Top WW2 snipers list

[max popenker]

Check it out: http://www.wio.ru/galgrnd/sniper/sniper.htm
The list is incomplete, so if you have information on US WW2 snipers, just drop a line to the webmaster.

 

[Silvanus]

Thanks for the link, interesting site.

I have a rather stupid question. What's the difference between the "Hakenkreuz" (don't know how you call that in English) and the straight cross under the country column?

 

[Twitch]

RE: Top WW2 Snipers

The blue swastika represents Finland. Thr cross is Germany.

 

[Dr. Dickie]

I like Ivan Mihailovich Sidorenko.
Got a tank and 3 tractors!
I didn't know the Wehrmacht used tractors.
Dang, those Mosins could put anything down

 

[Cosmoline]

You have to remember to weed out some of the Stalinist math. In all reputable lists I've seen, Simo is No. 1. That list seems to be overwhelmed by USSR snipers.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Cosmoline brings up a good point about Communist math. Numbers tend to be inflated for propaganda purposes. Second, notwithstanding propanganda, like fighter pilots, methods for confirmations tend to be different for each nation with some nations having more stringent standards of proof than others. Also, recall what Capt. Peter C. Shore ("With British Snipers to the Reich") wrote about Russian snipers - divide by ten.

I'm given to believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that "Halkenkreuz" is broken cross, or swastika.

 

[shaggycat]

I wonder how many of their kills came from Stalingrad...

 

[Silvanus]

Yes, swastika seems to be the name. I just googled "broken cross" and on one site it's said that it is a synonym for the peace symbol Perhaps you meant "iron cross" which is indeed a German (not necessarily nazi) symbol.

 

[max popenker]

Cosmoline, list is overwhelmed by Soviet snipers because it was compiled by Russian man, using mostly Russian sources. If you have reputable information on US (or Japanese ) snipers of WW2, just email the webmaster and he will update the list.

Considering the Stalin math. Not sure about sniper scores, but in Red Army AF you had to prove your kill either by real wreckage of downed enemy aircraft or by independent source (usually by ground troops). Compare that with some of the Hitler's aces who managed to shot down 10 (ten!) Il-2 Schturmoviks during one sortie, with no independent confirmations and all ten planes conveniently fallen into the lake, so no wreckage can be found...

 

[Daemon688]

The swastika is not a Nazi symbol either and has a much longer history than the third reich. Take a trip into a Buddhist temple and you'll see many swastikas.

 

[Dorryn]

While on an archaeological excavation in Turkey, we visited a nearby dig that was primarily late Roman artifacts (200-400AD)... (as opposed to our Hittite Empire dig...) I snapped this rather decent photograph of a Roman bathhouse tile floor. You will note the swastika motif repeated throughout- it is indeed a much older symbol than some realize. Although in much of Hitler's Germany, I recall the swastika bending to the right, not the left.



Regarding Soviet snipers, while surely inflated for propaganda reasons, not all of it could be falsified for fear of the demoralizing effect that the truth would have if discovered to be false or from skeptical counter-propaganda...( I would assume, dont know for fact.)

 

[Gunpacker]

One guy got credit for 5 "captives."

 

[Geronimo45]

"Sniper of 82nd rifle division Mihail Lysov shot down a dive bomber Ju87 in October 1941, using an automatic sniper rifle."
Is that what the other guys that have credit for shooting down planes did? Very impressive.

 

[Leif Runenritzer]

Simo Häyhä is amazing. He made 500+ sniper kills, preferrably with iron sights, with a scaled-down Mosin-Nagant. He is said to have made maybe 200 kills with a submachinegun, but this isn't confirmed. He was targeted by the Russians with counter-snipers and artillery, and the back of his coat was torn off by shrapnel from this, but he was unharmed. Later, he was shot in the jaw during close combat, and lost part of his head, putting him in a coma. He was brought to safety and he awoke seven days later on March 13, the day that peace was declared. EDIT: but you already knew this from the other thread.

I'm glad that some cultures decided not to trash the swastika. It is a good symbol, and it is/was dear to many cultures. It's a shame that half the world let someone ruin it.

 

[SWModel19]

Yes, swastika seems to be the name. I just googled "broken cross" and on one site it's said that it is a synonym for the peace symbol

In Native American (American Indian) culture, the swastika is, indeed, a peace symbol. The yearbook at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces was called The Swastika starting in 1907 (long before Hitler took the symbol) and ending in about 1988 (because of political correctness). Never mind that the yearbook was named for the Indian peace symbol. Too many people only saw it as Nazi and insisted that the university change it. If you ever visit NMSU, you will see subtle swastikas all over the place, that date back to about 1900 or so (unless they've been removed in the past ten years).

 

[default]

There may be a bit of "communist math" there, but I tend to believe the Soviet sniper statistics overall, for a couple of reasons.

There was a "sniper cult" in the Red Army at the time, and a lot of emphasis was given to sniper training, recruitment, tactics, and so on. To be sure, it was heavily hyped by propaganda, but there was a was a real attempt to make sniping an effective combat technique.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, the nature, scope, and duration of the war in the East afforded many opportunities for snipers, especially in comparison to other theatres. Long sieges of cities (Stalingrad, Leningrad, Sevastopol), partisan warfare (Ukraine, Belorussia, many other areas), protracted defense of fortifications (Moscow, Kursk), all made for an environment where the effectiveness of snipers would naturally be utilized.

 

[Cosmoline]

I'm given to believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that "Halkenkreuz" is broken cross, or swastika.

The Finnish Hakaristi, or hooked cross, is an old symbol of good luck and became an emblem of Finnish nationalism during the civil war. It has no relation with national socialism. Though the Finns were co-belligerents with the Germans during the Continuation War and followed some Prussian officer traditions, they never adopted a fascist government. They had to take German help because the Allies and their own neighbors sold them down river. The whole problem could have been fixed in the early 40's, if not in '39, by simply telling Uncle Joe to cede Karelia back to the Finns or face losing all those lend-lease goodies that were keeping his army fed. That way Finland could have been brought into the Alliance or at least kept neutral. But we all know what FDR was like when it came to laying down the law with Stalin.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Vasiliy Ivanovich Golosov (81st Guards rifle regiment)

Sorry, but this guy is by far the most impressive on the list.

He killed 70 enemy snipers. Sure, killing 500 troops is one thing, but killing 70 enemy snipers is in a class of it's own. Especially considering nobody else on that list is even close to accomplishing that.

 

[Steve N]

Read "War of the Rats", or better yet, get it as an audio book. The story is essentially the same as "Enemy at the Gates". In the audio book version of "War...", there is an interview with the author at the end. He stole the snipers diary from the Library of Congress, had it translated, then returned it. He went to the Russian Embassy in DC to get a visa. When asked why, the interviewer called the sniper on the phone! The interviewer said that "in America, you names schools after George Washington. In Russia, we name them after (the sniper)".

The reality of the interview was just as fascinating as the body of the story.

Sorry, can't remember the sniper's name right now.

 

[jlbraun]

Hot-tie!

 

[Sniper X]

World War II
Name Conflict Service Branch Kills
Simo Hayha W.W. II Finland 542
Ivan Sidorenko W.W. II U.S.S.R. 500
Nikolay Yakovlevich Ilyin W.W. II U.S.S.R. 496
Kulbertinov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 487
V. N. Pchelintsev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 456
Mikhail Budenkov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 437
Fyodor Matveevich Okhlopkov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 429
Fyodor Djachenko W.W. II U.S.S.R. 425
Vasilij Ivanovich Golosov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 422
Afanasy Gordienko W.W. II U.S.S.R. 417
Stepan Petrenko W.W. II U.S.S.R. 412
Sulo Kolkka W.W. II Finland 400+
Erwin Konig W.W. II Germany 400
Vasili Zaitsev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 400
Semen D. Nomokonov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 367
Abdukhani Idrisov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 349
Philipp Yakovlevich Rubaho W.W. II U.S.S.R. 346
Matthäus Hetzenauer W.W. II Germany 345
Victor Ivanovich Medvedev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 331
E. Nicolaev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 324
Leonid Yakovlevich Butkevich W.W. II U.S.S.R. 315
Nikolai Ilyin W.W. II U.S.S.R. 315
Lyudmila M. Pavlichenko (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 309
Alexander Pavlovich Lebedev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 307
Ivan Pavlovich Gorelikov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 305
Ivan Petrovich Antonov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 302
Heinz Thorvald W.W. II Germany 300
Gennadij Iosifovich Velichko W.W. II U.S.S.R. 300
Moisej Timofeyevich Usik W.W. II U.S.S.R. 300
Nataly V. Kovshova &
Maria Polivanova (Female team) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 300
Ivan Filippovich Abdulov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 298
Yakov Mikhajlovich Smetnev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 279
Liba Rugova W.W. II U.S.S.R. 274
Anatolij Chekhov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 265
Zhambyl Evscheyevich Tulaev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 262
Sepp Allerberger W.W. II Germany 257
Fyodor Kuzmich Chegodaev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 250
Ivan Ivanovich Bocharov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 248
Mikhail Ignatievich Belousov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 245
Maxim Passar W.W. II U.S.S.R. 237
David Teboevich Doev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 226
Vasilij Shalvovich Kvachantiradze W.W. II U.S.S.R. 215
Bruno Sutkus W.W. II Germany 209
Mikhail Stepanovich Sokhin W.W. II U.S.S.R. 202
Noj Petrovich Adamia W.W. II U.S.S.R. 200
M.A. Abbasov W.W.II U.S.S.R. 200
Gefreiter Meyer W.W. II Germany 180
Yekaterina Zuranova W.W. II U.S.S.R. 155
Vladimir Ptchelinzev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 152
Inna Semyonovna Mudretsova (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 143
Feodosy Smeljachkov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 125
I. Merkulov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 125
H. Andruhaev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 125
Oleh Dir W.W. II Germany 120
Tatiana Igantovna Kostyrina(F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 120
N.P. Petrova (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 107
V. N. Pchelintsev W.W. II U.S.S.R. 102
Yelizaveta Mironova (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R 100+
Aliya Moldagulova (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 91
Nina Lobkovskaya (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 89
Lidiya Gudovantseva (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 76
Helmut Wirnsberger W.W. II Germany 64
Alexandra Shlyakhova (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 63
P. Grjaznov W.W. II U.S.S.R. 57
Roza Shanina (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 54
A.P.Medvedeva-Nazarkina (F) W.W. II U.S.S.R. 43
Marie Ljalková (F) W.W. II Czech Army 30
James Bedford MacArthur W.W. II Canada 9
* denotes unconfirmed kills (F) denotes Female sniper



Vietnam
Name Conflict Service Branch Kills
Adelbert Waldron III Vietnam U.S. Army 109
Charles B. Mawhinney Vietnam U.S.M.C 103
Eric R. England Vietnam U.S.M.C 98
Carlos Hathcock Vietnam U.S.M.C 93
Thomas R. Leonard Vietnam U.S.M.C. 74
Steve Suttles Vietnam U.S.M.C 63
Joseph T. Ward Vietnam U.S.M.C 63
George Filyaw Vietnam U.S.M.C 56
20*
Philip G. Moran Vietnam U.S. Army 53
Raymond W. Westphal Vietnam U.S.M.C 49
19*
Terry Mathis Vietnam U.S. Army 48
James C. Peters Vietnam U.S. Army 43
11*
T.R. Graves Vietnam U.S.M.C 43
Lynn Bushnell Vietnam U.S.M.C 43
Daniel L. Greene Vietnam U.S. Navy 42
12*
Joe York Vietnam U.S. Navy 42
Tom "Moose" Ferran Vietnam U.S.M.C 41
James Gularte Vietnam U.S.M.C 40
R. D. Bundy Vietnam U.S.M.C 40
Michael E. Duncan Vietnam U.S. Army 39
Chester Clarke Vietnam U.S. Army 39
William Lucas Vietnam
Panama U.S.M.C
U.S. Army 38
1
Bob Jones Vietnam U.S. Army 38
John M. Perry Vietnam U.S.M.C 37
5*
Dennis Oscier Vietnam U.S.M.C 36
20*
Bill E. Nation Vietnam U.S.M.C 35
Clifford L Wallace Vietnam U.S.M.C 27
Ed W. Eaton Vietnam U.S. Army 27
Craig McGary Vietnam U.S. Navy 26
8*
Mike Brewton Vietnam U.S. Army 23
Lloyd Crow Vietnam U.S.M.C. 23
Bobby J. Lee Vietnam U.S.M.C. 18
Craig Roberts Vietnam U.S.M.C. 18
35*
Ed Kugler Vietnam U.S.M.C. 17
Gary J. Brown Vietnam U.S. Navy 17
4*
Karl H. Grosshans Vietnam U.S.M.C 16
Greg Kraljev Vietnam U.S.M.C 15
Timothy Dunn Vietnam U.S.M.C 14
Thomas Ray Cohenour Vietnam U.S. Army 13
Tommy Cohenover Vietnam U.S. Army 13
Ron Szpond Vietnam U.S.M.C 12
12*
William B. Martin Vietnam U.S.M.C 12
Michael McMillan Vietnam U.S. Army 5
Gary M. White Vietnam U.S.M.C 4
5*
Gabriel J. Gradney Vietnam U.S.M.C 4
1*
David W. Lee Vietnam U.S. Army 3
4*
Alan Bruce Hartung Vietnam U.S.M.C 3
3*
Colin McGee Vietnam U.S.M.C 3
Robert Miles Vietnam U.S. Army 2
Herb R. Coburn Vietnam U.S. Army 0
Bobby L. Taylor Vietnam U.S. Army ?
Jim Titus Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
George Filyaw Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Hulette S. Benefield Vietnam U.S. Army ?
Robert Elmer Bartruff Vietnam U.S. Army ?
Dave Leibensperger Vietnam U.S. Navy ?
Jeffrey S. Gunderson Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Dennis K. Stanely Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Jim Saracco Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Gary Edwards Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
John West Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
William Lancaster Vietnam U.S. Army ?
Mel Bauch Vietnam U.S. Army ?
Ronald R. Willoughby Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Dennis Toncar Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Vaughn Nickell Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Anthony Spanopoulos Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Thomas Casey Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Thomas Elbert Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Robert P. Millgan Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Loren Kleppe Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Fofo Tutilie Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Steve Englebrecht Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Carroll Gene Davis Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
John Howell Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Harold Gene Moore Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Verne Smith Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Ken Barden Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
A.R.D. Bean Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Eddie Rackow Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Dennis "Buddy" Bolton Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Charles Monroe Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
George Nash Vietnam U.S.M.C ?
Richard Prestwich Vietnam U.S. Army ?
Lawrence Tahler Vietnam U.S. Army ?
Ed Eaton Vietnam U.S. Army ?
* denotes unconfirmed kills (F) denotes Female sniper


Just a few I know about


There is great debate over wether the legendary WWII German sniper that was sent to Stalingrad to dispatch of Vasili Zaitzev was Konig, Thorvald, or even wether he existed at all. In fact in the actual Soviet war records, it originally showed up as a Maj. Erwin Konig, which is in fact a very basic and plain German Name at the time. In Vasili Zaitsev's war memoirs, he later refers to him as Heinz Thorvald, which was yet another popular German name in that time period. Thorvald seems to be the name that is used more now, and its confusing as to which it was, and if they were the same person, or one was a mistake, or wether the German Super Sniper was fabricated by the Soviet press to represent the German army, or German snipers on a "whole", and that the story was just a means of providing morale for the Soviet troops. The two names are on official Soviet war records, but there is no record of either name in the German record books (not to say they couldn't have removed the name to save grace). Any way you look at it, its confusing and debatable. Since both names appear in Soviet propaganda and war records, Konig in early war records and Thorvald in Zaitsevs memoirs and in later war records, I have included them both on the list until there is concrete proof that one or the other, or both, did not exist.

SX

 

[gaweidert]

Simo Hayha from Finland did all his kills in a 105 day stretch. After he was shhot in the face, he still managed to kil the Russian soldier who shot him. He did not us a cut down Russian Rfile. What he used was either the Finn Model M27 or M28. These rifles were made in Finland using receivers from Russian Mosin Nagants. All my Finn rifles have either Sako, Tikka or Sig barrels on them. All are also excellent shooters. Finnish military requirements were that the rifle shoot a sub 1.5 MOA group.

Simo preferred open sights when sniping. That way he could keep his head a little lower. As for height he was barely 5 feet tall. All he ever said about his exploits was that his country had been invaded by Russia and he just tried to do his best. Being an expert woodsman and hunter served him well during his brief stint in the military.

Finland separated itself from Russia during the Russian Revolution. Russia Invade Finland twice. Once in 1939 (The Winter War) and again in 1941 (The Continuation War). It allied itself with German simply because both were enemies of Russia. In the Continuation War the Russians lost some 250,000 men t oabout 25,000 Finnish men killed. Simo Hayha died a few years ago one of Finlands most revered and beloved heroes. On top of his sniper kills, he also had another 225 or so kills in actual combat.

 

[Highmaster]

Korea:
William Krilling
http://www.odcmp.org/1106/default.asp?page=KRILLING_RANGE

Vietnam:
Burl Branham
http://www.militarymarksmanship.org/branham.htm

These two gentlemen of shooting pretty much founded the sniper school at Ft. Benning.

Vietnam
James McQuien
USAMU Hall of Famer

 

[max popenker]

gaweidert, you are correct about Winter war of 1939, but 1941? From all that i know it was Finland who desperately tried to regain territories lost in 1939-40. It fought, but achieved no success, as in 1944 a truce was signed which included borders of 1941; otherwise, my trip to Finland would take just 30 minutes instead of full 3 hours

 

[Waywatcher]

An easy way I remember swastikas versus just broken crosses is:

"There's no 'L' in Nazi."

So if you see an L in a broken cross, like the Finnish one on that website, its obviously not Nazi.

(Nazi swastikas 'spiral' the other direction)