Sniper Ace

Throughout World War II, German snipers were obliged to carry a ’Scharfshützen Buch’ which recorded every kill. Each success noted had to be verified by a witness and signed by a superior officer.The journal of Sutkus is one of only a few such books to have survived the war. It records more than 200 kills, placing him as one of the war’s most successful snipers. A large part of his journal is reproduced for the first time here.

Death in the Midnight Sky By: Joe Berardino I closed my eyes, raised my chin to heaven, and felt the words surround me. They filled my heart with love, encouragement and boundless hope. I dreamt of marching over Russian tanks, freeing the Jews in Europe, opening schools in Africa. My chest filled with pride. I knew I could do anything; I could live the dream of my young President…My fate was sealed. I knew I had to become part of the greatest challenge of my generation, the new generation. Patriotism served as the inspiration for Joe Berardino’s tour in Vietnam, flying the mighty gunship. Like countless other American servicemen, hard work, perseverance, and tenacity became ingrained in Joe’s character, allowing him to accomplish his life’s goals, including earning a scholarship to attend Michigan State University. Death in the Midnight Sky is about the bravery and honor of the U.S. serviceman; about their honor and integrity; and about their inherent truth and honesty.

Ace is the fictional story of a criminal enterprise in Columbus, Ohio. Two scout snipers have joined forces with organized crime. They contract for the execution of criminals who have stepped outside the protection of the criminal community. David Chandler again finds himself in the center of this violent part of criminal activity and his friend Peter Dye has the back of the sniper team because this was his sniper team from Vietnam. The story takes you to locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Newark, New Jersey, Washington D.C. and other cities as Songer and Brant chose their targets.

The Sniper Encyclopaedia is an indispensable alphabetical, topic-by-topic guide to a fascinating subject.It is intended as a companion volume to John Walter's Snipers at War (Greenhill Books, 2017) and is another addition to the Greenhill Sniper Library which includes a series of first-person memoirs.This is a comprehensive work that covers virtually every aspect of sniping. The work contains personal details of hundreds of snipers, including world-renowned gurus such as Vasiliy Zaytsev and Chris Kyle as well as many crack shots generally overlooked by history. Among them are some of more than a thousand Red Army snipers, men and a surprising number of women, who amassed sufficient kills to be awarded the Medal for Courage and, later, the Order of Glory. Some of the best-known victims of snipers are identified, and the veracity of some of the most popular myths is explored.The book pays special attention to the history and development of the many specialist sniper rifles - some more successful than others - that have served the world’s armies since the American Wars of the nineteenth century to today’s technology-based conflicts. Attention, too, is paid to the progress made with ammunition—without which, of course, precision shooting would be impossible and the development of aids and accessories, from camouflage clothing to laser rangefinders.Finally, The Sniper Encyclopaedia examines place and specific campaigns - the way marksman have influenced the course of the individual battles and locations which have played a crucial part in the history of sniping, from individual sites to sniper schools and training grounds.The book contains authors’ biographies, a critical assessment of the many books and memoirs from the world of the sniper, and a guide to research techniques.

Based on an incredible breadth of first-hand testimony, this is a unique collection of eyewitness accounts from World War I and II. John Walter draws on meticulous research and the reminiscences of more than fifty snipers, tracing their journeys from recruitment and selection through training, combat and its aftermath to reveal a surprising commonality of experience, even across nationalities. Laying bare the triumphs and brutalities of sniping, the personalities and psychologies of those who found themselves doing it and considering the immediate implications on both the sniper and the wider theatre of war, this is a fascinating, detailed insight into frontline combat and the experience of sharpshooting in its historical context. The book is appended with the complete diary of Russian sniper Roza Shanina, who is still celebrated today for her remarkable shooting accuracy and astonishing bravery. Her diary offers a rare insight into the complexities of what it was to be both a sniper and a woman on the frontline.

Snipers at War is a detailed history and analysis of the equipment, tactics and personalities of the ‘sniping world’, from the pursuit of accuracy to the latest electronic aids to observation and ranging. Technology and marksmanship from the Crimean War to the present day is examined in detail. The role of the sniper was largely ignored until the Winter War of 1939-40 between Finland and the USSR showed what could be achieved by specialist marksmen: Finn Simo Häyhä amassed 505 kills in less than a hundred days, a lesson learned by the Red Army to its cost. By the Germans invasion of 1941 the Russians were prepared: when the war ended, in addition to men such as Vasiliy Zaytsev, a Stalingrad hero with 242 accredited kills, the USSR had trained more than 2000 women as snipers. After 1945, the sniper’s reputation declined again. However, the Vietnam War, seemingly unending Middle Eastern conflict, internal strife in Sri Lanka, and ever-present urban threats have given new impetus not only to sniping but also to the development of new and more effective weaponry.

The Soviet Union had developed a significant sniping force by 1939, but the extraordinary skill and cunning displayed by Finnish snipers during the Winter War forced the Soviets to innovate. On the other side, German sniping suffered from a lack of standardization of weapons and a lack of marksmen deployed at the start of the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). There were few heroes in the conflict, but on both sides, the snipers were idolized – especially on the Soviet side, gaining almost mythical status. As well as traditional bolt-action weapons, both sides used several types of semi-automatic rifle, such as the SVT-38 and the Gew 41. Offering greater firepower at the expense of long-range accuracy, such weapons would be profoundly influential in the postwar world. Fully illustrated, this absorbing study investigates the development of sniping weapons and techniques on World War II's Eastern Front.