Meet one of my favorite snipers….

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

Compiled from Wikipedia and other sites:

309 Confirmed Kills

Born in the Ukranian town of Belaya Tserkov on July 12, 1916, Pavlichenko moved to Kiev with her family at the age of fourteen. There she joined a shooting club and developed into a seasoned sharpshooter.

Pavlichenko was among the first round of volunteers at the recruiting office, where she requested to join the Russian infantry and subsequently was assigned to the Red Army‘s 25th Rifle Division; Pavlichenko had the option to become a nurse but refused (our kind of gal)

In June 1941, Pavlichenko was 24 and Nazi Germany were invading the Soviet Union. She was among the first volunteers and asked to join the infantry. she was assigned to the Red Armies 25th infantry Division. From there she became one of 2000 female snipers of the soviet.

Her first 2 kills were made near Belyayevka using a Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle with a P.E. 4-power scope. The first action she saw was during the conflict in Odessa. She was there for 2 and a half months and notched 187 kills. When they were forced to relocate, she spent the next 8 months fighting in Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. 36 kills were enemy snipers (I suspect most if not all were men). Pavlichenkos’ total confirmed kills during WW2 was 309.

For her service she was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and was commemorated on a Soviet postage stamp.