—— Red Army Sniper ——110has dispatched 190 Nazi troops and officers to the next
world.
The soldiers on our front must learn from our
heroes the art of irresistibly striking at the enemy.
The experience of the leading snipers must be made
accessible to all soldiers at the front, in order to develop
thousands of new masters of marksmanship. The
objective now is to move from individual snipers to
the formation of detachments, platoons and companies
of snipers. All troops, officers and political advisers of
the front must come to grips with this responsible and
honoured task.
May the award with which our finest military
comrades have been presented inspire us all to new
feats. May the glory of Soviet arms grow. May the ranks
of the heroes of the Soviet land multiply!
Comrade Zhdanov finished, to thunderous applause. Then
began the presentation of awards to the heroes who had been
named.
First to be called was the name of sniper Feodosy Smolyachkov,
to whom this high honour was awarded posthumously: Feodosy
Artemyevich Smolyachkov, sniper of the 13th Rifle Division,
who had wiped out 125 Nazis with 126 bullets but perished on 15
January 1942. Our heroes went up to the top table and Comrade
Zhdanov presented the awards personally. He also pinned the
Gold Star of ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ and the Order of Lenin
onto their tunics – for each of them. Among those who received
this exalted title was my fellowtownsman, Vladimir Pchelintsev,
who had wiped out 102 Nazis. Sniper Vezhlivtsev had accounted
for 134 of them and Golichenkov for 140. The chief of the front’s
general staff, Major General Gusev, rose and solemnly, with long
pauses after every word, proceeded to read a command to the
troops of the Leningrad Front. ‘On behalf of the Presidium of the
USSR Supreme Soviet, in recognition of the initiative shown in