A German Sniper in Stalingrad

A German sniper (scharfschütze) from 6. Armee takes aim with a Karabiner 98k rifle with mounted Soviet Mosin Nagant PE scope on the outskirts of of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), September 1942. Photos by Ernst Franck. The five month long battle would be one of the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. According to archival figures, the Soviets suffered 1,129,619 total casualties; 478,741 personnel killed or missing, and 650,878 wounded or sick. The Axis suffered 850,000 total casualties (wounded, killed, captured) among all branches of the German armed forces and its allies; 400,000 Germans, 200,000 Romanians, 130,000 Italians, and 120,000 Hungarians and smaller numbers of Croatian, Slovak, French, Spanish and others were killed, wounded or captured.

The German snipers were among the best in the world. Every firing as with the German fighter pilots had to be confirmed by witnesses. Many actual kills were therefore not scored. In comparison, for example, Soviet snipers independently set their kill rate without confirmation or retesting, with the number often being increased many times for propaganda reasons.

The sniper’s effect was recognized on the German side only in 1942, and the first official service provision of the Wehrmacht was from May 1943. Even with the service provision, the sniper actually did not exist until late in the Russian campaign and in the withdrawal battles on the Eastern Front meant that German troops knew how important and decisive a sniper could be. With the introduction of the sniper badge in 1944, the performance of the lone fighters was fully appreciated.

German snipers preferred the Mauser K98k with a 2- to 6-fold rifle scope of Zeiss and the Gewehr 43 of Walther This was also popular with Brandenburg and SS-Hunting Associations.
Most Successful German Precision Shooters:

- Matthäus Hetzenauer, 1924-2004, 345 confirmed kills on the Eastern Front 1943-45.

- Sepp Allerberger, 1924-2010, 257 confirmed kills on the Eastern Front 1942-45.

- Bruno Sutkus, 1924-2003, 209 confirmed kills, on the Eastern Front 1944-45.

- Friedrich Pein, 1915-1975, 200+ confirmed kills, on the Eastern Front 1943-45.

- Gefreiter Meyer – 180 confirmed kills.

- Oleh Dir – 120 confirmed kills.

- Helmut Wirnsberger – 64 confirmed kills on the Eastern Front 1942-45.

As a Sniper, these soldiers use specially equipped rifles by the targeted killing of enemy individuals as their military mission. Their constant mission is to fight enemy snipers. The target to be tackled is usually 300 to 600 m away, in special cases greater ranges. The snipers of the police are mostly called precision shooters.

The sniper works alone or together with an observer. He needs to know exactly what is going on around him, the glow of a cigarette or the flash of a metallic object from the reflection of a ray of sunshine could cost him his life a few hundred yards away from an enemy sniper. It takes a lot of training, perseverance and good nerves to stay in place even if the enemy troops are so close that you can smell them.

The lack of appreciation of the special task makes many of them good at what they which is why the soldier must have a strong and self-confident character. The regular troops often find the ambush attack unfair. Even the fear of enemy snipers sometimes increases the general discomfort even against their own sniper.

Source :
http://bag-of-dirt.tumblr.com/post/144261140910/a-german-sniper-takes-aim-with-a-karabiner-98k
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_169-0525,_Russland,_Scharfsch%C3%BCtze_in_Stellung.jpg
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