The HORRORS of Snipers in WWII
The Dark Art of Sniping in World War II: A Dual Perspective
Being a sniper in the Second World War meant being hated more than any other soldier on the battlefield, living with the consequences of your actions for the rest of your life. That is, of course, if you were lucky enough to survive. This article delves into the psychological impact of sniping on both the snipers themselves and the soldiers on the receiving end, illustrating the horrors that sniping brought to the battlefield.
The Legacy of Sniping
When the First World War ended in 1918, the Great Powers abandoned their best killers almost overnight. Britain’s sniper capabilities stood at their peak by the time of the armistice, with specialized rifles, carefully calibrated telescopes, and trained marksmen who had spent years perfecting their craft. However, within months, all of it was dismantled. Conversion rifles were taken apart, telescopes sold off for civilian hunters, and the knowledge built through four years of experience simply allowed to fade away.
This wasn’t entirely surprising given British military culture at the time. The high command had resisted sniping from the very beginning, viewing it as ungentlemanly warfare. A hidden shooter deliberately selecting individual targets didn’t sit well with officers raised on cavalry charges and bayonet assaults. By the time 1939 rolled around and war returned, Britain found itself with almost no sniping capability at all, and German snipers would punish them for that.
The United States followed a similar path. When the Second World War began, the American army was even less prepared for precision shooting than the British. Remarkably, even Germany, whose sharpshooters had devastated Allied troops throughout the First World War, dropped its specialized sniper units during the interwar period. It would take significant losses to Soviet snipers before German training resumed at the highest level, which wouldn’t happen until 1943.
The Soviet Union’s Preparation
There was one exception to this collective forgetting, and it came from the nation you might least expect: the Soviet Union. During the First World War, Russia had employed no dedicated snipers at all, suffering terribly from well-equipped German and Austrian marksmen who picked them off with impunity. Soviet military planners learned from this experience and vowed never to let it happen again. While Western powers dismantled their sniper programs, the Soviets built theirs from the ground up.
Before the Second World War began in earnest, there would be a demonstration of just how effective trained snipers could be. This demonstration came in the winter of 1939 during the Winter War, where the infamous Simo Häyhä became a legend. When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, they expected a quick victory due to their overwhelming numerical superiority. However, they were unprepared for the devastation caused by Häyhä, who would go on to become one of the deadliest snipers in history.
Simo Häyhä: The White Death
Simo Häyhä, known as the “White Death,” joined the Finnish Civil Guard at 17. His weapon was a Finnish variant of the Mosin-Nagant rifle, nicknamed the “Spitz.” He didn’t use a telescopic sight, which seems counterintuitive for a sniper, but there were good reasons for this decision. A scope requires the shooter to raise his head higher, making detection easier. In the Finnish winter, scopes would fog up and become useless, and sunlight could reflect off the glass, giving away a position.
Häyhä’s concealment techniques were meticulous. He kept snow in his mouth while sniping to prevent his breath from forming visible vapor and packed dense mounds of snow in front of his position to absorb the puff of snow that a muzzle blast would kick up. His routine was to move well before daybreak to a prepared position and remain completely still until after sunset.
The results were devastating. Finnish army documents recorded 259 confirmed rifle kills, and his commander credited him with an equal number using a submachine gun in closer engagements. Häyhä’s own memoir estimated approximately 500 total kills, with his highest single-day count at 25 Soviet soldiers. The Soviets, desperate to eliminate him, deployed counter-sniper teams, directed heavy machine gun fire at suspected positions, and even called in mortars.
The Psychological Toll of Sniping
As the war progressed, sniping became a complex psychological game. Soviet snipers specifically targeted soldiers bringing food and water to forward positions, ensuring that any movement during daylight invited a bullet. After wounding a soldier, snipers would wait patiently, watching as the wounded man screamed for help. When medics or comrades attempted rescue, the sniper would shoot them too. This created a horrific dilemma: do you leave your wounded friend to die slowly, or do you risk more men trying to save him knowing the sniper is watching?
The target priority system was designed for maximum damage, focusing on artillery spotters, officers, non-commissioned officers, machine gun crews, enemy snipers, and anyone carrying food or water. The psychological effect of sniping was immense, creating an environment of fear and paranoia among enemy soldiers. They knew that somewhere out there, invisible, a man was looking through a scope, deciding whether they would live or die.
Snipers were hated intensely, and capture almost always meant death. Artillery might kill you, but it felt like bad luck. A sniper’s shot always felt personal because it was. Someone had looked at you through a scope, decided you were worth a bullet, and pulled the trigger. The psychological toll on snipers was equally severe. The cold at Stalingrad was brutal, and snipers had to remain motionless for hours while waiting for the right shot.
The Emergence of Female Snipers
Interestingly, the Soviet Union also deployed female snipers during the Second World War, with around 2,000 women serving from 1941 to 1945. These weren’t support personnel pressed into emergency roles; they were trained marksmen deployed specifically to kill. The casualty rates tell you everything about what these women faced. Of those 2,000, only about 500 survived, meaning roughly 75 to 80% were killed.
One of the most famous female snipers was Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who achieved 309 confirmed kills, including 36 enemy snipers. She was wounded four times and eventually evacuated by submarine. Another notable sniper was Roza Shanina, who achieved between 59 and 75 confirmed kills. She volunteered for sniper training after her brother was killed and was mortally wounded while shielding a wounded officer.
The Eastern Front showed what snipers could do when conditions favored them. However, the war was far from over. In the Pacific, American soldiers were about to discover a completely different kind of sniper nightmare.
The Pacific Theater: A Different Kind of Warfare
The Pacific theater presented a different world entirely. Instead of frozen rubble, American soldiers found themselves fighting in dense jungle and volcanic rock. Japanese snipers had developed their skills after fighting German-trained Chinese marksmen in Manchuria. By 1941, each infantry platoon typically included one sniper selected for marksmanship and the psychological capacity to remain hidden for extended periods.
Japanese snipers specifically targeted officers and medics. In training, soldiers were shown photographs of American medics and taught that the enemy would sacrifice many men trying to save one. American officers quickly learned to conceal rank insignia and instructed troops never to salute officers near the front because a salute pointed out exactly who the sniper should target.
The result was sniper hysteria, where troops riddled treetops with machine gun fire at the slightest provocation and called artillery on every ravine suspected of harboring the enemy. Green troops made things worse; inexperienced soldiers would go to ground seeking cover when one of their number was hit, giving the sniper easy targets.
The Final Days of the Third Reich
In the desperate last days of the Third Reich, the Germans turned to their children. The Hitler Youth had received military training for years, and by December 1944, girls as young as 14 were training with small arms and grenades. When the war turned decisively against Germany, these reserves were called up. In the Battle for Berlin, 40,000 Volkssturm militia participated, including 5,000 Hitler Youth detailed to defend bridges.
These weren’t hardened soldiers. They were children wearing oversized uniforms, carrying rifles they had barely learned to use. German commanders used them as snipers left behind in concealed positions as the front line shifted. An experienced sniper understands restraint, taking a few well-aimed shots and then withdrawing to fight another day. These boys had no such instincts, and whether from lack of training or ideological conditioning, they would remain in position and continue firing until they ran out of ammunition or were killed.
The scale of sniper warfare in the Second World War was unlike anything the world had seen before. Trained marksmen killed thousands and traumatized countless more, making it the deadliest era of precision killing the world has ever witnessed.
Conclusion
The legacy of snipers in World War II is a complex tapestry woven with threads of bravery, horror, and psychological warfare. From the chilling effectiveness of Simo Häyhä in Finland to the harrowing experiences of Soviet and American snipers in the East and Pacific theaters, the role of the sniper evolved into a critical element of warfare.
As we reflect on this history, we must remember not only the deadly efficiency of these marksmen but also the profound psychological impact they had on both their enemies and themselves. The sniper’s role in World War II serves as a reminder of the complexities of war, where the line between heroism and horror often blurs, leaving lasting scars on all who participate.
