Red Army Sniper: A Memoir on the Eastern Front in World War II

by Yevgeni Nikolaev, Albrecht Wacker (Foreword by), Martin Pegler (Introduction)

Overview

'I did not regard myself as a slacker. Even in childhood I taught myself to carry out tasks entrusted conscientiously and carefully. In war, it is no secret that the casual don't survive'.

Yevgeni Nikolaev was one of Russia’s leading snipers of World War II and his memoir provides and unparalleled account of front-line action in crucial theaters of war. Nikolaev is credited with a remarkable 324 kills and his wartime service included time in the siege of Leningrad in 1941/1942.

His memoir is not a neutral, apolitical account. Far from it. Nikolaev asserts, for example, that Finland attacked Russia. As a member of the NKVD, it is not surprising that his memoir full of historical misinterpretation and justification of the agency’s actions.

Equally, Nikoalev is dismissive of his Nazi opponents. On several occasions, he discusses his Nazi counterparts as bandits and scum, and implores the reader to “take a look, fellows, at the beast of a bastard I’ve laid low”.

In vivid, arresting recollections he paints his actions in a saintly heroic light. He describes the comfort of the German foxholes, wired with telephone connections, relative to the Russians who fasted without food or water awaiting the moment for a perfect shot. He claims the Russian soldier was a moral warrior, killing only with head or heart shots.

In addition to describing details of his kills, Nikolaev explains how his life was saved when an explosive rifle bullet struck a watch that he kept in his jacket pocket. His life was saved by a surgeon who extracted all the watch parts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784382360
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	12/28/2017
Series:	Greenhill Sniper Library
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Albrecht Wacker is an author and historian.

Martin Pegler is a well-known military historian and writer who has made a special study of historic firearms and the battles of the Great War. He was Senior Curator of Firearms at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds and is the author of many articles in military history journals and magazines and has written seven books.

Table of Contents

Preface Dina Nikolaeva ix

Foreword Albrecht Wacker xi

From the Author 5

1 Lieutenant Butorin Has an Idea 9

2 I Become a Sniper 20

3 My First Partner 31

4 Shoot the Firefighters! 37

5 Day-to-Day Life on the Front Line 45

6 Duel 59

7 An Arduous Battle 73

8 An Unusual Operation 85

9 We Were Young 89

10 An Unexpected Meeting 95

11 The Snipers' Rally 106

12 Back in the Regiment 121

13 An 'Invitation' 133

14 Our Zhenya 142

15 Back on Reconnaissance 149

16 Brave Girls 159

17 Guests of the Kirov Workers 164

18 From the Soviet Information Bureau 171

19 Such is our Work 195

20 Thirty-Five Years Later 199

21 'Russian's Amazing Story' 206