—— Such is our Work ——197almost in full view of the Germans, taking one or two shots only
when the German or our own artillery was rumbling, or during
exchanges of machinegun fire. It was particularly convenient to
fire from a tank that had been put out of action; inside it, you were
completely safe, your shots were inaudible, and you did not have to
worry about enemy shrapnel or bullets. For a sniper camouflage is
a great thing!
We had to operate through all the hours of daylight. At night as
a rule we were off duty. But long before first light we were already
in our observation points. Whether standing in a trench, in a site
earlier equipped for shooting, or lying camouflaged in no man’s
land, we kept watch on the enemy defences, which we knew like
the back of our hand. Indeed, how could it be otherwise? The
slightest change in the relief of the locality and its outlines was
instantly spotted. Every barely noticeable blade of grass, any object
falling within our field of vision, was thoroughly scrutinised. And
the discovery of something new, at times completely insignificant,
in the enemy defences, instantly put us on alert. One day some
kind of stick appeared in the enemy trenches. It had not been
there the day before, or earlier. What could it mean? Was an
ordinary sighting telescope mounted in this twiglike stick? And
was there a Nazi spotter or sniper concealed there? Daily activities
like this sharpened your vision and hearing and made you more
quickwitted. They taught you to camouflage yourself skilfully, to
anticipate the enemy’s cunning plans in time and, correspondingly,
to deceive him ingeniously yourself, and to set traps for Nazi
observers and snipers.
We reported the results of our observations every day to those
in command and they used our information like scouts’ reports.
We let them know about new, wellcamouflaged firing positions,
dugouts, and firing and observation points and used tracer bullets
to indicate these targets to artillery spotters. It only took two or
three shells and there would be nothing left of a firing station.
No question, a sniper’s work is dangerous and very laborious:
just try lying for a day almost without moving under the rays of a