A post about snipers - who is interested: a little history about personalities who became famous thanks to their mastery of the art of marksmanship.
Roza Egorovna Shanina (1924-1945)
She was known for her ability to accurately fire at moving targets, she chalked up 59 confirmed killed enemy soldiers and officers (of which 12 were snipers). She took part in hostilities for less than a year, the newspapers of the allies called Shanina "an invisible horror East Prussia».
She died on January 28, 1945 during the East Prussian operation, defending the seriously wounded commander of an artillery unit.
Thomas Plunket (?-1851)
Baker rifle
Plunket is an Irishman from the British 95th Infantry Division who became famous for one episode. It was in 1809, Monroe's troops were retreating, but a battle took place at Kakabelos: Plunket managed to "remove" the French general Auguste-Marie-Francois Colbert. The enemy felt completely safe, since the distance to the enemy was about 600 meters (then the British riflemen used Brown Bess muskets and more or less confidently hit the target at a distance of about 50 m).
Plunkett's shot was a miracle: using the Baker rifle, he was 12 times the best at that time. But even this seemed to him not enough: he proved his skill, from the same position, accurately hitting the second target - the adjutant of the general, who rushed to the aid of his commander.
Shooting a Brown Bess musket, 3 shots in 46 seconds:
Sergeant Grace
Grace is a sniper from the 4th infantry division Georgia, who killed the highest-ranking Union military in the civil war in the USA.
On May 9, 1864, General John Sedgwick led the Union artillery at the Battle of Spotsilvani. Confederate snipers opened a hunt for him from a distance of about a kilometer. The staff officers immediately lay down and invited the general to go into cover. However, Sedgwick questioned whether targeted fire was possible from such a distance, and stated that officers behaved like cowards. According to legend, he did not even finish speaking when Grace's bullet hit him in the left eye and blew his head apart.
Simo Häyhä
Born in 1905 (died in 2002) on the border of Finland and Russia in a family of farmers, he fished and hunted as a child. At the age of 17 he entered the security detachment, and in 1925 he entered the Finnish army. After 9 years of service, he passed sniper training.
During Soviet-Finnish war 1939-1940 in less than 3 months, killed 505 Soviet soldiers... There are some discrepancies in its performance. This is due to the fact that the corpses of the dead were in enemy territory, in addition, Simo shot perfectly with both a pistol and a rifle, and hits from this weapon are not always taken into account in the overall standings.
During the war he received the nickname "White Death". In March 1940 he was seriously wounded: a bullet crushed his jaw and disfigured his face. It took a long recovery. In World War II, he failed to get to the front due to the consequences of his injuries.
Simo's effectiveness is primarily due to his talented use of the features of the theater of military operations. Hayuhia used an open sight, since the optical sights are covered in frost in the cold and give glare, according to which the enemy can detect them, require a higher head position from the shooter, as well as a longer aiming time. He prudently poured water into the snow in front of the firing position (so that a cloud of snow unmasking the position would not rise into the air from the shot), cooled his breath with ice so that no vapor was noticeable, etc.
Vasily Zaitsev (1915-1991)
The name of Vasily Zaitsev became famous all over the world thanks to the film "Enemy At The Gates". Vasily was born in the Urals in the village of Eleninka. In the Pacific Fleet, since 1937, he served as a clerk, then as head of the financial department. From the first days of the war, he regularly submitted reports on the transfer to the front.
Finally, in the summer of 1942, his request was granted. He began his work at Stalingrad with a "three-line". Per a short time Zaitsev managed to hit more than 30 opponents. The command noticed a talented shooter and assigned snipers to the detachment. In just a few months, he had 242 confirmed hits. But the real number of killed enemies during the Battle of Stalingrad reached 500.
The episode from the combat biography of Zaitsev, highlighted in the film, took place in reality: at that time, a German "super sniper" was sent to the Stalingrad region to fight Soviet snipers, when he was killed, it turned out that his rifle was equipped with optics with a 10-fold increase. A 3-4x sight was considered the norm for shooters of that time, since it was difficult to cope with a large one.
In January 1943, as a result of an explosion of a mine, Vasily lost his sight, and only with the enormous efforts of doctors was it possible to restore him. After that, Zaitsev led the school of snipers, wrote two textbooks. It is he who owns one of the methods of "hunting", used to this day.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko (1916-1974)
Since 1937, Lyudmila has been involved in shooting and gliding sports. The beginning of the war found her in her graduation practice in Odessa. Lyudmila immediately volunteered for the front - she became one of 2,000 female snipers (one thousand of our female snipers, according to official figures alone, destroyed more than 12 thousand fascists during the war).
She hit her first targets in the battles at Belyaevka. She took part in the defense of Odessa, where she destroyed 187 enemies. After that, she defended Sevastopol and Crimea for eight months. At the same time, she trained snipers. Throughout the war, Lyudmila Pavlichenko eliminated 309 fascists. After being wounded in 1942, she was recalled from the front and sent with a delegation to Canada and the United States. After returning, she continued training snipers at the Shot school.
Some data on the effectiveness of our snipers during the Second World War:
The real accounts of the snipers are actually more than the confirmed ones. For example, Fyodor Okhlopkov, according to estimates, destroyed more than 1000 (!) Germans in total, using also a machine gun.
The top ten Soviet snipers killed (confirmed) 4,200 soldiers and officers, while the top 20 killed 7,400.
Sniper of the 82nd Infantry Division Mikhail Lysov in October 1941 from automatic rifle with a sniper scope shot down a Ju87 dive bomber. Unfortunately, there is no data on the number of infantrymen killed by him.
A sniper of the 796th rifle division Sergeant Major Antonov Vasily Antonovich in July 1942 near Voronezh shot down a twin-engined Ju88 bomber with 4 rifle shots! There is also no data on the number of infantrymen killed by him.
Charles Mawhinney, born 1949
From childhood he was fond of hunting. In 1967 he joined the Marine Corps. As part of the Corps marines USA Mawainni went to Vietnam.
The usual working distance for a sniper shot was 300-800 meters. Charles became the best sniper of the Vietnam War, hitting his targets from a distance of a kilometer. On his account - 103 confirmed defeats. Due to the complex military situation and the riskiness of the search for the killed, another 216 victims are considered likely.
Charles Mawainni today.
Rob Furlong, born in 1976
Rob Farlang not so long ago held the record for the range of a confirmed successful shot. He hit his target from a distance of 2430 meters!
In 2002, Furlong participated in Operation Anaconda, with a group of two corporals and three senior corporals. They spotted three armed al-Qaeda fighters in the mountains. While the opponents set up camp, Furlong took one of them at gunpoint with his McMillan Tac-50 rifle.
The first shot missed the target. The second bullet hit one of the militants. But at the moment the second bullet hit, the corporal made the third shot. The bullet had to cover the distance in 3 seconds - this time is enough for the enemy to take cover. But the militant realized that he was under fire when the third bullet had already pierced his chest.
Craig Harrison
A new record in sniper shooting - 2477 m - was set in Afghanistan by a British sniper who shot down two Taliban machine gunners. He shot from sniper rifle L115A3 Long Range Rifle of 8.59 mm caliber with a nominal firing range of about 1100 m. Nevertheless, Corporal Garrison, a veteran of the Royal Cavalry Regiment, destroyed the enemy machine-gun crew at a range more than a kilometer higher than the standard.
The sniper fired from a nearby car: he saw two machine gunners who opened fire on the soldiers and his commander, and destroyed the enemy with two shots. "The first shot hit the machine gunner in the stomach. When he fell, the second Taliban tried to raise the weapon, but was shot in the side," says the corporal. "The conditions for shooting were ideal, calm weather, excellent visibility."
It took the bullet about three seconds to reach the target.
This rifle, which killed many Taliban militants, is called the "Silent Assassin" in Afghanistan.
L115A3
The corporal killed 12 Taliban and wounded seven, a bullet had already hit his helmet once, both of his arms were broken by a roadside bomb, but after recovering he returned to serve in Afghanistan. Craig is married with a child from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Sniper is one of the most difficult and unusual military professions. Although the most ordinary guys go to it.
Get to know the five coolest male shooters, whose accuracy and resourcefulness terrified the enemy.
5. Carlos Norman (20.05.1942-23.02.1999)
Source: top5s.net
One of the most famous snipers in the history of the US military. He became famous for his participation in the Vietnam War. Considered one of the legendary figures of the United States Marine Corps. On his combat account 93 enemy lives.
4. Adelbert F. Waldron (14.03.1933-18.10.1995)
Source: top5s.net
The famous American sniper. Participated in the Vietnam War. Waldron holds the record for confirmed wins among US shooters. He has 109 victories on his account. In the 1970s, Waldron taught sniper training at the SIONICS training camp in Georgia. One of the few who was twice awarded the Order for Excellent Combat Service.
3. Vasily Zaitsev (03/23/1915 - 12/15/1991)
Source: top5s.net
Sniper of the 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front, Hero of the Soviet Union. During Battle of Stalingrad between November 10 and December 17, 1942, he killed 225 soldiers and officers of the German army and their allies, including 11 snipers. Developed several sniper hunting techniques that are used by the current generation of snipers.
2. Francis Pegamagabo (9.03.1891-5.08.1952)
Source: top5s.net
Hero of the Second World War. Canadian Francis destroyed 378 German soldiers, was awarded a medal three times and was seriously wounded twice. But after returning home to Canada, one of the most effective snipers of World War II was forgotten.
1.Simo Häyhä (17.12.1905-1.04.2002)
A good sniper does not have to be a regular soldier. This simple postulate was well understood by the soldiers of the Red Army who participated in the Winter War of 1939. One successful shot also does not make a person a sniper. Luck is very important in war. Only the true skill of a fighter who knows how to hit a target at a great distance, from an unfamiliar weapon or from an awkward position has a higher price.
The sniper has always been an elite warrior. Not everyone can cultivate a character of such strength.
1. Carlos Hatchcock
Like many american teens from the hinterland, Carlos Hatchcock dreamed of getting into the army. The 17-year-old boy, in whose cowboy hat a cinematic white feather stuck out, was greeted in the barracks with grins. The very first training ground, taken by Carlos on a swoop, turned the giggles of his colleagues into awe-inspiring silence. The guy had more than just talent - Carlos Hatchcock was born solely for the sake of accurate shooting. The young fighter met 1966 in Vietnam.
On his formal account, there are only a hundred dead. Hatchcock's surviving co-workers' memoirs feature significantly large numbers... This could be attributed to the quite understandable bragging of the fighters, if not for the huge amount that North Vietnam put up for his head. But the war ended - and Hatchcock went home without getting a single wound. He died in his bed, before he was 57 years old, just a few days.
2. Simo Häyhä
This name has become a kind of symbol of war for both participating countries at once. For the Finns, Simo was a real legend, the personification of the god of vengeance himself. In the ranks of the Red Army soldiers, the patriotic sniper was named White Death. For several months of the winter of 1939-1940, the shooter killed more than five hundred enemy soldiers. The incredible skill level of Simo Häyhä is highlighted by the weapon he used: the M / 28 rifle with an open sight.
3. Lyudmila Pavlichenko
309 enemy soldiers on the account of the Russian sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko make her one of the best shooters in the entire history of world wars. A kid from childhood, Lyudmila was eager to go to the front from the very first days of the invasion of the German invaders. In one of the interviews, the girl admitted that it was difficult to shoot at a living person only the first time. The first day of combat duty, Pavlyuchenko could not bring herself to pull the trigger. Then a sense of duty overpowered - it also saved the fragile female psyche from an incredible load.
4. Vasily Zaitsev
In 2001, the film Enemy at the Gates was released worldwide. The main character of the film - a real fighter of the Red Army, the legendary sniper Vasily Zaitsev. It is still not known exactly whether the confrontation between Zaitsev and the German shooter, reflected in the film, took place: most Western sources are inclined to the version about the neglected The Soviet Union propaganda, the Slavophiles claim the opposite. However, this fight means almost nothing in the overall standings of the legendary shooter. Vasily's documents list 149 successfully hit targets. The real number is closer, rather, to five hundred killed.
5. Chris Kyle
Eight years old is the most suitable age to take your first shot. If you were born in Texas, of course. Chris Kyle was aiming for the whole conscious life: sports targets, then animals, then people. In 2003, Kyle, who had already managed to register in several secret operations of the US Army, receives a new assignment - Iraq. The fame of a merciless and very skillful killer comes a year later, the next business trip brings Kyle the nickname "Shaitan from Ramadi": a respectful, frightened tribute to the self-righteous shooter. Kyle has officially finished off exactly 160 enemies of peace and democracy. In private conversations, the shooter mentioned three times the number.
6. Rob Furlong
For a long time, Rob Furlong served as a simple corporal in the Canadian army. Unlike many of the other snipers mentioned in this article, Rob didn’t have an overt shooting talent. But the perseverance of the guy would have been enough for a company of completely mediocre warriors. Through constant training, Furlong developed his ambidexter abilities. Soon the corporal was transferred to the detachment special purpose... Operation Anaconda has become for Furlong highest point career: in one of the battles, a sniper made a successful shot at a distance of 2430 meters. This record is still being held.
7. Thomas Plunkett
With just two shots, British Army private soldier Thomas Plunkett became the best sniper of his time. In 1809, the Battle of Monroe took place. Thomas, like all of his colleagues, was armed with a Brown Bess musket. Field exercises were enough for the soldiers to hit the enemy at a distance of 50 meters. Unless, of course, the wind was too strong. Thomas Plunkett, taking good aim, knocked down a French general from his horse at a distance of 600 meters.
The shot could be attributed to incredible luck magnetic fields and the intrigues of aliens. Most likely, the shooter's comrades-in-arms would have done so, having recovered from their surprise. However, here Thomas demonstrated his second virtue: ambition. He calmly reloaded his gun and shot the general's adjutant - at the same 600 meters.
The best snipers of the 20th century:
The process of evolution took place in such a way that men, being hunters in blood, tried to be well-aimed shooters. This aspiration has become very firmly embedded in our world. It is worth considering in detail the five most famous snipers of the last century.
The sniper profession is one of the most difficult and unusual military activities, which have long been overgrown with a whole string of all kinds of legends and stories. But it should be remembered that you cannot become snipers only at will. This requires a lot of training and combat missions.
Every man, at least once, dreamed of becoming a sniper.
Here is some information about the real sniper aces who thrilled their opponents with their resourcefulness and skill:
5. Carlos Norman, lived from 20/05/1942 to 23/02/1999
This is a true legend in the activities of the US Army. He earned immense authority when he fought against the Vietnamese. He bears an honorary title and is still remembered by the US Marines. During his service, he managed to neutralize about 93 targets.
4. Adelbert F. Waldron, lived from 03/14/1933 to 10/18/1995
The most famous American sniper. He was a brave shooter during the Vietnam War. He got around to the honor of being the most productive in terms of destroying opponents. To his merits, 103 are attributed to neutralizing enemies to his advantage. After the war, since 1970, Waldron taught recruits how to shoot in the SIONICS division, which was based in Georgia. He is also a hero who has been honored with the honorable service award.
3. Vasily Zaitsev, lived from 03/23/1915 to 12/15/1991
It was a sniper in the 62nd Army, which was located on the front of Stalingrad. He is also declared a war hero. During the period when the battle for Stalingrad was gaining momentum, namely from November 10 to December 17, 1942, he managed to neutralize 225 targets. Among them were 11 snipers and many fascist officers. He was responsible for the development of most of the tactics and techniques of firing a sniper, and they became the basis for textbooks.
2. Francis Pegamagabo, lived from 03/09/1891 to 08/05/1952
it real Hero and an excellent military sniper. Francis is of Canadian descent. When the war ended, he managed to kill 378 German soldiers. He was awarded the medal of honor three times, and he was twice as close to death as a result of severe injuries. Unfortunately, this professional shooter was forgotten on his return home to Canada.
1.Simo Häyhä, lived from 12/17/1905 to 04/01/2002
This future phenomenal shooter was born in an area bordering two countries, the USSR and Finland. His childhood was spent hunting and fishing. When he turned 17, he started working as a security guard. Further, in 1925, he was taken to serve. After 9 years of productive service, he is being trained as a sniper.
His talents were revealed in 1939-1940, when there were hostilities. Within 3 months he managed to kill 505 soldiers from the USSR. But his merits were not perceived unambiguously. The main reason for the disagreement was the finding of the corpses of the soldiers on the territory of the enemy. Simo, also perfectly could shoot from a pistol, and therefore it was assumed that he used it and did not count such victims for him in total number... Co-workers called him "White Death". When March 1940 rolled around, he was not fortunate enough to be wounded. The bullet went through the jaw and severely injured the face. In the early days of the outbreak of the war, Simo expressed a desire to go to the front, but he was refused due to past injuries.
For whom it is interesting: a little history about personalities who became famous thanks to their mastery of the art of marksmanship.
Roza Yegorovna Shanina (1924-1945)
She was known for her ability to accurately fire at moving targets, she chalked up 59 confirmed killed enemy soldiers and officers (of which 12 were snipers). She took part in hostilities for less than a year, the Allied newspapers called Shanina "the invisible horror of East Prussia." She died on January 28, 1945 during the East Prussian operation, defending the seriously wounded commander of an artillery unit.
Thomas Plunket (?-1851)
Baker rifle
Plunket is an Irishman from the British 95th Infantry Division who became famous for one episode. It was in 1809, Monroe's troops were retreating, but a battle took place at Kakabelos: Plunket managed to "remove" the French general Auguste-Marie-Francois Colbert. The enemy felt completely safe, since the distance to the enemy was about 600 meters (then the British riflemen used Brown Bess muskets and more or less confidently hit the target at a distance of about 50 m).
Plunkett's shot was a miracle: using the Baker rifle, he was 12 times the best results at the time. But even this seemed to him not enough: he proved his skill, from the same position, accurately hitting the second target - the adjutant of the general, who rushed to the aid of his commander.
Shooting a Brown Bess musket, 3 shots in 46 seconds:
Sergeant Grace
Grace is a sniper from the 4th Georgia Infantry Division who killed the highest-ranking Union military in the US Civil War.
On May 9, 1864, General John Sedgwick led the Union artillery at the Battle of Spotsilvani. Confederate snipers opened a hunt for him from a distance of about a kilometer. The staff officers immediately lay down and invited the general to go into cover. However, Sedgwick expressed doubt that targeted fire was possible from such a distance, and stated that the officers behaved like cowards. According to legend, he did not even finish speaking when Grace's bullet hit him in the left eye and blew his head apart.
Simo Häyhä
Born in 1905 (died in 2002) on the border of Finland and Russia in a family of farmers, he fished and hunted as a child. At the age of 17 he entered the security detachment, and in 1925 he entered the Finnish army. After 9 years of service, he passed sniper training.
During the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, in less than 3 months, he killed 505 Soviet soldiers. There are some discrepancies in its performance. This is due to the fact that the corpses of the dead were in enemy territory, in addition, Simo shot perfectly with both a pistol and a rifle, and hits from this weapon are not always taken into account in the overall standings.
During the war he received the nickname "White Death". In March 1940 he was seriously wounded: a bullet crushed his jaw and disfigured his face. It took a long recovery. In World War II, he failed to get to the front due to the consequences of his injuries.
Simo's effectiveness is primarily due to his talented use of the features of the theater of military operations. Hayuhia used an open sight, since the optical sights are covered in frost in the cold and give glare, according to which the enemy can detect them, require a higher head position from the shooter, as well as a longer aiming time. He prudently poured water into the snow in front of the firing position (so that a cloud of snow unmasking the position would not rise into the air from the shot), cooled his breath with ice so that no vapor was noticeable, etc.
Vasily Zaitsev (1915-1991)
The name of Vasily Zaitsev became famous all over the world thanks to the film "Enemy At The Gates". Vasily was born in the Urals in the village of Eleninka. In the Pacific Fleet, since 1937, he served as a clerk, then as head of the financial department. From the first days of the war, he regularly submitted reports on the transfer to the front.
Finally, in the summer of 1942, his request was granted. He began his work at Stalingrad with a "three-line". In a short time, Zaitsev managed to hit more than 30 opponents. The command noticed a talented shooter and assigned snipers to the detachment. In just a few months, he had 242 confirmed hits. But the real number of killed enemies during the Battle of Stalingrad reached 500.
The episode from the combat biography of Zaitsev, highlighted in the film, took place in reality: at that time, a German "super sniper" was sent to the Stalingrad region to fight Soviet snipers, when he was killed, it turned out that his rifle was equipped with optics with a 10-fold increase. A 3-4x sight was considered the norm for shooters of that time, since it was difficult to cope with a large one.
In January 1943, as a result of an explosion of a mine, Vasily lost his sight, and only with the enormous efforts of doctors was it possible to restore him. After that, Zaitsev led the school of snipers, wrote two textbooks. It is he who owns one of the methods of "hunting", used to this day.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko (1916-1974)
Since 1937, Lyudmila has been involved in shooting and gliding sports. The beginning of the war found her in her graduation practice in Odessa. Lyudmila immediately volunteered for the front - she became one of 2,000 female snipers (one thousand of our female snipers, according to official figures alone, destroyed more than 12 thousand fascists during the war).
She hit her first targets in the battles at Belyaevka. She took part in the defense of Odessa, where she destroyed 187 enemies. After that, she defended Sevastopol and Crimea for eight months. At the same time, she trained snipers. Throughout the war, Lyudmila Pavlichenko eliminated 309 fascists. After being wounded in 1942, she was recalled from the front and sent with a delegation to Canada and the United States. After returning, she continued training snipers at the Shot school.
Some data on the effectiveness of our snipers during the Second World War:
The real accounts of the snipers are actually more than the confirmed ones. For example, Fyodor Okhlopkov, according to estimates, destroyed more than 1000 (!) Germans in total, using also a machine gun.
The top ten Soviet snipers killed (confirmed) 4,200 soldiers and officers, while the top 20 killed 7,400.
The sniper of the 82nd rifle division, Mikhail Lysov, shot down a Ju87 dive bomber from an automatic rifle with a sniper scope in October 1941. Unfortunately, there is no data on the number of infantrymen killed by him.
A sniper of the 796th rifle division Sergeant Major Antonov Vasily Antonovich in July 1942 near Voronezh shot down a twin-engined Ju88 bomber with 4 rifle shots! There is also no data on the number of infantrymen killed by him.
Charles Mawhinney, born 1949
From childhood he was fond of hunting. In 1967 he joined the Marine Corps. As part of the United States Marine Corps, Mawainni went to Vietnam.
The usual working distance for a sniper shot was 300-800 meters. Charles became the best sniper of the Vietnam War, hitting his targets from a distance of a kilometer. On his account - 103 confirmed defeats. Due to the difficult military situation and the riskiness of the search for the dead, another 216 victims are considered likely.
Charles Mawainni today.
Rob Furlong, born in 1976
Rob Farlang not so long ago held the record for the range of a confirmed successful shot. He hit his target from a distance of 2430 meters!
In 2002, Furlong participated in Operation Anaconda, with a group of two corporals and three senior corporals. They spotted three armed al-Qaeda fighters in the mountains. While the opponents set up camp, Furlong took one of them at gunpoint with his McMillan Tac-50 rifle.
The first shot missed the target. The second bullet hit one of the militants. But at the moment the second bullet hit, the corporal made the third shot. The bullet had to cover the distance in 3 seconds - this time is enough for the enemy to take cover. But the militant realized that he was under fire when the third bullet had already pierced his chest.
Craig Harrison
A new record in sniper shooting - 2477 m - was set in Afghanistan by a British sniper who shot down two Taliban machine gunners. He fired an L115A3 Long Range Rifle sniper rifle of 8.59 mm caliber with a nominal firing range of about 1100 m.Nevertheless, Corporal Garrison, a veteran of the Royal Cavalry Regiment, destroyed the enemy machine-gun crew at a range more than a kilometer higher than the standard.
The sniper fired from a nearby car: he saw two machine gunners who opened fire on the soldiers and his commander, and destroyed the enemy with two shots. "The first shot hit the machine gunner in the stomach. When he fell, the second Taliban tried to raise the weapon, but was shot in the side," says the corporal. "The conditions for shooting were ideal, calm weather, excellent visibility."
It took the bullet about three seconds to reach the target.
This rifle, which killed many Taliban militants, is called the "Silent Assassin" in Afghanistan.
The corporal killed 12 Taliban and wounded seven, a bullet had already hit his helmet once, both of his arms were broken by a roadside bomb, but after recovering he returned to serve in Afghanistan. Craig is married with a child from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
