Female snipers are the best shooters of World War II

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

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 carry out combat missions. Today I would like to recall the shooters who were considered the best during the war.

Rose Shanina

Rose Shanina was born in 1924 in the village of Edma, Vologda province (today the Arkhangelsk region). After 7 classes of study, the girl decided to enter a pedagogical school in Arkhangelsk. The mother was against it, but her daughter's perseverance was not to be missed from childhood. Buses did not go past the village at that time, 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 as a teacher. Fortunately, then the employees of the institution were given housing. Rosa continued her studies at the evening department and successfully completed the 1941/42 academic year.

At the beginning of the war, Rosa Shanina applied to the military registration and enlistment office 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 female snipers began in the Soviet Union. It was believed that they are more cunning, patient, cold-blooded, and their fingers squeeze 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 abandoned the position of an instructor, went to the front.

Three days after arriving at the location of the 338th Infantry Division, 20-year-old Rosa Shanina fired the first shot. In her diary, the girl described the sensations: "… legs weakened, slipped into a trench, not remembering herself:" She killed a man, a man … " Seven months later, the sniper girl wrote that she was killing enemies in cold blood, and now this is the whole meaning of her life.

Among other snipers, Rosa Shanina stood out for her ability to make doublets - two shots following one after another, hitting moving targets.

Shanina's platoon was ordered to move in the second turn, behind the infantry detachments. However, the girl constantly rushed to the front line "to beat the enemy." Rosa was strictly cut off, because in the infantry any soldier could replace her, and no one in a sniper ambush.

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

On January 17, 1945, Rosa Shanina wrote in her diary that she could soon die, because in their battalion there were only 78 soldiers left. Due to 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 up, Rosa was wounded in the chest by a shrapnel from a shell. The brave girl was gone the next day. The nurse said that before her death, Rosa regretted that she had not had time to do more.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

Western press nicknamed yet another Soviet female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko … She was named "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 recorded as a sniper. Then Lyudmila was given a rifle in her hands and ordered to shoot two prisoners. She coped with the task.

Pavlichenko took part in the defense of Sevastopol, Odessa, in battles in Moldova. After the 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 feel, gentlemen, that you've been hiding behind my back for too long? In the first seconds, everyone froze, and then a flurry of approving applause burst out.

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

Nina Petrova

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

Behind Nina Petrova's shoulders are 122 killed enemies during the war and 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 Kalugina was named one of the most productive snipers. She joined the ranks of the Red Army as a 17-year-old girl. On account of Claudia 257 killed soldiers and officers.

After the war, Claudia shared her memories of how at first she missed the target in the sniper school. They threatened to leave her in the rear if she did not learn to shoot accurately. And not going to the front line was considered a real shame. For the first time, finding herself in a blizzard in a snow-covered trench, the girl got cold feet. But then she overpowered herself and began to make accurate shots one after another. The hardest thing was to drag a rifle with you, since the height of skinny Claudia was only 157 cm. But the sniper girl overcame all hardships, and over time she was described as the most well-aimed shooter.

Female snipers

This photograph with the image of female snipers is also called "775 committed murders in one picture", because in total they destroyed exactly so many enemy soldiers.

During the Great Patriotic War, not only female snipers terrified the enemy. The women's air regiment was called "night witches", because the radars did not detect them, the noise of the engines was practically inaudible, and the girls dropped the bombs with such pinpoint accuracy that the enemy was doomed.