The sniper anthology : snipers of the Second World War

151 Pages·2012·2.58 MB·English

by  Martin Pegler

The Sniper Anthology
This edition published in 2012 by Frontline Books, an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church
Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS
For information on our books, please visit www.frontline-books.com, email [email protected] or
write to us at the above address.
And
Published and distributed in 2012 in the United States of America and Canada by Pelican Publishing
Company, Inc., 1000 Burmaster Street, Gretna, Louisiana 70053
Copyright © Pen & Sword Books Ltd,, 2011 Chapter 9 © Dan Mills, 2011
Frontline edition: ISBN 978-1-84832-625-5
ISBN 978-1-84468-297-3 (ebook) Pelican edition: ISBN 978-1-4556-1682-4
Pelican e-book edition: ISBN 978-1-4556-1683-1
The right of the Contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act
in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Cataloging records for this title are available from the British Library and the Library of Congress.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
CONTENTS
The Contributors
List of Plates
Introduction
by John L. Plaster
Chapter 1 Simo Häyhä: The White Death
by Roger Moorhouse
Chapter 2 Lyudmila Pavlichenko:
Most Dangerous Woman on Earth
by Charles W. Sasser
Chapter 3 Bert Kemp:
A Reluctant Warrior with a Deadly Gift
by Tom C. McKenney
Chapter 4 Operation Foxley:
British Sniping and the Hunt for Hitler
by Tim Newark
Chapter 5 Japanese Sniper:
A Long Walk to a Short Life
by John B. Tonkin
Chapter 6 Vassili Zaitsev:
The Sailor of Stalingrad
by Martin Pegler
Chapter 7 Clifford Shore:
British Sniper, Trainer, Theorist and Historian
by Leroy Thompson
Chapter 8 Sepp Allerberger:
Wehrmacht Scharfschützen
by Adrian Gilbert
Chapter 9 Patrick Devlin:
Fighting Irishman
by Dan Mills
Chapter 10 Harry M. Furness:
Fieldcraft Expert
by Mark Spicer
THE CONTRIBUTORS
Adrian Gilbert
Adrian Gilbert has written extensively on military history in the twentieth
century. Among his books are POW: Allied Prisoners of War, 1939–1945, The
Imperial War Museum Book of the Desert War, featuring first-hand accounts
from British forces in North Africa, 1940–2, and an oral history of the French
Foreign Legion: Voices of the Legion. He has a special interest in sniping and
sharpshooting and is the author of two bestselling books on the subject: Sniper:
One-on-One and Stalk and Kill: The Sniper Experience.
Tom C. McKenney
Lieutenant Colonel Tom C. McKenney is a graduate of the University of
Kentucky and the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). He was an
infantry officer, parachutist and special operations officer in the U.S. Marine
Corps, serving alongside the British Commonwealth Division in the Panmunjam
Corridor in Korea, and in Vietnam. He was retired in 1971 for disability incurred
in Vietnam. He is an award-winning author of books and periodical articles on
military history, most recently of Battlefield Sniper, a true story of the American
Civil War.
Dan Mills
Dan Mills joined the British Army aged sixteen. He enlisted in his local infantry
regiment, The Queen’s Regiment, which later became The Princess of Wales’s
Royal Regiment. During his twenty-four years in the infantry he saw active
service in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as
travelling extensively around the world. He was awarded Britain’s oldest award,
a Mention in Dispatches, for gallantry in March 2005 for his actions in Iraq. His
first book was the bestseller Sniper One: The Blistering True Story of a British
Battle Group Under Siege (2007). Dan Mills left the Army in 2010.
Roger Moorhouse
Roger Moorhouse is a historian and author, specializing in Nazi Germany and
the Second World War in Europe. A fluent German speaker, he is the author of
Killing Hitler and the critically-acclaimed Berlin at War, and co-author, with
Norman Davies, of Microcosm. His interest in the story of Simo Häyhä was
spurred by his research for his next book – The Devils’ Alliance – on the subject
of the Nazi–Soviet Pact. A regular contributor and reviewer for the national and
specialist history press, he has also provided introductions to a number of recent
Frontline publications, including the memoirs of Erich Kempka, Heinz Linge,
Christa Schroeder and Heinrich Hoffmann. He lives in Buckinghamshire and
does all his own ironing.
Tim Newark
Tim Newark is the author of several well-received military history books,
including The Mafia at War and Highlander. Formerly the editor of Military
Illustrated, he has also worked as scriptwriter and historical consultant on TV
documentaries for BBC World-wide and the History Channel, including the 13-
part series Hitler’s Bodyguard. He reviews military history books for the
Financial Times. Visit www.timnewark.com.
Martin Pegler
Martin Pegler was curator of firearms at the Royal Armouries for twenty years
and during his career was able to shoot almost every historic and current sniping
rifle. He is the author of a dozen books about firearms, but specializes in the
development and technology of sniping. He owns a comprehensive collection of
working sniping rifles dating from the nineteenth century and has provided many
of them to film and TV companies, for whom he has also acted as historical
advisor. He appears regularly as a militaria specialist on the BBC’s Antiques
Roadshow. He lives in France with his wife.
Charles W. Sasser
Author of more than fifty books, including bestsellers like One Shot – One Kill,
First SEAL and Raider, Charles W. Sasser has been called ‘one of the most
respected military writers in the field’. A combat veteran who served with the
U.S. Navy (journalist) and with the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets), he
is retired from the military after twenty-nine years’ active and reserve service.
He also served fourteen years as a police officer (in Miami, Florida, and in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was a homicide detective). His books have been
translated into Chinese, Russian, Serbian, French, Spanish and other languages.
Mark Spicer
Mark Spicer is a twenty-five-year veteran of the British Army, having served
with special units, and as a sniper and sniper platoon commander. During his
military service he wrote the British Army’s field manual for snipers and has
since authored three world-renowned books on sniping. Since retiring from the
Army he has been involved in training military and law enforcement units from
America, Scandinavia and the Middle East and has acted as an expert witness in
criminal trials.
Leroy Thompson
Leroy Thompson has trained police and military tactical units, including snipers,
for more than thirty years. He also writes articles for numerous magazines on
tactical weapons, which includes testing new sniping rifles and optics as they are
introduced. He is the author of forty-eight books and over 2,000 magazine
articles on military special operations, hostage rescue, tactical operations, and
weapons.
John B. Tonkin
An Ohio native and avid student of history, Tonkin enlisted in the U.S. Marine
Corps in 1955, joining the 10th Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He also served
in the security unit of a top secret installation during the Cold War. Following
military service John began a business career in personnel and labour relations
executive management that spanned four decades. Now retired, in addition to his