Vassily Zaitsev Story and pictures

[Nrom]

Simo Häyhä must have been a sodding mad man.

Snipers are one thing, killing 200 people with a sub machine gun, and counting them, that's bloody crazy.

Not to insult anyone, but the dude must have been a nutter of some sort to be able to pull it off.

War is bloody crazy. And you have your home invaded and see how you react. Staying cool in a situation like a war is quite a thing to pull off, especially with the odds that were. Without men like Häyhä it woulda been a lot more than "just" the area the size of Denmark that the Soviets invaded.

Not to flame, anyway. It wasn't he who counted, but his superiors as already pointed out.

One thing is that in Finland combat usually happened at close ranges which effectively puts Häyhäs accomplishment in a different light than those of men who fought on steppes and so on.

You have been in war?

[Taekwondo]

Should I have?

Thank God I haven't been, and I pray I never have to. My experience is second-hand and I can safely say it is enough for me!

[Lazarou]

Sup little swedish gay boy! You didnt even took part in World War 2 **** HEADS!! Go and suck Carle gays **** motha fuka!

Hmm.. Nrom is as well-mannered as he is "Finnish"...

[b.scheller]

Perhaps I shouldn't really post, as this doesnt add to the conversation, but I read somewhere that Zaitsev, upon the final days of the War, stepped on a landmine, and was heavily wounded. Losing his eyesight. I'll try to find the source, from where I read this, but perhaps someone can correllate this?

[Nrom]

Sup little swedish gay boy! You didnt even took part in World War 2 **** HEADS!! Go and suck Carle gays **** motha fuka!

Hmm.. Nrom is as well-mannered as he is "Finnish"...

You dont even know how much we hate swedish people and sweden!

And especialy becouse we have to learn that ugly mota fuka language!

[OldRecon]

As for Beevor and his book on the Spanish civil war, it focuses more on the political side of the conflict rather than the military side of it.
Thus if you want a more detailed insigth in the military side of the conflict and about life at the front during the civil war, you'll have to look somewhere else.
Same goes with Beevor's book on the Algerian war.

As for the condemning the quality of Beevors book on the Spanish civil war you obviously haven't read:

Lindbäck, Lise. - Battalion Thälman

That is a real hagiographic piece of ****. But then it was written while the fighting was still going on.

As for the usual denigrating jingoistics on the Russians. I don't deny the spate of rapings vs. German women in the wake of the Soviet advance. But then the Germans had done more than their fair share of bad things on the part of Soviet Union which they managed to occupy also. And not just the einsatzsgruppen, Polizeibattalionen or Waffen SS at that. Heer units and personel have also been shown to be involved on occasion.
As one example: Of the horde of prisoners taken by German forces during the initial advance in 1941, not many would survive past the end of that year.

But well that's more than half a century ago, so I think it's high time to look forward.

[Baron Harkonnen]

Hero of the Soviet Union sniper Vasily Zaitzev.

[Baron Harkonnen]

Генералы В И Чуйков К А Гуров и снайпер В Г Зайцев 1942 г

Generals V/ I Chyikov and Gurov and Zaitzev in 1942...

[Baron Harkonnen]

As for the german sniper Koonings (or maybe other spelling) Vasily Zaitzev mentions him in his memoirs (if you can read Russian I can give a link, it is the most interesting reading about sniper experience and tactics)

[joka]

Sup little swedish gay boy! You didnt even took part in World War 2 **** HEADS!! Go and suck Carle gays **** motha fuka!

Check out the ban, coming to a store near you!

[khukuri]

As for the german sniper Koonings (or maybe other spelling) Vasily Zaitzev mentions him in his memoirs (if you can read Russian I can give a link, it is the most interesting reading about sniper experience and tactics)

plz give us the link

[UraBudanov]

I cant believe there is a FINN on our side!

Way to go bro. Not all finns are nasty I guess.

[StukaJr]

As for the german sniper Koonings (or maybe other spelling) Vasily Zaitzev mentions him in his memoirs (if you can read Russian I can give a link, it is the most interesting reading about sniper experience and tactics)

Can you post or PM me a link? I read Russian

[Jippo]

One advantage that some Russian snipers employed was that some used the 7.62x54 ammo that was made for aircraft MGs with exploding projectiles.

Both sides threw around accusation of HE rifle calibre bullets being used, but personally I doubt it was that common an occurance. The accuracy of such ammo designed for MG and area use would be very poor, plus the payload size in a 30 cal round would make it rather ineffectual against most targets. Needless to say if it exploded when it hit your coat the fragments would be very small and very light weight and would be unlikely to penetrate deeply enough to create much more than a superficial wound. A ball round would probably go right through you in comparison.

There were used in quantity on Finnish front atleast. I should know, my grandfather was hit by one.

They were outphasing obsolescent mg ammunition, and not by snipers but all troops.


-jippo

[Baron Harkonnen]

Взошло солнце. Куликов сделал "слепой" выстрел: снайпера следовало заинтриговать. Решили первую половину дня переждать: блеск оптики мог нас выдать. После обеда наши винтовки были уже в тени, а на позиции фашиста упали прямые лучи солнца. У края листа что-то заблестело. Случайный осколок стекла или снайперский прицел?..

Куликов осторожно, как это может сделать только самый опытный снайпер, стал приподнимать каску. Фашист выстрелил. Куликов на мгновение приподнялся, громко вскрикнул и упал...

Наконец-то советский снайпер, "главный заяц", за которым охотился четыре дня, убит! - подумал, наверное, немец, и высунул из-под листа полголовы, Я ударил. Голова фашиста осела, а оптический прицел его винтовки все так же блестел на солнце.

Куликов лежал на дне траншеи и заливался громким смехом.

- Беги! - крикнул я ему.

Николай спохватился и пополз за....


Link (Russian) - http://www.patriotica.ru/history/zay_stal.zip