program for specialized in-depth training of fighter shooters.

In the same year, by order of the Luftwaffe command, the training films "Invisible Weapons: Sniper in Combat" and "Field Training of Snipers" were filmed for use in training ground units. Both films were shot quite competently and very high quality, even from today's height: here are the main points of special sniper training, the most important recommendations for operations in the field, and all this in a popular form, with a combination of game elements.

A memo widely circulated at that time called "The Ten Commandments of the Sniper" read:
- Fight selflessly.
- Fire calmly and carefully, concentrate on each shot. Remember that rapid fire has no effect.
- Shoot only when you're sure you won't be detected.
- Your main opponent is an enemy sniper, outwit him.
- Do not forget that a sapper shovel prolongs your life.
- Constantly practice in determining distances.
- Become a master of terrain and disguise.
- Train constantly - on the front line and in the rear.
- Take care of your sniper rifle, don't let it fall into anyone's hands.
- Survival for a sniper in nine parts - camouflage and only one - shooting.

In the German army, snipers were used at various tactical levels. It was the experience of applying such a concept that allowed E. Middeldorf in the post-war period to propose the following practice in his book: “In no other issue related to infantry fighting, there are such big contradictions as in the issue of using snipers. Some consider it necessary to have a full-time sniper platoon in every company, or at least in a battalion. Others predict that snipers operating in pairs will have the greatest success. We will try to find a solution that satisfies the requirements of both points of view. First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between "amateur snipers" and "professional snipers". It is desirable that each squad has two non-professional amateur snipers. They need to give the assault rifle a 4x optical sight. They will remain ordinary shooters who have received additional sniper training. If it is not possible to use them as snipers, then they will act as ordinary soldiers. As for professional snipers, there should be two in each company or six in the company control group. They must be armed with a special sniper rifle with a muzzle velocity of more than 1000 m/s, with a telescopic sight with a 6-fold increase in large aperture. These snipers will generally "free hunt" within the company's area. If, depending on the situation and terrain conditions, the need arises to use a platoon of snipers, then this will be easily feasible, since there are 24 snipers in the company (18 amateur snipers and 6 professional snipers), which in this case can be combined together " . Note that this concept of sniping is considered one of the most promising.

Allied soldiers and low-ranking officers, most of all suffering from sniper terror, developed various methods of dealing with enemy invisible shooters. Yet the most effective way was still to use your snipers.

Statistically, during World War II, it usually took 25,000 shots to kill a soldier. For snipers, the same number was on average 1.3-1.5.

As for the theme of the army of fascist Germany, I can remind you of the history of such figures as The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

When it comes to the sniper business of the first half of the 20th century, the Soviet snipers of the Great Patriotic War immediately come to mind - Vasily Zaitsev, Mikhail Surkov, Lyudmila Pavlichenko and others. This is not surprising: the Soviet sniper movement at that time was the most extensive in the world, and the total score of Soviet snipers during the war years is several tens of thousands of enemy soldiers and officers. However, what do we know about the well-aimed shooters of the Third Reich?

In Soviet times, the study of the advantages and disadvantages of the armed forces of Nazi Germany was strictly limited, and sometimes simply tabooed. Who, however, were the German snipers, who, if they are portrayed in our and foreign cinema, are only expendable, extras who are about to grab a bullet from the main character from the Anti-Hitler coalition? Is it true that they were that bad, or is that a winner's point of view?

Snipers of the German Empire

In the First World War, it was the Kaiser's army that first began to use aimed rifle fire as a means of destroying officers, signalmen, machine gunners and artillery servants of the enemy. According to the instructions of the German Imperial Army, weapons equipped with an optical sight only work perfectly at a distance of up to 300 meters. It should only be issued to trained shooters. As a rule, these were former hunters or those who had undergone special training before the start of hostilities. The soldiers who received such weapons became the first snipers. They were not assigned to any place or position, they had relative freedom of movement on the battlefield. According to the same instructions, the sniper had to take a suitable position at night or at dusk in order to start acting with the onset of the day. Such shooters were exempted from any additional duties or combined arms outfits. Each sniper had a notebook in which he carefully recorded various observations, ammunition consumption and the effectiveness of his fire. They were also distinguished from ordinary soldiers by the right to wear special signs over the cockade of their headdress - crossed oak leaves.

By the end of the war, the German infantry had about six snipers per company. At this time, the Russian army, although it had experienced hunters and experienced shooters in its ranks, did not have rifles with an optical sight. Such an imbalance in the equipment of the armies became noticeable rather quickly. Even in the absence of active hostilities, the Entente armies suffered losses in manpower: it was enough for a soldier or officer to peek out slightly from behind the trench, as he was immediately "shot" by a German sniper. This had a strong demoralizing effect on the soldiers, so the allies had no choice but to release their “super-shooters” to the forefront of the attack. So by 1918, the concept of military sniping was formed, tactics were worked out and combat missions were defined for this kind of soldier.

Revival of German snipers

In the interwar period, the popularity of sniper business in Germany, in fact, as in most other countries (with the exception of the Soviet Union), began to fade. Snipers began to be treated as an interesting experience of positional warfare, which had already lost its relevance - military theorists saw the coming wars exclusively as a battle of engines. According to their views, the infantry faded into the background, and the championship was for tanks and aircraft.

The German Blitzkrieg seemed to be the main proof of the advantage of the new way of warfare. European states capitulated one by one, unable to withstand the power of German engines. However, with the entry of the Soviet Union into the war, it became clear that you could not win the war with tanks alone. Despite the retreat of the Red Army at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Germans still often had to go on the defensive during this period. When snipers began to appear on Soviet positions in the winter of 1941, and the number of Germans killed began to grow, the Wehrmacht nevertheless realized that aimed rifle fire, for all its archaism, was an effective method of warfare. German sniper schools began to appear and front-line courses were organized. After the 41st, the number of optics in the front-line units, as well as people who professionally use it, began to gradually grow, although until the very end of the war, the Wehrmacht did not manage to match the quantity and quality of training of its snipers with the Red Army.

From what and how they shot

Since 1935, the Wehrmacht was armed with Mauser 98k rifles, which were also used as sniper rifles - for this, specimens with the most accurate battle were simply selected. Most of these rifles were equipped with a 1.5x ZF 41 sight, but there were also 4x ZF 39 sights, as well as even rarer varieties. By 1942, the share of sniper rifles in the total number produced was approximately 6, but by April 1944 this figure had fallen to 2% (3276 pieces out of 164,525 produced). According to some experts, the reason for this reduction is that German snipers simply did not like their Mausers, and at the first opportunity they preferred to change them to Soviet sniper rifles. The G43 rifle that appeared in 1943, which was equipped with a four-fold ZF 4 sight, a copy of the Soviet PU sight, did not correct the situation.

Mauser 98k rifle with ZF41 scope (http://k98k.com)

According to the memoirs of Wehrmacht snipers, the maximum firing distance at which they could hit targets was as follows: the head - up to 400 meters, the human figure - from 600 to 800 meters, the embrasure - up to 600 meters. Rare professionals or lucky ones who got hold of a ten-fold scope could lay down an enemy soldier at a distance of up to 1000 meters, but everyone unanimously considers a distance of up to 600 meters to be the distance that guarantees hitting the target.

Defeat in the East–victory in the west

Wehrmacht snipers were mainly engaged in the so-called "free hunt" for commanders, signalmen, gun crews and machine gunners. Most often, snipers were team players: one shoots, the other observes. Contrary to popular belief, German snipers were forbidden to engage in combat at night. They were considered valuable personnel, and due to the poor quality of German optics, such battles, as a rule, ended not in favor of the Wehrmacht. Therefore, at night they were usually engaged in searching for and arranging an advantageous position for striking during daylight hours. When the enemy went on the attack, the task of the German snipers was to destroy the commanders. With the successful completion of this task, the offensive stopped. If a sniper of the Anti-Hitler coalition began to operate in the rear, several Wehrmacht “super-sharp shooters” could be sent to search for and eliminate him. On the Soviet-German front, this kind of duel ended most often in favor of the Red Army - there is no point in arguing with the facts that the Germans lost the sniper war here almost outright.

At the same time, on the other side of Europe, German snipers were at ease and struck fear into the hearts of British and American soldiers. The British and Americans still treated combat as a sport and believed in the gentlemanly rules of warfare. According to some researchers, about half of all losses in American units in the first days of hostilities were the direct merit of Wehrmacht snipers.

You see the mustache - shoot!

An American journalist who visited Normandy during the Allied landings wrote: “Snipers are everywhere. They hide in trees, hedgerows, buildings and piles of rubble." As the main reasons for the success of snipers in Normandy, researchers cite the unpreparedness of the Anglo-American troops for the sniper threat. What the Germans themselves understood well during the three years of fighting on the Eastern Front, the Allies had to master in a short time. The officers now wore a uniform that did not differ from the soldier's. All movements were carried out in short dashes from cover to cover, bending as low as possible to the ground. The rank and file no longer gave the military salute to the officers. However, these tricks sometimes did not save. So, some captured German snipers admitted that they distinguished English soldiers by rank due to facial hair: at that time, mustaches were one of the most common attributes among sergeants and officers. As soon as they saw a soldier with a mustache, they destroyed him.

Another key to success was the landscape of Normandy: by the time the Allies landed, it was a real paradise for a sniper, with many hedges stretching for kilometers, drainage ditches and embankments. Due to frequent rains, the roads became muddy and became an impassable obstacle for both soldiers and equipment, and soldiers trying to push out another stuck car became a tasty morsel for the cuckoo. The allies had to move very carefully, looking under every stone. An incident that occurred in the city of Cambrai speaks of the incredibly large scale of the actions of German snipers in Normandy. Deciding that there would be little resistance in the area, one of the British companies got too close and fell victim to heavy rifle fire. Then almost all the orderlies of the medical department died, trying to carry the wounded from the battlefield. When the battalion command tried to stop the offensive, about 15 more people died, including the company commander, 12 soldiers and officers received various injuries, and four more went missing. When the village was nevertheless taken, many corpses of German soldiers were found with rifles that had an optical sight.

An American sergeant looks at a dead German sniper in the street of the French village of Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
(http://waralbum.ru)

German snipers–mythical and real

At the mention of German snipers, many will surely remember the famous opponent of the Red Army soldier Vasily Zaitsev - Major Erwin Koenig. In fact, many historians are inclined to believe that no König existed. Presumably, he is a figment of the imagination of William Craig - author of the book "Enemy at the Gates". There is a version that sniper ace Heinz Thorwald was given for Koenig. According to this theory, the Germans were extremely annoyed at the death of the head of their sniper school at the hands of some village hunter, so they covered up his death, saying that Zaitsev had killed a certain Erwin Koenig. Some researchers of the life of Thorvald and his sniper school in Zossen consider this to be nothing more than a myth. What is true in this, and what is fiction - is unlikely to become clear.

Nevertheless, the Germans had aces of sniping. The most productive of them is the Austrian Matthias Hetzenauer. He served in the 144th regiment of mountain rangers of the 3rd mountain rifle division, and on his account about 345 enemy soldiers and officers. Oddly enough, Josef Allerberger, No. 2 in the rating, served in the same regiment with him, on whose account there were 257 victims by the end of the war. Third in the number of victories is the German sniper of Lithuanian origin Bruno Sutkus, who destroyed 209 Soviet soldiers and officers.

Perhaps if the Germans, in their pursuit of the idea of ​​a blitzkrieg, paid due attention not only to engines, but also to the training of snipers, as well as the development of decent weapons for them, we would now have a slightly different history of German sniping, and for this article we would have to grains collect material about little-known Soviet snipers.