Red Army Sniper A Memoir on the Eastern Front in World War II

Eastern Front Sniperbiography of one of World War IIs mostis a long overdue

accomplished snipers. MatthusHetzenauer, the son of a Tyrolean peasant

family, was born in December 1924 andbrought up on his familys mountain farm

in the Alps, learning to hunt and shoot.With this background it was natural that,

when he was called up, he was sent fortraining with the elite Mountain Infantry.

Hetzenauer must have shown outstandingaptitude during his first months in the

army because he was selected for snipertraining even before he had served at the

front. After his course at the famed SeetalerAlps depot in Styria, home of German

military sniping, he was deployed to the144th Mountain Rifle Regiment, serving on

the Eastern Front with 3rd MountainDivision in the Ukraine. Hetzenauer went

on to fight in Romania, Eastern Hungaryand Slovakia until the end of the war. As

recognition for his extraordinary total ofmore than 300 confirmed kills he was

awarded the Knights Cross of the IronCross on 17 April 1945, one of only a

handful of snipers to receive this award.

After nearly five years of privations inSoviet captivity after the war Matthus

Hetzenauer returned to the family farm inAustria in 1950. He lived in the Tyrols

Brixen Valley until his death in 2004.

HB?Royal 240x159mm 22.55mm spine? Turn Round 10mm? Flaps 90mm? 3mm Bleed all round

ISBN978-1-78438-216-2

9781784382162

Roland Kalteneggerthan ten books on World War II includingis the author of more

German Mountain Troops in World War II: APhotographic Chronicle, Mountain Troops of

the Waffen?SS, 1941—1945and Equipment of the German Mountainand Weapons

Troops In World War IIbiographies of General Eduard Dietl and, as well as

Field Marshal Ferdinand Schrner.

Martin Pegleron military firearms and specialises in theis Britains foremost authority

subject of military sniping. His specialistprofessional hands?on knowledge of the

development of military firearms,ammunition and ballistics, gained during

twenty years as Senior Curator of Weaponsat the Royal Armouries Museum, is

unparalleled.

Greenhill Booksc/o Pen & Sword Books Limited,47 Church St,

Barnsley, S. Yorkshire S70 2ASEmail: [email protected]

Web: http://www.greenhillbooks.comPrinted in Great Britain

Cover design: Jem Butcher Design

Gefreiter Hetzenauer has distinguished himself as a sniper byespecially outstanding dynamism and dare?devil aggression.

Hetzenauer fights with unparalleled bravery, tirelessly and withoutregard to the constant danger to his life, and is known throughout

the division for his fearless adventures as a lone soldier. Thus on 2February 1945, alone during an enemy attack operation, he scored

eighteen sniper hits. Hetzenauer put two strong enemy companiesout of action by himself and by his intervention accomplished a

From the recommendation for success beyond the limits of his own sphere of activity.Matth‚us Hetzenauer‚s Knight‚s Cross

£19.99ISBN: 978?1?78438?216?2

.IIHighest?scoring Axis sniper of World War

.tacticsDetails sniper techniques, training and

.First?hand accounts of sniper actions

.renowned sniper expertIntroduced by Martin Pegler, world?

for more titles fromScan the QR codeGreenhill Books

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Snipers at Waranalysis of the equipment, tactics andis a detailed history and

personalities of the    sniping world   , fromthe pursuit of accuracy to the latest

electronic aids to observation and ranging.

Technology and marksmanship from theCrimean War to the present day are

examined in detail. Although highlyaccurate shooting was perfectly possible in

the Victorian era most armies did notprepare systematically for sniping to play a

major part in war. Sniper training wasneglected and sights and other

technologies saw only limited development.The role of the sniper was still largely

ignored when the Winter War of 1939—40between Finland and the USSR showed what

could be achieved by specialist marksmen:Finn Simo H    yh   amassed 505 kills in less

than a hundred days, a costly lesson for theRed Army, but one which it learned.

By the German invasion of 1941 theRussians were becoming better prepared:

when the war ended, in addition to mensuch as Vasiliy Zaytsev, a Stalingrad hero

with 242 accredited kills, the USSR hadtrained more than 2,000 women as snipers.

After 1945, the sniper  s reputation declinedagain for a time. However, the Vietnam

War, seemingly unending Middle Easternconflict, and ever?present urban threats

have given new impetus not only to snipingbut also to the development of new and

more effective weaponry.

£25ISBN 978?1 78438?184?4

HB?Royal 240x159mm ???mm spine? Turn Round 10mm? Flaps 90mm? 3mm Bleed all round

ISBN978-1-78438-184-4

9781784381844

John Walter, born in Glasgow in 1951, isamong the world s most prolific writers on

small arms — author of seventy books,translated into more than a dozen

languages. Among his published workshave been several studies of the Lugerpistol; several editions of Rifles of the

Worldand The Handgun Storand The Airgun Booy; Guns of the Elitek; The Rifle Story

and its current successor, ForceGreenhill Dictionary of Guns ands;The German Rifle; and Guns of the EliteThe

Gunmakers.

Martin Pegler is Britain    s foremost authorityon military firearms and specialises in thesubject of military sniping. His unparalleled

hands?on knowledge of the development ofmilitary firearms, ammunition and ballisticswas gained during twenty years as Senior

Curator of Weapons at the Royal ArmouriesMuseum.

Eastern Front Sniper The Life of Matth  us

HetzenauerRoland Kaltenegger

ISBN: 978—1—78438—216—2

Red Army SniperA Memoir of the Eastern Frontin World War II

Yevgeni Nikolaev

Greenhill Books c/o Pen & Sword Books Limited47 Church Street

Barnsley, S. Yorkshire S70 [email protected]

http://www.greenhillbooks.comPrinted in England

Cover design: Jem Butcher DesignFront cover illustration, courtesy Accuracy InternationalBack cover illustrations, courtesy James D. Julia Inc.

    An insightful technical and tactical historyof the evolution of sniping 

LEROY THOMPSON

.Definitive history written by a leading firearms expert

.Examines the vital importance of field?skills — hunting, tracking, patient observation — to the sniper s craft

.Includes newly commissioned research with a unique statistical?assessment system to analyse the accuracy of individual rifles

.Highlights the history and development of key sniper’ weapons,focusing

on their strengths and weaknesses

.Offers new genealogically?based information about some of the world    s leading snipers, correcting long?standing errors

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